Swank on Sports

Huron Tigers High School Athletics

Huron Tigers/Sandusky Bay Conference News

Huron With a Chance

          Huron is at Edison on Friday night in a Bay Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference and they have a lot on their plate.

          With a win over the Chargers, Huron could earn a postseason berth in division VI and still has a chance to get a share of the title in the Bay Division.

          Coach Sam Hohler says its almost hard to believe.  “This is definitely a crazy scenario.  I'm not sure you could come up with this stuff, but there's a chance for us to still make the playoffs in division VI with a 4-6 record, but we have got to win.  Then the other part of it is there's actually a chance where all five of the SBC Bay teams end up tying for the conference championship.  So, what better place to do it than at our rival at Edison this week,” said Hohler.

          Hohler says they have things to play for on week 10 and the kids are excited about it.  “You hear coaches talk about playing meaningful games down the stretch.  We feel like we're always in that situation.  Our record could be a little better this year, but our kids are still with us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They still practice hard every day.  They're excited for the opportunity to play spoiler and still have a chance at winning the SBC and still having a chance to get in the playoffs.”

          Huron (3-6,1-2) is over at Edison (6-3,2-1) on Friday night.  The Chargers edged Vermilion (27-24) in a Bay division game on Friday.

          Hohler says they run the strong and on defense they are opportunistic.  “They're well coached.  They have a great system offensively in their run option game.  They've got some athletes that really make it go.  Defensively, they limit the big play.  They're very good at getting turnovers and stops.  So, just a well coached, traditional, Edison team,” he said.

Published 10/24/25

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard for

Constant updates on Friday nights

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Your first source for all things sports

Huron Has to Finish

          Huron plays another tough opponent this week as they are at Perkins to battle the Pirates in a crossover game in the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          They lost another one score game in falling (28-21) to Vermilion in a Bay Division game when Sailors running back Even Kuhns scored with less than 40 seconds left in the game.

          Coach Sam Hohler says they didn’t make the plays in the end.  “For last week it was kind of a back and forth game.  Vermilion had an excellent run game.  For parts of the game, we kept it in check, but we gave up a couple of big plays.  We were tied late in the game and they scored with 40 seconds left to find a way to win the game.  It's just kind of been that way for us this year.  A lot of our opponents are good teams, very tough schedule and sometimes we found a way to win and sometimes we we've been on the wrong end of it,” said Hohler.

          Hohler says they have to find some way to be able to make those plays late in the game against the good teams they are playing.  “Finishing and finding ways to you know finish games.  We've run out of gas late in the game.  Not finishing tackling and special teams and things like that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We've given ourselves a chance week in and week out.  It just seems like in the fourth quarter we haven't found that way to win, so hopefully we can get that taken care of real quick.”

          Huron (3-5) is at Perkins (5-3) on Friday night.  The Pirates, the Lake Division co-leader, #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, hammered Norwalk (48-3) in a division game last week.

          Hohler says they are loaded with athletes that can make plays and their offensive line has been improving.  “They have got a lot of tremendous athletes.  It starts up front with them.  A very physical football team and then they have some terrific skill guys, their quarterback and receivers.  They throw the ball very well.  It seems like they're getting stronger as the season goes on.  So, another tough opponent for us this week,” he said.

Published 10/16/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron Defense Has to Get off the Field

          Huron entertains the Vermilion Sailors in a game in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          Both are coming off tough losses last week.

          The Tigers (3-4,1-1) lost (28-14) at Bellevue last week in a division game.

          Coach Sam Hohler says Bellevue did a very good job of containing their offense.  “Last week, we had to go to Bellevue.  It was their homecoming.  We were down 14-7 at the half.  We came out and tied the game and got a little bit of the momentum back there.  Unfortunately, Bellevue was able to run a punt back and kind of rustle the momentum back from us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Bellevue was very fundamentally sound, played solid defense, kind of a band don't break philosophy.  We weren't able to generate the touchdowns that we have been throughout the year.  They also did a really good job of running the ball and keeping it away from our offense.”

          Vermilion (4-3,0-1) lost (29-28) in five overtimes to Port Clinton last week.  The Redskins converted a two-point conversion in that fifth overtime.

          Hohler says they know they will have to contain the Vermilion running game, which is outstanding.  “Vermillion has an excellent run game led by Evan Kuhns.  He's done a really good job this year and the last year or two, but a terrific running back.  They have good size up front and they'll try to do the same thing as far as pound the ball and keep it away from our offense,” said Hohler.

          Kuhns has 1,120 yards rushing this season, which is more than double anyone else in the Bay Division.  He averages 10.6 yards per carry.

          Hohler says they are going to have to get a number of defenders to the football, especially when Kuhns has it.  “He usually breaks a tackle or two.  One guy usually has a hard time getting him down.  So, we'll definitely stress the pursuit and get as many guys to the ball as possible,” he said.

Published 10/09/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron With Tough one at Bellevue

          Huron will be at Bellevue on Friday night to challenge the Redmen in a game in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          They started on the right foot last week with a (35-21) win over Port Clinton in their first division game of the season.  Quarterback Landon Hohler threw two TD passes and ran for another in the win.

          Coach Sam Hohler says you always want to start play in the Bay with a win.  “You always want to get off to a good start in conference play.  Port Clinton has had a solid season this year so far.  Our offense continued to move the ball consistently.  We were able to hit a few big plays as well.  We feel like our defense and special teams have improved as the season has gone along.  So, anytime you’re 1-0 in the conference, in our conference at least, you’ll take it,” said Hohler.

