BUFFALO, N.Y. — Covi James had made this shot before.

In his first game of the year for the Olean High boys basketball team, James drilled a buzzer-beating shot to defeat Jamestown, 80-78, in the season-opening OHS Tournament championship game Dec. 7. This time, the senior guard wasn’t opening the campaign, but rather extending it.

Trailing neighboring rival Allegany-Limestone 35-33 in the final seconds of the Section 6 Class B state qualifier on Tuesday, Olean sophomore Kamdyn McClain drove the baseline and kicked out a pass to James, who let a three-pointer fly from the top of the key …

Bang.

Olean led for the first time with 1.6 seconds left, completing a 10-point comeback, and James deflected an inbounds pass to seal the win, 36-35, at Buffalo State College.

After a backcourt violation gave the Huskies the ball, Olean had used its final timeout with 30 seconds to play. Inbounding again with :15.7 left, Olean went to a “freelance” play, according to first-year coach Tim Kolasinski.

“To be honest with you, we had a play in the first time that we inbounded, our last timeout,” Kolasinski said. “We tried to make a play out of it, it stalled, we had to inbound again and it was really more of a freelance right there. I saw that our little guard Kamdyn had the baseline, my hope was that maybe he’s going to get a blocking foul and go to the line, have a chance to tie it. Great vision, kicks it out, Covi James hits the game-winner, very much like the game-winner we had in our second game of the year.”

James led Olean with 11 points, including six of the team’s 13 points in the fourth quarter. He said he’s practiced that kind of shot many times.

“It’s the long hours after practice, before practice, getting the shots up, repetition, so when it comes down to the moment, it’s like I already was there,” James said.

Olean scored in single digits each of the first three quarters, trailing 18-14 at halftime.

“We thought we did a nice job defensively in the first half. We held them to 18; unfortunately we only scored 14,” Kolasinski said. “So we tried to make a switch in the third quarter and went to a zone that we had played against them earlier this year. “Unfortunately they were prepared for it and we got down, so we went small and we just started pressuring the ball all over the place. That group just did a great job of scrapping and getting all the loose balls and rebounds they could.”

Seniors Ben Giardini and Casey Curran led Allegany-Limestone (19-5) with 11 points each.

A-L led until the final seconds in a tight, defensive game. But after leading 33-23 to close the third, the Gators scored just two points on one field goal, unable to put the game away from a desperate Olean.

“I thought defensively it was tough sledding the whole game for both teams,” Gators coach Glenn Anderson said. “I thought both teams played real well defensively. We had some turnovers when they went on their run. (It) felt like we were in a good situation there with three minutes to go or so. Our execution’s gotta be a little better down the stretch, and if our execution isn’t good, that’s on me. So ultimately, I take responsibility for that one.”

Anderson said the Gators will miss “everything” about their four senior starters: Giardini, Casey Curran, Gus Napoleon and Michael Wolfgang.

James said Kolasinski, whom he calls Coach K, “taught me everything I know.” The rookie head coach sees it differently.

“He’s being very kind, because he’s a heck of a player and I didn’t teach him any of that,” Kolasinski said. “I’ve had the privilege of coaching Covi in some way or form the last four years. They (Covi and his brother Zion) came to Olean his freshman year and I was the JV coach at the time. So I coached him as a freshman and sophomore and then I’ve always been around as an assistant so I was able to be around him last year in that role.”

After winning Class B1 on Saturday, Olean won a second consecutive outright Class B title over A-L.

From the coach to an all-new starting lineup, this team had a different look but the same result. Kolasinski said he spoke with his mentor and predecessor, legendary coach Jeff Anastasia before the game.

“Coach was on the radio (107.1 FM) tonight, so he came up behind the bench and just said, ‘Good luck.’” Kolasinski said. “The nice thing about Coach is he is so much more relaxed in his position right now, so he’s probably laughing at me right now.”

The Huskies advance to play the Section 5 Class B winner, either Geneva or Avon, on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the Far West Regional, returning to Buffalo State.

“This is like our home now,” James said of Buffalo State. “We’ve been playing here for three, four games now. I like these rims. So let’s go.”