BUFFALO TWP — Freeport was trying to pull itself closer to Shady Side Academy in the second half of Friday's Section 1-AA contest.

In just over one minute, the Indians pulled away.

After Ryan Dunn's 3-pointer allowed Freeport to trim the deficit to nine points, Shady Side's Jake Ellis converted a 3-point play, then Brendan Gramley drained consecutive 3-pointers — nine points in a 65-second span — to open up a 48-30 lead with 1:48 left in the third quarter.

That was more than enough to allow the section-champion Indians to post a 59-44 triumph.

“That stretch of nine points, if just a couple of our shots fell, it's maybe just three or five points,” Yellowjackets coach Mike Beale said.

“I think they were able to use their experience and athleticism. (Indians coach) Terence (Parham) has an experienced group. They were able to wear us down defensively, Beale added.

The Yellowjackets (10-8, 6-6) had opened the game with a basket by Alex Carson and a layup by Sean Carson in the first two minutes, the Indians came back with a vengeance, scoring the next nine points — six from Evan Lutins — and 14 of 16 for a 14-6 lead with 41 seconds left in the quarter.

With the Indians holding a 16-10 lead, a 10-2 spurt, capped by another 3-point play by Ellis, opened a 26-12 advantage with 3:56 left before the break.

“As a coach, it's nice to have an assistant who tells me, ‘just remember, we always start slow.' And we do,” Parham said.

“I don't want to get off to a slow start. Two games ago, we were down 10-0 and we were fortunate enough to come back and win,” Parham added.

Freeport did counter with a free throw by Rob Palko, two by Dunn, a basket by Tony DeVivo and another free throw from Dunn, to make it 26-18 with 43 seconds left.

Parham knew the Yellowjackets would not fold after falling behind.

“This was a playoff-type atmosphere,” Parham said. “I was happy that we were able to close. We knew it would not be easy.”

From there, however, Freeport would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.

“We tried to do some things defensively late in the game to create turnovers, but they were able to capitalize,” Beale said.

Despite the loss, the Yellowjackets have qualified for the WPIAL playoffs, which begin next weekend.

We're trying to fine-tune some things for the playoffs,” Beale said.

Lynch led all scorers with 17 points while Dunn added 11. The Indians received 15 points apiece from Lutins and Ellis.

SHADY SIDE ACADEMY 59Aaron Horne 2 1-2 5, Will Supowitz 3 1-3 7, Ryan Reynolds 2 4-4 8, Evan Lutins 7 0-0 15, Jake Ellis 6 3-4 15, Tyler Petrucelli 0 0-0 0, Dan Marous 0 1-2 1, Brendan Gramley 2 0-0 6, Kyle Olander 0 2-2 2.

Totals: 22 12-17 59

FREEPORT 44Fred Pastoria 0 0-0 0, Rob Palko 0 1-2 1, Brendan Lynch 5 6-6 17, Ryan Dunn 3 3-5 11, Robbie Miller 0 0-0 0, Zane Geist 0 0-0 0, Alex Carson 4 0-0 8, Tony DeVivo 1 1-2 3, Sean Carson 2 0-04, Jordan Ziemianski 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 15 11-15 44.

Shady Side Academy 14 14 22 9—59Freeport 8 10 15 11—443-point goals: Shady Side Academy 3 (Gramley 2, Lutins); Freeport 3 (Dunn 2, Lynch).

JV: Shady Side Academy, 44-40

Monday: Freeport at Deer Lakes