Huron boys falls to Columbian in OT

TIFFIN — Huron was right with Tiffin Columbian in the first half, trailing by four points at the break. However, a run of 11 straight points for the Tornadoes in the third quarter created some separation. But not for long. Huron battled back with a strong fourth quarter. A bucket from Quentin Conway with 49.2 seconds left sent the game into overtime. Huron had a small lead in overtime after a Nixon Dike layup, but the Tigers never scored another basket as they fell 59-56 on the road. "I thought our guys battled," Tigers coach Toby Miller said. "I thought there were many chances for them to just give up with the great energy and pressure that Columbian puts on you. We could've folded, but we didn't. We kept fighting, making plays and I'm very proud of how we executed down the stretch, but we were just one stop away from winning the game. "Credit to Tiffin because they made more plays than us." Down 26-22 at the half, Huron (1-2) started the second half on a quick 5-0 burst to grab a one-point lead, but then Columbian (3-1) went on the 11-0 run as DaShawn Russell had six points and Logan Gooding added five as TC all of a sudden led 37-27 late in the third. Huron got within 41-33 after three. But the Tigers dominated in the fourth as Paul Murray dropped in six points to get Huron started. Then, trailing 50-46 with 1:42 remaining, Caleb Staley scored on a layup to the basket. After a timeout, Huron executed a set to perfection getting the ball in the post to Conway. He then got a shot up over his defender and drained the game-tying shot to send things to overtime. In the end, TC's Gooding was just too much. He tallied seven of his game-high 24 points in the overtime, including a huge three-point play when TC trailed. Huron tried to get the ball out of his hands, but to no avail. The Tigers started the game well with a 15-10 advantage after the first quarter, but then Columbian started to ramp up the defense and limited Huron to just seven second-quarter points to take a halftime lead. Blake Miller backed Gooding with 12 points for the Tornadoes. They also got 10 points from freshman Blake Tucker and nine points by DaShawn Russell. Conway paced the Tigers with 16 points while Murray added 12 and Staley ended with nine. "This will just help us when we get into league play," Miller said. "We pride ourselves in scheduling some tough teams and we won't see this caliber of athlete night in and night out in our league, so it's good to prepare us up an extra level." HURON (1-2) Caleb Staley 4-1—9, Quentin Conway 6-2—16, Nixon Dike 2-0—4, Jack Raglow 2-0—4, Parker Schafer 0-6—6, Grant Periat 2-0—5, Paul Murray 5-2—12. TOTALS 21-11—56 COLUMBIAN (3-1) Owen Hickey 1-0—2, Nolan Miller 0-0—0, Blake Miller 3-4—12, Jax Diamantopoulos 0-0—0, Logan Gooding 8-6—24, DaShawn Russell 3-2—9, DaZarius Russell 0-0—0, Blake Tucker 4-2—10, Parker Nye 1-0—2. TOTALS 20-14—59. Huron 15 7 11 17 6 — 56 Columbian 10 16 15 9 9 — 59 Three-point goals: Huron 3 (Conway 2, Periat); Columbian 5 (B. Miller 2, Gooding 2, Das. Russell)