Sheffield scored the first 16 points of the game and looked right at home - at home - defeating Youngsville, 64-19, in the semifinals of the annual Sheffield Holiday Tournament Tuesday at Sheffield Area High School.
The Wolverines (6-3) will play in Wednesday's championship game at 8 p.m. Opposing them will be the Cameron County Red Raiders - a 50-15 winner over Kane in Tuesday's other semifinal.
"Nick (Bonavita) and Mark (Sprandle) played so well out front for us tonight," said Sheffield coach Todd Fitch. "Another thing we were able to do tonight was to get our transition game going. It's something we've been working on all season."
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Times Observer photo by Allen Seybert
Double teamed
Youngsville’s Coll Dininny, middle, is double teamed by Sheffield’s Ike Nearing and Brendan Winslow (10) during the first half of a Sheffield Holiday Tournament semifinal contest Tuesday at Sheffield Area High School.
Youngsville (0-6) will face Kane in Wednesday's consolation contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.. The Eagles have lost 21 games in a row dating back to last season's Sheffield Tournament. Youngsville's last victory was a 61-54 win over Kane in last season's Sheffield consolation game on December 29.
The Eagles were unable to hit shots early on in Tuesday's game and the Wolverines bolted out to a 16-0 lead before Collin Lehnen's three-pointer got Youngsville on the board. The Wolverines controlled play for the remainder of the quarter and first half, leading 34-14 at intermission.
Sheffield didn't slow down in the second 16 minutes, scoring another 16 points unanswered in the third while outscoring the Eagles 22-2.
With a 56-16 lead, the Wolverines were able to play their bench players for much of the fourth quarter and the game ended with a 45-point margin.
Sprandle had another monster performance for the winners, finishing with a game-high 22 points. Bonavita added 17 markers and Ike Nearing and Kalil Slaughter chipped in six points each. The Eagles got eight points from James Frazier and six points from Coll Dininny.
YOUNGSVILLE (19): Broc Horn 1 0-0 2, Coll Dininny 2 2-2 6, Rocco Gatta 0 0-0 0, Dan McLaughlin 0 0-0 0, Josh Taydus 0 0-0 0, Collin Lehnen 1 0-0 3, Tom Chapman 0 0-0 0, James Frazier 3 0-0 8, Cory Jones 0 0-0 0, Nick Barrett 0 0-0 0, Ben Frederick 0 0-0 0, Trevor Flinn 0 0-0 0, Dacoda Buchanan 0 0-0 0, Dustin Jesson 0 0-0 0, Levi Ecelberger 0 0-0 0, Totals: 7 2-2 19
SHEFFIELD (64): Mark Sprandle 10 0-0 22, Ike Nearing 3 0-0 6, George Fitch 2 0-0 4, Kalil Slaughter 3 0-0 6, Nick Bonavita 6 5-6 17, Josh Anderson 0 0-0 0, Brendan Winslow 2 0-0 4, Dylan McNeal 1 0-0 2, Nic Confer 0 0-0 0, Luke McCracken 0 0-0 0, Chris Pedersen 1 0-0 3, Tyler Fitzgerald 0 0-0 0, Travis Peterson 0 0-0 0, Noah Heeter 0 0-0 0, Totals: 28 5-8 64
Youngsville 5 9 2 3 - 19
Sheffield 18 16 22 8 - 64
3-pointers: Y- Frazier 2, Lehnen; S- Sprandle 2, Pedersen
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Titusville 59, Eisenhower 53
CORRY - If only they could play one more quarter.
Eisenhower mounted a furious charge in the fourth quarter to get back in it against Titusville in the opening round of the Corry Holiday Tournament, but couldn't get over the hump, suffering a 59-53 setback on Tuesday.
Titusville dominated the first three quarters of the matchup, up 45-27 after three quarters on the strength of a 24-11 third quarter advantage.
But the Knights woke up in the fourth.
Halfway through the period, Ryan Williams was fouled, and a technical was called against Titusville's Dillon Speer. Williams hit all four free throws, narrowing the gap to 53-45. After a defensive stop, Josh Deppas hit 2-of-2 free throws on the next possession. Aaron Lundmark's 3-pointer got the Knights even closer at 53-50. Then Nathan O'Brien hit one of two free throws after another defensive stop, cutting the lead to 53-51.
That was as close as Eisenhower would get.
The Knights had several scoring opportunities in the final three minutes, but couldn't convert. Titusville was able to stretch the lead back out to a final margin of six.
Eisenhower's Deppas and Lundmark finished in double figures, scoring 13 and 12 points, respectively. Williams tallied eight points while Joe Rutsky and Andrew Onoratti chipped in seven each.
