By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
For the second consecutive Friday night, Sheridan played Frankton.
The Blackhawks were hoping for a different outcome this week, since they were dealt a close loss by the Eagles last Friday. Not to mention this game happened to be the first semi-final game of the Class 2A Lapel sectional.
Just like last week, Sheridan hung with Frankton, but this time the Eagles used a 9-0 run midway through the fourth quarter, eventually winning 72-63. Frankton will now play host Lapel tonight for the Sectional 40 championship, while the Blackhawks’ season ends at 11-12.
“Two games in a row,” said Sheridan coach Chris Schrank. “We played them last Friday and went toe-to-toe. We went toe-to-toe tonight. I would take my team against them every time. I love the guys’ effort, I love the way they played. We did everything that we felt we needed to do, other than let them go on a little run at the end. That was the difference.”
Sheridan trailed 11-9 with 2:30 left in the first period before scoring six straight points to go ahead 15-11. Ange Gnamkey scored the first four points, then Caleb Duke hit a couple of free throws, this after he had an earlier 3-pointer.
Frankton’s Brayton Cain finished the first quarter with a 3, bringing his team within 15-14. That set the stage for a seesaw second quarter, which featured seven lead changes in a four-minute period. That doesn’t include ties, which Drake Delph did with a 3-pointer to knot the score at 20-all.
Delph made another ‘3’ to give Sheridan the lead, but the Eagles’ Ethan Bates used a traditional three-point play to move Frankton ahead 26-24. No problem: Gnamkey converted his own three-point play, and Sheridan was back up 27-26.
Gnamkey got the last basket of the half, which kept Sheridan within 33-31 at the break. Delph then opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, and the ‘Hawks were on top again at 34-33.
But a layin from Frankton’s Travis McGuire put the Eagles up 35-34, and they would never trail again. Sheridan did stay with Frankton, at one point using four straight free throws (two each from Gnamkey and Delph) to tie the game back up at 45-45.
An Austin Hunter 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter kept the ‘Hawks within 55-52, but the Eagles went on a sudden 9-0 run to jump ahead 64-52. Duke single-handedly cut that lead in half with back-to-back 3-pointers, but Frankton would not let them get any closer.
“They made the run when they needed to,” said Schrank. “Credit them. They’re a good team. We knew it was going to be tough and it was going to take everything we had. Came up just short.”
Gnamkey scored 24 points to lead Sheridan, with Delph adding 13 and Duke 11. Both Delph and Duke finished the game with three 3-pointers. Gnamkey also had six rebounds and two blocked shots, with Jesse Kolb collecting five rebounds.
Frankton 72, Sheridan 63
Sheridan FG FT TP PF
Austin Hunter 3-9 0-0 9 2
Drake Delph 3-6 5-6 13 5
Caleb Duke 3-5 2-2 11 3
Ange Gnamkey 8-13 8-12 24 3
Jesse Kolb 1-2 2-2 4 4
Jack Waitt 0-3 0-0 0 2
Nick Burnell 0-1 0-0 0 4
Sean Weitzel 0-1 2-2 2 1
Brody Perry 0-1 0-0 0 0
Tanner Swindle 0-0 0-0 0 0
Nolan Buckner 0-0 0-0 0 0
Nick Roberts 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 18-41 19-24 63 24
Score by Quarters
Sheridan 15 16 16 16 – 63
Frankton 14 19 18 21 – 72
Sheridan 3-point shooting (8-21) Hunter 3-8, Duke 3-4, Delph 2-5, Waitt 0-2, Perry 0-1, Weitzel 0-1.
Sheridan rebounds (18) Gnamkey 6, Kolb 5, Duke 3, Hunter 1, Burnell 1, Weitzel 1, Swindle 1.