The Rams outscored Sheffield 21-8 in the first quarter and 15-9 in the second to go into the half up 36-17. Eli Perez dropped 8 of his 14 points and Isiah Jackson scored 7 of his team-leading 15, both before the half.

Sheffield’s Leihden Wotorson led the Wolverines with 14 points, scoring 10 in the first two quarters.

“It’s frustrating, of course it’s frustrating,” said Sheffield head coach Jordan Copley. “We go into every game thinking we can compete. Listen, for the first half, down 17 points, we’ve been down 14 points and came back. You’re not out of that game, it’s just how you come out of that half and answer them and, unfortunately, we just weren’t able to do it tonight and you see the results.”

Coming out of the half, the Rams went on to have their best quarter yet, outscoring Sheffield 26-0, led by Perez and Jackson who combined for 14 points. Following a Sheffield timeout, Jackson hit two free throws with 61/2 minutes left. Over the next 30 seconds, the Rams went on to steal and score on three consecutive plays, resulting in the Wolverines taking another timeout sitting at 49-17.

Times Observer Photo by Cody Elms Colby Barr takes advantage of a fast break in a loss to visiting Johnsonburg on Wednesday night.

“Most important four minutes of the game were those four minutes coming out of that halftime,” said Copley. “Execution wise, we just kind of lost what we were doing in the first half, the effort kind of dropped for whatever reason, and unfortunately we let them take a substantial lead.”

Sheffield’s Andrew Kyler scored the Wolverines’ first points since the second quarter, 15 seconds into the fourth. With Johnsonburg’s bench taking over, Sheffield was able to outscore the Rams 18-17 in the final quarter.

“When they get their opportunities, they need to capitalize,” said Copley of his players continuing to fight late in the game. “I think a couple of them did as much as they could do given the circumstances.”

The Rams had 12 different players put up points and forced 17 turnovers.

Sheffield will travel to DuBois Central Catholic on Friday.