Tornadoes' comeback falls just short

UPPER SANDUSKY- After a loss Friday night, Upper Sandusky took care of business at home as it sent Columbian packing 68-62 in non-conference play. "A couple of things, they made a couple of tough shots. I gotta give them some credit. That (Zach) Shawberry kid…we have to do a better job at him in transition, he's tough to guard and he got going late. We had a few layups that we didn't finish that just put that game away." Rams coach Jeff Winslow said. The things that went right for Columbian: it's defensive pressure and trap. "We chipped away at it. We threw the press on, we trapped doored them a bit, which I think flustered Upper, and at one point I was proud of the way our guys were getting us back in the game," TC coach Ryan Fretz said. "We couldn't get over the hump, It's what we need to get better." The second quarter became the woe quarter for Columbian (0-2) as it was trying to fight it's way out of a hole it dug into, as it only scored seven points. The seven points came from a Bradley Willman bucket, Owen Hickey's basket, and three foul shots made by Shawberry. "This will be the second game where we have dug ourselves a hole. We don't want that to become a habit of ours," Fretz said. "With a team that is still learning to play varsity basketball and with the inconsistencies, it's two games that we haven't been consistent enough to keep the lead or win the basketball game." For the Rams (2-1), who were trailing by five points at the end of the first quarter, 16-11, the tide turned in their favor when they went on a 23-point run to play catch up, and ultimately keep them ahead to win. Almost a minute into the second quarter, Upper's Kaimen Isles scored a bucket and Brock Montgomery scored on a foul shot, closing the gap 16-14. After a trade off back and forth, it was a combination of Luke Schoenberger's 3-pointer and Josh Heilman's basket that sparked the Rams run and pulled them ahead 24-20 over the Tornadoes. The run continued on as Heilman scored a 3-pointer from the right side of the arc, Justin Heilman sunk a 3-pointer, and Montgomery's bucket went in. By the time the clock was at 1:30, the Rams were up 32-20. "In my opinion? I think we let them run, and we thought the game was over. It's the sign of a young team. We make a run and it's only the second quarter. There's still more basketball to be played, and we took a hard lesson, learning it tonight. Hopefully, we keep it in mind moving forward." Fretz said. By the half, Upper was 11 points ahead, with the scoreboard sitting at 34-23. Third quarter didn't fare much better for TC as they only scored 19 points, while Upper put up 24. They did regain some ground with Shawberry scoring a basket and Logan Gooding adding two points when space opened for him to run through, along with points from DeShawn Russell and Hickey, which brought it to a nine point gap of 40-31. Problem by then was that both teams had hit the five team foul threshold, with 4:17 left on the clock. By the time the buzzer ended, the score was 58-42, with the Rams on top. The fourth quarter however, is what reminded coach Winslow of the game from the night before. "Yes, yes it did. I turned to my assistant coach and said 'oh my god, here we go again,'" Winslow said. Within 30 seconds of it starting, Shawberry jumped up to put the ball in for two points, which at that point, he had 18 points already, and was one point behind Josh Heilman, who had 19 points. Shawberry then had a putback, and scored on a follow-up layup. Hickey shot a 3-pointer from the center at the 5:35 mark, and the score was 58-51. Foul troubles chased the Tornadoes as they hit five with 3:19 left. That didn't stop them though; Gooding scored a 3-point and Logan Smith shot a basket, and with two minutes left, the score was 59 to 56. With one last push from TC, with 22 seconds left of the ball game, Russell scored a basket that brought the teams within two points of each other, 64-62. "It was the press we threw on. Upper Sandusky, they weren't trying to score, they would take an easy bucket and working on their delay game, which allowed us to catch up," Fretz said. "We were in foul trouble so we ended up having to put guys on the bench, and we worked on the trap a little bit Friday at practice in case that happened and I thought our guys executed it pretty well. We got the chance and we got them to turnover, which allowed us to go on the run but we just couldn't get over the hump." Due to the fouls adding up, it gave the Rams four more chances to add four more points and it was Montgomery's ability to sink them in that sealed the deal for Upper. Top scorers for TC included Shawberry with 28 points, Russell with 12 points, and Gooding with 11. For Upper, top scorers were Josh Heilman with 19 points, Montgomery with 14 points, and Justin Heilman with 12 points. Upper Sandusky 68 Tiffin Columbian 62 Upper Sandusky (2-1): Justin Heilman 2-5-12, Montgomery 2-10-14, Josh Heilman 4-2-19, Schoenberger 3-2-10, Iles 4-1-9, Gibson 1-1-3, Taylor 0-1-1. TC (0-2): Hickey 2-0-7 Shawberry 8-6-28 Gooding 1-0-11 Russell 3-3-12 Smith 1-0-2 Willman 1-0-2 Upper Sandusky: 11-23-24-10-68 TC 16-7-19-20-62 Field Goals: US 16, TC 16 3 point goals: US 5 (Justin Heilman: 1, Josh Heilman: 3, Schoenberger: 1) TC 7 (Russell: 1, Gooding: 3, Shawberry: 2, Hickey: 1) Foul Shots: US 32-21 TC 14-9 Turnovers: US: 17 TC 15