PREP ROUNDUP: Ashland's 3-pointers too much for Truckers

ASHLAND — The Truckers got the early surprise lead. But the Norwalk boys basketball team was unable to maintain its three-point halftime lead in Friday's season opener at Ashland. The Arrows were a blistering 12-of-24 from the three-point line, which helped them outscore Norwalk by a 46-25 margin in the second half of a 75-57 victory. "It's rather simplistic — they just started making threes," Norwalk head coach Steve Gray said of the Arrows. "They were 12 of 20 from back there until missing their last few." Gray said the goal entering the game was to limit Ashland's top scorers — Luke Denbow and Grayson Steuery. While Denbow got 24 points to lead the Arrows, the Truckers limited Steury to eight. However, Kamden Mowry, Jack Swaisgood and Keslar Bates each connected on three 3s each for the Arrows, who scored 23 points in each the third and fourth quarters. "We have to approach a little harder in terms of non-shooters," Gray said. "We still need to get out and get a hand in their face. But you know, no matter who we played, I would bet money right now Ashland couldn't make 60 percent of their threes in a shooting drill in an empty gym. "They simply shot the ball incredibly well, and give them credit," he added. "We went in and executed, but unfortunately some kids we didn't expect to hurt us did." Ian Minor finished with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists to pace Norwalk. Daniel Traczek added nine points and five rebounds, while Ashton Coe had eight points and seven assists. Also for Norwalk, Caleb Sommers scored eight points and Parker Evans grabbed 13 rebounds. "I was really happy with the kids and how they competed and played hard," Gray said. "We only had four turnovers in the first half. I think what was great tonight was we saw can run our sets, and Ashton and Ian at the point did a great job. "Everyone played hard and competed, but again, Ashland went on a run with four threes in a row and we had a couple turnovers and the game got away from us real fast," Gray added. "We have to understand the importance of every possession and make sure we do a better job of getting people to the correct spot when they are pressing us." It gets no easier next week for the Truckers in their home opener, as they host SBC Lake favorite Tiffin Columbian on Friday. NORWALK Mason Gamble 1-0—2; Daniel Traczek 4-0—9; Ian Minor 8-2—21; Caleb Sommers 4-0—8; Ashton Coe 1-6— 8; Parker Evans 1-0—2; Ben Rothhaar 2-0—4; Eli Obringer 1-1—3. TOTALS 22-9—57 ASHLAND Kamden Mowry 3-0—9; Luke Denbow 6-11—24; Jack Swaisgood 3-0—9; Keslar Bates 4-0—11; Grayson Steury 3-0—8; Luke Jurjevic 6-2—14. TOTALS 25-13—75 Norwalk 15 17 13 12 — 57Ashland 17 12 23 23 — 75 Three-point goals: (N) Minor 3, Traczek; (A) Mowry 3, Swaisgood 3, Bates 3, Steury 2, Denbow. Willard 66, Upper Sandusky 54 UPPER SANDUSKY — Leading by four entering the final eight minutes, the Crimson Flashes outscored the Rams by a 22-14 margin in the fourth quarter to come away with the season-opening road win. Max Dawson scored a career-high 26 points for Willard, while Cam Robinson scored 11, Cole Weiss added nine and Trey Paxton scored eight. WILLARD Carson Wiers 1-0—2; Trey Paxton 2-3—8; Cole Weiss 4-1—9; Max Dawson 10-4—26; Aiden Slone 2-2—7; Cam Robinson 5-0—11; Isaac Robinson 1-0—3. TOTALS 25-10—66 UPPER SANDUSKY Holden 4-1—10; Holman 4-1—9; Sheaffer 7-0—14; Smalley 2-0—4; Lamb 4-1—13; Beamer 2-0—4. TOTALS 23-3—54 Willard 14 14 16 22 — 66Upper 12 14 14 14 — 54 Three-point goals: (W) Dawson 2, Paxton, Slone, Robinson, I. Robinson; (US) Lamb 4, Holden Monroeville 77, Seneca East 59 ATTICA — The Eagles got balanced scoring in an 18-point opening night win over the Tigers on the road. Nine players scored for Monroeville, led by Isaac Roeder with 19, Jimmy Clingman with 17 and Aidan Goodwin with 15. Josh Burrow and Ian Schaffer added eight