Tornadoes fend off pesky Pirates

SANDUSKY — A 20-point halftime lead looked safe, but it wasn't.Perkins trailed Columbian 44-24 at halftime before battling back to tie the game in the fourth quarter.But the Pirates couldn't take the lead and the Tornadoes held on for a 71-68 SBC Lake Division win Thursday."We came out flat, and when you get down by 20 at halftime it takes a lot of energy to come back," Perkins coach Eric Kochendoerfer said. "I couldn't have been prouder with what I saw in the second half. The fight, the grit, the battle that we showed was absolutely incredible."But when you exert that much energy to come back, that's when free throws and layups start coming up short."The Pirates tied the game at 59-59 when Joey Diederich hit a 3-pointer off a Kash Koch assist with 4:52 to play.Koch's drive and old-school three-point play tied it at 64-64 with 3:49 to go.Columbian's Logan Gooding scored on a backdoor cut (assist from Zach Shawberry) to give the visitors a 68-65 lead with 2 minutes to play."Going into the locker room with a 20-point lead, you're happy with it, but against a freight train like Perkins you're never satisfied," TC coach Ryan Fretz said. "They got a lot of shooters and we weren't best at closing out in the third quarter."They knocked down some shots. We took a number of punches, but we were resilient."Columbian improved to 7-9 overall and 3-3 in the Lake while Perkins fell to 9-6, 3-3. The two teams meet again next Wednesday in Tiffin.The Tornadoes connected on 29 percent of their 3-point attempts in their first 15 games. In the first half Thursday, they were an incredible 8 for 11 from long range."We've ramped up our shooting drills in practice and made them more game-like," Fretz said. "We have shooters, and when guys who were in slumps knock down shots and guys who are our top shooters knock down shots, it's fun to watch — and easy to coach."Columbian scored 29 points in the second quarter and 44 in the first half with leading scorer Shawberry contributing just two points — those came on a fastbreak layup just before the halftime buzzer. That basket capped a 16-0 Columbian run.Shawberry heated up in the second half and finished with 15 points, six in the fourth quarter to help hold off the Pirates.Gooding led the way with 19 points and DaShawn Russell finished with 11. Russell hit two early 3s as Columbian made its first six shots from the field. TC was 17 for 23 shooting in the first half."We had some guys who were in some slumps who really knocked it down from outside and our confidence built from there," Fretz said. "Logan played a well-balanced game on both ends of the floor. He ran our offense and called his number when he knew it would work. He shared the ball as well."A Mitch Stephey basket gave Columbian a 46-26 lead with 6:30 left in the third quarter, but Perkins went on an 11-0 run that included two Koch 3s and a Sam Schweinfurth 3.The Pirates scored 25 points in the third quarter and trailed just 53-49 headed to the fourth.Tim Boals led Perkins with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Koch finished with 12 points while Schweinfurth and Diederich added 11. Diederich played most of the game in foul trouble.Levi Groot was the fifth Pirate to hit double figures with 10 points."We had a few empty possessions (late) where we had some really good looks," Kochendoerfer said. "The good news is we showed what we're capable of in the second half. It was a good effort, but we need to be consistent."Columbian finished 26 for 45 from the field and struck from deep and on a few back-door cuts."We knew at certain times the back door would be there," Fretz said. "We tried it the first play of the game and didn't get it. As our lead built and their pressure built, we went to it a couple times and that's four points. That makes a big difference in a game you win by three."It establishes a pick-and-roll game for us with outside shooters, back cuts and flex cuts. This team has really grown this year. They're learning and focused in practice. It's fun to coach this group." COLUMBIAN (7-9, 3-3)Zach Shawberry 4 6-8 15, Mitch Stephen 3 0-2 7, Logan Gooding 8 0-0 19, Dashawn Russell 3 2-4 11, Bradley Willman 2 0-0 4, Owen Hickey 3 0-0 8, Logan Smith 3 1-1 7. TOTALS 26 9-15 71PERKINS (9-6, 3-3)Sam Schweinfurth 4 0-0 11, Kash Koch 4 2-3 12, Joey Diederich 4 2-2 11, Tim Boals 6 2-3 14, Levi Groot 4 1-2 10, Kellen Glass 1 0-0 2, Kaden Legando 2 0-0 4, Vinny Strohl 1 1-3 4. TOTALS 26 8-13 68Columbian 15 29 9 18 — 71Perkins 11 13 25 19 — 68Three-point goals: Columbian 10 (Gooding 3, Russell 3, Hickey 2, Shawberry, Stephey); Perkins 8 (Schweinfurth 3, Koch 2, Diederich, Groot, Strohl)