After the game, Ike coach Dave Allenson explained that his team didn't really do anything different on either end of the floor in the fourth quarter that would allow them to climb back in it. It was "all the kids," Allenson said. "They got the scent of blood in the water."
At this point in the season, Allenson isn't completely sure that "we fully believe in ourselves," but noted that, when they believe, his team is just as good as anyone.
Even in defeat, "they didn't quit," he said.
Ike drops to 2-5 with the defeat and will look to bounce back Wednesday. The Knights play the loser of the second game of the tournament. Corry defeated Union City.
TITUSVILLE (59): Alex Kline 2 3-8 7, Dillon Speer 5 1-3 13, Kennedy Neely 3 1-2 7, Jayce Corklin 4 3-4 14, Corey Ciccarelli 3 0-0 9, Robby Johnson 1 0-0 2, Armand Rickerson 0 1-2 1, Herman Artis 1 0-0 2, Tyler Copeland 0 1-2 1, Justin Hines 0 0-0 0, Sam Bodamer 1 1-1 3. Totals: 20 11-24 59.
EISENHOWER (53): Josh Deppas 3 6-10 13, Aaron Lundmark 5 1-3 12, Colin Shine 1 0-0 2, Nathan O'Brien 1 2-4 4, Andrew Onoratti 3 0-0 7, Ryan Williams 2 4-5 8, Joe Rutsky 3 0-0 7. Totals: 18 13-22 53.
Titusville 6 15 24 14 - 59
Eisenhower 8 8 11 26 - 53
3-pointers: T-Speer 2, Ciccarelli 3, Corklin 3. E-Deppas, Lundmark, Onoratti, Rutsky.
Junior varsity game
EISENHOWER (25): Carter Farrell 0 0-0 0, Jarrett Johnson 1 0-0 2, John Potts 2 0-0 4, Chris Sanders 4 0-0 8, Kule Hunt 2 4-4 9, Ben Harvey 1 0-0 2. Totals: 9 4-4 25.
TITUSVILLE (40): Artis Herman 4 0-0 8, Derek Schneider 0 0-0 0, Armand Rickerson 0 0-0 0, Justin Hines 5 3-5 13, Tyler Copeland 3 3-4 9, Zack Horn 0 0-3 0, Lucas Anderson 3 0-0 6, Harland Kaster 0 0-0 0, Dalton Moore 0 2-2 2, Sam Bodamer 1 0-2 2. Totals: 16 8-16 40.
Eisenhower 9 4 8 4 - 25
Titusville 6 5 15 14 - 40
3-pointers: E-Hunt. T-none.
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Warren 73, Northwestern 65
ALBION - Warren didn't play its best game of the season, but came away with a 73-65 win over Northwestern on Tuesday at the Northwestern Tournament.
"We were lacking on the defensive end, especially in the fourth quarter," said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. "We needed to get the stops and did not do a good job on the ball or help-side rotation."
The good news? The Dragons are 6-1 overall, and they got good individual efforts on offense from Preston McMeans (19 points), Mark Davis (18), Hank Morrison (13) and Matt Sandberg (10).
After starting slowly, McMeans and Davis came on in the second, third and fourth quarters.
Davis had a team-high 13 rebounds and McMeans added seven. Sandberg had six assists and five rebounds, and Morrison four steals.
In a classic-style tournament without a team champion, Warren plays Conneaut, Ohio at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Northwestern High School.
Berdine said Warren needs to do a better of executing on the defensive end on Wednesday.
General McLane beat Conneaut, 55-40, in the other game on Tuesday, and plays Northwestern at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
WARREN (73): Mark Davis 8 2-2 18, Grayson Foley 1 0-0 2, Matt Sandberg 3 2-5 10, Colin Fantaskey 0 0-0 0, Cody McGraw 1 0-0 2, Kory Thomas 2 2-3 7, Hank Morrison 6 1-1 13, Preston McMeans 7 5-7 19, Jack Daley 1 0-0 2. Totals 29 12-18 73.
NORTHWESTERN (65): Alexander 3 0-0 8, McKeen 8 1-2 20, Cook 7 1-2 15, Panko 1 0-0 2, Davis 1 0-0 2, Carauana 1 1-2 3, Hemmis 0 2-2 2, Morley 0 0-0 0, Young 1 0-0 2, Niedermeyer 3 5-6 11. Totals 25 10-14 65.
Warren 11 21 19 22 - 73
Northwestern 10 14 14 27 - 65
3-pointers: W-Sandberg 2, Thomas; NW-Alexander 2, McKean 3.