For now, the Portville Panthers are in the driver’s seat.

Lilly Bentley had 21 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots as Portville rallied from a seven-point deficit midway through the third quarter and outscored Frewsburg 19-7 in the fourth quarter en route to a 51-43 victory Thursday night.

“I watched Gowanda the other day and they were doing some good things. To be honest, Salamanca … they were competitive,” Portville head coach Inga Welty said postgame. “On any given day, anybody can win.”

The Panthers (7-1, 3-0), ranked No. 9 in Class C by the New York State Sportswriters Association earlier this week, trailed 36-32 entering the fourth quarter, but Jackie Scanlon hit a 3-pointer and Ava Haynes scored in transition to make it 37-36 with 6:54 remaining.

Frewsburg’s Jadyn Trocki lays up a shot during Thursday’s game. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“I felt, in all honesty, that Frewsburg outplayed us. We didn’t handle their pressure well. We didn’t take care of the ball,” Welty said. ” … They way that we came back in the fourth quarter, I’m really proud of that.”

Taytum Jimerson gave the Bears (3-7, 1-2) the lead back before Bentley hit a pair of free throws to make it 39-38. Bentley scored again inside through contact to make it 41-38, but Frewsburg’s Jadyn Trocki answered with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 41 with 4:55 remaining.

That would be the Bears’ last field goal as they went 0 for 10 with three turnovers down the stretch.

“Our goal was to have a successful league schedule. We built a tough nonleague schedule to try and prepare for league,” Frewsburg head coach Sierra Beaver said. “Defensively, I think we’re doing a really good job. We’re just having a hard time finding how to put the ball in the basket.”

At the other end of the floor, Teagan Kosinski and Haynes had buckets for Portville before the Panthers put the game away at the free-throw line.

The Panthers led 15-12 after the first quarter thanks in part to 8 second-chance points.

“Rebounding has been probably our No. 1 issue since the beginning of the season. … Getting a body on somebody, getting position, boxing out, going after the ball strong,” Beaver said. “A lot of times we’ll get a tip on the ball, but not secure the rebound.”

Frewsburg, the 16th-ranked Class C team in this week’s rankings before losing to Falconer on Monday, took a one-point lead at halftime as Jimerson scored with 25 seconds left in the second quarter.

“We have Lilly and nobody else has Lilly. She is a difference maker,” Welty said of Bentley. “She kept us in the game in the first half when were making foolish mistakes.”

The Bears’ lead grew to 35-28 as Teghan Trocki hit a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down midway through the third quarter, but Bentley and Haynes scored late in the period as Portville began to chip away.

“They had a girl who was playing face-guard defense on (Teghan Trocki) trying to prevent her from getting shots,” Beaver said. “We need to do a better job of finding ways to not just get her open, but everybody shots.”

Teghan Trocki led Frewsburg with 16 points, including four 3-pointers, and five rebounds while Jadyn Trocki had 14 points, four steals and three assists.

“We were supposed to be in complete denial after she gave up the ball, but we had some mental lapses there,” Welty said. ” … (Teghan) is legit. The (Trockis) are fun to watch.”

NOTES: Scanlon had 11 points and Haynes grabbed seven rebounds for Portville, which shot 18 of 42 (42.9%) from the field, including 2 of 13 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 22 times. … Jimerson had five assists while Kaylee Cappa and Kaydan Bush each had four rebounds for Frewsburg, which shot 17 of 50 (34%) from the field, including 6 of 16 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 16 times. … Portville won the jayvee game 39-23. Ali Haynes led the Panthers with 11 points and Emma Rhinehart scored 10. Raven Troutman led the Bears with 14 points.

PORTVILLE (51)

Kosinski 2 2 6, DeFazio 2 0 4, Hayes 4 1 9, Scanlon 3 3 11, Dickerson 0 0 0, Lyle 0 0 0, Bentley 7 7 21. Totals 18 13 51.

FREWSBURG (43)

JTrocki 6 0 14, TTrocki 6 0 16, Bush 0 0 0, TJimerson 3 0 6, Cappa 0 3 3, Martin 0 0 0, Collver 1 0 2, Whippo 1 0 2. Totals 17 3 43.

3-point goals–Scanlon 2, JTrocki 2, TTrocki 4.

Portville 15 9 8 19 — 51

Frewsburg 12 13 11 7 — 43

Jayvees: Portville won 39-23.