Willard wins outright title

WILLARD — In the end, none of the knocks against Willard mattered. It didn't matter that the Crimson Flashes allotted almost all of their minutes to five players. It didn't matter that they graduated a 1,000-point scorer, or that their top returning post presence didn't play a single minute due to injury. Somehow, it didn't even matter that the first time they played their closest challenger, they scored a season-low 37 points. Because in the end, this Willard team was like so many that had come before it — a potent lead scorer, gifted secondary offensive players, multiple selfless glue guys. And so the Flashes, despite all the things that could've held them back, wearing warmup shirts with the words "No Excuses" across the front, wound up in a familiar position. Like 28 Willard boys basketball teams that came before them, these Flashes finished the regular season as league champions. "Everybody was kind of doubting us," Willard junior Max Dawson said. "... Everybody looked at us as five guys, all the same size. But our work in the offseason, it really showed tonight." Technically, a share of the SBC Bay Division title was clinched a week ago. But Willard (14-8, 9-1) made sure it'd be outright champs by avenging its earlier loss to Huron (14-6, 7-3) by defeating the Tigers 63-61 on Friday night inside Robert L. Haas Gymnasium. "They showed tonight that they weren't satisfied with sharing it," Willard coach Joe Bedingfield said. "Who would be? Any true competitor wants to win it all. I'm just super proud, against a lot of odds." Dawson, the leading scorer across all 22 SBC teams, put up 34 points. That included 24 after halftime, when he made 9-of-13 shots from the floor. Cam Robinson added 17 points, and Isaac Robinson had eight. "They beat us last time, and that didn't sit well with us," Dawson said. "That was in the back of our mind all week and pushed us a little bit." At the start of the game, Willard got the chance to recognize 6-foot-3 senior Carson Wiers. He was hurt during football season and hasn't played a minute, but he was on the floor for the opening jump ball on Senior Night before committing an intentional turnover to stop the game and sub out to hug and ovations. "He would've given us a ton of rebounding and defense," Bedingfield said. It was the Robinsons, no relation, who got the Flashes going early in a packed house. Isaac hit a pair of 3-pointers, the second to put Willard up 21-15. "I told Isaac before the game, 'This is a big game for you, and I know you can handle it,'" Dawson said. "He's a quarterback. He can handle that." Cam was his usual, aggressive self in the paint with nine first-half points. "Cam lives for these moments, and I know that," Dawson said. "... He started us off hot." Dawson let the early game come to him, scoring a very quiet 10 in the first half. After Willard went up 21-15, Huron went on a 16-9 run to close the half. Dylan Hohler started it with an and-1 jumper, then a floater off glass. A pair of Tigers seniors, Adam Murray and Evan LaCivita, closed the half with three 3-pointers. Murray hit two of those and had nine points before the break, including a buzzer beater to go into halftime up 31-27. Dawson came out scorching in the third. He hit 5-of-6 shots in the quarter for 12 points. The junior lefty drilled a stepback triple from the right wing to start the surge. "After one fell, it just kind of started," Dawson said. "I got in my groove a little bit." Then it was a left-elbow pull-up, a top of the key 3, a step-through in the lane and a fading jumper over Hohler. "That's Max, man," Cam Robinson said. "He works his butt off all day long, and that's why he comes out hot after halftime all the time." Despite Dawson's play, Huron went to the fourth up 46-44 on a Hohler dunk and then a Hohler steal and finish at the buzzer. Dawson hit a fading 3-pointer in the left corner, directly in front of the Flashes' student section, for a 47-46 lead to start the fourth. "Credit to our fans," Dawson said. "We had a great fanbase, great student section. It made it easy once we got going." Isaac Robinson hit a free throw, then Dawson spun for two. Hohler and Murray brought Huron back within a point with 3:50 left. Cam Robinson answered, though, with a 3-point swish from deep on the left wing. "You don't get many of these games," he said. "I told myself, 'Why not?'" Dawson kept it a four-point lead with a spinning, fading jumper from 15 feet, then a hoop inside to go up 58-54 with 1:21 to play. "(Dawson) stepped up when his team needed it the most against a really good Huron team," Bedingfield said. "... Max just showed how much time he's put in, and he really kind of took over." Willard expanded the lead to five late before Hohler chucked up a three-pointer from near halfcourt while anticipating contact and banked it in. The officials ruled the foul to have come before the shot, and both Hohler and Huron head coach Bobby James expressed their displeasure. James left the gym postgame without providing comment. So instead, the best Huron could do was a Hohler 3 at the buzzer for the final two-point margin. "Huron's a really good team with a special basketball player in Dylan Hohler," Bedingfield said. "That was just a great high school basketball game." At the horn, Dawson raised his arms. Cam Robinson pumped his fist. Alex Strayer hugged a few of his peers in the student section. This was a moment the Flashes talked about often. They frequently look up at the banner in their gym, filled with 28 previous league titles across the Northern Ohio League and Sandusky Bay Conference. They wanted their own, and they wanted it outright. Mission accomplished. "We point up there all the time," Dawson said. "We want to remember our number up there. That's what pushed us." HURON (14-6, 8-2) Dylan Hohler 9 3—22, Luke Rager 3 4—11, Jackson McNulty 5 0—10, Jake Lagando 0 1—1, Adam Murray 4 0—11, Evan LaCivita 2 0—6. TOTALS 23 8—61. WILLARD (14-8, 9-1) Max Dawson 12 7—34, Cam Robinson 6 3—17, Isaac Robinson 2 2—8, Alex Strayer 1 1—3, Braydon Thompson 0 1—1. TOTALS 21-14—63. Huron 13 18 15 15 — 61Willard 12 15 17 19 — 63 3-point FGs: (H) Murray 3, LaCivita 2, Hohler, Rager; (W) Dawson 3, I. Robinson 2, C. Robinson 2.