WILLARD– Tradition is tradition, and a rival is a rival. According to Shelby Head Basketball Coach Troy Schwemley, the overtime thriller that was played in front of an electric crowd at Robert L. Haas Gymnasium in Willard High School was, “just a typical Shelby Willard basketball game.”
The Shelby student section came piling in with about five minutes until tip off as they kept the annual tradition of “walking to Willard” alive. Armed in snowsuits and multiple layers, the students brought in some electricity that seemed to spark the Whippets.
The visiting Whippets jumped out to a quick 16-9 lead by the end of the first intermission and for three quarters in thanks to senior captain Tristan Kehers’ 21 points and 15 rebounds.
“We went four around one with Tristan down on the post and he made some great plays for us. He is the leader of our team, the guys trust him and want to get him the ball. Crunch time, you have to find ways to get your senior captain the ball. I’m glad the other guys stepped up and made shots,” said Coach Schwemley.
The other guys were able to connect on nine three point shots including five from sharpshooting junior Lucas Bihl and two a piece by freshman Davey Hipp and sophomore Brandon Schneider. In spite of a lead that grew to as much as 17 and a fourth quarter lead of 10, the Willard Flashes did not seem phased.
The big three of junior guard Carson Ebert, sophomore Connor Robinson, and junior big man Jordan Moore helped the Flashed quickly eliminate the 10 point lead and build a four point lead with two minutes left in the game. The Willard Flashes did not lead the entire game until the 2:20 mark in the fourth quarter.
That was when the Whippets turned to Kehres. With time running out and his team down two, Kehres broke free on the block, gathered a perfect pass, and finished in traffic to tie the game 61 with three ticks left on the clock. The Flashes quickly inbounded the ball to Ebert who sprinted down the court and heaved up desperation three that hit off of the back iron and sent the game into overtime.
“When it got into overtime, I felt like we were lucky to get it there. The feeling went from oh we have this game won to a complete reversal. The momentum switched when we were able to force overtime,” Schwemley said.
He was right. After his team lost all of the momentum possible, they were able to force overtime and swing momentum to the Whippets. And yet again, Shelby turned to Kehres. He posted seven of his teams nine overtime points while his teammates help the Flashes to just two points in the overtime period and the Whippets pulled out a thrilling upset over their rival, 70-63.
Schwemley added, “It’s a little sweeter winning at Willard in a rival game. It helps you forget about the past. The team starts to focus on let’s just win one game. Throw out the records. That is the mentality that we have to take into the tournament. We were 5-5 and we lost 6 of our last 7 so we desperately needed this win.”
For the Willard Flashes, super sophomore Robinson had a career night with 21 points to lead the team. Ebert added 19 points an a pair of assists. Williard also got a double double out of Moore who had 13 points and 14 rebounds, 7 of them on the offensive end. Willard falls to 11-8 on the year and 4-7 in the Northern Ohio League. The Flashes will look to rebound as they travel to Madison tomorrow night.
The Whippets were paced by Kerhres 21 points and 15 rebounds, which gave him a huge double double. But it was sophomore Bihl who led all scorers with 22 points. The Whippets connected on 9 of 17 three-point shots for a 53% shooting from beyond the arc. Shelby improves to 7-12 and 3-8 in the Northern Ohio League. They will host Kenton tomorrow night.
The Whippets took home the Junior Varsity victory 55-38. Sophomore Trevor Young had 11 points; junior Alex Kurtzman added 10 for the Whippets. Junior Keaton Moore had 11 points, and sophomore Chandler Gibson chipped in with eight for the Flashes.
