NIAGARA FALLS — For the second straight season, the Kenmore West boys basketball team pushed Niagara Falls to the brink on its home court. This time, with Martin Bailey leading the way, the Wolverines went tumbling over the edge.

Ken West shocked the defending Niagara Frontier League champions, 60-53, on Friday, handing Niagara Falls its third league loss in school history, its second ever at home.

“It’s not something we wanted but the facts are the facts: The better team won tonight,” Niagara Falls coach Sal Constantino said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that they were capable of beating us. I’d still like to think we’re the better team but tonight for sure they were the best team on the court. And Martin Bailey was the best player on the court.”

It was the Falls’ first NFL loss since the 2009-10 season, when North Tonawanda swept both meetings against the Giulio Colangelo-led Wolverines.

“Usually you don’t get excited about regular season wins, they should be like everything else. But it’s not,” Ken West coach Mike Meetze said. “This is the program we want to be. We measure ourselves against (Niagara Falls) and to come in here and get a win against them kind of validates what we are doing.”

Martin Bailey led Ken West (10-2, 8-1 NFL) with 26 points, seven rebounds and three assists on Friday, including 13 points in the fourth quarter to seal the win. Bailey hit four of six free throws down the stretch as the Wolverines couldn’t get closer than a three-point deficit in the game’s final two minutes.

“Martin just put us on his back like he always does,” Meetze said. “With the Falls you’re talking traditionally the best team in all of Western New York, and Martin wants to measure himself against that.”

Bailey controlled the tempo in the final eight minutes despite a Jamere Ollison 3-pointer that made it 42-40 Wolverines to start the frame. Two straight baskets and a 3-pointer from Bailey gave West a 49-46 lead that was quickly erased by a Taijay Williams three.

A Bailey layup gave West a 55-50 lead with under two minutes to play. J.J. Wilkins missed an open 3-pointer with 35 seconds to go, and the usually sure-handed Wolverines bobbled away a number of possessions down the stretch.

“At the end of the game our guards got a little shook,” Constantino said. “We got to the point where it said one minute on the clock and it was like the world was coming to an end. We have to be patient. Hopefully this is something we can learn from.”

Niagara Falls led 12-10 after a quarter but a 13-4 Ken West run in the second helped build a 30-24 lead over the home Wolverines at the break. Ken West scored 20 points in the second and fourth quarters against the ordinarily-fierce Niagara Falls defense.

Jermaine Crumpton led the Wolverines (9-4, 8-1 NFL) with 19 points. Ollison added 10.

Momentum turned with Niagara Falls in the third when Blue Devils senior forward Quinton Campbell (10 points) picked up a fourth foul just 2:19 into the half. The size mismatch with Campbell on the bench was highlighted by a Crumpton alley-oop slam, but Constantino wanted more than the 40-39 deficit facing his team after three.

“I don’t think we took full advantage of it,” Constantino said. “As we were trying to make a concerned effort to get the ball inside, we didn’t do so well with it there.”

Campbell fouled out with 2:09 left with the Wolverines trailing 53-49, but Crumpton never dominated with his 6-foot-4 frame in the paint.

“I wasn’t happy with my play inside,” Crumpton said. “When he fouled out I thought it would be a little better for me, but it didn’t come out the way I wanted it to.”

Friday’s game was a stark contrast between their first meeting this season, an 82-57 Wolverines romp at Ken West. Their last meeting in the Wolvearena was a thriller, a 54-52 Falls win on Jan. 21 last year. Meetze said his team learned some tough lessons from those meetings.

“We watched the film from our first game and you could hear a pin drop,” Meetze said. “The boys know they didn’t play well the first time and they wanted to come out and prove it.”

Crumpton said his Wolverines have to learn from its loss as well.

“Any given night, anybody can beat you,” he said. “You just have to come out and play every day. We just have to keep getting better.”

Junior guard Ramir Burton missed Friday’s game with an illness and guard Steffon Caffee sat with respiratory problems. Meanwhile, senior forward Tikere Ralands (5 points) played in his first game since aggravating a knee injury against Ken East on Jan. 10.

Constantino said depth wasn’t his team’s issue on Friday.

“I wouldn’t insult Ramir by saying we didn’t need him, but it’s not an excuse,” Constantino said. “With the players that were on the court tonight and how the game went, we had opportunities to win.

“We’re not going to make excuses,” he added. “We had enough here to win the game, we just didn’t.”