No dunk, no worries: Sheffield, Raiders create chaos with defense against Wildcats

QUINCY — Braden Sheffield set his sights on the rim.

Unfortunately, the Quincy Notre Dame junior guard never got the chance to get his hands on it.

“Some things aren’t meant to be,” he said with a wry smile.

Teaming with the Raiders’ Alex Connoyer and Jackson Stratton to create chaos each time the Western boys basketball team inbounded the ball Thursday night, the wiry and bouncy Sheffield figured if he could snare a steal in the backcourt or near midcourt he could throw down a breakaway dunk.

“I wanted that the whole game,” he said.

Sheffield had to settle for being the tone-setter without the highlight-reel play. He scored the Raiders’ first eight points by attacking the rim in transition and powered the Raiders to a 67-26 victory at the Pit.

“We needed to have a game where we just come out and destroy a team at the beginning,” Sheffield said. “In the second half, we came out and did the same thing.”

He just never got to rattle the rim.

“He was begging for it,” QND coach Kevin Meyer said. “He was asking, ‘Can we run this set? Can we do this? Can we do that?’ I just told him to keep playing and you’ll have your opportunities. But he never forced it, which is a good thing for us.”

In fact, the way he attacked the rim on his first four field goal attempts wasn’t how he planned it.

“Not all the time,” said Sheffield, who finished with 12 points. “I’m more of a pass first kind of guy. If I see an open lane, though, I’m going to go in and try my best to score it.”

It was the perfect way for the Raiders (8-6) to get their feet back under them following the post-holiday break, especially since the young, inexperienced Wildcats made some shots after the initial wave faded and showed some scrappiness on defense.

“In the first half, I don’t want to say we struggled, but that wasn’t what we’ve been trying to do,” Meyer said. “We were playing fast, but we had some turnovers. We weren’t doing what I want us to do. In the second half, we really executed that.

“We played fast, got them sped up, caused some turnovers. I think the guys enjoyed that style.”

It’s all contingent on creating havoc defensively.

“It’s almost on the brink of chaos,” Meyer said. “You can play fast and still play disciplined. That’s the thing we’re trying to instill in them. It’s not helter-skelter. It’s right on the brink of chaos, but it still has a rhyme and reason to it. That’s the key for us.”

That will have to be the focus Friday night when the Raiders travel to Pittsfield’s Voshall Gym for a showdown with the Saukees.

“That’s one of our rivalries,” Sheffield said. “So this game gives a great boost to attack Pittsfield tomorrow.”

Getting the jump on the Saukees in the same manner they did the Wildcats is paramount.

The Raiders won the opening tip, scored on a Sheffield layin and pressured the Wildcats in the backcourt to the point Western coach Curtis Stout was forced to take a timeout 18 seconds into the game. The lead reached double digits less than five minutes into the game, and QND never let up.

Jake Wallingford led the Raiders with 14 points. Casen Tobias hit four 3-pointers and led the Wildcats with 12 points.

“It was good to get the guys back on the floor and continue our progression,” Meyer said.

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