Willard tops Vermilion to keep pace in Bay

WILLARD — Sometimes division matchups can bring out the hostility between friendly rivals. In a game that saw an ejection and two technicals alone in the first half, Willard overcame that hectic couple of minutes en route to a 59-45 victory over Vermilion in Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division play Friday inside Robert L. Haas Gymnasium. Willard (14-2, 7-1 SBC Bay) remained one game behind first-place Margaretta (15-2, 8-0) in the league standings. "(Brock) Meyers came out and hit those two threes, then the altercation," Willard coach Joe Bedingfield said. "I told the guys just to play Willard basketball. These guys have played at Eastern Ohio during the summer, so they have played with no refs and just get up and move on to the next play." In the first quarter, Meyers started the game with back-to-back 3s to give Vermilion a 6-0 lead, but after that, Willard went on a 24-3 burst the rest of the quarter. The Flashes' onslaught came from beyond the three-point line as they canned six triples. In the quarter, Jaxson Hall and Jacob Beamer connected on four of the six threes. "Jacob had a big game tonight," Bedingfield said. "He is starting to feel more comfortable in his role, and the more players that are ready to play crucial minutes is important come tournament time." In the second quarter, Willard extended their first quarter run to 31-3 to extend the lead to 31-9 before Jerimiah Lopez connected on back-to-back triples to stop the bleeding momentarily. After that, both teams traded baskets the rest of the half as the Flashes entered halftime up 41-21. In the second half, Vermilion showed some fight, winning the 16 minutes of play 24-18 behind a big half from Adam Gerber, who connected on four triples. In the fourth quarter, the Sailors went on an 11-0 run to cut the third-quarter deficit from 54-31 to 54-42 at the 5:34 mark and had a chance to cut it to single digits, but a Noah Penton missed three led to a layup from Hall and-one on the other end. "Any chance you are 14-2, there is no time to be upset about that," Bedingfield said. "These guys just beat a league opponent by double figures. The Sailors (7-9, 2-6) were paced by Adam Gerber with 15 points and Jerimiah Lopez with 10 points. For the Flashes, they were led by Hall with 16 points, while three other players reached double figures. Mason Dawson and JJ Bedingfield both had 11 points while Jacob Beamer added in 10. Vermilion will host Columbia on Wednesday before traveling to Margaretta next Friday. After the victory, the Flashes play at Clyde on Saturday in non-league play. "We will continue to do what we have been doing," Bedingfield said. "Going into a hostile environment, we will have to keep our composure and keep playing our basketball." VERMILION 7-9 (2-6) Jerimiah Lopez 3 1-2 10, 2 0-0 6, Adam Gerber 5 0-0 15, Mason Cooper 3 0-2 8, Luke Habermehl 2 0-2 4, Drake Hooks 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 16 3-6 45. WILLARD 14-2 (7-1) Kaleb Weaver 1 5-6 7, Jaxson Hall 6 2-2 16, Jacob Beamer 3 1-2 10, Jonas Tackett 1 0-0 2, Mason Dawson 5 0-2 11, JJ Bedingfield 3 3-3 11, Gage Stover 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 20 11-15 59 Vermilion 9 12 10 14 — 45 Willard 24 17 13 5 — 59 Three-point goals: Willard 8 (Beamer 3, Bedingfield 2, Hall 2, Dawson); Vermilion 10 (Gerber 5, Lopez 3, Meyers 2)