In the end, it was a mismatch — in favor of the Bulldogs.

Senior Michael Garcia led four Brocton players in double figures as the Bulldogs coasted past the Bears 69-43 at Frewsburg Middle/High School.

“We knew coming back here that if we played our best basketball for 32 minutes, we liked our chances,” Brocton head coach Collin Mulcahy said. “Three weeks ago we played really well in spurts, but didn’t shoot our free throws well and didn’t play a team game.”

Brocton’s reward? A Saturday quarterfinal date with Section VI’s leading scorer Carson Swanson and the fourth-seeded Wolverines of Westfield.

Brocton’s Michael Garcia shoots over Frewsburg’s Trent Lewis during Thursday’s Section VI Class C prequarterfinal at Frewsburg Middle/High School. Photo courtesy of Steve Garvey

“If we play up to our standards and play for 32 minutes,” Mulcahy said, “I like our chances against anybody in Class C in Section VI.”

The Bulldogs blitzed Frewsburg from the get-go Thursday, outscoring the hosts 13-4 in the first quarter while forcing 10 turnovers. Garcia had 7 of the points and Nathan Laurito added 4.

“Turnovers have hurt us all year and we knew we couldn’t do that. Toward the end of the year we were taking care of the ball a little bit better, but today it just came back to bite us,” Frewsburg head coach Kyle Nelson said. “When you mix in turnovers with a lot of missed shots. … It definitely hurts.”

The Bears did a better job of keeping pace in the second quarter, nearly matching Brocton point for point, but still trailed by 10 at halftime.

“We always preach defense wins, defense wins,” Mulcahy said. “We thought if we could apply a little bit of ball pressure to their guards and get out in transition, we could make the game easier on ourselves.”

The Bulldogs put the game away with a 20-7 third quarter as Anthony Gatto, Garcia and Jacob Walker all hit 3-pointers. The Bears went 1 for 13 from the floor over the eight-minute stretch.

“He’s going to draw so much attention,” Mulcahy said of Garcia. “I don’t know if there’s a lid on his confidence. He likes his chances against anybody.”

Blake Weaver finally hit Frewsburg’s first 3-pointer of the game — it started 0 for 16 — on his team’s third possession of the fourth quarter, but by that point the score was already 55-35.

“We know in their 2-3 zone they are going to pack it in and make it tight on us, so we had to hit a couple. Starting 0 for 16 was not our plan,” Nelson said of the Bears’ 3-point shooting. “We would’ve liked to get the ball inside a little bit more to get more solid looks; that didn’t happen.”

Jeremy Weisner added 10 of his 14 points in the final period for the Bulldogs, who lost both meetings with Westfield during the regular season. On Jan. 13 in Brocton, the Wolverines won 72-57 and a little less than a month later Westfield won at home 87-42.

“We’re playing great right now. The first game against Westfield we played hard at home, later on in the season we didn’t play our best brand of basketball,” Mulcahy said. “It’s going to take another team effort like tonight.”

NOTES: Garcia finished with 23 points, Weisner and Laurito each had 14, and Gatto had 10 for Brocton, which shot 25 of 55 from the field, including 7 of 23 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 17 times. … Weaver had 16 points and nine rebounds; Kael Collver had 12 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots; and Trent Lewis had 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Frewsburg, which shot 17 of 64 from the field, including 3 of 27 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 18 times.

BROCTON (69)

Gustafson 0 0 0, Ludwig 0 0 0, Gatto 3 3 10, Walker 1 0 3, Miller 1 2 5, Garcia 9 1 23, Morello 0 0 0, Laurito 5 4 14, Weisner 6 2 14, Mitchell 0 0 0. Totals 25 12 69.

FREWSBURG (43)

Cusimano 0 0 0, Lewis 4 1 10, Weaver 7 1 16, Hultberg 0 0 0, Eckert 0 0 0, Fisher 1 0 3, Laska 0 0 0, Beckstrom 0 0 0, JCollver 1 0 2, KCollver 4 4 12. Totals 17 6 43.

3-point goals–Gatto, Walker, Miller, Garcia 4, Lewis, Weaver, Fisher.

Brocton 13 18 20 18 — 69

Frewsburg 4 17 7 15 — 43