          Huron (3-3,1-0) is at Bellevue (3-3,0-1) on Friday.  The Redmen lost (21-14) to defending Bay Division champion Edison on Friday.

          Hohler rates Bellevue as a good football team.  “Bellevue’s got a lot of really nice athletes.  Both on the lines and at the skilled positions.  They do have a new head coach this year, so they do things a little different offensively then maybe in the past,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “There's still very solid on defense and with their special teams games.  So, never easy to go to Bellevue and win a football game.  It doesn't happen all that often, so our kids understand that we're trying to get them focused and ready to go for the week.”

          Bellevue has run 58% of the time this season and Hohler says they look like a run first team.  “It seems that way.  They've made a conscious effort to try to run the ball and control the clock more than maybe the last few years and defensively they do such a good job that it's really playing to their strengths,” he said.

Published 10/01/25

© Swankonsports.com

You first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron Defense Will be Tested

          Friday night kicks off play in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference and the Huron Tigers will host Port Clinton.

          The Tigers (2-3,0-0) played well, but lost a tough one last week (16-13) to Tiffin Columbian in a crossover game in the “SBC.”

          Coach Sam Hohler says they just couldn’t get over that last hurdle.  “It was a terrific high school football game.  We came out and kind of set the tone in the first half.  Got off to a really good start, had the lead at halftime (13-0).  In the second half Tiffin’s size, the number of athletes they have just wore us down,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They got all the momentum in the second half and they were able to make some plays there and find a way to win.  Overall, very happy with our team and how they competed.  There were no turnovers in the game.  It was a good hard hitting football game.  Wish we could have found a way to win, but fell just short.”

          Port Clinton (3-2,0-0) lost (55-48) to Clyde in a crossover last week. The Redskins have twice scored more than 50 in a game.

          Hohler says they are explosive.  “They've got a lot of really good athletes.  They're special teams are excellent.  They've run back multiple punts and kickoffs this year.  So, we'll have to shore things up in that regard.  Defensively, we feel like we've been playing better here lately, so hopefully we can find a way to slow them down,” he said.

          Hohler says if you don’t get a lot of people to the football many times that is going to become a big play.  “We pride ourselves on pursuit, getting multiple guys to the ball carrier.  They're running back (Malakii) Pinkelton is really good at that.  He's very elusive, he'll break a tackle or two, and then he can take it to the house.  So, we’ll try to get as many bodies to the point of attack as we can,” said Hohler.

Published 9/26/25

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard for

Constant updates on Friday nights

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Your first source for all things sports

Huron Working on Their Defense

          Huron will be at Tiffin Columbian in one of those “SBC” crossovers on Friday night.

          The Tigers (2-2) blasted Ridgedale (56-7) last week.

          Coach Sam Hohler says they have been able to score quite a bit this year.  He says they have some key experience on that side of the ball.  “We've got six starters back from our team last year.  We've got a solid offensive line.  We've got some skilled players that know what they're doing.  So, fortunately we've been able to score pretty handily most weeks.  Our issues have been a little more on the special teams and the defensive side trying to slow teams down,” he said.

          Huron quarterback Landon Hohler threw three touchdown passes last week and ran for another.  He totals 12 touchdown passes and seven running scores for the season.

          The Tigers have also given up a bunch of points.  52 to Oak Harbor and 42 to Genoa, both losses.  They have given up 286 yards per game, a lot of that on the ground.

          Hohler says they are working on their defensive technique.  “We've been working on it quite a bit here.  It starts up front.  Just our technique as far as trying to get off blocks, trying to get to the ball carrier, we've worked on tackling,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We have done a really good job of creating turnovers and getting points off of it.  If you don't get the opportunity with the ball it could end up for a long night.  So, that's what we've been working on and hopefully we'll keep improving.”

          Huron is plus eight in the turnover ratio this season.

          Tiffin Columbian (1-3) got overwhelmed (81-7) last week by defending division III state champion Columbus Bishop Watterson.

          Hohler says they have very good players and they are going to arrive on Friday night in bad mood.  “Colombian is a bigger school, it's an “SBC” crossover.  They've got some very good players on both sides of the ball.  They've played a really tough schedule to start.  They’re 1-3, but that's not going to make any difference to them.  We have to go to their place and show up and get ready to go.  They got beat pretty soundly last week to a really good high school football team.  I'm sure they're going to want to get that taste out of their mouth pretty quick,” said Hohler.

Published 9/17/25

© Swankonsports.com

You first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron to Challenge Experienced, Talented Bluffton

          Huron will be at Bluffton to face the Pirates in a division VI regional quarterfinal on Friday night.

          They opened the playoffs last Friday with a (42-7) destruction of Spencerville.

          Coach Sam Hohler says it was nice to get back on the beam.  “It was nice for our kids to get a win.  We had lost three straight against three really tough opponents to end the regular season.  For a chance to get a victory last week was really nice for us.  The kids had a great week of practice and preparation and went out and executed.  Our schedule really has prepared us for what we're facing here in division VI this year,” said Hohler.

          During the regular season, the Tigers (7-4) played two division III schools, four division IV schools, and three division V schools.  Bluffton has played only one school larger than division VI this year.

          Bluffton (10-1) beat Paulding (21-6) last week.

          Hohler says the Pirates are very talented and they have a lot of experience.  “Bluffton returns a lot of experienced kids from last year.  They made a deep run in the playoffs in division VI last season,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Offensively, they do a lot of jet sweep type stuff with buck sweep and that kind of action out of shotgun.  Defensively, they are a 3-4 and they play a lot of different coverages.  Again, with their returning crew from last year, they have got a lot of kids that that know how to get it done.  So, to go to their place on the road, we'll definitely have our hands full.”

