Sandusky falls to Ashland, 74-61

SANDUSKY — Sandusky played from behind most of the time Saturday. The Blue Streaks had to use a lot of energy to get within four points in the fourth quarter. With possession, Ahmaj Woolfork drove to the hoop and scored, but was whistled for a tough offensive foul call. From there, Ashland dominated the final four minutes as the Blue Streaks were defeated 74-61 in non-league action. "We struggled keeping the ball in front of us," Sandusky coach DeMar Moore said. "We let them get in the lane and then they kicked it out to shooters. They knocked down a bunch of 3s. I think their penetration hurt us. It seemed like they had a ton of offensive rebounds. You can't win like that." Had the whistle gone the other way, Sandusky (6-5) would have been within 61-59 with a free throw coming for Woolfork. Instead, the Arrows (6-5) outscored Sandusky 13-4 over the final 3:57 of the game. Paxon Ediger made two free throws for Ashland. before Dale Johnson split two free throws on the other end. Sandusky kept pace after a triple from Reed Emmons. The Blue Streaks got a 3-pointer of their own from Johnson to pull within 66-61 with 2:56 left. Those were the last points Sandusky scored. Ashland tallied the last eight points of the game as the Streaks faltered on offense down the stretch. "It's extremely tough, especially when we're not defending," said Moore of playing from behind. "We were pretty much just trading baskets. We were taking bad shots and they were coming down and executing. We dug a hole and it was hard to come back from. "It's something we have to learn from. The inexperience of our team really showed tonight." Sandusky scored the last five points of the first quarter and trailed 17-16 after eight minutes. Sandusky took its last lead of the game when Daishun Brown splashed in a 3 with 5:10 remaining until halftime. Ashland answered with the next 10 points, going up 30-21 on a triple from Gabe Baith. Johnson and Woolfork scored in the final 90 seconds of the half, bringing Sandusky within 34-29 at the break. Ashland was up 55-47 after three quarters, extending the lead as big as 61-49 on a 3-pointer from Baith. Sandusky kept fighting, though. Anthony Redding's putback cut the deficit to 61-52. Woolfork followed with a bucket before Cam Jones drilled a corner 3, slicing the Streaks within 61-57 with 4:40 to go. For Ashland, Ediger finished with a game-high 29 points while Baith added 24 points. "Both of those kids are really good players," Moore said. "We knew that coming in. We tried our best to keep them in front us, but we just couldn't do it." Ashland connected on 12 of 26 3-pointers. Ediger made five, Baith connected on four and Emmons splashed in three. "We knew they could shoot it coming in," Moore said. "We wanted to be there on the catch and make sure to contest. We wanted to run them off it as much as we could. Tonight, they were able to get some looks and knock it down." Johnson led Sandusky with 21 points while Redding added 15 points. Both grabbed seven rebounds. Kymirr Hunter topped the Streaks with 11 rebounds. While one game won't define a season, Sandusky's next one is a big one. The Blue Streaks host Bellevue (10-3) on Friday in Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division action. Both teams are 3-1 in league play, one game back of league-leading Perkins. "We'll get back to work Monday," Moore said. "We'll get in the gym and try to fix what we can. We want to come out Friday and play a little better than we did today. "Every league game is a big one from here on out." ASHLAND (6-5) Gunner Lacy 0 0-0 0, Gabe Baith 8 4-6 24, Reed Emmons 5 0-0 13, Garrett Davis 3 2-2 8, Paxon Ediger 8 8-10 29. TOTALS 24 14-18 74 SANDUSKY (6-6) Anthony Redding 7 1-2 15, Dale Johnson 6 8-9 21, Ahmaj Woolfork 6 0-3 13, Cam Jones 2 0-0 5, Kymirr Hunter 1 0-0 2, Ta'Verion Myers 1 0-0 2, Daishun Brown 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 24 9-14 61 Ashland 17 17 21 19 — 74 Sandusky 16 13 18 14 — 61 Three-point goals: Ashland 12 (Ediger 5, Baith 4, Emmons 3); Sandusky 4 (Johnson, Woolfork, Jones, Brown)