points each for the Eagles, who jumped out to a 21-9 lead after the first quarter. Monroeville entertains Mapleton Saturday in the Firelands Conference opener for both teams. MONROEVILLE Aidan Goodwin 7-0—15; Josh Burrows 4-0—8; Blake Schaub 1-0—3; Spencer Fries 1-0—3; Isaac Roeder 8-2—19; Aaron Allen 0-2—2; Jimmy Clingman 5-6—17; Ian Schafer 2-2—8; Braden Chapman 1-0—2. TOTALS 29-12—77 SENECA EAST Graham Gibbs 1-0—2; Alex King 1-0—3; Isaac Mason 9-8—26; Aidan Hines 3-4—9; Aaron Stay 7-1—15; Blake Foos 1-2—4. TOTALS 22-15—59 Monroeville 21 13 22 22 — 77Seneca East 9 15 12 23 — 59 Three-point goals: (M) Schaffer 2, Clingman, Fries, Schaub, Goodwin Huron 56, Ontario 26 HURON — Dylan Hohler scored 21 points to lead Huron to a 30-point win over Ontario. Evan LaCivita added nine points and Luke Rager finished with eight. The Tigers (1-0) host Edison next Friday in their SBC Bay Division opener. Ontario 4 6 6 10 -- 26Huron 14 10 17 15 -- 56 Oak Harbor 40, Genoa 37 OAK HARBOR — Oak Harbor outscored visiting Genoa by three points in the fourth quarter to win its season opener, 40-37. TJ Hallett led the Rockets with 21 points and made five 3-point shots. GENOA Griffin Meyer 2 0-2 4, Jon Huston 3 0-0 9, Skyler Ju 4 0-0 11, Mason Drummond 0 1-4 1, Andrew Szepiela 2 0-0 4, Aiden Hemmet 1 0-0 2, Will Nissen 3 0-0 6. TOTALS 15 2-6 37 OAK HARBOR Michael LaLonde 0 4-4 4, Kyle Glaser 2 0-0 4, Ethan Stokes 1 0-0 2, Jaxson Overmyer 1 0-0 3, TJ Hallett 8 0-0 21, Isaac McHale 2 2-4 6. TOTALS 14 6-8 40Genoa 9 5 11 12 -- 37Oak Harbor 5 6 14 15 -- 40 Three-point goals -- Genoa 6 (Huston 4, Ju 3); OH 6 (Hallett 5, Overmyer 1) Other games Tiffin Columbian got 30 points from Bryce Burns in an 81-71 win over Bowling Green. GIRLS BASKETBALL Perrysburg 53, Bellevue 47 (OT) PERRYSBURG — Perrysburg went 7-for-10 from the free-throw line in overtime to hold off Bellevue 53-47. Five players scored in the extra session for the Division I Yellow Jackets (1-1). Bellevue jumped out to a 20-13 lead after one quarter as Brynn Vogel scored nine of her 12 points. Emma Bollinger led the Lady Red (1-1) with 17 points. Hailey Rees added 10 points for Bellevue, which opens SBC Lake play Wednesday at home against Sandusky. BELLEVUE Ella Rucker 2 0-0 4, Hailey Rees 4 2-2 10, Emma Bollinger 5 5-6 17, Brynn Vogel 4 3-4 12, Molly Foos 0 2-2 2, Kyra Henney 0 2-2 2. TOTALS 15 12-14 47 PERRYSBURG Chloe Kilbride 4 2-4 12, Hayley Griggs 5 4-6 14, Wrigley Tokats 3 1-2 7, Megan Gibbs 3 3-6 10, Katie Sims 3 0-0 8. TOTALS 18 10-18 53 Bellevue 20 8 7 7 5 — 47Perrysburg 13 9 10 10 11 — 53 Three-point goals — Bellevue 5 (Rees 2, Bollinger 2, Vogel 1); Perrysburg 5 (Kilbride 2, Sims 2, Gibbs 1) Fremont Ross 51, Margaretta 47 CASTALIA — Kylie Leibacher scored 30 points in Margaretta's 51-47 loss to a talented Fremont Ross (3-0) team. Ross led 44-40 after three quarters and each team managed seven points in a fourth quarter dominated by defense. Destiny Robinson led Ross with 20 points. "Overall, I am pleased where we are defensively at this point," Margaretta coach Eric Kochendoerfer said. "We missed a few rotations and checkouts, but I was pleased with our interior defense and our guards made them work. "I thought Kylie really showed why she is one is the best in the state and have been really pleased with Devyne Eisenhauer's activity and defensive toughness inside." The Polar Bears (1-1) play Monday at Shelby. ROSS Englund 1 0-0 2, Robinson 8 3-4 20, Johnson1 1-2 4, Cahill 1 0-1 2, Schulte 2 2-2 8, Holmes 4 2-2 10, Wolf 2 0-0 5. TOTALS 19 8-11 51 MARGARETTA Lilly Edwards 2 0-0 5, Miah Miller 1 0-0 2, Eden Palomo 0 1-2 1, Kylie Leibacher 13 1-1 30, Devyne Eisenhauer 3 1-2 7, Jenny Patrick 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 20 3-5 47 Ross 12 15 17 7 -- 51Margaretta 12 17 11 7 -- 47 Three-point goals -- Ross 5 (Schulte 2, Robinson 1, Johnson 1, Wolf 1); Margaretta 4 (Leibacher 3, Edwards 1)