          Last season, Bluffton won three playoff games, losing to Columbus Grove in a division VI regional final.

          In nine of their 11 games this season, Bluffton has allowed one score or less.

          Hohler says it would be a big plus for them if they could score early.  “That would be huge.  They do have an outstanding defense.  If we can find ways to put points on the board and maybe put the pressure on them on the offensive side of things that would be a big bonus for us,” he said.

Published 11/07/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron at Home for Spencerville

          Huron, out of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, entertains Spencerville in a division VI first round playoff game on Friday night.

          Last week, they lost (28-3) to unbeaten Edison in a division game.

          Coach Sam Hohler says they got off to a good start, but could not maintain that play.  “To start off, Edison's a really good team.  For them to be undefeated and have the season that they're having is pretty special.  They have a lot of talented kids.  We got off to a really good start.  We got a turnover early and we were leading after half of the first quarter.  In the second quarter though, we started to have a little bit of trouble defending their offense.  They were able to put some points on the board.  We did get some opportunities, but couldn't cash in, which we've had a little trouble with here playing some tough opponents here down the stretch.  So, a very good game, great atmosphere.  Had a chance to win the “SBC” or at least tie for the “SBC” (Bay) championship, unfortunately we weren't able to do it,” said Hohler.

          Huron (6-4) hosts Spencerville (5-5) on Friday night.  The Bearcats routed Delphos Jefferson (54-7) last week, breaking a two game losing streak.

          Hohler says they are going to want to run the ball.  “They play in the Northwest Conference.  They play schools like Bluffton, Columbus Grove and Convoy Crestview, so west central Ohio.  They're going to have to make two hour bus trip to come up to the lake here and play us.  They've got a nice ball team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They run a lot of Wing-T on offense and they play a 3-4 defense.  They've got a couple of really nice players on both sides of the ball.  So, definitely not pushovers.  It should be a solid game and we're hoping we can figure out a way to get a win.”

          Hohler says they have not seen a lot of the wing-T offense this year, but they know what they have to do to stop it.  “Not a whole lot, not like we did you know a few years back.  You do see teams incorporate a little bit into what they do.  Edison does a little bit of it.  Clyde has a little bit in there as well.  So, we've practiced against it throughout the season a little bit.  So, pretty confident in what we can do to try to stop it,” he said.

Published 10/29/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron With a lot to Play for

          Huron entertains Edison on Friday night in a game in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

           A win by the Tigers gets them a share of the division title.

          They lost (20-7) to Clyde in a “SBC” crossover last week.

          Coach Sam Hohler says they played really a pretty good football game.  “We went over to Clyde last week.  We played a terrific first half, came out and played really well.  In the second half it kind of flipped, Clyde had had the upper hand on us.  We had a couple of opportunities in the red zone where we weren't able to put points on the board and that was really the difference in the game.  I'm very proud of our kids playing a bigger school, a tough opponent, we had a great week of preparation and they went out and worked hard, we just weren't able to come away with the win,” said Hohler.

          Huron (6-3,2-1) plays at Edison (9-0,3-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, on Friday night.

          Hohler says this is a big game for them in many ways.  “This is a rivalry game for us.  Here we are week 10 and we still have a chance to play for the SBC Bay championship.  We're kind of standing in the way of their undefeated season, so this is a big game for not only winning the league, but for playoffs as well and for local bragging rights,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “It’s going to be a big game atmosphere.  Should be a lot of fun.  We really don't have anything to lose.  We're going to go out there and give it our all and see if we can come away with one.”

          Edison features the triple option offense and Hohler that means they must be assignment sound on defense.  “They’re very balanced in their attack.  Their quarterback makes great decisions.  They have a couple of very solid running backs.  So, you have got to make sure that if you're on the dive, if that's where you’re at, or the QB, or the pitch.  It really is about assignment football and limiting your mistakes,” he said.

Published 10/25/24

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard Friday night

For constant updates beginning with the kick

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Huron Looking to Get Better This Week

          Huron visits Clyde for an “SBC” crossover game on Friday night.

          The Tigers trail Vermilion and Edison by a game in the Bay Division standings.

          That’s because the Sailors beat them (13-10) last Friday on a field goal with nine seconds left.

          Coach Sam Hohler says they had their chances to win the game.  “We went to Vermillion last week, a much improved team, they had a lot of kids back from the last couple of years.  They played an outstanding football game.  We had plenty of opportunities to put points on the board and we weren't able to do it.  The game went down to the last couple of seconds,” he told Swankpnsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They were able to get close enough and make a field goal after we had tried a field goal going the other way and they blocked it.  So, at the end of the game they just made a few more plays than us and they were able to get the win.”

          Huron (6-2) is at Clyde (5-3) on Friday night.  The Fliers also lost in heartbreaking fashion as Sandusky scored on the game’s final play to beat them (22-21) in a Lake Division game.

          Hohler says Friday night will be a big test.  “That was a terrific game between Clyde and Sandusky last week with Clyde losing literally on the last play of the game.  Clyde is much improved this season from last year.  They've got some terrific athletes on the perimeter.  They utilize two quarterbacks and both of them do a really nice job.  Then the thing with Clyde when you play them you know they're going to play good defense, they're very physical up front, so we're going to have to try to match that if we have a chance to win,” said Hohler.

          Hohler believes this is a game that’s going to make them better.  “Our schedule's been very tough this year for us being in division VI.  Clyde is an old “SBC” rival, they're well coached, they're doing well in their region as well.  So, for us to go down there to play them hopefully we play them tough.  We'll see how it all shakes out.  Like to stay healthy and obviously a game like this will prepare us for our week 10 battle with Edison and for the playoffs,” he said.

