BOYS BASKETBALL: Huron tops Edison for James' first win as coach

The first varsity coaching win over a backyard rival who also happens to be the defending conference champion is a big deal.

But Bobby James was having none of it.

“This is a big deal for the Huron basketball program,” James said after his Tigers posted a 62-55 victory Friday over Edison at Huron High School. “Right now, the biggest thing is taking care of Huron basketball and the kids are doing a great job buying into that.”

The Tigers finished with four players in double figures, with senior Derek Dowell tossing in a game-high 18 points with 10 rebounds to lead the way. Brian Bollenbacher and Zach Grieves each chipped in 12 points and Steve Bowers had 11 points and 10 rebounds as Huron improved to 1-1 overall and 1-0 in the Sandusky Bay Conference.

“My staff and the kids were so prepared,” James said. “They’ve really worked hard all week and every since we got together.

“These kids want to restore Huron basketball to where it was. That’s our goal.”

The goal for the Chargers (2-1, 0-1) is to gell as a young team, while knowing the target is on their backs as defending champions.

“We knew going in Huron was a very talented team; a very veteran-laden team,” Edison coach Chris Ceccoli said. “We’re a young team with a lot of guys playing varsity for the first time. It’s a good experience for them to feel what it’s like playing in the SBC. Hopefully, we will learn from this.”

Those lessons include being out-rebounded by a 35-28 margin overall and 11-4 on the offensive glass. Another concern is finishing quarters better as Huron had a 6-1 spurt at the end of the first, five straight points to close out ht ehalf and a 5-2 run to end the third period.

“We felt going in rebounding was going to be the key, especially on the offensive boards,” Ceccoli said. “We struggled with that and we did not finish well, particularly in the first half.

“Then in the second half, they did a good job spreading us out.”

That point came to bear against the Chargers late in the third quarter and early in the fourth.

A free throw from Grieves and buckets from Bowers and Bollenbacher gave Huron a 43-39 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Grieves then sank a pair of treys in the first 100 seconds of the fourth to open up a 10-point advantage.

The Tigers were able to make it 52-41 two minutes later on a three-point play from Dowell, but the Chargers roared back by turning up the pressure to fuel an 8-2 spurt to close the gap to 54-49.

Huron answered by hitting 6 of 9 from the foul line the final 1:33 to seal the first win of the season for the team and coaching win for James.

“That stretch at the end of the third and in the fourth hurt us,” Ceccoli said. “We lost their shooters, but on the flip side, we have to learn to finish our possessions.

“We have to go to Port Clinton on Thursday and to Perkins next Saturday. That’s a stiff test, but we’ll learn were we stand.”

The Chargers matched the Tigers with four players in double digits as Mike Yost scored 14, Taylor Emody had 13, Zach Yovanov scored 12 and Ryan Reber added 11. Emody led the way on the boards with a game-high 11.

“It was just a lot of fun to get the win and a lot of fun to get a win over Edison because I think it’s been three years since we’ve beaten them,” James said. “Derek Dowell had a great game and Stevie Bowers was great. He didn’t have a great game against Bellevue but he came to me and said he was ready to play and proved it.”

Huron got the evening started with a 49-45 victory in the JV game. Sam Hemker led all scorers with 18 for the Tigers and Cody Crandall tossed in 15, while Bobby Stone and Zack Davis each scored 11 for the Chargers.