Sherman’s Kelsey Wagner, left, dribbles the ball up court while Westfield’s Sydney Hotchkiss defends during a CCAA Division 2 West girls basketball game Friday night at Westfield Academy. P-J photo by Braden Carmen

WESTFIELD — Friday night in Westfield featured as close of a game as you will find.

With 26.9 seconds left to play, the Westfield Wolverines had a two-point lead after the second of two free-throw attempts by Olivia Wolfe went through the net. The Sherman Wildcats then got the ball, with the shot clock turned off, down by two points.

Those final 26.9 seconds had four key moments to decide the game. All four went in favor of the visiting Wildcats.

Sherman flipped the script on Westfield as a two-point deficit turned into a two-point victory, 35-33, in a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 West girls basketball game at Westfield Academy.

“This was a huge game. Our girls grew up a lot tonight. They learned how to finish,” Sherman head coach Emily Eckwahl said after the victory. “We’ve finished with a lead before and just held on, but today, we had to make plays and make several stops. They really truly banded together to do it.”

Following a tight first half, Westfield (10-5, 4-3) held a seven-point lead within the first minute of the second half after the Wolverines’ star player, Tanleigh Bestine, drilled a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 21-14. But from that point on, the rest of the quarter belonged to the visitors.

Sherman (11-3, 7-1) pulled ahead near the halfway point of the third quarter on back-to-back 3-pointers by Kelsey Wagner.

Sherman held the lead for the rest of the period and carried a 26-25 lead into the fourth quarter.

As big as Wagner’s 3-pointers were in the third quarter, her biggest moment came on the final possession for the Wildcats.

Following a game-tying layup from Teagan Gratto, the Wolverines had a chance to hold for the final shot of the game, with the ball in the hands of Bestine. Instead, as Bestine drove into the lane, the Wolverines were called for a moving screen to force a turnover with 8.8 seconds left to play.

Then it became Wagner’s time to shine again.

The ball was inbounded to Wagner just beyond the half-court line. Despite tight defense from Olivia Wolfe the entire way, and help from two other Westfield defenders as Wagner dribbled down the right side of the court and into the paint, Wagner got a shot off with 4 seconds remaining as the ball left her fingertips. The ball bounced off the glass and fell through the net for the go-ahead bucket with 2.2 seconds left on the clock.

“Kelsey made a great play. It was a great play,” Westfield head coach Chris Dole said after the game. “I can’t take anything away from her.”

Eckwahl said Wagner told her after making the shot that she had often practiced that exact shot, so in the moment, her routine took over. “It paid off. She deserved it and I’m happy for her,” Eckwahl said. “She’s willing to do whatever the team needs her to do. It’s a credit to her and how much work she puts into her game.”

Westfield still had a chance to answer, but instead of turning to Bestine again, she was used as a decoy on a play that sent the ball into the post. Westfield’s Naomi Ottey and Mackenzie Schumaker both converged on the ball, but it was Gratto who gathered the loose ball for Sherman and dribbled out the final seconds to earn a crucial league victory for the visitors.

“It was fun to coach, but not fun to lose,” Dole said. “I’m glad for all the kids that they got to play in a game like this.”

The two players who stepped up in the biggest moments for the Wildcats were the ones who paced the offense all night. Gratto led Sherman with 12 points, while Wagner had 11.

“You can try to draw up the perfect play, but when it comes down to it, it’s just about the girls making game-time decisions. I had a couple girls tonight who were just dialed in,” Eckwahl said.

Despite the loss, Westfield did have a major milestone worth celebrating on Friday.

Bestine became the school’s second-leading scorer with a pair of free throws in the second quarter to tie, then pass Sophia DeMarco, who graduated in 2019. Like Bestine, DeMarco had one of her major career milestones come in a last-second loss at home, as Cassadaga Valley earned a 36-35 victory in the final seconds of the game in which DeMarco scored her 1,000th career point.

“When you’ve got a player as good as Tanleigh Bestine, a win like this is huge,” Eckwahl said. “She’s a phenomenal player and I’m thankful I don’t have to coach against her again.”

Bestine finished with 16 points to lead all scorers Friday, which was fitting for the leader of the Wolverines, both on and off the court.

“She’s an alpha,” Dole said. “Hopefully she’s going to be the person that lets this program take the next step forward. These kids really look up to her, and she’s become one hell of a leader.”

Up next, Sherman travels to Clymer to face the first-place Pirates on Monday. Westfield hosts Silver Creek on Thursday.

SHERMAN (35)

Gable 0 0 0, Emory 0 0 0, Kioko 0 1 1, Persons 0 1 1, Crawford 1 0 2, Wagner 3 3 11, Gratto 5 2 12, Martin 2 0 6, Safford 0 2 2. Totals 11 9 35.

WESTFIELD (33)

SWolfe 0 0 0, Hotchkiss 1 1 3, Bestine 3 8 16, OWolfe 0 1 1, Ottey 2 2 6, Schumaker 2 0 5, Gnadzinski 1 0 2. Totals 9 12 33.

3-point goals–Wagner 2, Martin 2, Bestine 2, Schumaker.

Sherman 6 8 12 9 — 35

Westfield 8 10 7 8 — 33