Sherman's Baya Oehlbeck drives between two Elba defenders during the Class D Far West Regional at Buffalo State Sports Arena on Saturday. P-J photo by Christian Storms

BUFFALO — The Sherman girls basketball team had not hit a field goal the entire fourth quarter in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D Far West Regional, but with three seconds left the Wildcats needed one if they wanted to continue their season.

Coming out of the timeout Sherman sent the ball where it wanted it, in the hands of senior Kelsey Wagner, but Elba read it perfectly giving no room to shoot. However, that didn’t matter for Wagner as she hit the most contested shot without fouling to send the game to overtime all tied at 44-44.

“If anybody deserved to hit that shot it was her,” Sherman head coach Emily Eckwahl stated. “She pours hours and hours into her game. In the second timeout I switched it just to make sure it was going to her. She deserves that shot and I’m so happy she’ll have that moment forever.”

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, while Wagner’s triple prolonged their season, it was for just one more period of basketball as Elba went 6 of 9 from the free throw line in overtime to edge Sherman 54-48 at Buffalo State Sports Arena on Saturday.

“Heartbroken,” Eckwahl said about the emotions after the loss. “There is no shame in losing to Elba at all, but it’s just one fewer week together. This was a really special group who really cared about each other so it’s just the sadness of the finale of that.”

Sherman players celebrate senior Kelsey Wagner's buzzer-beating 3-pointer that sent the Class D Far West Regional to overtime at the Buffalo State Sports Arena on Saturday. P-J photo by Christian Storms

With one quarter remaining it looked like Sherman was ready to return to states for the first time since 2022, but Elba junior Brea Smith had other plans. Smith willed the Lancers back into the game scoring the team’s first 11 points of the period to regain the lead.

“I was happy when we had such a strong start,” Eckwahl stated. “But I knew Elba wasn’t going to go down without a fight. They just have too many threats that 10-point leads aren’t safe.”

Smith did most of her work attacking the basket and was efficient from the charity stripe going 8 of 10 in the fourth quarter. In that process, Sherman senior Teagan Gratto found herself in foul trouble halfway through the quarter and on the same play she picked up her fourth foul freshman point guard Emmersen Crawford was injured while boxing out on the line.

“That takes away two of our best defenders,” Eckwahl said about Gratto and Crawford. “That was a huge shift in momentum for us. Our subs stepped up and did exactly what we asked them to, but it just changed the rhythm of the game. It hurt losing them, but it was part of the game.”

The pair returned after two minutes away, but by then Elba had taken control of the contest.

Section V's Elba celebrates defeating Sherman in the Class D Far West Regional at Buffalo State Sports Arena on Saturday. P-J photo by Christian Storms

Sherman had worked hard to build its lead against an undefeated opponent in the state’s No. 1 ranked Elba, but very quickly saw it slipping away. Freshman Baya Oehlbeck stepped up in a big way hitting three 3-pointers in the second quarter as the Wildcats took a 24-19 halftime lead.

“We say Baby Baya Oehlbeck is our instant offense,” Eckwahl said. “She steps in really fearlessly, she knows she’s a good shooter and she’s not afraid to take that shot.”

However, with its top defenders on the sidelines, Sherman found itself on the ropes in the fourth quarter. Wagner’s triple sent the game to overtime and it looked like the momentum was shifting again.

That was not the case as Elba locked in for one final period finishing the game 22 of 33 from the free throw line to return to states. The trio of scorers in Smith with 20, Sydney Reilly with 14 and Mariah Ognibene with 11 made sure the Lancers secured the 54-48 overtime victory.

Sherman’s future still is bright as the freshman Crawford led with 18 points, three assists, three steals and two blocks and five rebounds, fellow freshman Oehlbeck had 13 points. While the seniors Wagner had 12 points, three assists and five rebounds, Gratto had 12 boards and Isa Kioko made nine rebounds.

“Thankfully with the leaders we have, the young ones have seen what it takes to get to this game,” Eckwahl said about the future. “They’ve been hungry for it since they were really young and I have no doubt come Monday most of them are going to be back in the gym. I’m looking forward to what’s to come, but I’m going to soak up the last few minutes with these girls while I can.”

Sherman finishes its season with a 21-2 record.

ELBA (54)

Buczek 0 1 1, Reilly 2 8 14, Hall 2 3 8, Ognibene 4 2 11, Ross 0 0 0, Stackhouse 0 0 0, Smith 5 8 20. Totals 13 22 54.

SHERMAN (48)

Gable 1 0 2, Emory 0 0 0, Kioko 0 0 0, Chambers 0 0 0, Crawford 6 6 18, Wagner 4 0 12, Gratto 1 1 3, Oehlbeck 4 1 13. Totals 16 8 48.

3-point goals–Reilly 2, Hall, Ognibene, Smith 2, Wagner 4, Oehlbeck 4.

Elba 10 9 11 14 10 — 54

Sherman 11 13 14 6 4 — 48