Published 10/18/24

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard Friday night

For constant updates beginning with the kick

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Huron to Face Explosive Vermiliom

          Huron is at Vermilion on Friday night in a battle between two of the leaders in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          Huron is (2-0) in the division, Vermilion, along with Edison, is (1-0) so far.

          Last week, the Tigers got past Bellevue (19-7) in a division game.

          Coach Sam Hohler says the kicking game was huge them.  “Glad to get the win.  Bellevue is always a tough team, well coached and well prepared.  For us, I thought our defense played well.  Our special teams were exceptional.  We had a punt return for a touchdown, great field position all day, and made four field goals.  I would have liked to punch the ball in the end zone offensively more, but we'll take the points and take the win,” said Hohler.

          Huron (6-1,2-0) is at Vermilion (6-1,1-0) on Friday night.  The Sailors outscored Port Clinton (36-27) in their first division game last week.

          Hohler says Vermilion has a lot experience and those kids are ready to succeed.  “Vermilion's got a lot of experience.  A lot of those kids have taken their lumps over the years and stuck together.  The coaching staff has done a good job of putting them in position to be successful,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They are a physical football team.  We got to go over to their place.  So, by no means will this be easy.  I expect this to be a very tough matchup for us on Friday.”

          The Sailors average 30 points per contest and Hohler says they have got to keep the ball out of their hands.  “Part of it is when we have the ball kind of limit their opportunities, limit their possessions.  We've done a good job this year of getting turnovers, so we're kind of hoping that that plays in our favor as well,” he said.

Published 10/10/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron to Play Dangerous Bellevue

          Huron hosts Bellevue in action in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          The Tigers (5-1,1-0) made a by play in the final minutes and beat Port Clinton (9-6) in their first division game last week.

          Coach Sam Hohler says they came through at crunch time.  “Obviously the weather played a big part in the action for us at Port Clinton with the wind and the rain.  Both teams had a hard time moving the ball consistently.  Very proud of our kids they were resilient throughout,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Kind of like we've been doing the last couple of weeks, we came out in the second half and played much better and made a few nice stands defensively.  Then can't say enough about our special teams this season.  Our kicker Cameron Manor we were able to get close enough for him to make a field goal and that was the difference in the game.”

          Bellevue (2-4,0-1) lost a division game (21-6) to unbeaten Edison last week.  The Redmen have lost to three unbeaten teams this year.

          Hohler says they are well coached and they have playmakers.  “Bellevue has played a very tough schedule this year.  Their record is a little deceiving.  They are a good football team they've just played a lot of really tough teams to date.  Obviously, well coached in all three phases of the game.  They've got some terrific size up front and some very athletic kids on the perimeter.  For us it's a home game.  A chance to kind of write some of the wrongs that happened last week for us and hopefully we can keep this thing rolling,” said Hohler.

          Hohler says when you are playing Bellevue you must contain the quarterback.  “They run the ball a lot with him and with their running backs, but he's such a weapon throwing.  He's a very good player for a young kid.  He knows the game inside and out and for us he going to be a key as far as us trying to slow them down,” he said.

Published 10/02/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron to Face Athletic Port Clinton

          Huron begins play in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night as they play at Port Clinton against the Redskins on Friday night.

          They had a big second half in beating Tiffin Columbian (38-20) in a crossover game last week.

          Coach Sam Hohler says they really got it rolling coming out of halftime.  “We were a little concerned because at halftime, they made a really nice play, a goal line stand right before the half, but we made some adjustments at halftime the kids really responded.  We came out and played a terrific second half.  So, very pleased with the outcome and starting to think that our kids are growing up a little bit here as we get towards the second half of the season,” said Hohler.

          Landon Hohler, the son of the coach, and the quarterback of the Tigers this season, had four touchdown runs in second half against Tiffin.

          Coach Hohler says he has been a very composed player this year.  “Landon's done a nice job showing terrific poise and improvement throughout the season.  He did a terrific job of keeping his composure and taking what the defense gave and helped us out tremendously in the second half the other night,” he said.

          Huron (4-1,0-0) is at Port Clinton (2-3,0-0) on Friday.  The Redskins lost (56-21) to Clyde in another crossover last week with the Lake Division.

          Hohler says Port Clinton has some athletes capable of making plays.  “Port Clinton's got some terrific athletes on the perimeter.  Their quarterback does a really nice job of getting the ball to a lot of his receivers.  They have a terrific running back in the (Malakii) Pinkelton kid,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “For us it’s going to be a matter of limiting the big play and making them march it down the field.  Defensively, they're in a 4-2-5 defense.  They've got some terrific linebackers and DB's.  Then special teams wise they're very solid with their special teams.  For us it's just continuing to build upon what we've got going so far.  We are healthy, which is a good thing.  Hopefully, we can go over there and find a way to get it done.”

Published 9/26/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron Must Limit Tiffin

          Huron entertains Tiffin Columbian in an “SBC” crossover to be played on Friday night.

          Last week, the Tigers (3-1) whipped Dayton Dunbar (49-14) in a non-conference game played on Saturday afternoon.

          Coach Sam Hohler says they responded well to some different things and went out and played well.  “We had a really good week of practice.  The previous week we had lost to Genoa, so for us just getting back to the basics.  We really focused on things like blocking, tackling, getting off a blocks, working on our assignments, things like that and it really paid off.  The kids came out and had a great game.  A little different environment for a Saturday game, but we had a nice crowd and it all worked out pretty well for us.  So, I’m really proud of our kids,” said Hohler/

          Tiffin Columbian (2-2) suffered a (51-7) loss to state ranked Columbus Bishop Watterson last week.

