Truth be told, they’ve been thinking about that gut-wrenching loss for two years.

“Once we learned we were going to be in AAA this year,” Panebianco said, “it was circled on our calendar for sure.”

Saturday night the pair of Jamestown seniors and their teammates got a measure of revenge as the top-seeded Red & Green pulled away in the fourth quarter to post a 63-49 victory over the No. 2 Wolverines in the Class AAA championship game at Buffalo State Sports Arena.

The win, which raised Jamestown’s record to 18-3, advances it into the Far West Regional at 7:45 p.m. this Friday against Section V’s Rush-Henrietta (20-2), a 53-50 winner over Fairport on Saturday night. The regional will be played at Gates-Chili High School in suburban Rochester. Ironically, the Red & Green handed Rush-Henrietta one of its two losses, downing the Royal Comets 71-51 on Feb. 14 at McElrath Gymnasium.

Jamestown’s Elijah Farmer rises for a shot between Niagara Falls defenders Michael Taylor, front, and Marshawn Mctyere during the Section VI Class AAA final at Buffalo State Sports Arena on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Steve Garvey

“If we react like we did today,” Red & Green Jamestown head coach Billy Miley said, “I like our chances.”

It’s easy to see why.

Against Niagara Falls (11-9), which defeated Jamestown by a point in the Class AA title game in 2023, Johnson led the way for the hot-shooting Red & Green with 25 points, four rebounds and three steals; junior Elijah Farmer added 16 points, six boards, three blocks, two assists and two steals; and junior Dominic Gonzalez contributed 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Just as important was the poise, the offensive efficiency and the defensive prowess Jamestown displayed on the section’s biggest stage. For the game, the Red & Green shot 60% from the floor and collected 18 assists on 22 made baskets.

Furthermore, Panebianco, who has battled injury and illness all season, was at his best despite not being 100%, finishing with 6 points, three rebounds, five assists and a steal.

Jamestown's Carson Panebianco makes a pass from the ground as teammate Jericho Thagard looks on during the Section VI Class AAA final against Niagara Falls at Buffalo State Sports Arena on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Steve Garvey

“We obviously had a really long time to prepare and see some things,” said Miley, who hadn’t played a game since a loss to Bishop Timon in the regular-season finale on Feb. 17. “We saw some things on tape (with Niagara Falls) that were kind of successful against them. We planned all week for it and the guys really bought into it and really executed it.”

Jamestown led by as many as eight points in the first half, but settled for a 31-27 advantage at the break, despite Johnson picking up his third foul with just under two minutes remaining.

Niagara Falls didn’t record its first field goal of the second half until the 1:55 mark of the third quarter, which allowed the Red Green to pad its lead to 43-35 by the end of the period. But the Wolverines closed to within four points twice in the early stages of the fourth quarter with Johnson on the bench after being assessed his fourth foul.

No worries for Miley and crew.

Immediately after Johnson’s return to the floor at the 5:24 mark, Johnson hit a slick bank shot, and three minutes later he drilled a 3-pointer on a nice pass from Gonzalez that pushed Jamestown’s lead to 57-47 with under three minutes left in the game.

The Jamestown boys basketball team poses for a photo after defeating Niagara Falls in the Section VI Class AAA championship game Saturday at Buffalo State. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

From there, the Red & Green were never threatened as Johnson connected on all four of his free throws in the final two minutes.

“I’ve worked hard for this moment and I lived up to this moment,” Johnson said.

Added Miley about his star point guard: “(Niagara Falls) tried to face guard and take him away early on and he could have easily gotten frustrated. He stayed with it, found some guys when he needed to, got to the basket when he needed to and really did a great job offensively for us.”

Niagara Falls, meanwhile, was led by junior John Strong, who scored a game-high 29 points, but no other Wolverine had more than 7. As a team, Niagara Falls shot 42% from the floor.

For Jamestown, it will make another road trip Friday where it will meet Rush-Henrietta. A win by the Red & Green will punch its ticket to the state Final Four for the second straight year under Miley, who took over for the legendary Ben Drake after the 2022-23 season.

To his credit, Miley is blazing his own successful trail. With Saturday’s victory over Niagara Falls, his record stands at 39-8 and includes back-to-back sectional titles.

As usual, the 1999 Jamestown graduate attempted to deflect any credit for the program’s continued success.

“I knew when Coach Drake finished out that we had some guys coming back and I thought we had some younger guys who would be able to contribute moving up,” Miley said. “They really bought into what we wanted to do. Jaydian certainly is going to go down as one of the best guys we’ve had in Jamestown in a long time. And Dom and Elijah are right up there, and we have some guys who would score tons of points for other schools. Together, they follow their roles. (The coaching staff) doesn’t know everything, but we try our best to put them in spots to be successful. They’ve bought into that and they’ve played very, very well, and I’m certainly fortunate to have those guys starting out (my varsity heading coaching career) with.”

Then, in typical self-deprecating fashion, MIley offered this: “You don’t win the Kentucky Derby with a donkey, I’ll tell you that.”

NOTES: Collectively, Jamestown’s quartet of Johnson, Farmer, Gonzalez and Panebianco shot 21 of 35 from the field. … Since the 1998-99 season, the Red & Green have captured 19 Erie County Interscholastic Conference Division 1 championships and nine sectional crowns, including the last two under Miley. … In the March 2023 meeting with Niagara Falls at Buffalo State, Jamestown led 51-43 with five minutes remaining, but the Red & Green managed just one point the rest of the way and fell 53-52 in the Class AA title game, thanks to James Robinson’s free throw with 0.3 seconds remaining.

NIAGARA FALLS (49)

Strong 11 5 29, Shipp 0 0 0, Smith 3 1 7, Ralands 1 0 2, Gayle 1 2 5, Ferrell 0 0 0, Mctyere 0 0 0, Taylor 0 1 1, Porter 2 1 5, Totals 18 10 49.

JAMESTOWN (63)

Farmer 7 1 16, Gonzalez 5 2 12, GJohnson 1 0 2, Thagard 0 0 0, Panebianco 2 2 6, JJohnson 6 11 25, JJackson 1 0 2, Totals 22 16 63.

3-point goals — Strong 2, Gayle, Farmer, JJohnson 2.

Niagara Falls 14 13 8 14 — 49

Jamestown 15 16 12 20 — 63