The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Sailors’ title hopes sinking as they drop game to Tigers
Vermilion had a chance to clinch a share of its first conference title since the 2006-07 season, but unlike the first meeting with Huron Jan. 7, the Sailors couldn’t overcome a big fourth-quarter deficit and dropped a 74-59 heartbreaker to the visiting Tigers Feb. 17.
Vermilion (16-5, 10-3 SBC) cruised to an early 18-9 lead, thanks to a 13-0 run at the end of the first quarter, including three Nik Barkdull 3-pointers, but struggled to find the basket the rest of the night as the Sailors shot 18 of 47 from the field.
“We had a ton of wide open 3’s. We missed I don’t know how many free throws,” Vermilion coach Kurt Habermehl said. “Every time we thought we were going to climb back in the game we would miss a free throw and (Huron) would come down and hit a shot.”
Joey Harkelroad hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer from near half court to put Huron up, 31-30, at halftime, and once the Tigers took a 35-33 lead with 6:53 to play in the third quarter, they never trailed again.
“It was huge,” Huron senior Jared Hohler, who had 25 points in the contest, said of the shot. “Joey,
he made a huge play ... he’s always made the big plays for us this year at the right times. It just gave us momentum going into that second half. It got the fans going, got us going, it just really helped.”
Barkdull, who finished with 16 points for Vermilion, scored just five in a frustrating second half for the Sailors. Joby Pfeil finished with 18 points and Mason Montgomery added
eight rebounds.
Harkelroad finished with 19 points and eight rebounds while Michael Hurst had 13 points for Huron.
“We didn’t stop anybody,” Habermehl said. “(Huron) got to the basket all night long against us and when that happens, they’re able to pitch out to wide open shooters. We didn’t have anything to stop them tonight.”
The win guarantees Huron (15-3, 11-2) at least a share of the Sandusky Bay Conference title for the second time in three years, and the Tigers can win it outright with a win over Perkins on Feb. 24.
Vermilion still has a chance to earn its seventh conference championship, but it will need some help after dropping its third straight.
A win Feb. 24 at Clyde and a Huron loss will do it for the Sailors, but Habermehl said he and his staff will have to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to dig his once 10th-ranked team out of this hole before the postseason.
“We’re going to start from scratch and get back to ground zero and do what we’re supposed to do,” Habermehl said. “I thought we had a lot of individual things going on tonight and that’s not us.”
“We’re going to start from scratch and get back to ground zero and do what we’re supposed to do.”
— Sailors coach Kurt Habermehl