"Ugly."
The words of Sheffield head coach Todd Fitch ring true in describing Sheffield's 52-42 Allegheny Mountain League win at home over Kane Wednesday night.
The Wolverines were able to scratch and claw to stick around in the first three quarters before limiting Kane to three fourth-quarter points to seal the victory.
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Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton
Blazin’
Sheffield’s Ike Nearing cuts up the court through Kane defenders in the first half of Sheffield-s 52-42 victory Wednesday at Sheffield High School.
Sheffield was sloppy out of the gate, allowing Kane to take a 14-6 lead midway through the first quarter. A Nick Bonavita bank-shot 3-pointer followed by a lay-in by Ike Nearing and a mid-range jumper from George Fitch allowed the Wolverines to cut the lead to 14-13, the way things would stay through one.
The two teams continued to struggle to score points in the second but, with 2:22 left, Kalil Slaughter got a lay-up to fall to knot the game at 21. Kane would convert one basket in the final 2:22 to take a 23-21 lead into the locker room at the break.
Sheffield came out strong in the third with a Fitch basket giving the Wolverines a 26-25 lead. The lead would flip-flop multiple times throughout the third with Kane ending the frame with a one point advantage.
Though they struggled through the first three, the fourth belonged to the Wolverines. Kane did not score a point until there was 2:09 remaining in the period. By that point, Sheffield had ripped off five unanswered to take a 43-40 lead. The lead continued to grow as the Wolverine defense stifled the Wolves, limiting them to one fourth quarter field goal late in the period when the outcome was no longer in doubt. Mark Sprandle hit three key free throws in the final minutes to ice the game and send the crowd home happy.
Fitch has a monster game for the Wolverines, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds, both team-highs. Nearing and Sprandle both scored in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Nearing added a team-high five of the team's 14 total steals and also had two blocked shots, as did Josh Anderson.
"We knew what they (Kane) were coming in with and we had a game plan but we didn't execute it," said coach Fitch. He was proud of how his team took over the "last two minutes" and "dug our heels in and made shots in the end when it counted. We just have to be fundamentally sound.
"A win is a win," he said, "as ugly as the night was, the kids came together."
Sheffield improves to 3-1 on the campaign, 1-0 in the AML, and will look to continue the strong start at Johnsonburg on Friday night.
KANE (42): Sean Jordan 0 0-1 0, Sean Rollick 5 0-3 10, Jeffrey Kocjancic 5 2-5 16, Tyler Ennis 3 2-4 8, Pete Sirianni 1 2-2 4, AJ Stefani 2 0-1 4. Totals: 16 6-16 42.
SHEFFIELD (52): Ike Nearing 3 5-8 12, Mark Sprandle 3 3-4 10, Brendan Winslow 0 0-0 0, Kalil Slaughter 2 1-4 5, Nick Bonavita 3 0-0 7, George Fitch 7 2-5 16, Josh Anderson 1 0-1 2. Totals: 19 11-22 52.
Kane 14 12 13 3 - 42
Sheffield 13 10 15 14 - 52
3-pointers: K - Kocjancic 4; S - Nearing, Sprandle, Bonavita.
Junior varsity game
KANE (28): Dillon Mattis 0 2-2 2, Jack Kocjancic 0 0-0 0, Kevin Cleer 0 0-0 0, Andrew Pierson 2 4-6 9, Nick Anderson 2 0-0 4, Zack Schall 0 0-0 0, Chris Cummings 0 2-2 2, Devon Gregg 0 0-0 0, Traci Gordan 0 0-0 0, Griffin Greenwalt 0 0-0 0, Zane Hodgan 4 2-3 10, Tyler West 0 0-0 0, John English 0 1-2 1. Totals: 8 11-15 28
SHEFFIELD (47): Nic Confer 1 0-0 2, Luke McCracken 1 0-2 3, Brendan Winslow 4 1-2 9, Chris Petersen 5 1-3 11, Dylan McNeal 1 1-4 3, Dylan Reynolds 4 0-0 8, Brandon Kipp 1 0-0 3, Travis Peterson 0 0-0 0, Tyler Fitzgerald 1 0-0 2, Noah Heeter 3 0-2 6. Totals: 21 3-13 47.
Kane 10 6 5 7 - 28
Sheffield 17 11 11 8 - 47
3-pointers: K - Pierson. S - McCracken, Kipp.