Sandusky rallies past rival Fremont Ross

SANDUSKY — In this kind of rivalry game, you can throw out the records. The classic cliché proved true Saturday when Sandusky and Fremont Ross met up in non-league action at the Big House. The Little Giants, who entered with just two wins, controlled the tempo in the first half and led throughout. Sandusky bounced back with a big second half, riding the momentum of a loud crowd to a 67-56 win. "Our energy was really low in the first half," Sandusky coach DeMar Moore said. "I thought in the second half we did a really good job of increasing our energy levels and putting pressure on them. We got out and got some easy layups off some steals. That sparked us. The crowd was into the game and that helped us." The Blue Streaks (13-7) trailed by as many as nine points in the second quarter, but had the deficit within 29-24 by halftime. Sandusky got scores from Anthony Redding and Ahmaj Woolfork to start the third quarter and pulled to within 32-31. From there, Redding tallied a three-point play before a score from Dale Johnson. Redding then scored on an assist from Kymirr Hunter. Cam Jones picked a steal and scored to finish off a 12-0 run by Sandusky to put the Blue Streaks up 43-32 with 1:23 to go in the third quarter. "They shot a lot of free throws and they were very physical getting inside," Ross coach John Cahill said. "We got the ball inside, but just didn't make shots. They shot 35 free throws and we shot 19. That's a significant difference." Ross (2-18) got scores from Marcus Lewis and Jake Cahill, but Hunter hit two free throws to give Sandusky a 45-36 lead after three quarters. The Streaks kept the Little Giants at bay in the fourth quarter before putting the game away. Lewis opened the fourth-quarter scoring, but seven points was all the closer Sandusky allowed Ross to get. In response, Johnson tallied consecutive buckets. Later, he scored once again before a three-point play from Hunter. "Kymirr came up big in the fourth quarter for us right when we needed him," Moore said. "He's a load in the post. I didn't think we did a good job of getting him the ball early. Late, we found him and he was able to capitalize." Johnson added two free throws, Hunter scored and Daishun Brown got to the rim and scored. Hunter added another bucket off of an offensive rebound to help Sandusky put away Ross. The senior finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds. "In the first half, coach said we were playing slow and sluggish," Hunter said. "At halftime, we had to pick up the energy like we have in previous games. That's what got us the win and got us rolling. "Coach told me to be big and use my size to my advantage. He said to use my speed, too. I figured it was working for me and they couldn't stop it." Ross raced out to a 10-2 lead more than five minutes in, capped on a dunk by Cahill. In the second quarter, Ross pushed the advantage to 23-14 on the strength of a Tallon Brown score. The Streaks pushed back as Jones scored consecutive baskets. Sandusky got within three points twice, including on two Johnson free throws. "They did a really good job of changing defenses up on us," said Moore of the Little Giants. "We were slow trying to adjust. We made some mental mistakes and turned the ball over in the first half. That cost us. I thought in the second half, we really settled in and played our style of ball." Cahill, a 6-foot-6 freshman, finished with team-highs of 13 points and eight rebounds for Ross. "I've coached him since he was in second grade. He's a great player and we knew he'd be a handful," Moore said. "We just wanted to use our size and make everything tough for him. I thought we did a good job of getting out and contesting shooters." Johnson tallied 20 points and eight rebounds for Sandusky while Redding and Jones each scored 10 points. "Their physicality was the thing that worried us and probably the thing that hurt us the most," coach Cahill said. "I would guess Kymirr, Dale and (Redding) didn't make a basket outside of the key. It was a lot of paint points and we struggled in there." Despite graduating perhaps the best class in school history, Sandusky (8-1 Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division) will travel to Bellevue (12-8, 5-4) on Wednesday with a chance to win at least a share of its fifth straight league title. Perkins is tied with the Streaks. The Pirates host Norwalk on Friday. "Like I told the guys, it's a championship game on Wednesday night," Moore said. "We have to come out, give Bellevue our best shot and see what happens." FREMONT ROSS (2-18) Braylon Jordan 3 1-2 7, Cayden Rodriguez 2 0-0 6, Dylan McDonald 1 0-0 3, Tallon Brown 1 0-0 2, Jake Cahill 4 5-8 13, Mason Englund 4 1-2 11, Marcus Lewis 2 1-2 5, Quinn Wolf 0 2-3 2, Eli Elder 0 1-2 1, Max Durnwald 2 0-0 6. TOTALS 19 11-19 56 SANDUSKY (13-7) Anthony Redding 3 4-5 10, Dale Johnson 7 6-8 20, Ahmaj Woolfork 2 1-2 5, Cam Jones 3 4-8 10, Kymirr Hunter 6 5-10 17, Daishun Brown 1 1-2 3, Dereon Scott 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 23 21-35 67 Ross 17 12 7 20 — 56 Sandusky 11 13 21 23 — 67 Three-point goals: Fremont Ross 7 (Rodriguez 2, Durnwald 2, Englund 2, McDonald); Sandusky 0