Huron holds off Willard to clinch SBC Bay title share

HURON — On Senior Night, a couple juniors led Huron to a win that sent off the Tigers' 12th-graders in style and clinched a share of the SBC Bay Division title. Huron erased an early Willard lead and held off the Crimson Flashes at the end, recording a 61-55 victory to finish the regular season 18-2 overall and 9-1 in the Bay, tied at the top with Margaretta. "It was a hard-fought win. Seniors deserve it," Huron coach Bobby James said. "What a way to go out. We were fortunate to come out with a win and SBC championship. "Our kids battled. There's a reason why we're 18-2 and you saw that tonight. Real proud of my kids. They're SBC champs and they deserve it." The Tigers — ranked No. 12 in the latest Associated Press state poll in Division II — leaned on 6-foot-4 junior Dylan Hohler and 6-0 junior Luke Rager. Hohler, the OHSBCA District 6 Player of the Year, looked the part with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Rager added 15 clutch points and six boards and played a bigger scoring role after senior big man Joey Schade left the game two minutes in with a lower back injury. "With Schade hurt, that changed their dynamic and that led to a little different game plan for us to control the tempo and get some more court reversals," Willard coach Joe Bedingfield said. "They're a good transition team and if you allow them to take quick shots it benefits their transition offense." Willard led 11-6 early on a Trey Paxton 3-pointer. Another Paxton 3 gave the Crimson Flashes a 16-14 lead early in the second quarter. Huron responded with an 11-1 run capped with a Tait Fischer three-point play a Rager 3 from the right wing. "Good teams make runs," Bedingfield said. "Dylan Hohler is a good player. I thought the big difference was Rager. He had a lot of answers when we made a little run." The Tigers extended their lead to 32-22 on a Rager drive early in the third quarter. Four of Rager's field goals were on aggressive drives to the rim. Willard's Cam Robinson scored eight straight points for his team to cut Huron's lead to 37-33 with 2:11 left in the third. Robinson finished with 16 points. Max Dawson had 22 for Willard and made five of his team's 10 3-pointers. Paxton scored 15 points and hit four 3s. Willard (13-9, 4-6) switched up defenses to try to keep the Tigers off balance, but Hohler, Rager and Fischer (11 points) provided enough offense to clinch Huron's first conference title since 2017 and the program's 17th overall. A Paxton free throw cut the Tigers' lead to 46-39 with 5:14 to play, but Rager scored twice on drives and Hohler scored to make it 52-39. Willard made it interesting at the end after Huron missed five free throws in the last 1:36. A Paxton 3 and a steal and layup by Aiden Slone got Willard to within 58-52 with 14 seconds to play. Willard's strong start set the stage for a tight game, unlike the teams' first meeting when Huron jumped out to leads of 12-0 and 30-10 before winning by 18 points at Willard. "We really focused on controlling the tempo a little more," Bedingfield said. "We didn't start real well at home against them and that was the big difference in that game." Huron opens tournament play next Tuesday in the Ashland District at Willard High School. The Tigers face 10th-seeded Vermilion in a sectional opener at 5:30 p.m. Willard, the No. 3 seed in the Division III Norwalk District, took a first-round bye and will play in a sectional final next Friday at Hopewell-Loudon High School against the winner of the Van Buren-Woodmore sectional opener. WILLARD (13-9, 4-6) Carson Wiers 0 0-2 0, Trey Paxton 5 1-2 15, Max Dawson 6 5-7 22, Aiden Slone 1 0-0 2, Cam Robinson 4 7-7 16. TOTALS 16 13—55. HURON (18-2, 9-1) Luke Rager 7 0-2 15, Takt Fischer 4 2-3 11, Dylan Hohler 9 9-11 28, Marc Hurst 0 1-3 1, Joey Schade 1 0-0 2, Jake Lagando 1 0-0 2, Adam Murray 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 23 12—61. Willard 13 9 11 22 — 55Huron 11 17 14 19 — 61 3-point FGs: (W) Dawson 5, Paxton 4, Robinson; (H) Rager, Fischer, Hohler