Sandusky edges TC 66-63

SANDUSKY — Columbian had Sandusky on the ropes, but the Tornadoes couldn't land the knockout punch.Instead, the two-time defending SBC Lake Division champions rallied for a 66-63 win on Saturday night.The victory pushed the Blue Streaks (9-1, 4-0) alone into first ahead of Columbian (8-4, 3-1)."I know how much those guys wanted it for each other," Columbian coach Travis Kinn said. "We've just got to make one more play down the stretch. Props to Sandusky."Columbian trailed by six at halftime, but outscored Sandusky 20-11 in the third quarter.Mitch Stephey had two big buckets in the surge. Bryce Roggow, Isaac Garcia and Zach Shawberry were effective attacking the basket."Our guys were really determined," Kinn said. "... It's impossible to simulate Sandusky's pressure. It wears on you. We shored up the rebounding in the second half."It was tied 45-45 with 4.3 seconds to play in the third and Columbian needing to go the length of the court when Roggow called timeout.The Tornadoes drew up a great play, with the initial pass going to Brady Gooding before an advance pass to the left corner to Logan Gooding, who drilled the triple for the lead."We had that in our back pocket that we've ran before," Kinn said. "The guys executed it to perfection. Their process, their approach leading up to this week's game was outstanding, couldn't have been any better."Columbian pushed the lead to five points on multiple occasions in the fourth quarter.The last such lead was 63-58, but Sandusky scored the game's final eight points.Jason Henlon made two foul shots, then a floater to pull within one.The junior point guard earned another trip to the line, where he missed both but followed up his own errant attempt with an offensive rebound and putback."We were losing, so I had to go make a play," Henlon said. "I didn't make that many plays. I was kind of off, but I had to make a play when it counted."Sandusky added two final foul shots off a steal by Amir Aaron, and Columbian's final two offensive trips came up empty."I left them hanging out to dry tonight and lost the game for us," Kinn said. "I'm sick to my stomach... (with) not calling a timeout on the run to end the game."The Tornadoes were forced to head to the postgame locker room and regroup.They had proven to themselves, a squad almost entirely stepping into bigger roles, that they could play with the Blue Streaks in their building. The loss stings, but the confidence they gain from that could propel them toward an intriguing rematch."I've got a lot of confidence in our guys," Kinn said. COLUMBIAN: Brady Gooding 7 1 16; Zach Shawberry 3 1 7; Bryce Roggow 6 2 15; Mitch Stephey 2 2 7; Logan Gooding 1 2 5; Isaac Garcia 5 1 11. TOTALS 24 9 63SANDUSKY: Azarieon Arrington 3 0 7; Jason Henlon 7 4 20; Amir Aaron 3 2 8; Aa'Zoriyon Bonner 1 3 5; Easton Young 1 0 3; Kobe Brown 7 1 16; Willie Wilson 2 0 5; Anthony Redding 1 0 2. TOTALS 25 10 66Tiffin 8 20 20 15 — 63 Sandusky 14 20 11 21 — 663-point goals — Tiffin 4 (B. Gooding 1, Roggow 1, Stephy 1, L. Gooding 1); Sandusky 6 (Henlon 2, Arrington 1, Brown 1, Young 1, Wilson 1)