HAZELWOOD: Willard's path to Bay title was best tribute to Haas

WILLARD — The reminders are always there. The tributes have been well-planned and executed, all striking the right tone. But as I checked in on score updates, a sense of shock and even a little satisfaction came over me on Feb. 16. It wasn't because I had any stock in the outcome, but more what the result meant. Why? Because the Willard High School boys basketball team was in the process of making the best possible tribute it could have done for its most beloved figure. And it was unscripted. The Crimson Flashes went to Castalia to face a Margaretta team it had lost to by 10 points at home six weeks earlier. Willard needed a win between the two state-ranked teams to, for all intents and purposes, share the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division championship. But the Flashes didn't just win. They were up nearly 50 points in the fourth quarter on the Polar Bears' home court. The stunning 77-39 win saw Willard shoot an unworldly 16-of-23 from the three-point line. As I looked on with amazement at each update, wondering if perhaps there was a typo in the score, my mind immediately went to one place: What a moment and tribute to the late Bob Haas. "This is always going to be Coach Haas' program," current WHS head coach Joe Bedingfield said. Haas died at age 82 on April 20, 2023. His impact on the Willard community was far-reaching, which included an incredible 441-74 record in 22 years as the boys basketball coach from 1972-93. With this season being the first at Willard following Haas' death, it was important to Bedingfield and many others to honor Haas. That idea seemed simple enough. But not as easy as you might think. After all, Willard games are already played inside Robert L. Haas Gymnasium, an honor bestowed upon the coach 14 years ago. When the old high school was torn down and the current version opened in 2015-16, the only old portion to remain standing was Haas Gymnasium. "We've honored him in different ways, but that's tough to do. He's got this building with his name on the court, and rightfully so," Bedingfield said. The team brought back a vintage look of crimson and white striped warm-up pants this season. When the Flashes hosted Ridgemont just before Christmas on Dec. 23, the Gophers had assistant coach Grant Reppart on the bench. He is the son of former Haas player and 1989 WHS graduate JT Reppart. During that game, Bedingfield had the Flashes run Haas' signature pregame routine. Every player had a basketball and went through specific ball-handling drills, including a walking and dribbling "figure eight" pattern. Before the season, the team took a photo for its schedule poster with the plaque of Haas, located outside the gym doors in a hallway surrounded by photos of other Willard greats. Those were all nice gestures by those involved, notably from Bedingfield as the head coach. Haas was on the interview committee that ultimately hired him in 2017. The first house he bought in Willard had also previously belonged to Haas. But a 48-point turnaround on the road to win a league championship? Five league titles in a six-year span? Those are quite the ways to pay tribute to such a revered person. When I got home that night from my game at Norwalk, I thought the Willard win at Margaretta was reminiscent of what some great teams under Haas had done. Take a tough loss early, then return the favor in a big way. Just when there was hope to knock off Haas and the Flashes, they almost always found a way. At least in my mind it felt like that as a young boy growing up in Norwalk. It didn't take much research in the late Carl Felver's Willard history book to find that it had happened several times, with three quite notable. In the 1985-86 season, the Flashes suffered their first loss of the season — a 71-63 loss at Bellevue in their 15th game. After eight more wins, Willard and Bellevue then met in a district title game, and it was all Flashes in the 87-58 win. The next year, Willard lost consecutive one possession games to Bellevue (62-60) and Shelby (59-58). In the rematches, Willard rolled to wins of 89-66 over the Redmen and 84-69 over the Whippets. Those two games started a 10-game win streak that ended with the Flashes just a point shy (77-76) of a trip to the state semifinals after a loss to Van Wert at the University of Toledo. In 1991-92, Willard lost at Shelby by 11 and at home to Galion by two. The Flashes later beat the Whippets by 15 and won by three at Galion en route to 14 wins in 15 games. That season ended in another one-point loss, 62-61, to Van Wert in a regional title game. The last time Willard won five league titles in a six-year span? The Flashes did that in the final six seasons of Haas' coaching career from 1988-93. In fact, Haas closed with a stretch of eight Northern Ohio League titles in 10 years. But the timing of the win at Margaretta — and just a few days later with a 77-61 win over Vermilion on Feb. 20 to officially wrap the Bay title share — took on even more personal meaning to the memory of Haas. David Hirschy Sr. worked for Willard Schools in various roles for 40 years (1959-99). That included stints as both the athletic director and superintendent. He worked at Willard closely with Haas for his entire tenure. One of his sons, Dave Hirschy, is a respected and popular assistant coach — and former WHS head coach — on Bedingfield's staff. The night before the game at Margaretta, Hirschy Sr., 86, suffered a stroke. And then the Crimson Flashes went to Castalia and played the way they did. Hirschy Sr. — who owns a piece of the original WHS gym floor with the letter "H" on it — has since returned to Willard on his road to recovery. The news came six days after his son and the Flashes wrapped up their title share at home. Prior to that clinching game against Vermilion, a moment of silence was observed for Terry King, who died on Feb. 14 at age 76. The head football coach at Willard for 15 years (1984-98), King and Haas both had success at the same time at the school. King's peak years saw the Flashes go 34-9 from 1988-91 with a pair of league championships and two playoff appearances. It marked a stretch where Willard dominated under Haas and King in both revenue sports. There was very much a mutual respect between the two coaches, who were often in lockstep with each other's success. As players took their turn cutting down a piece of the net to celebrate the league title, I asked Max Dawson about Haas. The senior standout is among a generation of basketball players in this area who knew Haas more as the longtime radio analyst for WLKR. Dawson grew up around both the boys and girls programs as a kid. He is now the third all-time leading scorer at Willard. He recently passed Nolan Robinson, one of, if not the best player Haas coached at Willard, in career points. Robinson was also a key member of that 1985-86 team that routed Bellevue in the district title game after a loss in the previous meeting. "At the beginning of the season, Coach Haas was a big talking point for us," Dawson said. "Especially for the seniors. He was always staying after games and talking to us about what he saw. "That was kind of always in the back of our minds to win another league title and continue to carry his tradition." Dawson then gestured up at the banner for league titles hanging on the wall inside Haas Gymnasium. He noted the league title was No. 30, a nice, round number. "Coach Haas helped put a ton of years up there (on the banner)," Dawson said. "We wanted to do something special for him, and it feels like we did." Like many, I miss seeing Coach Haas at the games. It really hit home not seeing him when the Flashes played at Norwalk — a 70-68 overtime game on Jan. 20 he surely would have attended and enjoyed. But thinking about him after that Margaretta win, then watching Willard's team celebrate a few nights later really emphasized his absence. He would have been congratulating the players and coaches, offering them praise — and probably an occasional critique. The tributes were all great. But ultimately, the best came in the form of a stunning night in Castalia. Haas built the Willard program into a consistent championship contender. A long line of star players under Greg Nossaman and Joe Bedingfield have done their best to keep it going. "We try to honor him in our own way," Bedingfield said. "But I don't think there is a better way to honor him than winning at Willard, and that's what we continue to try to do."