'It has to be rock bottom'

NORWALK — The message after was clear."It has to be rock bottom," Columbian boys basketball head coach Travis Kinn said. "It has to be."After the Tornadoes were edged by Bellevue on Jan. 7 to suffer their first SBC Lake loss of the season, they were tasked with playing Tuesday in Norwalk against a Truckers team that has certainly given them tough games in recent years.And when standout Logan Beaston made a 3-pointer with 7:47 left in the game to open the fourth quarter and cut his team's deficit to 38-34, it appeared to be headed that way again.Except the Tornadoes never scored again, and the Truckers closed out the upset in a 14-0 scoring run in a 52-34 win at Norwalk High School.The Tornadoes (9-3, 5-2) were held to eight points in the second half, including not scoring in the fourth quarter after the initial 13 seconds. They now trail Sandusky (10-1, 6-1) by one game in the league standings and are tied with Bellevue (8-3, 5-2).And that was the good news from Tuesday's loss."We're at two losses in the league and still play Bellevue and Sandusky once, so theoretically we still control our own destiny in that aspect," Kinn said. "This can either fester and become a bigger problem than it is, or it can be rock bottom. "We can bounce back and start playing better basketball together and still accomplish what we want to achieve."Into the third quarter, it appeared the two teams were again going to have another finish down to the wire.In four straight seasons, the Truckers and Tornadoes have played a game that came down to the final possession. That included a fourth meeting in six tries back on Dec. 2 when the Tornadoes held on for a 50-49 win in Tiffin.But instead, Norwalk closed out Columbian on a 22-5 scoring run over the final 14-plus minutes.The Tornadoes rallied from 15-6 down to take a 21-19 lead at the 4:14 mark of the second quarter on a Bryce Roggow basket off a nice assist from Beaston.Then, the two teams traded the lead on six consecutive possessions in the second quarter, then finally Tiffin tied it on a foul shot by Brady Gooding with 4.6 seconds left for a 26-26 deadlock.The game was still trending back-and-forth when Beaston made an easy 3 for a 30-29 deficit at the 6:35 mark of the third quarter.It was then, the Truckers flipped the game over.Ben Rothhaar and senior Bray Malson scored on consecutive baskets for a 34-29 lead at the 4:43 mark of the third. Malson then scored consecutive baskets around empty Tornado possessions to give the Truckers a 38-31 lead with 44.3 seconds left in the quarter.Beaston opened the fourth quarter with a 3 and a 38-34 deficit, and it proved to be Columbian's final basket. From there, the Truckers found an array of players to score — mainly in transition or on rebound putbacks. That included Rothhaar, Coe, Braedyn Demuth and Mason Gamble — who scored the game's final four points off layups in transition.While the offense was balanced, the story of the game was Norwalk's defense. Beaston just about got his average, scoring 19. He came in averaging 20.2. But Columbian as a team entered the game averaging 58 points per game."I think we had a pretty good game plan against them," Norwalk head coach Adam Kreischer said. "In the first half, we kept the score down, but they were able to score still because we didn't execute on defending certain guys. "In the second half, we really did a much better job and didn't give up or lose track of any kids for easy baskets."For Norwalk, Gamble finished with 16 points and has scored 33 in his last two games. Rothhaar had 15 points and eight rebounds, and Demuth scored nine points with five rebounds and three assists.Coe added six assists, but the highlight was Malson. Returning to basketball for the first time since his freshman season, the senior had eight points and 16 rebounds in the win.For Columbian, Beaston finished with 19 of his team's 34 points. Bryce Roggow added seven points, but three other players combined for just eight points."Eight points in the second half is not going to win you many basketball games," Kinn said. "We have to make shots when we're open, we have to be aggressive … we have to believe in each other and have guys who are not only able, but willing to shoot the basketball."Norwalk is back in action this Friday in league play when it visits Clyde (1-11, 0-6). The Tornadoes look to get back in the win column on Saturday vs. Fostoria (3-6) in non-league play before a huge rematch at Sandusky on Jan. 20."I thought we were really timid tonight," Kinn said. "We didn't have a lot of confidence in ourselves and it showed. I think it led to some poor shooting as well."