Through 16 minutes, the pair had none and the Bears trailed 21-13 at Jamestown Community College’s Physical Education Complex.

That all changed in the second half.

Sposato, a senior, and her freshman counterpart combined for nine second-half 3-pointers as Frewsburg raced past the Panthers for a 59-35 victory that puts the Bears one win away from the first New York State Public High School Athletic Association Final Four appearance in program history.

“I told (Elise), she’s a senior and she needs to carry this team,” Frewsburg head coach Jeff Collver said. “Put them on your back, let’s go. She did.”

Bears’ Elise Sposato lays in two of her game-high 21 points. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

To get to states, the Bears will have to get by Saturday’s 3 p.m. Class C Far West Regional game at Rush-Henrietta High School. The Section V representative will be determined tonight when C1 champion East Rochester takes on C2 winner Pavilion at Bloomfield High School.

“I didn’t expect it from this team, but we’ve worked really hard,” Sposato said of advancing to regionals. “They really want to win.”

For two quarters Tuesday, it looked like Frewsburg had no business living another day.

In the first half, the Bears shot just 6 of 25 from the field and 0 for 9 from 3-point range.

To make matters worse, they turned the ball over 11 times, which led to 11 of Portville’s 21 points.

Frewsburg’s Taytum Jimerson finds her way to the basket between Portville’s Lillian Bentley, left, and Teagan Kosinski, right, during Tuesday’s Section VI Class C crossover basketball game at the Physical Education Complex at Jamestown Community College. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“They were really timid. At halftime, we said we had to let it all hang out,” Collver said. “We were really tentative with no reason to be. The games we’ve played have been really intense, so why wouldn’t we come out swinging?”

But Panthers senior Mallory Welty, who missed her team’s Class C1 semifinal win over Silver Creek, reaggravated an injury just 17 seconds into the second quarter and did not return. That turned out to be just the break Frewsburg needed — eventually.

“I’d like to believe that things would’ve ended differently had Mallory been able to stay in, but they were hitting everything,” Portville head coach Inga Welty said. “They are fun to watch, they’re very unselfish and they’re quick.”

Trailing by eight entering the second half, the Bears quickly erased the deficit. Sposato opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, Taytum Jimerson followed with a bucket, Sposato scored inside and Ava Jimerson hit a free throw before Sposato gave the Class C2 champions their first lead of the game on a 3-pointer with 5:08 remaining.

“I think we just needed to get warmed up,” Sposato said. “We’re a young team so it’s hard to get into that shot rhythm.”

Portville’s Teagan Kosinsi scored to give the lead back to the Panthers momentarily, but senior Tyra Clark scored on a putback as Frewsburg took the lead for good.

“She wants to be the rebounder, play the dirty defense and guard the biggest kid on the floor,” Collver said of Clark. “She does it every night. I don’t know if I’ve seen a game where she hasn’t delivered.”

Trocki then hit her first of two third-quarter 3-pointers, the second one coming with less than 5 seconds remaining to make it 39-28 heading into the fourth quarter.

“It’s one of the quickest releases I’ve ever seen,” Collver said of Trocki. “She works on it all the time, year-round, and that’s what hard work does.”

Portville never got closer than that 11-point deficit the rest of the way.

“Those younger kids … they are devastated,” Coach Welty said. “I don’t think it’s because we lost, but it’s the friendships … because this group was pretty close.”

All told in the second half, the Bears went 17 of 32 from the field, including a blistering 9 of 13 from 3-point range. They also only turned the ball over three times.

“We were way more aggressive and confident,” Collver said. “Even if they were laying on the floor … they were just making plays.”

Sposato finished with a game-high 21 points and four steals while Trocki had 19 points.

They’ll have to play equally as well Saturday to win in suburban Rochester. According to the New York State Sportswriters Association, East Rochester is No. 4 in the state and Pavilion is No. 8.

NOTES: Frewsburg finished 23 of 56 (41.2%) from the field and turned the ball over 14 times. Clark grabbed 13 rebounds and three steals; Ava Jimerson had five rebounds, five steals and four assists; and Taytum Jimerson had eight assists and three steals. … Portville committed 18 of its 22 turnovers after Mallory Welty left the game, which resulted in 28 points for Frewsburg. … Lillian Bentley had 14 points and eight rebounds while Ava Haynes also had eight rebounds for the Panthers, who shot 14 of 43 (32.6%) from the field, including 2 of 10 from 3-point range.

FREWSBURG (59)

JTrocki 1 0 2, TTrocki 6 2 19, Clark 2 0 4, TJimerson 2 0 4, Sposato 8 1 21, Martin 0 0 0, AJimerson 3 1 7, Collver 0 0 0, Whippo 0 0 0, Conlan 1 0 2. Totals 23 4 59.

PORTVILLE (35)

Kosinski 3 1 8, MaWelty 0 0 0, Lyle 0 0 0, MiWelty 2 3 8, Scanlon 2 0 4, Haynes 0 1 1, Artlip 0 0 0, Sickels 0 0 0, Bentley 7 0 14. Totals 14 5 35.

3-point goals–TTrocki 5, Sposato 4, Kosinski, MiWelty.

Frewsburg 3 10 26 20 — 59

Portville 12 9 7 7 — 35