With the two teams neck and neck in the third quarter of the rubber match, it looked like things were set up for a great finish.

Then the fourth quarter was played.

The Red Dragons (9-10) outscored the Panthers (3-16) 29-6 over the final eight minutes to win 91-62 and move on to the prequarterfinals.

“It’s huge,” Maple Grove head coach Al Roller said about the confidence boost Tuesday’s win gives. “We had some issues early in the year with injuries, losing two starters and then COVID hit us hard. Gowanda’s record does not say how good that team is. These are the games that you have to do a little bit better and we were fortunate enough to come out ahead.”

Gowanda’s Quentin Centner is defended by Maple Grove’s Jake Vaillancourt during Tuesday’s Section VI Class C first-round boys basketball game at Maple Grove Junior-Senior High School. P-J photo by Christian Storms

Maple Grove jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, but Gowanda fought back. That went on for much of the first half, Maple Grove would go on a run and then Gowanda would answer right back. Maple Grove always led, but never by more than 10, until Gowanda big man Adam Golden found himself in foul trouble.

While you can see the impact John Ondus and Quentin Center make on the scoresheet, Golden’s impact was most noticeable when he was off the court.

When Golden picked up his third foul in the second quarter, Maple Grove began to extend its lead and then when he checked back in it became easier to chip away. As Golden rode the pine in an effort to save him for late in the game, Maple Grove’s lead reached double digits and when he checked back in his defensive mentality changed to prevent fouling out.

“He is the anchor of our defense,” Gowanda head coach Lucas Brawdy said about Golden. “He is a guy that we really rely on. Him getting in foul trouble, that really set us back. We couldn’t really do the things we wanted on offense, too.”

The Maple Grove offense did a good job attacking the basket and moving well in transition. The Red Dragons also spread the ball very well, with a minimum of five different scorers every quarter.

“We’re just getting our legs back, I can’t say it enough,” Roller said about his whole team’s effort. “The guys’ confidence has started building and bringing up Nathan Cresanti from jayvee has helped immensely.”

The Red Dragons finished with five scorers in double digits. Matthew Welsh led the way with 27, Tucker Fenton scored 21, Jake Vaillancourt scored 13, Nathan Cresanti had 12 and Jonah Foley had 10.

In crunch time, Maple Grove rose to the occasion, having its best quarter in the fourth. Holding a 62-56 lead, Maple Grove exploded for 29 points to reach 91, making the otherwise close game a blowout.

Gowanda’s shooting was very efficient until the fourth quarter when it was held to 6 points. The duo of Ondus and Centner combined for 40 points through the first three quarters, but were limited to just one 3-pointer from Ondus in the fourth. Ondus finished with 24 points while Centner ended with 19.

“We have some real streaky shooters,” Brawdy said about his offense. “They were all up in our grill today and we were still able to get off our shots, which is what we like to see. But in that second half we started settling for shots that we weren’t working for.”

Tuesday night’s victory has Maple Grove on the road tonight at No. 6 Silver Creek (13-7) at 7 p.m. The Black Knights defeated Maple Grove in both Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Central Division games earlier this season.

GOWANDA (62)

Center 7 3 19, Herman 1 0 2, Ondus 10 0 24, Smith 3 3 9, Rosey 0 0 0, Golden 2 2 6, Kaminski 0 0 0, Barlow 0 0 0, Milne 0 2 2. Totals 23 10 62.

MAPLE GROVE (91)

Verbosky 0 1 1, Vaillancourt 6 1 13, Welsh 11 2 27, Bower 1 0 2, Reagle 1 0 3, Foley 4 1 10, Fenton 9 2 21, Bless 0 0 0, Schroder 1 0 2, Mansfield 0 0 0, Cresanti 6 0 12, Brown 0 0 0. Totals 39 7 91.

3-point goals–Ondus 4, Welsh 3, Center 2, Reagle, Foley, Fenton.

Gowanda 20 16 20 6 — 62

Maple Grove 22 19 21 29 — 91