Knights win sixth straight to surge over .500 mark
After losing five straight to start the season, the Eisenhower Knights are back on the right side of .500.
Ike beat Sheffield 50-27 in non-region action Wednesday at Eisenhower High School. The win marked six in a row for the Knights and their second in as many days.
The final score doesn’t tell the whole story of what was a competitive game between county rivals. Eisenhower opened on an 11-0 run before going cold from the field, and Sheffield battled back to keep the score close until a big fourth quarter wrapped up the win for the Knights.
“In the first half I don’t think everybody was on the same page,” said Ike coach Dave Allenson. “They weren’t running the same plays at the same time, weren’t in the same defense — and when Sheffield saw that they scored on us. It doesn’t matter what you run as long as you execute. It’s like Belichick says, ‘do your job.'”
Early foul trouble didn’t help Sheffield’s cause as the Knights went to the line nine times in the first quarter. Finding themselves trailing by double digits, the Wolverines didn’t get on the board until Hunter Lobdell stopped Ike’s run with a three-pointer.
Sheffield refused to go away and cut the deficit to four early in the second after a Cale Albaugh three and a putback by Austin Simmer. The Knights struggled to convert looks against Sheffield’s 2-3 zone and were held scoreless for a stretch of nearly six minutes in the second quarter.
Thomas Warren scored five points late in the second to help Eisenhower take a 21-13 lead into the locker room, but Sheffield began to chip away again in the third quarter behind an improved rebounding effort and two three-pointers from Roger Dunham. The Wolverines kept within 10 before a Jaydon Hayes bucket at the buzzer put Ike up 32-21 after three.
Any hopes Sheffield had of a comeback were dashed in the fourth quarter as Eisenhower outscored the Wolverines 18-6 in the final frame.
Thomas Warren led all scorers with 18 points while Jack Reynolds finished with 12 and Jaydon Hayes added eight for the Knights. Warren had 24 points for Ike in Tuesday’s win over Iroquois.
Dunham and Simmer both scored six points for Sheffield and Cale Albaugh chipped in five. The Wolverines had won two in a row prior to Wednesday’s game and fall to 6-8 overall with the loss.
“I thought we had spurts where we played like we want to play, but turnovers in the end are what made the difference,” said Sheffield coach Mike Knapp. “You can’t give the ball away to a quality team like Eisenhower and stay in the game. But I do think that we had moments of playing to our potential.”
Eisenhower improves to 6-5 overall and is currently tied for third in Region 3 at 3-2 with an important stretch of games coming up.
“We’re not quite as consistent as I’d like us to be,” Allenson said. “I wish we were getting a little stronger because we have Cambridge Springs coming up next week after Youngsville. And Youngsville being a rivalry game, you don’t take those for granted. We’re not where we want to be yet, but we’re getting there.”
The Knights travel to Youngsville on Friday while Sheffield plays host to DuBois Central Catholic in an Allegheny Mountain League game that same day.
In JV action, the Knights defeated Sheffield 42-13 behind 18 points from Cyrus Hazeltine. Nick Smelko added 10 for Eisenhower while Walker Kyler paced Sheffield with six.
SHEFFIELD (27): M. Dunham 0 1-2 1, Albaugh 2 0-0 5, R. Dunham 2 0-0 6, Simmer 3 0-1 6, Higby 1 2-3 4, Retterer 0 2-2 2, Leichtenberger 0 0-0 0, Lobdell 1 0-2 3, Davidson 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 5-10 27.
EISENHOWER (50): Reynolds 3 6-6 12, Myer 0 0-0 0, Ta. Warren 1 2-2 4, Fincher 1 0-0 2, Hayes 4 0-2 8, Williams 0 0-0 0, Hazeltine 0 0-0 0, Johnson 2 0-0 4, Harvey 1 0-0 2, Smelko 0 0-0 0, Th. Warren 6 4-8 18. Totals 18 12-18 50.
Sheffield 7 6 8 6 — 27
Eisenhower 16 5 11 18 — 50
3-pointers: Albaugh (S) 1, R. Dunham (S) 2, Lobdell (S) 1, Th. Warren (E) 2.
Junior Varsity
SHEFFIELD (13): Kyler 1 3-6 6, Hawk 0 0-0 0, Camp 0 0-0 0, McNeal 2 0-0 4, Lauffenburger 0 2-3 2, McGraw 0 0-0 0, Benson 0 0-0 0, Stoltz 0 0-0 0, Hadley 0 1-2 1, Benjamin 0 0-0 0, Filigar 0 0-0 0, Pierce 0 0-2 0. Totals 3 6-11 13.
EISENHOWER (42): Venman 1 0-0 2, Fincher 1 0-0 2, Knapp 0 0-0 0, Williams 2 0-0 6, Hazeltine 7 3-4 18, Martone 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Younger 0 3-6 3, Smelko 5 0-4 10, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Schwanke 0 1-2 1. Totals 16 7-16 42.
Sheffield 5 2 1 5 — 13
Eisenhower 8 2 21 11 — 42
3-pointers: Kyler (S) 1, Williams (E) 2, Hazeltine (E) 1.
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