Sherman’s Jacob Ferranto, middle, gathers in the paint while defended by Westfield’s Grant Beadle, right, and Braylon Swanson, left, during a CCAA Division 2 boys basketball game Wednesday in Westfield. P-J photo by Braden Carmen

WESTFIELD — Throughout this season, Cory Emory has often asked his Sherman Wildcats, “Do you believe in yourselves?”

When his team responds with a yes, he tells them to go out and prove it. Wednesday night, the Wildcats did just that.

After they were challenged by Emory during a timeout late in the third quarter, the Wildcats responded with a 10-0 run to close the period. Sherman led the rest of the way for a 61-53 win over the Westfield Wolverines in a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 game at Westfield Academy & Central School.

“My guys are showing their mental toughness. … When the going gets tough, they lock in and execute. They did on both ends of the floor, offensively and defensively,” Emory said.

The first half was played closely throughout. After falling down by four points, Westfield (10-8, 7-3) finished with back-to-back buckets from Braylon Swanson to take a one-point lead.

Neither team led by more than four points at any moment in the first half. Down three points, Westfield scored seven of the final nine points for a 30-28 lead at the break. Still, with as close as the game was, Emory knew his team was one quick spurt away from breaking free.

“We talked about that at halftime. We said we didn’t play our best half, we were down two, but we just had to get on one of our runs where we hit a couple of 3s, and we’ll be alright,” Emory said.

Jacob Ferranto had a stellar performance for the Wildcats on Wednesday, with 32 points and 18 rebounds in a tough road environment. But it wasn’t Ferranto who had the game’s biggest highlight, it was his teammate, Gabe Kopta.

After a three-point play from Grant Beadle put Westfield ahead 43-38 with 2:35 to go in the third quarter, Emory called a timeout. Offensively, he challenged the supporting cast to step up, as Ferranto was pulling his weight, but someone else had to make a big shot. Kopta heard his coach loud and clear.

Coming out of the timeout, Ferranto pulled the Wildcats to within three points, then, with roughly a minute left in the quarter, Kopta hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 43-43. On the next possession, Kopta hit another 3-pointer to take the lead.

“We were doubling in on Ferranto because he’s a handful … and they made a couple 3s off where we were doubling them. That’s good basketball. If they do that, they are going to go a long way,” Westfield head coach Nolan Swanson said.

Ferranto finished off the period with a bucket with 3 seconds left on the clock to carry a five-point advantage into the final frame.

“We’ve been talking about finishing out quarters and how lots of times, it goes the other way for us. Tonight, we called a timeout and we collected ourselves,” Emory said.

Defensively, Sherman switched to man-to-man defense, and Westfield had fits with it. The Wolverines went nearly three minutes without scoring in the fourth quarter and only had one point over six minutes of game time following the switch.

“We’re usually better against man-to-man … it was just the opposite tonight for some reason,” Nolan Swanson said. “… We had a little more trouble getting it into the post.”

After the 10-0 run to close the third quarter, Sherman (14-1, 9-1) added six straight points over the first 1:05 of the fourth quarter to pull ahead by double digits. In total, in less than four minutes of game action, Sherman outscored Westfield 16-0 in an eventual eight-point win.

“This is a tough place to play. … When you come in here, you’re pretty proud when you can come out with a win. Every one of them is tough,” Emory said. “We’ve been on the bad side quite a few times. It was nice to come out on top.”

Ferranto surpassed his averages of 20 points and 12 rebounds per game entering Wednesday’s meeting.

“He played great. He’s one of our senior leaders,” Emory said. “He’s the one that shows up in the book with the points and with the rebound stats. He’s our leader, and when the times get tough, our guys look to him — and he’s been producing lately.”

Kopta’s two key 3-pointers highlighted his 11-point night. Cal Cook added 10 points, while Troy Chambers had seven rebounds to go with 4 points.

Westfield was led by Nolan Anderson with 14 points, while Braylon Swanson had 13 points. Grant Beadle had 12 points to go with a team-high 11 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Up next, Westfield travels to Clymer on Friday. The Wolverines conclude the regular season on Tuesday at home against Maple Grove.

The Wildcats are back in action on Saturday at 5:45 p.m. with a nonleague matchup against Forestville at Jamestown Community College. Sherman then travels to Panama on Tuesday in league play.

SHERMAN (61)

Kopta 4 3 11, Cook 4 0 10, Chambers 2 0 4, Goree 1 2 4, Persons 0 0 0, Ferranto 10 1 32. Totals 20 17 61.

WESTFIELD (53)

Paddock 1 3 5, Baum 0 0 0, Stein 0 0 0, Swanson 5 1 13, Thomas 3 0 9, Anderson 5 1 14, Beadle 4 4 12. Totals 18 9 53.

3-point goals–Kopta 2, Cook 2, Ferranto, Swanson 2, Thomas 3, Anderson 3.

Sherman 12 16 20 13 — 61

Westfield 13 17 13 10 — 53