Sandusky boys go 3-0 on first day of Deuce Brand

SANDUSKY — Sandusky wants the competition. The Blue Streaks looked in top form Monday, going 3-0 at the Deuce Brand Summer Classic at Cedar Point Sports Center. Sandusky defeated North Union (72-64), Old Fort (63-45) and Anthony Wayne (75-52). "We like the competition," Blue Streaks coach DeMar Moore said. "Anytime you get a chance to play against competition like this, that's a good thing, especially in the summer. We went into each game and competed our butts off to get better." Sandusky used an 8-0 run late to take down North Union. Against Old Fort, the Blue Streaks jumped out to a 13-0 lead. Facing Anthony Wayne, Sandusky gave up just 18 points in the second half after leading 42-34 at the break. "Right now, we haven't done much offensively," Moore said. "We are harping on our defense to get guys to buy in. I thought for the most part we did that. "I thought our guys really locked in defensively in that last game against a really good Anthony Wayne team. We got some turnovers that led to some pretty good offense for us." Sandusky will face Edwardsburg (Ind.) and Ontario on Tuesday. The Blue Streaks have a strong guard group that includes Cam Jones, Ta'Varieon Myers, Daishun Brown and sophomores Wade Moore and Zion Henlon. "We want them to understand the right way to play the game," Moore said. "Last year, some of them had limited roles, so this year is a little different. They have to keep their teammates involved and be our leaders." Another mpressive team Monday was Clyde. The Fliers blitzed Edgerton (81-45) and South Central (89-43). "I thought defensively we looked good," Clyde coach Jared Shetzer said. "We shared the ball. In the second half against South Central, we made it a point that they had to get five or six touches. We wanted everyone to touch the basketball. Our break looked really good today and we shot the ball incredibly well. "I thought we shared it more and more and that's only going to make us more dynamic come November." The Fliers jumped on Edgerton early and often, building a 45-17 lead at halftime. "I thought our defensive intensity and pressure got to them," Shetzer said. "The more we work on it, the better it's going to get. Our kids have really bought into playing the up and down style. We're playing a ton of kids. I think we had 14 or 15 guys on the bench today and everybody got a lot of minutes." Clyde was one of the last eight teams standing last week at Battle 4 The Bay. The Fliers face Sylvania Northview, Anthony Wayne and Olentangy on Tuesday. "To see us seeing taking steps in the right direction and finishing games is very encouraging," Shetzer said. "Especially when you're not spending that practice time in the gym together. The other thing too is our kids are spread thin. We're a small school and we share athletes. "Our kids are getting in the weight room at 6:45 a.m. and lifting until 9 a.m. and then coming out here to play two or three basketball games." St. Mary Central Catholic saw plenty of familiarity in its two games Monday. The Panthers took down Woodmore (59-49) and Old Fort (57-44), two teams that were in the Sandusky Bay Conference River Division this past season. SMCC is getting things going under first-year coach Dustin Nejedly. "We just need to clean up things defensively," Nejedly said. "The offense is going to be off right now with it being summer basketball. We have some new things going on that they're seeing offensively. The defense can never really rest. That's been our focus really the whole summer." The Panthers, who will face Northview, Bowling Green and Fostoria on Tuesday, got strong performances in both games from Cayden Wikel and Cullen Dillard. SMCC led Woodmore 36-29 at halftime and was up 30-24 at the break on Old Fort. "I thought we did a good job of keeping Woodmore off the glass," Nejedly said. "One thing we struggled with, even in the second game, was giving second chances. You don't want to give them second and third chances. Our rebounding has been big for us. Getting the guards to get down there and attack is big." Another program with a new coach is Huron. The Tigers went 0-3 on the day, falling to Ontario (54-43), North Union (39-29) and Woodmore (63-54). "Summer basketball is about getting out there and getting some experience and learning from everything," Huron coach Kyle Hammond said. "I think so far, we've had a really good summer. Today, I think there's some little things we need to do better. Like I told them, I'd rather learn it in June than maybe the first couple weeks of November." Frequently, the Tigers would get behind only to get back within striking distance. But, they didn't have enough stops to take the lead and maintain it. "We're trying to play everybody and get a look at everybody," Hammond said. "Sometimes that hurts the flow of the team because they're not playing five or six minutes but rather two or three minutes. I've always done that in the summer trying to get a good look at where kids are at." Huron is done at the Deuce Brand Summer Classic, nearing the end of summer competition. "I told them early on that there's no wrong to play basketball," Hammond said. "There's a lot of ways, but we're trying to learn the way we want to play. A lot of that takes time. They've been very receptive and working really hard. I think we're going to be right where we want when things start clicking." Monroeville also went 0-3, losing to Edwardsburg (60-35), Woodmore (70-67) and Fostoria (55-49). "The biggest thing I've been on them all summer about is getting after it," Monroeville coach Bob Fries said. "We want them to play hard and do the little things like moving on defense and crashing the offensive glass. That's been the reoccurring theme all summer and again today."