BELLVILLE — Clear Fork coach Tim Brafford doesn’t shout out plays to his team during a game.
In fact, he doesn’t shout much at all.
That’s because the veteran coach, in his second year running the Colts program, has already made his basketball beliefs well known during practice.
That strategy continues to pay dividends for Clear Fork, which edged above .500 for the first time in recent memory on Thursday night with a 62-53 win over Galion in the Colt Corral.
Clearly, it’s working as Clear Fork, which won just six games in Brafford’s first season, moved to 7-6 overall and 3-4 in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference. It avenged a 68-55 loss at Galion back on Dec. 7.
“Our practices aren’t very easy. They’re pretty intense and the kids would probably tell you that I’m a jerk, ” said Brafford, who took over a program that didn’t win a single game two years ago.
“But I know what I want out of them and I know what it’s going to take to win and I need to get them up to where we are,” said Brafford, whose team has won five of its last six games.
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“I don’t say much on the sideline. I think our kids are prepared prior to us stepping on that floor. So if I have to stand up and say, ‘Hey, we’re running this or we’re running that,’ it takes everything away from them and brings it back to me to control the game.
“I don’t want to control the game. I want them to play free and just go do what they do. I’m a big advocate. If you want to pass the ball behind your back, you can. Just make sure it goes where you want it to. If you want to shoot a hook shot, a jump shot, volleyball line, have at it. You can do it. You just better make sure that you make it,” he said with a laugh.
Nowhere was that philosophy more effective than the fourth quarter on Thursday. Clear Fork trailed 40-39 entering the period and outscored the Tigers, 23-13, in the final eight minutes.
A relaxed Colts team connected on eight of 11 from the field and six of seven at the line in the period.
Four different Clear Fork player finished in double figures, led by 19 each from 6-3 junior forward Garrett Hotz and 6-2 senior forward Beau Dornbirer. Senior guard Grant Spencer added 11 and senior guard Jaden Beachy added 10.
Brafford said his maturing team has learned to analyze defenses and think for itself on the floor.
“My other philosophy is I hate plays. If I’m going to dictate who shoots the ball and when they shoot the ball and where they’re at, if that breaks down (during a game), we don’t know what to do.
“The kids won’t know how to play basketball and make decisions. That is one of the things that I wanted to make sure we didn’t do. I want this to be that if we throw the basketball out and say ‘let’s play,’ we can play and create an offense and create a defense.
“It doesn’t take some coach on the sideline yelling, ‘We’re going to do this, we’re going to do that,'” Brafford said.
Galion coach Tyler Sanders watched his team drop its fourth straight after a four-game winning streak was snapped Jan. 4. The Tigers are now 5-6 overall and 4-4 in the league.
“You have to rebound the basketball. We have not done that. And we’ll continue to find scores that look similar to what they did tonight, if we don’t decide to rebound the basketball.
“I’m tired of yelling, ‘Rebound!’ The parents are tired of hearing me yell, ‘Rebound!’ The players are tired of hearing me say ‘Rebound!’ Until we decide to do it, the scores are going look a little bit the same,” he said.
The Colts had an 8-3 rebounding edge in the decisive fourth quarter.
“Until (the Tigers) decide that this is going to be their main priority, this will continue to be our problem.I can only do so many rebounding drills every day in practice,” Sanders said.
Three Galion players finished in double figures, led by 19 from 6-3 senior guard Cooper Kent. Senor guard Elijah Chafin had 18 and senior Steven Glew added 10.
Up next
Clear Fork is at Ontario on Saturday night in another MOAC game. The Warriors are 3-10 overall and 1-6 in the league after an 82-58 loss at River Valley on Thursday.
Galion hosts Shelby on Saturday night, also an MOAC game. The league-leading Whippets are 10-2 overall and 8-0 in the league after a 61-44 win at home Thursday night against Marion Harding.