MANSFIELD — Upper Sandusky was awarded the No. 1 seed in the Division II Mansfield district for its regular season success.
Before the tournament started, however, the Rams lost two key players for disciplinary reasons. Some thought they would be vulnerable as a result.
In two games, so far so good.
Upper Sandusky jumped out to an 11-point halftime lead over Ontario, then weathered a fourth quarter run by the Warriors to win, 54-45, in the district semifinal at Madison Middle School.
“We just didn’t make shots,” Ontario coach Joe Balogh said. “Give Upper Sandusky credit for how they defended, but I think we missed a lot of open shots also. We had several shots that went in and kind of came back out.”
The Warriors were an abysmal six of 23 from the field at halftime and just 10 of 39 after three quarters. Ontario (17-7) amazingly attempted no free throws for the game.
“They didn’t shoot it well and I thought we had a lot to do with that, maybe not everything,” Upper Sandusky coach Jeff Winslow said. “But when you defend well and make them take tough shots, then that open one, the question’s in their mind now. You can’t let those kids feel good about themselves shooting the ball. I thought it was key, early on, not to let them get going.”
The Rams, on the other hand, did shoot the ball well, hitting 10 of 20 shots in the first half including a sequence where they scored on three straight possessions — culminated by a 3-point shot by Cade Adams — which resulted in a 7-0 run at the end of the second quarter and gave Upper Sandusky (23-1) a 26-15 halftime lead.
“I thought the last minute of the first half was kind of crucial.” Balogh said. “(Adams) hit that 3 at the buzzer and we missed a layup and they got a run-out layup. So, it went from six to 11 (points) and that really hurt us.”
Upper Sandusky maintained their position in the third quarter, adding a point to the advantage, to lead 37-25 by period’s end.
The Warriors started to find the shooting range in the final eight minutes, connecting on eight of 18 from the field — including four 3s — and were able to pull within four, at 44-40, on a 3 by Griffin Shaver.
“We did a good job (defensively),” Winslow said. “If they went on a little 6-0, 5-0, 4-0 run, we’d come back and match it and not let them get that extended run. We had that one where they cut it to four. Other than that, we just kept the course and withstood that run and made enough plays in the end to win the game.”
Besides their defense, the Rams used a 34-24 edge on the boards to keep the Warriors at bay.
“The big thing that Upper did so well is they limited us to one shot,” Balogh said. “We had one offensive rebound in the first half. If you’re going to miss shots, you’ve got to be able to get second chance opportunities. We just weren’t able to do that.”
Upper Sandusky’s Evan Young was a thorn in the side of Ontario as well. Young led the Rams with 22 points, while running mate and fellow senior, Cameron McCreary had 11 points and seven rebounds.
“He’s done that all year in big games or whatever,” Winslow said of Young. “He’s just a really good player. It’s nice to have a guy like that on your side. When we need a bucket, he knows he can get a bucket in many different ways and that’s what makes him tough.”
Shaver led Ontario with 15 points and Kolten Kurtz added 14, with four 3s, and pulled down six boards.
“To end the year 17-7, I told the kids, we’re disappointed with the loss, but you can’t be disappointed with the season,” Balogh said. “When you end a season, it hurts, especially when you’ve got good kids and we have good kids.”
“We went on that 7-0 run and made that last-second shot with Cade Adams (to end the first half),” Winslow said. “He’s a gym rat, man, that’s all he does is shoot, shoot, shoot. That was the biggest part of the game.”
Upper Sandusky will now face No. 4 seed Norwalk in the district final game back at Madison Middle School Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
Box score
Ontario 10 5 10 20 — 45
Upper Sandusky 12 14 11 17 — 54
Ontario (17-7): Shots 18-57; 3-pt. shots 9-38 (Kolten Kurtz 4, Griffin Shaver 3, Shaquan Coburn, Amil Upchurch); Free throws 0-0; Rebounds 24 (Kolten Kurtz 6); Turnovers 6. Scoring: Shaquan Coburn 2 0 5, Kolten Kurtz 5 0 14, Nolan Payne 3 0 6, Griffin Shaver 6 0 15, Amil Upchurch 2 0 5.
Upper Sandusky (23-1): Shots 19-35; 3-pt. shots 6-13 (Evan Young 3, Cade Adams 2, Cameron McCreary); Free throws 10-15; Rebounds 28 (Gavin Carey 6); Turnovers 12. Scoring: Cameron McCreary 3 2 11, Brett Montgomery 0 2 2, Cade Adams 2 0 6, Evan Young 8 3 22, Trenton Beamer 2 0 4, Gavin Carey 3 3 9.