Clyde, Vermilion fall in bracket play

SANDUSKY — Things came crashing down. Clyde was 2-1 in pool play with a close loss to Division VI state runner-up Marion Local when it opened Tuesday's pool play finale at Battle 4 The Bay against Lima Bath. The Fliers led by 14 in the first half, but the Wildcats rallied for the win. Once in the March Madness-like bracket, Clyde had a late lead against Creston Norwayne before a late 3 gave Norwayne a 26-25 win, ending the Fliers' day. Pool play games were played with two 20-minute running clock halves while bracket games were one 14-minute running clock period. "There's a lot of positives to take away," Clyde coach Jared Shetzer said. "I think sometimes we focus too much on the negative of things. We felt like we had that game against Norwayne, but let it get away. We let a game this morning against Bath get away. Some of it is we're trying to build confidence and play a lot of different kids. I think the other part of it is we're learning each other still." Chase Castle gave the Fliers a 25-23 late lead against the Bobcats only for Norwayne hit a triple with about 15 seconds to play. Clyde struggled to find an open shot. Oscar Webb's triple in traffic clanked the rim, eliminating the Fliers with an overall record of 3-3. Clyde got to the round of 32 with a wild 21-19 win over Lakewood. The Rangers jumped out to a 14-5 lead before Clyde got back in the game. The Fliers tied the game at 16 and were up 20-19 late. Freshman JeCori Roberts split two free throws with five seconds left. Lakewood didn't get a shot off in time, giving Clyde the win. "The nice thing about that one was we were able to have some more experienced guys mixed with some younger guys," Shetzer said. "We don't quit. Our kids just played and played, even when they were down." Against Bath, Clyde raced out to a 24-10 lead. The Wildcats got within 31-27 at halftime and slowly surged ahead. "I don't want to put it on the kids, but you sub some kids in that don't have a lot of experience," Shetzer said. "They make a couple bad choices and you get a couple bad breaks. They have to learn and grow from it. When they get in a varsity game, you have to take care of the ball and keep your man in front." Vermilion loses 1st bracket game After going 4-0 in pool play, Vermilion was on the wrong side of a 34-14 loss to Lorain in its first tournament game. Lorain was up 21-5 early and Vermilion never got going. Vermilion opened the day with a 68-41 win over Lorain Clearview. The game was tied at 31 at halftime. Later, the Sailors were ahead just 38-37 when they put together a spectacular 23-0 run to put the game away. Vermilion then topped Oak Harbor, 32-29. The Sailors got a 3-pointer from Mason Cooper at the buzzer for the victory. Edison goes winless Dan Campana is going to take the positives. The Edison coach knows the Chargers didn't take any wins at B4TB, but there's a long time before the regular season starts in November. "Summer basketball, you find out what you're made of when you lose all that you lost," Campana said. "It gives me a really good idea of how I need to structure practice plans and where I have to aim my focus going forward." Tuesday, Edison lost its final pool play game to Northmor, 37-32, before dropping a first-round bracket game to Dresden Tri-Valley, 20-11. Monday, the Chargers lost contests to Evergreen (48-42), Hudson (73-55) and Canal Fulton Northwest (72-42). Edison knows what it has in All-SBC selections Cole Leimeister (first team) and Coltyn Meagrow (second team). The Chargers will need to find more scoring options to take the pressure off of those two. "That's going to be part of the struggle," Campana said. "I think our next couple options are guys that don't have any varsity experience. We have to put them in spots to where they can score." Bellevue finishes 0-6 The Redmen never got things going Tuesday, losing two pool games before dropping their bracket game. Bellevue lost to Marion Local (53-30) and Worthington Christian (53-40) in pool play action. Then the Redmen were on the wrong end of a 25-16 decision to Medina Christian.