          Hohler says the Tornadoes are a little in experienced, but they still have a lot of big playmakers.  “For us, Columbian is a much bigger school.  They have a nice size advantage.  They have some big kids up front.  They lost quite a bit of talent from last year, but by the looks of them they still look pretty formidable.  They have some really nice athletes on the perimeter to go with their size.  So, I know they have played a very tough schedule to date,” he told Swankonsports.com, “For us, it’s going to be a tough challenge.  The beauty of it is it’s at our place this year, so hopefully the kids will be a little more excited.  It is homecoming weekend for us, so big game atmosphere.  We are hoping we can make a fun game out of it.’

          Tiffin has shown the ability to score on three or four straight possessions again this year.  Hohler says they can’t let that happen on Friday night.  “Offensively and special teams wise they can really hurt you with the big play.  Then defensively they have been getting turnovers in the games they have been playing as well.  You want to try and keep the momentum on your side as much as possible throughout the game because if no they can really get on a roll and make the whole night miserable.  Those are keys for us to kind of slow them down and take care of business on our end as well,” he said.

Published 9/19/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your first source for all things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday

10 PM to Midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week

10 AM to 1 PM

Huron Familiar With Genoa

          Huron takes the bus to Genoa for a non-conference football game on Friday night.

          They hammered Brookside (41-7) in their week two game last Friday.

          Coach Sam Hohler says it was another step in the right direction for their young football team.  “We're a relatively young team.  It was an away game.  For us to go to their field and play the way we did, we felt pretty good about it.  We still have some growing pains from time to time, but overall pretty proud of the effort of the kids and feel like we're getting better each and every week,” said Hohler.

          Hohler says they have been able to learn about varsity football and win at the same time.  “It's a really good combination.  For us, fortunately we've stayed healthy.  The kids that we thought were good players are doing what they're supposed to.  So, again just super excited with where we're at and hopefully we can keep it going,” he said.

          Huron (2-0) travels to Genoa on Friday night to meet the Comets.  Genoa is (1-1) coming off a (38-8) win over Toledo Bowsher.

          Hohler says they know what to expect from Genoa.  “We actually played Genoa twice last year.  They beat us at home in the regular season by one point and then we turned around and got them in the playoffs.  We were able to beat them by a touchdown in the playoffs,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “A very strong program and well coached.  They have some new faces this year, but definitely have some talent.  So, again this is another away game for us.  It'll be a good test for our kids and hopefully we can find a way to get another win.”

Published 9/04/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron Still Has to Get Better

          Huron played about as well as anyone on week one at home and Friday night they hit the road for Brookside in non-conference play.

          Last week, they blanked Norwalk St. Paul (38-0) in their first game.

          Coach Sam Hohler says they were very excited by how they played against the Flyers.  “We were very thrilled with how our kids played.  Coming into the season we didn't have a whole lot of returning starters.  We have some young kids that are very talented, so they came out and played like veterans, which was good to see.  We played a traditionally strong St. Paul team very tough.  We were able to shut them out and just got our season off to a great start.  So, we’re really happy with our progress so far,” said Hohler.

          Practice still has to be sharp even after a win and Hohler says it has been a good week for the Tigers.  “Well, it's been good.  I know we had to deal with the heat just like everybody else.  There were plenty of mistakes to be made on opening night, so the improvement we can make this week will only make us better.  That's our goal is just to get a little bit better each week as we progress through the season,” he said.

          Brookside also shutout their opening night opponent in beating Brooklyn (26-0) last week.

          Hohler knows this is going to be a tough road trip of his young team.  “They have some nice athletes.  They're quarterback throws a really nice ball when he has time and they've got a nice running back to go along with him as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We played them last year at our place.  This year we have to go to their place, which a young team on the road I'm sure there'll be some growing pains for us, but the sooner we can grow up and figure out how to get better, the better off we're going to be.”

Published 8/30/24

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard Friday night

For constant updates beginning with the kick

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Huron Must Limit Mistakes

          Huron plays host to Norwalk St. Paul in a non-conference football game on Friday night.

          Coach Sam Hohler says the players are excited to see what they can do and he thinks they are ready to go.  “Well, we sure hope so.  We've had a good preseason here.  We just had a good scrimmage with Millbury Lake the other night.  Going into the season we had some question marks at a few positions, but things are looking pretty positive for us.  So, we're really excited to get this going,” said Hohler.

          Norwalk St. Paul has a new football coach for the first time in more than 30 years as John Livengood retired after last season.

          However, Hohler says with Chris Doughty there hasn’t been much change in terms of X’s and O’s.  “It looks like they're sticking with the same formula that's worked for them for a long time,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They have a very physical run game offensively and then defensively they just have some terrific athletes that get to the ball and they try to create a lot of turnovers.  So, we'll definitely have our hands full.”

          Last year, Huron won (31-28) at St. Paul.

          As always, Hohler says you can’t have a lot of mistakes in this game.  “You don't want to give them the ball where they take it and then chew up the clock for a whole half or things like that.  So, taking care of the football will be a priority for us,” he said.

Published 8/22/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron Trying to Grow up

          Huron, the runner-up in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference last season, will have talent as the hit the gridiron again this fall.

          They open the season at home against Norwalk St. Paul this year on August 23.  The Tigers are division VI this season.  They have been as high as division IV and were division V last year.

