Willard clinches third straight SBC Bay championship

WILLARD — The SBC Bay Division could have ended up a four-way tie. Instead, Willard clinched a share of its third straight league championship.The Flashes nearly led wire-to-wire, topping Huron, 51-46, in Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division action on Friday inside Robert L. Haas Gymnasium."I am happy for our senior class because a lot of them — not to take away from the players before - but I think they do not get as much credit as they deserve for the previous success," Willard coach Joe Bedingfield said. "It is their time to shine and they are taking full advantage of it. I am really happy for them."After no league championships for 13 seasons, Willard (17-5, 7-2) reigns atop the division. The Crimson Flashes will have a chance to win the league title outright next Friday at Margaretta (14-6, 6-3), which topped Oak Harbor (10-8, 6-3) on Friday to help the Flashes clinch."I did not expect it," Bedingfield said. "I told the kids to not worry about anything else and to take care of what is front of us. I did not expect that after the game. I am super excited, but we are in no way, shape or form satisfied. We want to keep this thing going. We want to win an outright title."The Flashes scored the first nine points of the game and maintained a 11-2 advantage after a driving layup by Trey Paxton. Huron (7-6, 4-4) answered with 13 straight points that including three free throws from Tyler Adams and a triple from Dylan Hohler. Paxton had the last say in the quarter with a 3 to cut the Tigers' lead to 15-14 after eight minutes."They do a great job," Bedingfield said of Huron. "They are very hard to guard defensively. They do such a great job of reading — it is not just set plays. They are very deliberate. They do a nice job of playing and they spaced us out pretty well."Willard took that momentum and ran with it early in the second quarter. Cole Weiss scored before Paxton hit another 3-pointer. Myles Pinkston, who battled foul trouble throughout, hit two free throws and Paxton scored on a putback to wrap up a 12-0 Flashes run."I thought we did a better job of limiting the offensive rebounds they had," Bedingfield said. "We did a better job keeping them off the glass, especially in the first half. That was a big key in getting off to a good start."Willard led 27-21 at halftime, but Adams sliced the lead in half with a 3 to open the second-half. The Flashes countered with six straight points for a 33-24 lead, but the Tigers finished the quarter strong. Jacob Lamb hit a triple, Adams scored, and Luke Rager was good from downtown at the buzzer to bring Huron within 35-33 after three quarters.That was the closest the Tigers got the rest of the way. Adelman opened the fourth-quarter scoring for Willard and after Lamb split two free throws, Max Dawson hit a 3 for the Flashes. Huron cut back within two points at 41-39, but this time, it was Adelman that connected on a 3-pointer to maintain the lead for Willard.The Tigers had one last chance as the clock ticked under a minute to play. Trailing 48-43, Huron forced the Flashes into a turnover, but Rager's 3-point try was no good. The Tigers kept possession, but committed one of their 15 turnovers that led to a Paxton layup to seal the win for Willard."They missed some shots, but I like to credit how physical our kids played," Bedingfield said. "I thought they hurt us a little bit with their spacing. Adams had a big game for them and he is much improved. He played real well here."Adams' 15 points topped Huron while Lamb scored 13 points. Hohler added seven points and 10 rebounds.Paxton paced the Flashes with 19 points while Adelman and Pinkston each scored 12 points. Pinkston hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds."Myles had some crucial buckets," said Bedingfield of the senior. "He is a big part. We got off to a good lead and he got into foul trouble and we kind of struggled a little bit. He is a key component to our success. For him to battle back on the second half was big. He played good defense on Cole Parker too, holding to only three points." HURON (7-6, 4-4) Jacob Lamb 5-2—13, Marc Hurst 1-0—2, Dylan Hohler 2-2—7, Tyler Adams 5-3—15, Cole Parker 1-0—3, Luke Rager 2-0—6. TOTALS 16-7—46. WILLARD (15-5, 7-2) Trey Paxton 8-0—19, Cole Weiss 2-0—4, Austin Adelman 4-3—12, Myles Pinkston 5-2—12, Max Dawson 1-1—4. TOTALS 20-6—51. Huron 15 6 12 13 — 46 Willard 14 13 8 16 — 51 3-point FGs: (H) Adams 2, Rager 2, Lamb, Hohler, Parker; (W) Paxton 3, Adelman, Max Dawson Port Clinton 69, Edison 49 PORT CLINTON — The Chargers were outscored by 20 points in the third quarter of a 20-point SBC Bay Division loss on Friday to the Redskins. Luke Bissell scored 12 points, Clay Byington had 11 points and Lincoln Meredith added eight for the Chargers (0-17, 0-8). EDISON (0-17, 0-8) Grant Ott 1-0—2, Troy Rutherford 1-0—2, Lincoln Meredith 3-1—8, Luke Bissell 3-4—12, Jalen Kegarise 2-0—6, Clay Byington 4-3—11, Andrew Neate 0-1—1. TOTALS 17-10—49. PORT CLINTON (6-13, 3-6) Auxter 3-3—10, Spencer 3-1—10, Hurst 1-2—4, Webb 6-1—16, Owens 5-1—11, Chambers 1-0—3, Thorbahn 6-2—15. TOTALS 25-10—69. Edison 10 16 9 14 — 49 Port Clinton 20 14 29 6 — 69 3-point FGs: (E) Bisselll 2, Kegarise 2, Meredith; (PC) Spencer 3, Webb 3, Thorbahn, Auxter, Chambers