Sheldon's gesture was a culmination of respect for Willard opponents

Editor's note: This is the second in a three-part series in lessons learned from sports in the midst of a pandemic. Part 2: Pick each other up when someone is feeling down. Read Part 1 here. In the immediate aftermath, most would have understood. When final buzzer sounded on March 6 inside Shelby High School, it showed Western Reserve on top, 65-64, to win its first district championship in 58 years. It was pure euphoria for 19th-year head coach Chris Sheldon and his players and coaches, who had come up short in that same round numerous times in recent years. But after embracing two of his own players, just 27 seconds after the game ended, Sheldon immediately walked away from his team. He made a beeline toward the Willard bench to offer words of encouragement to the players on the losing team. Why? Because arguably no one in the building that day could relate to how the Willard players felt more than Sheldon, who had yet to win a district title as a player or coach. "I obviously had been in their shoes," Sheldon said. "Seven times. Five times as a coach and twice as a player, I've been in that same spot. I know how hard it is to get to a district championship game, but even more how painful it is to lose it in close fashion. I could relate more to how they felt in that moment than anything else." Sheldon walked by Willard's Max Dawson and Jake Cok and briefly patted them on the head. He then approached senior standout Myles Pinkston and spent the next 15 seconds offering words of encouragement while patting him on the chest. Then he finished with junior Trey Paxton, who had been the leading scorer all season for the Crimson Flashes. His shot was just off the mark just before the final buzzer sounded. Paxton was sitting, head buried in his hands, when Sheldon crouched down and offered similar words of support before heading back to his team. "Those two kids and what that program did this year after replacing two 1,000-point scorers ... You have to understand the amount of time those two had to put in to raise their game to the level in which they did. In doing that, it put them in position to win a district championship — and I get that." Sheldon said he wanted Pinkston and Paxton to know that a district championship doesn't define them as players. The tandem helped the Flashes to a 62-13 record and three league titles over the past three seasons. "But the fact that they cared that much does," he said. "The sacrifice and the time that they gave up to put themselves both individually and collectively as a team to compete for a district title does. They should never hang their heads. "They would have never given themselves the opportunity they had if they had not made those sacrifices. And I just wanted them to know they are great players." The emotionally-charged Division III district championship game — both teams went back-and-forth for much of the fourth quarter — also went a little deeper among the coaching staffs. Willard assistant coach Dave Hirschy has a lengthy past with not only Sheldon, but Western assistant coach Lee Rowlinson and his son, standout 'Riders senior Luke Rowlinson. "You couldn't be happier for those guys and that team, but yet I felt so empty for our guys," Hirschy said. "When I got to shake hands with them, I told Chris, Luke and Lee that I loved them and was happy for them. But then that green mile walk awaited us into our locker room with our kids. It was a tough, bittersweet moment." Hirschy was the head coach at Bucyrus High School from 1996-99, two miles across town from Bucyrus Wynford High School. It was at Wynford where Rob Sheldon, Chris' father, won 450 games. Hirschy spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at Wynford from 2001-08, including the last three seasons of Rob Sheldon's career. Lee Rowlinson was also on the same staff with Luke around the program as a ball boy. Even further, another of Rob's sons, David Sheldon, has been the head coach at Colonel Crawford for 15 years. The Flashes and Eagles played in the district semifinal round in each of the past two seasons, with each team winning once. Even after decades of coaching, Hirschy said it was a tough lesson in being happy for the team and friends that just won, while taking in the devastation for your own team. "It was a gut punch loss, because the first thing you're thinking is that's the last time myself and (head coach) Joe (Bedingfield) get to coach those six seniors," Hirschy said. "When that buzzer sounded and we were on the losing side of things, you look up and see a happy moment for Luke jumping up and down. And that is someone who I've known his entire life and watched grow up. "But then a kid like Myles Pinkston, who doesn't show a lot of emotion, really did show it that day — and that really struck Joe and I both. I haven't been in a locker room with kids just absolutely sobbing like that in a long, long time. You have to try and keep your own emotions in check at that point." Hirschy wasn't surprised, but said he and Bedingfield were appreciative of Sheldon's gesture after the game. "It was a classy thing to do," he said. "You can't blame anybody in that moment for celebrating in a big way. That's pure elation for Chris and his team. It was his first one and their first in 58 years, but I just think he caught himself. "Chris knew … our programs are close. We scrimmage every year. I think he wanted to see Joe and I, but more importantly to console those kids during a moment that he had experienced himself." The post-game emotions also served as a summary of emotions from a long, yet short and stressful season. Western Reserve was off for 16 days during a quarantine period because of a potential COVID-19 exposure. Willard didn't have to self-quarantine, but as the result of schedule headaches for other teams, it often played three or four games in a seven-day period. Western played two games short of the 22 allowed during the regular season, while Willard lost a non-league during the last week of the season because of the massive snowstorm that hit the region on Feb. 15. "Every day was Russian roulette with the pandemic," Hirschy said. "We were more fortunate than most teams, but it was the longest, yet most condensed season. It felt like every time we got to celebrate a win, you also knew we had to play three games in the next four days. Then you throw the weather in, and it was really a blur." Hirschy said more fallout from losses like the one to Western comes from coaches taking things personally. "We don't blame the kids, we blame ourselves," he said. In a year he was named Assistant Coach of the Year by the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association, Hirschy was thankful for Bedingfield to allow him to the freedom to do the things he does. He also mentioned the fortune of being around coaches such as Brad Turson (Plymouth), and Rob Sheldon and later Tim Ehresman at Wynford. Which of course led him back to the emotions of March 6. "It might sound easy to say in hindsight, but all those guys really are great people," Hirschy said. "Losing in the tournament is always a long ride home. We never dreamt the virus would hit like it did when we lost last year. "We thought we worked hard before, but we worked even harder this season and did the best we could," he added. "So while that was tough to experience a couple weeks ago, I'm also thankful we got to go through it with this group of kids." Sheldon added that in the arena of sports, all teams and coaches, fair or not, are often measured by wins and losses. "But I think it's important for kids to remember when they fall short, it doesn't make them less of a human — it makes them more of a human," Sheldon said. "And that's part of what I was really trying to stress to those kids in that moment."