          Coach Sam Hohler says they don’t have a lot of experience this year.  “Not so much from the veteran standpoint.  Last season, we finished 8-4 and we got beat in the second round of the playoffs by Liberty Center in division V, who ended up getting beat in the state semifinals.  This year, we do return some talented kids, but we don't have a ton of experience,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday morning, “We graduated 14 kids that a lot of them were players for us.  So, for us a talented, but young team coming back and we're excited.  We feel like we've got some good players at a lot of our positions it's just going to be how fast can they grow up.”

          Hohler says he is counting on his seniors to show the way.  “We've got some good seniors that have put in a lot of time and effort in the offseason and they've done a good job of leading the younger kids and kind of steering the ship in the right direction.  So, we're excited to get the season started and like lot of football teams just want to make sure we stay healthy and hopefully things will work out for the best,” he said.

          Their first scrimmage on Friday will be a lot different.  Hohler says more like a practice.  “What we've done this year, we've not done this previously, we're going to practice with another high school on Friday.  So, Toledo Scott is going to come out here and we're just going to practice with one another.  Kind of like how you see the NFL teams do it.  It does count as a scrimmage, but it's going to be more controlled.  That way our kids get a little more experience against an opponent.  We can get things on film and study it up and hopefully we can coach them up real well for it,” said Hohler.

Published 8/09/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron Takes on Top Seeded Liberty Center

          Huron has a big challenge on Friday night as they visit Liberty Center to take on the top seeded Tigers in division V regional quarterfinal.

          The Tigers (8-3) advanced last week by taking out the Genoa Comets (28-21) in a home game.

          Coach Sam Hohler says their play in the second half was the difference last Friday.  “When we played Genoa the first time around they kind of took control of the game in the second half and we weren't able to finish them off,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “This time, we flipped the script on them a little bit.  We felt like we outplayed played them in the second half and that was a big key to our success the other night.”

          Beu Harkleroad was again huge for the Tigers.  He had two touchdown receptions plus two critical interceptions in the game.

          Liberty Center (11-0) smoked Elmwood (56-14) in their first playoff game.

          Hohler says they have very good players all over the field.  “They're very athletic.  They've got a little bit of everything.  They have got some good size lineman, they've got some excellent skilled kids and they play terrific defense.  So, for us to go out there and have a shot at winning, we're going to have to play a really good game and hope for some breaks to go our way as well,” said Hohler.

          Hohler says they need a very good start and they have to take this game into the second half with outcome in question.  “We're hoping for the same thing, we want to have a good start and give ourselves a chance,” he said.

Published 10/31/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Huron Must Play 48 Minutes

          Huron is at home for Genoa on Friday night in a first round playoff game in division V.

          The Tigers lost the Bay Division title game (35-7) to Edison last week.

          Coach Sam Hohler says they couldn’t make the big plays at the key time that they need to make.  “Well first off, Edison has a terrific football team.  The conditions were tough, muddy field and all.  They had some terrific running backs, quarterback who makes great decisions and they were able to make the big plays and we simply weren't,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “It wasn't for lack of effort, we had a couple opportunities to score, got down close and just couldn't put it in.  So, frustrating for us, playing for league championship and we fell short, but excited for playoffs, we got a home game against Genoa this week and looking forward to that.”

          Huron (7-3) hosts Genoa (7-3) on Friday night.  They played week three and Genoa rallied in the second half to win (21-20) in a non-conference game.

          Hohler says they have some gamebreakers.  “We've played twice in the last couple of years.  They have a terrific quarterback, he can run, he can throw, they've got some very good playmakers, and they play solid defense.  We played them earlier this year and lost a very close game at home by one point.  We've had a couple of great contests with them the last few years, so this one shouldn't be any different,’ said Hohler.

          Hohler says on Friday night they have to play 48 good minutes of good football if they are going to win.  “The key for us is to play a full game.  We played them earlier in the year and we had a great first half and in the second half they kind of took it to us.  So, we're hoping to put four quarters together and find a way to get by these guys,” he said.

Published 10/26/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Huron Must Limit Big Plays

          Huron makes the short trip to Edison Friday night for a game in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.  At stake is the outright division championship.

          Both teams are unbeaten in division play heading into Friday night.

          Huron coach Sam Hohler says they couldn’t ask for a better opportunity.  “It's our neighbor, big time rival, both having great seasons and getting the opportunity to play for a league championship, it doesn't get much better than that,” he said.

          Edison (8-1,3-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com coaches poll in the small school division, has scored at least 28 points in all of their wins.

          Hohler says they have to be very disciplined to be able to contain the Chargers run based offense.  “Traditionally they run the triple option and they have some terrific athletes to pull it off,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “A couple of their kids are returning starters.  They're big time playmakers, so for us to have discipline to be where we're supposed to be and not give up the big play we'll be huge.”

          Edison quarterback Marcus Medina has thrown 12 TD passes and run for another 12 this year.

          Hohler says he is a gamebreaker.  “He's tough to pick corral.  He's a terrific decision maker at quarterback and then again when he's out in the open he's very dangerous,” he said.

          Hohler says they hope to be able to stretch the Edison defense and make some plays on the perimeter.  “They've got some terrific linebackers that really get to the ball in a bad mood.  So, it'll be tough sledding for us.  Hopefully, the weather cooperates and we can get them out in space and do our damage that way,” said Hohler.

Published 10/20/23

© Swankonsports.com

Our scoreboard updated every five minutes

On Friday night at www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Huron Looking For Momentum

          Huron shares first place in the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division with Edison and will play the Chargers next week, but first they will be at home for Clyde of the Lake Division on Friday night.

          The Tigers (6-2) have won four of their last five games.

