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Overtime Blues

Sheffield drops heartbreaker to Union; Youngsville falls to Kane

Youngsville’s Gage Hendrickson puts up a jump shot during a Sheffield Holiday Tournament game against Kane at Sheffield High School, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017. Hendrickson had 14 points, but the Wolves defeated the Eagles, 64-26.

Sheffield’s boys basketball team opened its season with a heartbreaking loss to Port Allegany in the opening game of the Sheffield Tip-Off Tournament.

The Wolverines again found themselves hosting a tournament Wednesday, this time the Sheffield Holiday Tournament.

Different tournament, different opponent, but a heartbreakingly similar result as Union came back from a seven point deficit to beat Sheffield 65-57 in overtime.

Sheffield had a golden opportunity to close out the game in regulation. With the score tied, 49-49, the Wolverines took a timeout with 8.7 seconds to play. They inbounded at midcourt, but there was hesitation on the play and Walker Kyler’s buzzer-beating three-point attempt bounced off the back of the rim and hit the floor.

“We knew what they were going to do (defensively),” Sheffield coach Mike Knapp said. “We were going to have a 2-on-1 on the backside, but we just couldn’t execute.”

Sheffield’s Matt Dunham goes up for a shot during a Sheffield Holiday Tournament game against Union at Sheffield High School, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017.

The game started well for Sheffield as the Wolverines were swarming on defense and creating turnovers that led to transition points and a quick 6-2 lead. A Matt Dunham three had the Wolverines up 9-2, but then foul trouble allowed the Knights to climb back in the game. Dunham banked in a jumper just before the horn sounded to give Sheffield an 11-6 advantage after the first quarter.

“The kids prepared really hard for this game,” Knapp said.

Kyler hit back-to-back jumpers to start the second quarter, but Luke Davidson picked up his third foul and Union’s Lucas Bowser went to work in Davidson’s absence. Bowser hit a three to get the Knights within three at 22-19 and had two big blocks and a transition layup to put the Knights ahead 23-22 with 35 seconds to go in the half.

“Lucas Bowser is one of the great players in the district,” Knapp said. “We wanted to try to contain him.”

Cale Albaugh knocked down a three with under 10 seconds to go in the half to send Sheffield to the locker room with a 25-23 lead.

Youngsville’s Timber Bower battles Kane’s Tommy Holt for the ball during their Sheffield Holiday Tournament game at Sheffield High School, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017.

Getting Davidson back to start the second half made a noticeable difference for the Wolverines. They were able to use some long passes to break the Knights press defense and score easy baskets, and Davidson’s presence in the paint helped even things on the glass and prevent some second chance opportunities for the Knights.

“Luke is at the center of a lot of what we do, both offensively and defensively,” Knapp said. “We’re always aware of where he is on the floor.”

Albaugh completed a three-point play late in the period to give Sheffield a 38-31 lead heading into the fourth.

Bowser took over in the final frame. He hit another three to trim the Wolverine lead to 38-35, then put in a layup to make it 38-37. Kyler got a layup to push it back to a three-point advantage and Sheffield was in the bonus just two minutes into the quarter.

The Knights switched from a full-court press to a half-court trap, and the switch created confusion for the Wolverines. Union connected on back-to-back layups to take a 43-41 lead with 3:20 to go in regulation.

Sheffield’s Tyler Hepinger drives for a layup during a Sheffield Holiday Tournament game against Union at Sheffield High School, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017. The Knights defeated the Wolverines, 65-57, in overtime.

With less than a minute to go, Albaugh stole the ball and went coast-to-coast for a layup and drew a foul. He completed the three-point play to put Sheffield up 48-46. Dunham was fouled on Sheffield’s next possession and went 1-2 from the line to put the Wolverines up 49-46. The miss would prove costly as Bowser somehow connected on a three-pointer as he was falling down to tie the game at 49-49.

Nolan Cumberland opened the overtime with a long-range two and Bowser followed with his fourth three-pointer of the game to put the Knights up 54-49 less than 30 seconds into the extra frame.

“That took some of the steam out of our sails,” Knapp said.

Sheffield finished strong, but wasn’t able to make up the difference.

Bowser had a game-high 31 points and Cumberland added 14 for the Knights.

Albaugh led the Wolverines with 17 points. Kyler had 10, while Davidson and Dunham added nine each.

Union will face Kane in the championship game tonight at 7:30, while Sheffield will square off against Youngsville in the consolation game at 6.

– – –

UNION (65)

Luke Bowser 2-0-0-4, Vogel 0-0-0-0, Duncan 1-0-0-2, Culberson 0-0-0-0, Sayler 3-0-0-6, Cumberland 7-0-4-14, Johnston 1-0-02, Lucas Bowser 10-7-12-31, Verea 0-0-0-0, Steward 2-2-2-6, Buchanan 0-0-0-0

SHEFFIELD (57)

Dunham 3-2-5-9, Albaugh 5-5-8-17, Davidson 3-3-6-9, Hepinger 4-0-0-8, Laufenberger 0-0-0-0, Camp 2-0-0-4, Kyler 5-0-1-10, Filegar 0-0-0-0

By Quarters

Union 6 17 8 18 16 – 65

Sheffield 11 14 13 11 8 – 57

Three-point FGs: Union (4) – Lucas Bowser (4); Sheffield (3) – Albaugh (2), Dunham

– – –

KANE 64, YOUNGSVILLE 26

Kane scored the first eight points in the opening game of the Sheffield Holiday Tournament and never looked back en route to a 64-26 win over Youngsville.

Gage Hendrickson hit a reverse layup and completed a three-point play to trim the lead to 8-5 midway through the first quarter, but that was as close as the Eagles would get the rest of the way.

Youngsville had “a lot of good looks” according to coach Jesse DeLoof, but the shots just weren’t falling.

Kane, on the other hand, had little trouble connecting from the field, going 28-of-43 for the game.

Chad Greville led the Wolves with 20 points while Al Rezzelle added 14 and Tommy Holt had 11.

Hendrickson finished with 14 points and five rebounds while Austin Peterson had six points and four rebounds and Noah Myers had a team-high eight boards.

– – –

KANE (64)

Costanzo 2-2-2-6, Greville 9-1-4-20, Hottell 2-0-0-5, Pierson 1-0-0-2, Williams 2-0-0-4, T. Holt 4-0-0-11, Rezzelle 7-0-4-14, Walters 1-0-0-2, Whiteman 0-0-0-0, Smith 0-0-0-0, C. Holt 0-0-0-0, Stewart 0-0-0-0, Anderson 0-0-0-0, Zuzek 0-0-0-0

YOUNGSVILLE (26)

Mack 0-0-0-0, Bower 0-0-2-0, Procter 1-0-0-3, Peterson 2-2-3-6, Hendrickson 5-4-4-14, Myers 0-1-2-1, Ecelberger 1-0-0-2, Olewine 0-0-0-0, Mercado 0-0-0-0, Dell 0-0-0-0, Wilson 0-0-0-0

By Quarters

Kane 20 15 16 13 – 64

Youngsville 7 6 7 6 – 26

Three-point FGs: Kane (5) – T. Holt (3), Hottell, Greville; Youngsville (1) – Procter

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