Slow start dooms Tornadoes in 65-47 loss

There was really one big thing that stuck out to Columbian coach Travis Kinn.It was how the Tornadoes played in the first quarter.And it wasn't good.Even when TC made a few runs in the second half, it wasn't enough to overcome what happened early in the game.The Tornadoes trailed by 13 points after one quarter and by 20 at halftime, falling 65-47 to Willard on Saturday in non-league action."I think they were just the tougher and more focused team from the start and that cost us," Kinn said. "They came out and kind of punched us in the mouth."The Tornadoes (7-3) were off from the start. Willard (9-1) was able to open such a significant lead with how it played in the first half. The Flashes used a 15-1 run over the final 6:32 of the first quarter to lead 17-4. Levi Schag, Jackson Beamer and Max Dawson hit 3s while Cam Robinson added a three-point play."I thought that was a focus after Thursday night - we didn't get off to a good start Thursday," Willard coach Joe Bedingfield said. "We dug ourselves a hole and we talked a lot about that Friday. It was good to see the kids bounce back from a tough league loss."Not much went wrong for Willard in the first half. Buckets by Robinson and Dawson were followed by a triple from Aiden Slone. Willard led 26-8 before committing its first turnover of the game with 3:26 to go until half.Brady Gooding hit a 3 and Isaac Garcia scored, but the Flashes led 33-13 at halftime. Willard limited Columbian to just 5-of-24 shooting in the first 16 minutes."I thought those first eight minutes really hurt us and put us behind the 8-ball tonight," Kinn said. "Credit to Willard for coming in and being ready to go. They bounced back after a tough loss against Margaretta. We weren't ready to play like we needed to be and that's on me."Columbian came out with energy in the second half. Garcia scored six points while Gooding added five points as the Tornadoes got within 36-25. But, Dawson scored and Beamer drilled a 3 to give Willard a 43-27 edge. The Flashes pushed the lead to 47-30 after three quarters."We felt like we were one or two plays away from it being nine or 10 points and really having a chance to get back into it," Kinn said. "We kept chipping away."Logan Gooding opened the fourth quarter with a triple for the Tornadoes before Garcia scored. But, Beamer tallied the rare four-point play after a 3-pointer to push the Columbian deficit back to 50-35."Jackson Beamer is a kid that you can't leave open because he is a good shooter," Bedingfield said. "He struggled the other night and that's going to happen sometimes. We still told him to keep shooting open shots. That's his role on the team."The Flashes turned to Dawson to finish off Columbian. Consecutive buckets by the Ashland-bound senior extended the lead back to 55-40. He added four more points to put the finishing touches on a 27-point outing."He's a tremendous player," said Kinn of Dawson. "He's never rattled. He's always composed and making the right decision."Cam Robinson contributed 17 points and eight rebounds while Isaac Robinson hauled in 13 rebounds.The Flashes finish off their tough three-game stretch when they host Division I Sandusky (7-1) on Tuesday."Tiffin is a good team," Bedingfield said. "Playing at their place is never easy. Our kids played well tonight."Garcia paced the Tornadoes with 17 points. Brady Gooding added 10 points and eight rebounds while Bryce Roggow contributed eight points and seven rebounds."To our guys' credit, they were challenged a little bit at halftime and I thought they responded really well with their effort and energy," Kinn said. "We're just not a good enough basketball team to play 24 out of 32 minutes." Willard 65, Columbian 47Willard 17-16-14-18 - 65Columbian 4-9-17-17 - 47Willard (9-1): 25-51 FG, 8-10 FT, 7-14 3pt (Beamer 3, Schag, I. Robinson, Max Dawson, Slone), 39 rebounds (I. Robinson 13), 12 turnovers. Scoring: Levi Schag 1 0-0 3, Jackson Beamer 3 1-1 10, Max Dawson 11 4-6 27, Isaac Robinson 2 0-0 5, Cam Robinson 7 1-1 15, Aiden Slone 1 0-0 3, Mason Dawson 0 2-2 2.Columbian (7-3): 16-52 FG, 10-16 FT, 5-20 3pt (B. Gooding 2, L. Gooding 2), 27 rebounds (B. Gooding 8), 15 turnovers. Scoring: Brady Gooding 4 0-0 10, Zach Shawberry 0 1-4 1, Bryce Roggow 2 3-4 8, Mitch Stephey 0 0-0 0, Isaac Garcia 7 3-5 17, Jack Newlove 1 3-3 5, Logan Gooding 2 0-0 6.