          Coach Sam Hohler says they are getting healthier as a football team.  “We're actually kind of going the other way compared to a lot of teams.  We're getting healthier as the season goes on.   So, it feels like our team is growing up a little bit right in front of our eyes.  We've been playing pretty good the last couple of weeks,” said Hohler.

          Clyde (4-4), on the other hand, has lost four of its last five, all to winning teams, but Hohler says they will be ready to play them.  “We're old “SBC” rivals for years.  Clyde is well coached.  They've got good football bloodlines over there.  So, we definitely would not be taking them lightly this week,” he said.

          With Edison on the horizon, this could be a trap game.  Hohler says they better be ready to play too.  “We go back for years and years.  They might be banged up a little bit, but they'll still play hard.  They have a lot of pride in their program,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They have had a lot of success over the years.  For us this is a big game as far as playoff points and also building momentum for our week 10 matchup with Edison.”

Published 10/10/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Huron is Reloading

          Huron was the runner-up last year in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference and this year again they will have a senior laden team.

          Last season, the Tigers finished (9-3) and lost in the second round of the playoffs.

          Coach Sam Hohler says they return some solid talent.  “We had a great season lost to a tough Coldwater team in the playoffs.  We graduated 16 seniors off that team, but the good news is we have 16 seniors back this year again and a lot of those kids played for us last year.  We're very excited for our season this year.  We do have some terrific returning starters in our running back Andrew Delaney (510, seven Tds) and receivers like Beau Harkelroad (32 catches, nine touchdowns) and Dawson Bowen (29 catches, three Tds) and those guys also play defense for us as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We do return a couple of lineman on both sides of the ball.  So, we have like five starters returning on both offense and defense.  Our kicker returns and he was an all league kicker for us last year as well.  So, for us super excited to get our season going.”

          Hohler says they will play a very tough schedule this year, division, and non-league.  “Probably the big thing for us is we've got a pretty tough schedule.  Our non league schedule we start with St. Paul and we play teams like Clyde, Tiffin Columbian and Genoa.  This year Bellevue moves into the Bay Division along with us, Edison, Port Clinton and Vermillion, so we've got a pretty tough schedule,” he said.

          With the reshuffling of the Sandusky Bay Conference with Oak Harbor leaving, Bellevue is now in the Bay Division and Hohler looks forward to challenge.  “Huron and Bellevue have had a long standing rivalry over the years.  It's just the way the “NOL” and then now the “SBC” kind of shaked out we haven't played each other a whole lot for three, four years here, but over the years coach (Ed) Nasonti has done a great job at Bellevue.  You know when you play them you have got to bring your “A” game if you're going to beat them.  So, for us getting a chance to renew that rivalry and play a tough team again as an awesome thing,” said Hohler.

          Hohler says the kids they have back are ready to compete and have the right attitude.  “Fortunately for us the kids that are coming back they have got a great attitude.  They work very hard.  It’s probably one of the best years offseason wise as far as being in the weight room and building their team chemistry and just getting ready for the season.  So, you lose kids, they move on to the next chapter of their life, but hopefully you have enough bullets that you can reload and we feel like we could do that this year,” said Hohler.

Published 8/02/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Huron Holds off Crestview

          Huron took a big first half lead and hung on to beat Crestview (43-34) in a district semifinal in division III on Wednesday night at Norwalk High School.

          The Tigers (17-6) will return on Saturday night face Cardinal Stritch (21-3) for the district title.  Stritch outlasted Margaretta (53-50) in the second semi.

          The Tigers got on the offensive glass and played very solid, physical defense to build a (24-2) with 2:41 to play until halftime and must people thought the game had been decided, but not so, the Cougars would rally back and cut their deficit down to two with still 6:30 minutes to play in the game.

          Huron coach Bobby James says their defense got them started on the right path and then after a lull in the second half they responded when they had to.  “We got off to a great start.  Defensively, I thought we played phenomenal the whole game.  I mean that #3 I think was name is Kash, he hit some big threes at the end.  We were 2-8 in the third quarter on free throws.  I think if we hit three or four more of those I think we keep that momentum,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “They were able to grab momentum.  You are 21-2 for a reason, that's Crestview, you knew they were going to make a comeback.  I give our kids credit, we were able to withstand their comeback.  Every loose ball was ours and I thought our kids played with nothing to lose and left everything on the floor.  We're playing for a district championship again back-to-back, which is just unbelievable to me.”

          They won the division II title last season.

          Crestview coach John Kurtz says it was simple for them early, there just seemed to be a lid on the basket.  “0-9 from three.  We just dug ourself a massive hole against a really good team.  I was super proud of our kids and the way we came back.  I mean our kids fought really hard.  Started making shots, but as a coach you look at it and say when you come all the way back that's one step of it then getting ahead is the other and we just couldn't get over that last hump,” said Kurtz.

          The Cougars (21-3) certainly made it a game.  Huron’s Mathew Hurst had a three to open the scoring in the third quarter making it (27-6) Tigers, but they would score only four more points the final 7:25 of the quarter.  Crestview’s Heath Kash bagged three three pointers during that third quarter run and it was Huron leading (31-24) after 24 minutes of play.

          That onslaught continued into the fourth quarter as Justice Thompson scored the first five points of the period making it (31-29) with 6:36 to play in the game.  On the Tigers next possession, sophomore Jackson McNulty made a key hoop to extend the lead back to four.  That led to a (6-1) run by the Tigers, to put them up (37-30) with 4:11 left.  Two Jarek Ringler goals on drives to basket is all the Cougars could manage in the final four minutes.

