Willard can't dig out of early hole against Huron

WILLARD — After five minutes of Saturday's game had been played, Willard trailed Huron 12-0. The Flashes found multiple surges back into the game eventually, but they never got closer than an eight-point deficit from that point forward. "We missed some shots," Willard coach Joe Bedingfield said. "It kind of bothered us a little at the other end of the floor. Their physicality was good. They got some offensive rebounds and were able to extend some possessions. I thought Huron was the more physical team, especially early on." The end result was a 73-55 win for Huron at Willard on Saturday night in an SBC Bay Division boys basketball showdown. The Tigers improved to 5-0 in league play with the victory and 8-1 overall, while the Flashes fell to 6-4 overall, including 2-2 in the Bay. "Huron's a good team," Bedingfield said. "They're leading our league for a reason." Max Dawson led the Flashes with 24 points, and Trey Paxton added 17. Huron had four players in double figures, led by Joey Schade with 17. "Dawson's a sophomore, but he's gonna be a heck of a player," Huron coach Bobby James said. "And we've seen Trey for the last four years, so we know what kind of a player he is. We knew we weren't gonna stop them, but we wanted to make it as difficult and try to tire them out as best we could by the end of the game." Huron's 12-0 start included a long jumper from Marc Hurst for two, a Luke Rager layup in transition, a Dylan Hohler righty finish in the halfcourt, a Tait Fischer 3-pointer, a Hohler free throw and a Fischer offensive rebound putback. "On the defensive end, we've gotta be a little more intense," Bedingfield said. "Our first half defensively was probably our worst defensive first half that we've had all season. I've been very pleased with our defense in some of our bigger games that we've played, Sandusky and Shelby. Tonight, we just did not do the little things, even boxing out and just staying tight to a man." Willard's offense created decent looks, but not great ones, during that stretch. Huron's early focus on Dawson and Paxton prevented the type of open looks that they knocked down later on when the game was out of reach. "We did a really good job of holding them to one shot," James said. "Then we were able to get out and run a little bit and execute offensively. That start was huge for us." The first-half deficit got as big as 20 for the Flashes, who at one point trailed 30-10. But they went into the halftime locker room on an 11-5 run to pull within 35-21. The final five points came courtesy of a Paxton floater followed by a Paxton and-1 and a Cole Weiss free throw. Early in the second half, Willard got within nine. Cam Robinson made four quick free throws, Dawson made a couple tough shots, and a Weiss lefty hook made it 42-33 about halfway through the third. But Huron went on a 12-1 run from there through the third quarter buzzer. That meant that even as Willard's full-court pressure worked early in the fourth, turning into buckets for Paxton and Dawson off steals, it was still a big margin to chip into. A Paxton layup pulled within nine, then after Schade scored at the other end, Dawson hit a 3-pointer to get within eight with about four minutes to play. It wouldn't get any closer. "We wanted to try to extend the floor," Bedingfield said. "… But with our lack of depth, we don't do that a lot. Our kids are capable of doing that. But I thought our kids did a nice job. Credit to them, just their character and ability to battle back in and cut it down to eight there in the fourth quarter." Huron's point guard, Rager, had the dagger, a 3-pointer from the left wing to go back up 11 and jumpstart a 15-5 finishing stretch for the Tigers. "That 3 (Rager) hit was humongous," James said. "... For him to hit that big 3, that was huge." Willard started fouling with more than three minutes left to play and Huron in the one-and-one. "Our kids were able to try to extend that game as long as we could," Bedingfield said. "That's what we were trying to do. Foul some of their guards and see if they could make free throws, and they did. They're a good, balanced team, and they played better than us tonight." The Flashes won't be back in action until Friday, when they host Margaretta. The Polar Bears won the first meeting in Castalia, 66-56, in a game Paxton dropped 29 but Margaretta star Jake Leibacher scored 34. A surge back up the Bay standings would require more than just a bounce-back win for Willard. But, it would be a good place for the Flashes to start. Regardless of whether they can catch Huron, the Flashes have reached the point in the season where Bedingfield hopes to see positive signs heading toward the tournament. "You've just gotta make adjustments," Bedingfield said. "Margaretta coming in on Friday. We've gotta be a little more physical, a little more patient and make the right plays… Credit Huron, and hopefully we continue to get better and work toward the tournament." HURON (8-1, 5-0) Luke Rager 4-2—12, Nick Babka 1-0—2, Tait Fischer 5-1—13, Dylan Hohler 6-2—14, Adam Murray 2-0—6, Marc Hurst 2-5—9, Joey Schade 6-3—17. TOTALS 26-13—73. WILLARD (6-4, 2-2) Carson Wiers 1-0—2, Trey Paxton 7-1—17, Cole Weiss 3-2—8, Max Dawson 9-2—24, Cam Robinson 0-4—4. TOTALS 20-9—55. Huron 19 16 18 20 — 73Willard 9 12 13 21 — 55 3-point FGs: (H) Schade 2, Murray 2, Fischer 2, Rager 2; (W) Dawson 4, Paxton 2 --- SBC Bay standingsTeam Conf. All Huron 5-0 8-1 Margaretta 4-1 8-3 Willard 2-2 6-4 Port Clinton 2-2 5-3 Oak Harbor 1-4 4-7 Edison 0-5 1-9