Willard, Western clash for district title

SHELBY — This was the matchup everyone expected. A year ago. The Willard and Western Reserve boys basketball teams appeared on a collision course in a Division III district championship game last season. The Crimson Flashes entered the district semifinals at 21-3, while the Roughriders were 19-3. They were both the top two seeds in the district. Then No. 3 Colonel Crawford topped the Flashes, 59-55, and No. 4 Eastwood followed suit with a 52-50 overtime win over the 'Riders. Fast forward to Thursday night at Shelby High School — just one year and a day later — and it was the Crimson Flashes returning the favor. There will be no anticipated matchup between Crawford and Western Reserve as the top two seeds. Instead, it's No. 3 Willard (19-5) vs. No. 2 Western Reserve (19-2) at 2 p.m. at Shelby High School. The winner is bound for the Sweet 16 at 5:30 p.m. next Wednesday vs. Richwood North-Union or Johnstown-Monroe at Elida High School. The Crimson Flashes won their ninth straight game with a 70-48 dismantling of Colonel Crawford in Thursday's first game, while the 'Riders held serve as expected with an easy 87-53 win over Firelands Conference foe Ashland Crestview. "They are really good. I mean, really, really good," Western Reserve coach Chris Sheldon said of Willard. What stood out to the veteran coach of 302 wins was the supporting cast around top scorers Trey Paxton and Myles Pinkston. "Everybody knows about them, but their other guys — they have length," Sheldon said. "They have size. They are athletic. They are wide bodies. It is going to be a heck of a ball game." Willard head coach Joe Bedingfield said his team has capitalized on that size during the team's win streak, which began on Jan. 29. "We have been most successful this season when we rebound above 58 percent of the shots taken," Bedingfield said. "This limits second-chance opportunities, and it allows us to get out in transition a little more." From a fan perspective, the transition game has a chance to make Saturday an entertaining couple of hours. Willard wants to get out in transition, and the 'Riders thrive on it. Western has scored 1,543 points (73.5 per game) in 21 games. The 'Riders broke 90 points four times and 100 points once during the regular season, and had 54 by halftime of Thursday's win. "The thing about Willard is they like to play fast, too," Sheldon said. "That does not fit into us necessarily having an advantage. It probably equates to an equal opportunity. It's going to be a matter of who's playmakers make more plays." Paxton averages 16.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists per game for a Willard team that averages 63 points per game. Pinkston adds 14.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists, while Austin Adelman adds 11.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Willard is averaging 32.4 rebounds per game. "They are so good on the glass to start with," Sheldon said of the Flashes. "They are going to have us outsized, so we have to be able to control the glass. We saw how well Paxton got in rhythm and how well Myles played from then on out (against Crawford). "When you are playing a good team like they are, just like they are playing us, you key on the other team's best players," he added. "You hope you do a good enough job just to make it hard for them to earn it. That is going to be crucial for us to have success." Meanwhile, the 'Riders are also led by the 1-2 punch of Luke Rowlinson and John Skrada. Rowlinson is the OHSBCA District 6 and Firelands Conference Player of the Year. He enters Saturday averaging 24.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Skrada adds 16.8 points and six rebounds per contest, while junior guard Jude Muenz averages 8.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game. "They do a nice job of spacing the floor and have a team that can hurt you in a multitude of ways," Bedingfield said of Western. "We will have to play well and handle their pressure. This time of year you need to make shots and string stops together to cut down nets." After decades of Willard competing at the Div. II level until recent years, the two teams have just one tournament meeting, which was four years ago. The 'Riders edged the Flashes in a 58-56 win in a sectional championship game in the 2016-17 season — a game that was also played at Shelby High School.