Johnsonburg came out hot, dropping 18 on Sheffield in the first, with Jake Lobaugh, Kole Asti and Luke Zimmerman each scoring 5.

The Wolverines put together a strong second quarter, with Dylan Hardwick dropping in two 3-pointers, while Mason Silvis and Leihden Wotorson each had one from beyond the arc as well.

“They played a little more aggressive, kept it inside the paint, instead of getting overextending and not giving them the opportunity to drive to the basket,” Sheffield head coach Jordan Copley said of the Wolverines defense following a stout second quarter.

Despite the 20 points scored in the second quarter, the Wolverines struggled to score in the third. The first points scored by the Wolverines came with just over half a minute left in the quarter, as Allen Eaton hit a 3-pointer, followed up by Wotorson’s sinking two free throws, as Johnsonburg’s lead had already been extended to 47-33.

At left, Sheffield’s Connor Finch drives between two Johnsonburg defenders Tuesday night in a loss to the visiting Rams. Times Observer Photo by Cody Elms

“We seem to process a little bit slower when we’re moving the ball around,” said Copley of the offensive struggles in the second half.

“A majority of the time, we’re not even looking where we’re passing the ball,” Copley added. “We’re just turning and throwing, which is leading to turnovers for us.”

The Sheffield defense was able to hold the Rams to 11 in the fourth, their lowest quarterly total of the night, but the out-of-sync offense was never able to recover.

“All year we’ve been telling them to take open opportunities,” said Copley when asked about the hesitancy of the offense to shoot. “I do feel like we pass on a lot of open opportunities, across the board. We took shots, I don’t want to say we didn’t, but taking the right shots is the key, and we didn’t do that tonight.”

JOHNSONBURG (58)

Lobaugh 2 0-0 13, Jackson 5 3-3 13, Zimmerman 5 0-0 13, Asti 4 1-2 9, Hoffman 2 1-2 4, AMeyers 1 1-2 3, NMeyers 1 0-0 2. Total 20 6-9 58.

SHEFFIELD (42)

Hardwick 0 0-0 9, McNeal 3 2-4 8, Wotorson 0 2-2 8, Silvis 0 0-0 6, Finch 1 4-7 6, Eaton 0 0-0 3, Mott-Macalush 1 0-0 2. Totals 5 8-13 42

3-point goals–Johnsonburg, Lobaugh 3, Zimmerman, Hardwick 3, Silvis 2, Wotorson 2, Eaton.

Johnsonburg 18 15 14 11 — 58

Sheffield 8 20 5 9 — 42