BELLVILLE — Trey Williams is Hillsdale’s leading scorer. And the 6-foot-1 junior knocked in 20 points Tuesday night.
But the Falcons relied on the team’s only two seniors in the fourth quarter to pull away from Clear Fork, 72-62, in a non-league boys basketball game.
Crunch time is when senior point guard Andrew Wolf and senior center Ben Rogers were at their best, combining for 15 of Hillsdale’s 22 points in the final period as the Falcons broke open a 50-44, third-quarter lead.
The 6-6, 220-pound Rogers finished with a team-high 23 points and 20 rebounds. Wolf had 18 points, eight of which came in the fourth quarter.
“They stepped up as they should step up,” Hillsdale coach Chris Shenberger said. “We expect a lot of leadership out of them. But we got good contributions from multiple players tonight, which is something we haven’t seen a lot this year.”
Hillsdale, the most western member of the Wayne County Athletic League, improved to 9-11 with the win. Clear Fork, nearing the end of its tenure in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, fell to 5-14 with the loss.
FAST FOURTH: Rogers had six and Wolf five in the first four minutes of the final period as the Falcons built a 12-point edge with 4:17 left to play.
The Colts cut the margin to 63-57 with 1:15 remaining, but got no closer.
“We knew going in they had three good scorers,” Clear Fork coach Steve Bechtel said. “We also knew (Rogers) created a mismatch for us. He is big and solid has excellent footwork around the basket.”
Chance Barnett kept the Colts in the game, finishing with a game-high 27 points — 17 of which came in the second half.
The 6-3 junior was the only Clear Fork player in double figures as freshman Brennan South had eight, senior Chase Endicott had seven and senior Justice Rebman had six.
“Chance was eight of 12 in two-point shots and shot about 50 percent overall,” Bechtel said. “He does a great job of getting his own shot and the other guys were setting screens and helping him get open tonight.
“I just wish (as a team) we shot the ball better tonight. We had lots of wide-open looks and just didn’t hit them,” Bechtel said.
Clear Fork was just 12 of 31 from the field in the second half, compared to 12 of 21 for Hillsdale. The Falcons were also 12 of 16 from the line in the second half. Hillsdale had a big 21-10 rebounding edge in the second half.
TOURNAMENT READY: Both coaches said they believe their teams are nearly ready for the tournament.
Hillsdale is the No. 6 seed in the 12-team Division IV Barberton district. The Falcons travel to Mogadore to take on the No. 3 seed Wildcats on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m.
“We played well tonight. This is kind of how I envisioned we would play all season,” Shenberger said. “This win tonight was very satisfying to me. We did everything we had to do and we didn’t panic. We kept our poise and we finished. We needed a win right now.”
Clear Fork is the No. 6 seed in the 10-team Division III Norwalk district. The Colts play No. 9 seed Galion in a game at Shelby on March 1 at 7 p.m.
“I think our arrow is pointing up,” Bechtel said. “All the records are gone when the tournament starts and you get to start over. We are playing Galion and both schools have great traditions.
“Neither of us have had the kind of season you dream of having, but it’s a fresh start in the tournament,” he said.
UP NEXT: Both teams have regular season games remaining before the postseason.
Hillsdale has a league game at Doylestown Chippewa on Friday and then plays at Mapleton on Tuesday.
Clear Fork has an OCC game at West Holmes on Friday and another league game at Lexington on Feb. 24.
