GALION (Crawford County Now) — The Tigers had plenty of peaks and valleys this season, but they experienced a thrilling 60-57 win over Upper Sandusky in a Division IV sectional final Thursday night.

The hosts sped out to a 23-6 first quarter advantage but had to hold off several furious Rams comebacks to get the win and cut down the nets in their gym.

“I was really proud of our guys; it’s been a long season,” head coach Tyler Sanders said. “They never wavered. They stayed together and stayed committed to each other.”

Galion (7-16) plays Clear Fork Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Pete Henry Gym in Mansfield in a district semifinal contest. The Colts topped Fostoria in overtime 57-54 Wednesday night.

Upper Sandusky ends the season at 8-15.

“They showed a lot of resilience after the start we had tonight. But we expected that out of Upper. Coach (Jeff) Winslow is one of the best coaches in the area and has been for a long time. Anybody who thought they wouldn’t be coming back would be naive,” Sanders said.

Parker Tinch led a balanced Tiger attack with 15 points, 4 rebounds, a steal and 2 assists. He got plenty of help from Dominic Capretta with 12 points and 9 boards and Christian Bare with 12, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots.

Colton Flynn chipped in 10 points and Jameson Glew recorded 4 steals.

Bare said his team was prepared.

“All week coach preached defense and rebounding. I feel like a few possessions we didn’t get it done, and then we did,” the 6-foot-3 senior said.

“I was trying to play good defense and keep the team hyped and win the game. They used a lot of energy to come back, and we had to come out in the second half and punch ’em.”

The Rams cut the lead to 31-26 at halftime as Cam Smith and Ashton Clark hit shots to offset baskets by Capretta and a 3 from the wing from Flynn.

“We knew we were going to get punched back and it was how much were we able to withstand. We got on them early and made them play from behind,” Sanders said.

“Credit to their kids. They hit some really unbelievable shots tonight.”

Winslow knew the large deficit would be tough to overcome.

“You go down by 20 early that’s tough. Our kids have had great character all year. They stayed the course and at one point took the lead,” he said.

A Heilman 3-pointer put US on top 36-35 briefly in the third quarter. Flynn countered with a 3 of his own before Heilman knotted the game at 40.

Capretta’s 3-ball and a pair of Glew foul shots made it 45-40 Galion after the third quarter.

That set the stage for a wild fourth period.

Clark and Bare traded 3-point shots as Galion led by 3. Tinch pushed it to a 5-point margin at the 4:15 mark with a basket.

The Rams pulled to within 3 again at 57-54. A Heilman 3 from the top of the key cut the lead to 60-57 before a corner 3 from Upper was blocked by Bare to end the game.

“They hit shots. Dominic had a nice game for them; he gives them an inside-outside thing. The Tinch kid played well too,” Winslow said.

Heilman and Clark had 17 points each for the Rams. Luke Schoenberger added 12 and 5 rebounds, while Jacob Romich had 5 assists.

“I’m just happy because they come to work. We have been off for 2 weeks,” Sanders said.

“They really buckled down and that says a lot about their character.”

The Colts won a pair of regular season games, 45-36 and 47-40.

“Both teams are 1-0. They got our number the first two times, and hopefully we fight back and will find a way to get it done,” Sanders said.

Heilman and Wyatt Taylor wore the Upper Sandusky uniform for the final time.

“I can’t fault the effort. We got a bunch of young guys who were a little nervous to start out,” Winslow said.

“It was uncharacteristic with the turnovers. Usually we only average about 9 a game. Once they settled down, we started doing some good things.”

Box score

Upper Sandusky      6     20      14      17 — 57

Galion                       23       8      14      15 — 60

Upper Sandusky (8-15): Shots 24-44; 3-pt. shots 8-18 (Ashton Clark 5, Josh Heilman 3); Free throws 1-9; Rebounds 24 (Luke Schoenberger 5, Caleb Arter 5); Turnovers 14. Scoring: Ashton Clark 6 0 17, Ethan Smith 3 0 6, Caleb Arter 2 0 4, Josh Heilman 7 0 17, Matt Schoenberger 0 1 1, Luke Schoenberger 6 0 12.

Galion (7-16): Shots 22-49; 3-pt. shots 9-23 (Parker Tinch 3, Colton Flynn 2, Cam Smith 2, Dominic Capretta, Christian Bare); Free throws 7-9; Rebounds 23 (Dominic Capretta 9); Turnovers 10. Scoring: Jameson Glew 1 3 5, Dominic Capretta 4 3 12, Colton Flynn 4 0 10, Parker Tinch 6 0 15, Cam Smith 2 0 6, Christian Bare 5 1 12.