Willard falls late in SBC Bay showdown

OAK HARBOR — Willard had multiple chances late.After a long scoreless drought in the fourth quarter, the Crimson Flashes found themselves down one point with possession of the ball and 40 seconds to play.But, two critical turnovers in a short time led to Willard's demise, as Oak Harbor topped the Flashes, 50-43 in a key Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division matchup on Friday."I thought we did not handle our composure, even going back to the technical," Willard coach Joe Bedingfield said. "We had uncharacteristic things like missed box-outs. I don't think we were very good at the free throw line tonight. That hurt us. You have to make free throws in big games and we did not do that."Willard fell to 10-5 overall and 5-2 in the SBC Bay. Oak Harbor now sits in first place at 7-6, 6-1."We got outhustled," Bedingfield said. "I thought they did a nice job on the glass. They did a nice job rebounding. I am disappointed in our overall execution, but I am disappointed that we got out-physicaled."Austin Adelman hit a 3-pointer for Willard to snap a 4:33 scoreless drought for the Flashes, but that would be it for Willard. After a timeout, the Rockets committed a rare turnover with 1:15 left, but the Flashes could not cash in as a pass to Trey Paxton slipped through his hands and out of bounds.Blake Booker was fouled on the ensuing play and made both free throws with 31.9 seconds left. Willard committed another turnover on the other end as TJ Hallett made two free throws to push the lead to 48-43. Another empty possession by the Flashes led to two free throw makes by Max Hallett-Symanski to seal the deal for Oak Harbor."We had to keep our composure," OH coach Eric Sweet said. "We have talked about these kinds of scenarios and we prepare for it in practice, but it's not the same. Paxton missing the ball on the wing was huge."Willard entered Friday averaging more than 63 points a contest, but was held well below that here, as well as just 41 points in a 52-41 setback on Dec. 11 to Oak Harbor."My kids buy into me," Sweet said. "I love this group of kids. I am fortunate as a coach to dial up a little bit of a defensive gameplan and my kids execute it. We did it back-to-back games against them. We wanted to slow them up with our 2-2-1 zone and we were able to do it."Paxton and Adelman hit 3-pointers early as the Flashes jumped out to a 17-12 lead after eight minutes. Willard was able to push the margin to 26-20 at halftime.It was Oak Harbor's 3-point shooting in the third quarter that got the Rockets back into the game. Brenan Ish opened the third-quarter scoring with a triple before Booker made two free throws. A corner 3 from TJ Hallet gave Oak Harbor it's first lead of the night at 28-26 with 5:36 left in the third quarter.Myles Pinkston tied the game on the other end, but Booker and Ish each made 3-pointers for a 34-31 lead. After Pinkston split two free throws, Hallett and Booker each splashed in triples and suddenly Oak Harbor led 40-32. After making just 3-of-14 attempts in the first half, the Rockets nailed six 3s in the third quarter."We have shooters," Sweet said. "We have kids that want to shoot the basketball. We say all the time that shooters shoot and if you are open, you shoot the ball. They have the light."Max Dawson sliced Oak Harbor's 40-34 lead after three quarters in half with a 3 to open the fourth quarter. The Flashes got within 42-40 on Pinkson's putback with 5:52 left, but both offenses went cold. It was not until Booker made two free throws after a technical foul with 2:55 left that either team scored."He does a good job and he gets good separation for his size," Bedingfield said of defending Booker. "He was our main focus. He does a good job of not forcing things. He is a big difference maker and I think he is one of the better players in our league."Booker topped the Rockets with 20 points. Hallett added 12 points for Oak Harbor, who committed just seven turnovers on the night."We had a tough year last year and we were able to win the league for the first time in 20 years," Sweet said. "Now we turn around with a fresh group of kids and they are taking being defending league champions to heart. We have a long way to go, but we put ourselves tonight in a great opportunity to finish at the top of the league."Pinkston and Paxton each scored 13 points for Willard with Pinkston hauling in nine rebounds."In the second half, Trey got a little frustrated," Bedingfield said. "Trey has had his ups and downs. It wasn't just Trey. It was all of us. We have to play more as a team." WILLARD (10-5, 5-2) Trey Paxton 5-0—13, Cole Weiss 1-0—2, Austin Adelman 3-0—8, Myles Pinkston 5-3—3, Micah Dawson 0-2—2, Max Dawson 1-0—3, Jake Cok 1-0—2. TOTALS 16-5—43. OAK HARBOR (7-6, 6-1) Max Hallett-Symanski 0-5—5, Brenen Ish 3-0—8, Blake Booker 5-6—20, Ryan Ridener 2-0—4, TJ Hallett 3-2—11, Collin Fauver 1-0—2. TOTALS 14-13—50. Willard 17 9 8 9 — 43 O. Harbor 12 8 20 10 — 50 3-point FGs: (W) Paxton 3, Adelman 2, Max Dawson; (OAK) Booker 4, Hallett 3, Ish 2.