Tigers turn back Polar Bears for much-needed win

HURON — Huron finally got back on the basketball court, and it did the team a world of good. The Tigers found their basketball legs Thursday night, holding off Margaretta for the first three quarters and then tacking on a 25-14 spurt over the final eight minutes in their 62-48 Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division victory. "We needed that win," said Huron coach Bobby James. "We needed to get back in the swing of things and I couldn't be prouder of these guys." The Tigers (5-4, 3-3 SBC Bay) lost more than a month to COVID protocols, finally returning to action with a loss last Friday to Port Clinton. They got in five days of practice in between and came out ready against the Polar Bears. "They were fired up and we didn't have much life," said Margaretta coach Steve Keller Jr. "Unfortunately, we couldn't get over that hump, but our guys will bounce back." Junior Jake Leibacher, fresh off his school-record 45-point outburst last Friday, scored the first eight points to give the Bears an 8-4 lead. Huron battled back with back-to-back treys from Cole Parker and Dylan Hohler and took a 12-8 lead into the second quarter. Margaretta (10-6, 4-3) was able to knot the score at 15-15 and took a 22-21 lead with 30 seconds left in the half on a bucket and a free throw from Cameron Sosa, but Marc Hurst broke free for a layup just before the buzzer to put the Tigers up 23-21 at halftime. Huron stretched its lead to 29-22 in the first three minutes of the second half, but Leibacher scored six points during an 8-2 Margaretta spurt to cut the deficit to 31-30 with 2:06 remaining. The Tigers finished the quarter on a 6-2 run, including a pair of free throws with 0.6 seconds left from Tyler Adams to open up a 37-32 edge into the fourth. Adams scored 10 more points in the final period and Jake Lamb got a slam dunk with 41 seconds left to play to put the exclamation mark on the Huron victory. "Tyler did one heck of a job coming off the bench," James said. "He sealed the deal for us with some huge shots. He played just great. He's been coming on and coming on and coming on, and then we went in to quarantine. For him to come out and have a huge game was just great to see." Adams finished with 12 points while Lamb led the Tigers with 17 points and seven rebounds. Hohler chipped in a double-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. "I didn't think we really made the extra pass in the first half, but we made them in the second and got the open looks we needed," James said. "It was just one heck of a job by all of the guys." Leibacher converted 11 of 14 from the field to finish with a game-high 26, while Palomo added 10 points. "We just tried to get the ball out of his hands as much as we could and make him work for everything he got as much as we could," James said of Leibacher. "I have to give credit to Luke Rager and Marc Hurst. I kept trying to give them breaks, but they just busted their butts on him and worked hard." Huron, which recorded its first win since Dec. 23, also owned a 24-18 edge on the boards. "They've got good athletes, they always do," Keller said. "They played well. I wish we would have come with a little more fight and better execution, but we didn't do that, so we'll just go back to the basics and get better." MARGARETTA (10-6, 4-3) Cameron Sosa 1 0-0 3, Nathan Schaefer 1 3-3 5, Spencer Michel 0 1-2 1, Jake Leibacher 11 2-2 26, Ben Palomo 5 0-4 10. TOTALS 18 6-11 48 HURON (5-4, 3-3) Jacob Lamb 6 4-5 17, Marc Hurst 1 0-0 2, Dylan Hohler 6 0-0 14, Cole Parker 4 0-0 10, Tait Fischer 2 0-0 4, Tyler Adams 3 4-5 12, Luke Rager 1 1-2 3. TOTALS 19 9-12 62 Margaretta 8 14 10 14 — 48Huron 12 11 14 25 — 62 Three-point goals — Margaretta 3 (Sosa 1, Leibacher 2); Huron 7 (Lamb 1, Hohler 2, Adams 2, Parker 2)