Huron gets past Willard to advance to district

HURON — One last chance to play at home. Seniors Jackson McNulty and Tommie McDonald had one more opportunity to play in front of their home fans and took advantage. McNulty tallied 21 points and 10 rebounds while McDonald added 14 points to lead Huron to a 59-50 Division V district quarterfinal win over Willard on Friday. "Our two seniors stepped up and led us again. But, our role guys stepped up," Huron coach Toby Miller said. "Quentin (Conway) had a good night for us. Parker Schaefer did some nice winning plays like tipping balls that ended up in Jackson's hands and we got points out of it. Even Landon (Hohler) hit a big 3 to start the second half. "After not playing his normal minutes because Quentin was playing well, Grant Periat understood his role on the bench, but went in the second half and hit a huge 3 when we were on that run." The fourth-seeded Tigers improved to 15-7 and will face top-seeded Margaretta (22-1) at 6 p.m. Thursday at Lakota High School. "Hopefully they're not satisfied with this and we can get a good week of prep and get ready to play Margaretta a third time," Miller said. "We're going to stick true to our process. We're going to put a good gameplan together and our kids will be ready to fight." Willard finishes the season at 8-15. The Flashes played better in the second half of the season that included a tournament win over Fostoria on Tuesday. "We had a seven-game losing streak there for a while," Willard coach Joe Bedingfield said. "In the last 10 games, we've picked it up a little bit and competed against some good programs. Our guys battled. We had foul trouble with our point guard and that seemed to be a difference maker to be honest." McNulty got Huron going as the Crimson Flashes were hanging around in the second quarter. He scored three straight baskets off of offensive rebounds to give the Tigers a 30-21 lead. Up by seven points at halftime, Huron pushed the advantage in the third quarter. McDonald made it 41-32 before Periat's triple extended the margin to double-digits. McNulty scored and Schafer's 3-pointer gave Huron a 49-36 lead after three quarters. "(McNulty) is the best athlete on the floor," Bedingfield said. "He should average 20 points against teams like us. It was the other guys that stepped up when they needed it. He's very capable of 20 points obviously. He can jump out of the gym. He's a good athlete and he played well all times we played them." Willard didn't go quietly though. Buckets by Kellen Cooper, Mason Dawson and Jonas Tackett brought the Flashes within 49-42 just 58 seconds into the fourth quarter. But, Huron stood tall. Hohler scored and later, McNulty made a pair of free throws to keep the lead at 53-44. Seven points was the closest Willard got. McDonald knocked in two free throws with 2:36 left to keep Huron ahead 55-46. The Tigers' ability to take care of the ball all night was big. Huron tallied just 11 turnovers with just five coming in the first three quarters. "It was incredibly tough," said Miller of a third meeting with Willard after a 56-51 win Dec. 21 and 60-49 win Jan. 25. "They're extremely well-coached and they're going to be really good in years to come because they're young, hungry and they work hard. They're well-schooled. You knew it was going to be a dog fight the entire night. That's a really good basketball team." Willard was hot from 3 early and they kept the Flashes in the game. Willard made four 3s in the first quarter and the Tigers led just 17-14 after one quarter. The Flashes' fifth 3-pointer tied the game early in the second quarter, but Huron used a 6-0 run to build some separation between the teams. "Credit the Huron kids that really don't make shots," Bedingfield said. "Schafer hit a 3 and Staley hit a 3. You add those things in and then, they wave Kellen's 3 off that he makes. Our point guard was in foul trouble, but he gets shoved out of bounds and comes back in. They changed that rule not too long ago. It wasn't intentionally out of bounds. I'm so tired of having to educate people on that." Cooper paced Willard with 12 points while Jaxson Hall and Dawson each chipped in 10 points. Cooper, Bryson Lykins and Elijah Logan-West are seniors for the Flashes. "I feel for the seniors. They stuck with us," Bedingfield said. "I think they made our program better. They epitomize everything our program is about, like being a great teammate and showing up and working with no excuses. I'm really going to miss these three seniors. "They might not have had the stats that our past seniors have had, but they're going to be successful people in life." Huron was able to cut the nets down as sectional champions after the game. They'll have almost a week to prepare for a tough Margaretta team that beat the Tigers twice this season. "I don't know if anyone has gotten to play their last game as seniors on their home floor and cut down nets because sectionals have never been at home," Miller said. "It's a really cool moment for them." WILLARD (8-15)Jake Rothhaar 4 0-0 9, Jaxson Hall 5 0-0 10, Kellen Cooper 4 1-2 12, Mason Dawson 3 3-4 10, Jonas Tackett 4 0-0 9. TOTALS 20 4-6 50 HURON (15-7)Quentin Conway 2 3-3 7, Tommie McDonald 5 3-4 14, Landon Hohler 2 2-6 7, Jackson McNulty 8 5-6 21, Caleb Staley 1 0-0 3, Parker Schafer 1 1-2 4, Grant Periat 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 20 14-21 59 Willard 14 9 13 14 — 50Huron 17 13 19 10 — 59 Three-point goals: Willard 6 (Cooper 3, Rothhaar, Dawson, Tackett); Huron 5 (McDonald, Hohler, Staley, Schafer, Periat)