Sheffield stormed into the finals of its own holiday tournament for the fourth straight season Thursday, defeating county rival Youngsville, 58-46 at Sheffield Area High School.
The Wolverines (4-3) will play Cameron County in Friday's 7:30 p.m. championship game while Youngsville (1-5) will play Kane in the 6 p.m. consolation contest. Cameron County rallied from a ten-point first deficit to beat Kane in Thursday's opener.
"The seniors played extremely well on both sides of the ball tonight," said Sheffield coach Todd Fitch. "Youngsville is very much improved from when we played them in the tip-off tournament and it looks like their coach has that team pointed in the right direction."
Article Photos
Times Observer photo by Ben Oviatt
Under pressure
Sheffield's Brendan Winslow takes the ball up over Youngsville's Jacob Linkerhof during the Wolverines 58-46 win over the Eagles in the Sheffield Christmas Tournament. Sheffield will take on Cameron County in the tournament final while Youngsville takes on Kane in the consolation game.
The difference in the game came in the first quarter where Sheffield held a firm 22-6 advantage. Dylan McNeal and Brendan Winslow scored 14 of Sheffield's first 16 points and the Wolverines ended the period on a 9-0 run.
The second quarter was evenly played between the clubs with the Wolverines' Shequan Wright and the Eagles' Broc Horn stepping up for their respective teams. Wright scored six of Sheffield's 10 points in the quarter while Horn scored seven of his team's 11 and the Wolverines led 32-17 at intermission.
An early second half run by Sheffield extended the lead to as many as 22 points, but Youngsville twice tried to ignite a rally with a three-pointer. Both three-pointers - scored by Jacob Linkerhof and James Frazier - were answered by threes by Sheffield's Dylan Reynolds and the Wolverines were on cruise control, 52-27, through three quarters.
Fitch played his bench and junior varsity players for much of the fourth quarter and the Eagles made a strong charge in the final eight minutes, outscoring Sheffield, 19-6. The Eagles' surge got the team within 10 with just over a minute to play and Youngsville was gaining ground so rapidly, Fitch was forced to put his starters back into the contest to close things out.
Wright led all scorers with 20 points, McNeal finished with 15 markers, Winslow scored nine points and Reynolds and Chris Pedersen finished with six points apiece. Horn's 16 points were tops for the Eagles with Coll Dininny chipping in 12.
YOUNGSVILLE (46): Coll Dininny 3 6-13 12, Broc Horn 5 4-4 16, A.J. Gustafson 2 1-2 6, Dan McLaughlin 0 0-0 0, James Frazier 2 0-0 5, Jacob Linkerhof 2 0-0 5, Tom Chapman 1 0-2 2, Logan Morrison 0 0-0 0, Branden Lake 0 0-0 0, Totals: 15 11-21 46
SHEFFIELD (58): Dylan McNeal 6 3-3 15, Shequan Wright 10 0-1 20, Tyler Fitzgerald 1 0-0 2, Brendan Winslow 4 0-2 9, Dylan Reynolds 2 0-0 6, Chris Pedersen 3 0-0 6, Brandon Kipp 0 0-1 0, Adam Higby 0 0-0 0, Jim Vile 0 0-1 0, Nic Confer 0 0-0 0, Daniel Pierson 0 0-0 0, Totals: 26 3-8 58
Youngsville 6 11 10 19 - 46
Sheffield 22 10 20 6 - 58
3-pointers: Y- Horn 2, Gustafson, Frazier, Linkerhof; S- Reynolds 2, Winslow
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Nichols School 61, Warren 60
OLEAN, N.Y. - Warren's first loss of the season was a tough one.
A tough second half to be exact.
The Dragons were outscored 40-27 in the second half of a 61-60 loss to Nichols School, Buffalo, N.Y., on Thursday in the first round of the IAABO Tournament at St. Bonaventure University.
"I just thought we got outplayed in terms of effort," said Warren coach Jeff Berdine, whose Dragons (4-1) will play in the consolation game there at 2:15 p.m. Friday against Bradford. Nichols will play Olean (N.Y.) in the championship at 7:45 p.m. Friday.
"We lacked intensity at times and we lacked focus at times," he said. "It came back to bite us. Tonight, we didn't make a lot of shots, and when you don't shoot the ball well, your defense has to carry you. That did not happen tonight."
Overall, Warren was 1-of-14 from behind the arc, and Nichols hit four 3-pointers in a 26-18 fourth quarter.
"We had a couple of opportunities in the fourth quarter down the stretch, but we didn't stop them," said Berdine.
Despite the descrepancy in 3-point shooting, Berdine said the Dragons had a tough night inside.
Mark Davis did his part for Warren, finishing with 15 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. Austin Jerman added 10 points and seven assists. Matt Sandberg had 15 points, and Collin Fantaskey eight points and seven assists.
Olean defeated Bradford, 63-22, in the other first-round game, after leading 28-15 at halftime.
NICHOLS (61): Minor 4 1-3 9, Meyer 1 0-0 2, White 2 2-2 6, Nuttle 3 0-0 8, Vance 2 0-0 6, Noonan 2 2-2 6, Liam 1 1-2 3, Luko 1 3-4 5, Lewis 7 2-2 16. Totals 23 11-15 61.
WARREN (60): Grayson Foley 0 0-0 0, Austin Jerman 4 2-5 10, Phil Huchula 1 0-0 2, Mark Davis 6 3-3 15, Matt Sandberg 7 0-0 15, Collin Fantaskey 4 0-1 8, Tanner Stanz 3 0-0 6, Andrew Hammersley 1 0-0 2, Jacoby Passmore 1 0-0 2, Jack Daley 0 0-2 0. Totals 27 5-11 60.
Nichols 6 15 14 26 - 61
Warren 13 20 9 18 - 60
3-pointers: N-Nuttle 2, Vance 2; W-Sandberg.