Silver Creek’s Andrew Arnold (1) and Sherman’s Jacob Ferranto (35) battle for position for a rebound during a nonleague boys basketball game on Monday at Silver Creek High School. P-J photo by Braden Carmen

SILVER CREEK — Despite being on winter break and a day before New Year’s Eve, the Sherman Wildcats took an hour-long bus ride to play a nonleague boys basketball game against the Silver Creek Black Knights on Monday night.

They made sure the trip was worth their time.

Behind 23 points and 22 rebounds from Jacob Ferranto, the Wildcats beat the Black Knights 66-51 in a nonleague boys basketball game at Silver Creek High School.

“We’ve been trying to get him to play around the rim a little bit more than he might like to or want to,” Sherman head coach Cory Emory said of Ferranto, who was listed as a 6-foot-3 guard/forward. “Now after tonight, I think he understands that when he’s down there, he can be a major league problem for the other team.”

Due to multiple snow days throughout December and a postponement of the originally scheduled meeting of the two teams because of the Clymer/Sherman/Panama football team’s state championship, last night’s rescheduled contest represented the first home game of the season for the Black Knights. Even on break, the crowd showed up and the energy was high from the beginning of the game.

Early on, though, that energy didn’t lead to offense for either side.

Sherman (4-3, Class D) scored the first three points of the game on a Ferranto free-throw and a bucket from Nolan DeKoning, but at the halfway point of the period, the visitors led a sloppy affair 3-1.

Silver Creek (3-1, Class B2) saw its crowd erupt at the horn to close the opening period as leading scorer Simon White drilled a buzzer-beating 3-pointer despite being forced into the far corner and nearly falling out of bounds. The shot gave the Black Knights life, but Sherman still led by a point, 9-8, after the horn sounded.

“It helped us a little bit,” Silver Creek head coach Nate Shuart said. “Not playing for 11 days, that’s tough. You need something to jolt you. … That definitely made the game a little more exciting.”

Aside from the final shot of the opening frame, the second quarter was much more exciting offensively for both sides than the first. While only one shot from the field was made in the first half of the opening quarter, six shots were made in the first half of the second quarter. Four of the first six buckets of the period belonged to Sherman as the lead increased to 18-12.

“We like to play a faster pace,” Emory said. “Now we’re getting in better shape after getting a late start, so we don’t mind playing a little bit faster pace.”

The Wildcats continued their strong offensive showing in the second quarter, extending the lead to as many as 16 points in the period. White accounted for Silver Creek’s final five points of the frame, including a 3-pointer to close the first half, trailing 31-18. Sherman outscored Silver Creek 22-10 in the second quarter.

DeKoning wasted no time extending the lead coming out of the break with two 3-pointers to pour it on for the Wildcats. Sherman led by double digits for the first five minutes of the third quarter until a pair of White free throws cut the Silver Creek deficit to 43-34.

What Silver Creek needed to end the third quarter was a spark to light a fire to carry over into the final frame. Instead, it was the Wildcats that caught fire in the final seconds, as a frantic offensive possession in the final seconds wound up with Gabe Kopta drilling a 3-pointer from straight on as the buzzer sounded.

“We kept our composure. The gym was loud and hostile,” Emory said. “Silver Creek did a great job of coming back into it and making it a tough game. … We could’ve folded and made it a real close game, but we handled the ball, made some free throws, and made some good offensive plays where we got the ball to the right position and scored some buckets.”

Sherman led 49-36 after three periods. The difference in the score hovered around double digits for the fourth quarter just as it did the third.

The much more eventful development was in the paint for the Wildcats.

Ferranto seemed to fully embrace his potential as a forward. He even showed his coach something he had never shown before in a live game — the ability to dunk.

With 6:37 left in the contest, leading 51-40, Ferranto rose in the paint through the Silver Creek defense and slammed the ball through the basket for his first in-game slam dunk. It extended the lead to 13 points at the time.

“We’ve seen him do it in practice, but you don’t get chances in games very often,” Emory said. “… It kind of spurred us on to get it back up to 15, 16 points.”

Later in the period, following a turnover in transition, Ferranto was presented with the opportunity to get a running start for another dunk, and he brought the boom yet again.

Ferranto’s athleticism and physicality combined to make him a force that Silver Creek had a tougher time stopping than the Black Knights expected, even though the focus of their game plan was to limit his offensive output.

“He works very hard. … (Twenty-two) rebounds, that’s effort. Obviously he’s 6-3, so that helps a lot, but his effort was just outstanding,” Shuart said. “He’s a great player. He’ll get his no matter what. We just didn’t make it tough enough for him, especially on the glass and down low tonight.”

The Wildcats were led by Ferranto’s stellar game of 23 points and 22 rebounds, but he was supported by 14 points from DeKoning, including four 3-pointers. Troy Chambers added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats.

“Credit to Sherman, that’s a really good squad. That team will be in it at the end in Class D sectionals. I’m looking forward to playing them again at (Jamestown Community College),” Shuart said.

The two teams play again at Jamestown CC on Jan. 20.

The Black Knights were led by White’s game-high 28 points, including 17 points in the second half. White also tied for a team-high six rebounds.

“When the game got mucky for us, he was able to calm the game down and either get to the free-throw line or make a big shot for us,” Shuart said.

Brady Eick added 11 points and five rebounds as Silver Creek’s second-leading scorer. Defensively, Alan Hoelzel made an impact with six rebounds and four blocks.

“I believe in the group we have here to figure it out. Look in the mirror, reassess, and get ready for Monday,” Shuart said.

Up next, both teams have league games next Monday. Silver Creek opens its Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 3 schedule at Frewsburg, while Sherman travels to CCAA division rival Clymer.

“It will be a fun one, it always is down there,” Emory said of the matchup with Clymer. “You can throw out the records. It doesn’t matter, it’s a backyard brawl. It’s fun for the kids. Some of them have played football together, and a lot of them hang out all the time. It’s like playing against your brother.”