Willard takes momentum into tough stretch

WILLARD — Any win over a longtime rival is embraced.But in the case of the Willard boys basketball team, despite it only being Dec. 30, its 63-57 win over Shelby in a non-league victory at Robert L. Haas Gymnasium was also much-needed.That's because the victory over the Whippets (7-2) was the first in a rugged five-game stretch for the Crimson Flashes that could ultimately determine not only their chances not only in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference — but also their seeding at the Division III district draw next month.Off to a 6-2 start, the Flashes (2-1 Bay) host Sandusky (5-3) on Tuesday, followed by league home games against Huron (6-1, 4-0) on Jan. 8 and Margaretta (7-2, 3-1) on Jan. 14. The stretch concludes with a non-league game on Jan. 15 at Tiffin Columbian (8-1).And though its extremely early still, the same four teams from 2020-21 — Western Reserve (8-0), Colonel Crawford (8-0), Willard and Ashland Crestview (4-4) have the best records in the district as the calendar turns to 2022. A year ago, Willard routed Crawford in the district semifinals before falling to the Roughriders by a point, 65-64, in the district championship game.The Flashes lost to Crawford in the district semis in 2020, and won the district crown in 2019."We try to make our non-league schedule tough so our kids are ready for the challenges later in the year when the tournament begins," Willard head coach Joe Bedingfield said. "The win over Shelby was a step in the right direction for our team this year. I thought the kids did a nice job of following the game plan for four quarters — which is what it will take to be successful against our future opponents."While Bedingfield has two senior starters who have seen their share of big games in Trey Paxton and Cole Weiss, the coach also has three sophomores that will be learning on the fly over the next 12 days. That includes Max Dawson, Aiden Slone and Cam Robinson."We have a lot of quality opponents to challenge our kids at the start of the new year," Bedingfield said. "We are hoping that our kids, especially our young pups with three starting sophomores, will rise to the occasion by doing the little things it takes to beat good teams."On Dec. 3, the Crimson Flashes were behind from the beginning and never got untracked in a 66-56 loss at Margaretta in their second game of the season. After beating Perkins, the Flashes seemed to be in control of a non-league game at Norwalk on Dec. 14.But the Truckers rallied to force overtime and beat the Flashes by a 55-50 score. However, in the three weeks since that defeat, the Flashes reeled off four straight wins — including wins by 18, 23 and 10 points over Oak Harbor, Edison, and Carey, respectively.Then came the 63-57 win over a quality Whippets team that won a Div. II district title last season."We talked a lot about making the right play after the Norwalk loss," Bedingfield said. "Norwalk did a nice job of controlling the tempo and we learned a great deal from that loss. We have really emphasized making the extra pass and trying to find more balance to create more scoring opportunities for all five guys on the floor. "Defensively we have tried to to improve on pressure points and pick ups who we want to pick up and where," he added. "The biggest improvement that I have seen is our kids are starting to gel and buy into their role, which is a credit to them. Our kids care about one another and know we haven't played our best basketball this season. They have been working really hard since that loss."But Bedingfield noted that one key area will really need to improve if the Flashes are able to come out of this stretch with their collective heads above water. In the big win over Shelby, Willard was just 12-of-24 from the free-throw line. The Flashes were also 10-of-19 at the line in the OT loss at Norwalk, 17-of-35 in the victory at Perkins and 16-of-27 in the win against Carey. For the season to date, Willard is 81-of-154 (53 percent) at the foul line."Free throw shooting has really been a struggle for us, so we need to do a better job making free throws — which is an individual improvement component," Bedingfield said. "But as a team we need to improve on our strengths, which is our guard play. A lot of times in the season coaches spend a lot of time on what they are good at without trying to improve what you do well. "We are continuing to try to improve our guard play by attacking more, making the extra pass and changing pressure points on the defensive end."Willard is led by the 1-2 scoring punch of Dawson and Paxton. Dawson averages 19.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and two assists per game, while Paxton is averaging 18.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest.Robinson adds 10.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists, while Weiss adds 5.8 points and seven rebounds per game. The Flashes are scoring 58.8 points and allowing 50.8 points per game entering Tuesday."Our seniors have put the team first and have tried to set the standard for the younger players," Bedingfield said. "Trey and Cole have done a nice job of accepting our younger players and understand they can help make our team better and their life easier. "Our team chemistry is very good and the team plays for each other and the community."