Youngsville’s Timber Bower (13) puts in a layup past the outstretched arm of Sheffield’s Mitch McNeal (24) during the third quarter of their Sheffield Sports Boosters Holiday Basketball Tournament semifinal game at Sheffield High School, Friday, Dec. 27, 2019. Bower scored 10 points to help lead the Eagles to a 53-33 win and a date with Kane in the championship game.

A 9-0 first quarter run gave Youngsville all the cushion it would need in a 53-33 win over Sheffield in the semifinals of the Sheffield Sports Boosters Holiday Tournament Friday.

The Eagles (6-3) methodically pulled away the rest of the game as the Wolverines defense wore down. The Wolverines (0-6) tried to comeback in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get enough stops to erase the deficit.

“We knew if we stopped (Tyler) Hepinger and (Tony) Richards, gave them no open looks, that we could string some stops together,” Youngsville coach Jesse DeLoof said. “We took control on the defensive end.”

Timber Bower opened the game with a 3-pointer and Richards answered with a pull-up jumper to make it 3-2 with 6:02 to go in the first. The Wolverines wouldn’t score again until Hepinger put in a layup with 1:04 left in the quarter. Dominic Dell grabbed a steal and layup with 25 seconds to go, but Hepinger answered with a steal and layin at the buzzer to cut the Eagles lead to 14-6 after the first eight minutes.

“We feel like we have the athleticism to push the pace, but not the discipline yet,” Sheffield coach Mike Knapp said. “We weren’t able to execute. That’s on us as coaches, we own that and have to make it better.”

Sheffield got the first points of the second, but Gage Hendrickson and Joe Mack hit layups and Ethan Kesterholt connected on a three to stretch the lead to 21-8.

“They’re such a good shooting team,” Knapp said. “We knew we had to try to run them off the line, but we weren’t able to stop the penetration.”

Walker Kyler hit a 3-pointer with just over three minutes to play in the half, but Sheffield wouldn’t score again before the half. Youngsville ended the second quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 27-11 lead into the locker room.

“We want to play fast,” DeLoof said. “But when we slow down and run our half court we look to make the easy play and win every possession.”

The Eagles slowed things down in the third quarter and essentially limited the scoring to one basket per minute.

Hepinger opened the fourth with a flurry. He knocked down a three to start, then got a steal and layup to cut the lead to 40-22. The Wolverines continued to get little bursts like that, but couldn’t string enough together to significantly cut into the Eagles lead.

“They out-executed us,” Knapp said.

Hendrickson had a game-high 14 points to lead a trio of Eagles in double figures. Olewine had 12 and Bower 10.

Hepinger led the Wolverines with 11 points while Jake Vinopal had 10 in the loss.

Sheffield will square off with Smethport in the consolation game today while Youngsville takes on Kane in the championship game.

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YOUNGSVILLE (53)

Hendrickson 6-2-4-14, Procter 0-0-0-0, Bower 4-0-0-10, Mack 4-0-0-9, Olewine 6-0-0-12, Kesterholt 1-3-4-6, Peterson 0-0-0-0, Dell 0-0-0-0, Mowerey 0-0-0-0, Totals 21-5-8-53

SHEFFIELD (33)

Richards 1-0-0-2, Vinopal 5-0-0-10, Hepinger 5-0-0-11, M. McNeal 0-0-0-0, L. McNeal 0-0-2-0, Benjamin 1-0-0-2, Kyler 2-0-0-6, Albaugh 0-0-0-0, Johnson 1-0-0-2, Copley 0-0-0-0, Totals 15-0-2-33

By Quarters

Youngsville 14 13 11 15 – 53

Sheffield 6 5 6 16 – 33

Three-point FGs: Youngsville (4) – Bower 2, Mack, Kesterholt; Sheffield (3) – Kyler 2, Hepinger