The reception was warranted.

In his last career game at McElrath Gymnasium on Wednesday afternoon, the star guard went out with a bang, pouring in 26 points on 8 of 14 shooting from the field, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out five assists to lead the Red & Green to a 74-51 Erie County Interscholastic Conference Division 1 basketball victory over Clarence.

“He got to his spots and was able to knock down some shots to kind of spark us a little bit,” Jamestown head coach Billy Miley said. “Getting some stops at the defensive end certainly helped that.”

The win improved division-champion Jamestown to 17-3 overall and 10-0 in the league, while the Red Devils finished their regular season 11-9 and 5-5. Next on tap for the Red & Green is the Section VI playoffs where it is the No. 1 seed in Class AAA and is guaranteed a berth in the sectional championship game on March 8 against the Lancaster-Niagara Falls winner at Buffalo State University.

Jamestown’s Elijah Farmer sends a pass up to teammate Dom Gonzalez during Wednesday’s game against Clarence at McElrath Gymnasium. The Red & Green finished the regular season with a 17-3 record and are ranked No. 19 in Class AAA by the New York State Sportswriters Association. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

Continued strong play from Johnson will serve Jamestown well as he was at his best in the third quarter against Clarence, scoring 17 points that helped transform a 34-24 halftime lead into a 60-36 advantage heading into the final eight minutes.

And the most impressive part of it all was that he scored in a variety of ways.

Free throws? He was 7 of 7.

3-pointers? He had one of those.

Drives to the basket? Yep, two of them.

Pull-up jumpers? Yep, one of those, too.

Combine all that with the Red & Green’s stellar shooting and balanced scoring, Clarence was unable to keep pace.

Junior Elijah Farmer turned in another stat-stuffing performance, scoring 17 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, blocking four shots and dishing out three assists; and junior Dominic Gonzalez contributed 15 points, five rebounds and three steals.

As a team, Jamestown shot 27 of 58 from the floor compared to 22 of 51 for the Red Devils; held a 34-18 rebounding advantage; and turned the ball over just nine times, which is a marked improvement from Monday when it had 21 miscues in a 10-point loss to Bishop Timon.

“We had just a little bit different intensity level than we did Monday for whatever reason,” Miley said. “We were able to make some shots and take care of (the ball) better. Obviously, when you do that, it helps out.”

Now, it’s on to Buffalo State where Jamestown looks to secure a second straight sectional championship, this time in Class AAA.

“We’ve done some good things this year,” Miley said. “Hopefully, we can keep it going.”

NOTES: For the Red Devils, Bryce Tubin scored 12 points, and Greg Erbacher and Matt Ganschow both had 10. … In the junior varsity game, Jamestown (13-5) finished its season with a 56-50 win over Clarence. Jensen Hernandez led the way for the Red & Green with 17 points, and Julian Jackson turned in a triple-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 10 steals. … Yesterday’s game also ended the Booster Club tenure of Jen Panebianco, who closed the concession stand at “The Mac” for the final time after 15 consecutive years of supervising all the behind-the-scenes activities, which began for her when her oldest son, Zack, joined the basketball program.

CLARENCE (51)

Erbacher 4 0 10, Overholt 0 0 0, Brinkerhoff 2 0 4, Ganschow 5 0 10, Tubin 4 1 12, Arnold 2 0 4, Lincoln 1 1 3, Judd 0 0 0, Kaufman 4 0 8. Totals 22 2 51.

JAMESTOWN (74)

Farmer 7 2 17, Gonzalez 6 1 15, GJohnson 2 0 5, Thagard 2 0 5, Cruz 0 0 0, Panebianco 0 1 1, Salvaggio 0 0 0, Mims 0 0 0, JJohnson 8 7 26, GJackson 1 0 3, JJackson 1 0 2. Totals 27 11 74,

3-point goals–Erbacher 2, Tubin 3, Farmer, Gonzalez 2, GJohnson, Thagard, JJohnson 3, GJackson.

Clarence 9 15 12 15 — 51

Jamestown 17 17 26 14 — 74

Jayvees: Jamestown 56, Clarence 50.