          Kurtz says the shooting woes early put them behind an eight ball, but he knows the program as a whole is headed in the right direction.  “Our kids have had two straight games that were slow starting and I think most of it's from shooting and you guys can figure that one out you let me know.  I'm really, really proud of our kids record setting season.  We have our program turned all the way around.  We’ve got two great seniors that are graduating, but we only have two great seniors graduating.  So, we're pretty proud of what we have coming back.  It's just about getting ready to grind and get ready for next year,” said Kurtz.

          Especially early in the game, James felt they were physical on defense and throughout the game they were able to keep the Cougars off the offensive glass.  “We bodied him up pretty well.  I thought we rebounded the heck out of the basketball, that's what the one thing I was worried about was they go to the offensive glass and they're big and physical and I thought we did a heck of a job of keeping them off the offensive glass.  I thought we did a really good job on our offensive glass in the first half.  So, I give our kids credit.  Every one of those kids that just battled and we made some big shots and made some big free throws when it counted,” said James.

          After that poor third quarter at the line, the Tigers made 6-8 in the pressure packed fourth quarter.

          Kurtz says with the perimeter shooting they got in the second half opened some opportunities to get to the basket.  “We knew that if we made threes, the lane will open up and we can drive and you saw that at the end of the third, beginning of the fourth, but when you don't make threes they're tight in there they are sunk down and it’s hard to get in the lane,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They don't give you any second chances, so you have got to make the first one.  They're big, they're physical on the glass.  I would say the thing I was probably most frustrated with in the first half was not just the shooting, but the fact we couldn't get an offensive rebound.”

          District player of the Dylan Hohler led the Tigers with 13 points.  Luke Rager, McNulty and Jake Lagando all had nine.  Kash and Ringler each has 12 for the Cougars.

          James was proud of how his kids didn’t panic in the face of that second half push by Crestview.  “That's what seniors do, especially seniors that have been in this tournament for a while.  I think Dylan (Hohler) probably has played 10 tournament games and Luke Rager have both have played like 10 tournament games.  So, I just thought that we just gutted it out at the end and I thought our kids played pretty well and just played hard.  They left it all on the floor and we came out victorious,” said James.

Published 3/02/23

© Swankonsports.com

There will be a special “Out of Bounds”

Saturday from 10 to 11 PM

First Source for All Things Sports

Again Defense is the Key for Huron

          Huron, the defending district champ in division II, clashes with Crestview in a division III district semifinal on Wednesday night at Norwalk High School.

          The Tigers do have some kids that have now played a lot of tournament basketball and coach Bobby James hopes that a plus.  “Well, hopefully we have enough kids that that recognize what the tournament is from last year and how you have to prepare and how you have to play.  We have Dylan (Hohler) and Luke (Rager), who have played a lot of tournament basketball.  That is one of the reasons why I played that first game to get some of these kids that don't have that experience as much experience as we possibly can go into the districts,” he said.

          Huron (16-6) beat Northwood (61-37) in a sectional final last Friday and Crestview (21-2), the outright Firelands Conference, got past Genoa (58-53) to win theirs.

          James says the Cougars do a really good job rebounding the ball.  “I think they're very fundamental.  They get after you, they get after the boards, we have to keep them off the offensive glass, if we can't do that they're going to have a field day with us.  They're fundamental, they execute their stuff, they play hard, they're good defensively and like I said they get on the glass.  We really need to limit their offensive rebounds and get back in transition.  They're very good team and we're going to really, really have to play our best basketball to be in the game with them,” said James.

          Crestview’s guards, according to James, have a number of different skills that will stretch their defense.  “They have some nice shooters and we're going to have to contest shots all night and also we can't let them beat us off the bounce.  If they beat us off the bounce and kick out to their shooters Huron’s season is over,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We need to get a hand up and make sure that we're making them take contested jump shots and we can't get beat off the bounce, so they can dribble drive and kick out to their shooters.  So, we have our work cut out for us.  They're very well coached, John (Kurtz) does a great job, he’s a great guy and like I said if we don't bring our best basketball game in the district semifinal (Wednesday) night our season's over.”

          James says these are the kinds of games you want to play in.  “If you don’t want to play in a game like this then don't put the uniform, don't ever.  This is a competitor’s dream in the district.  I've been fortunate enough to get here you know nine or 10 times to get to the district level and each year it just gets better and better.  Hopefully, these kids understand how difficult it is to get here now and how fortunate they are and if you're any kind of competitor this is what you live for,” said James.

Published 3/01/23

© Swankonsports.com

There will be a special “Out of Bounds”

Saturday from 10 to 11 PM

First Source for All Things Sports

Huron Plays Millbury Lake

          Huron, the runner-up in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, will meet Millbury Lake in a sectional semifinal in division III on Wednesday night at Monroeville High School.

          Last Friday, they had a chance to share the division title with Willard, but lost to the Flashes (63-61) at Willard.

          Coach Bobby James says they didn’t play well enough to win the game.  “We couldn't find a way to stop Dawson.  We got up I think going into the third and then they had a nice little run and I think they got up four or so and then we just weren't able to answer.  We weren't able to stop Max Dawson from scoring.  He just seemed to take over the game and didn't really nice job and they played well and we didn't play well enough to win,” said James.

          Dawson had 34 points, 24 the second half against Huron.

          Even through they didn’t win, James likes the fact that they played a meaningful game on the final week of the regular season.  “We played one on Tuesday and one on Friday and unfortunately we didn't win either of those two.  So, hopefully we didn't deflate any momentum going into the tournament.  So, you want to play that those meaningful games at the end,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “I also want like the format because then it gets you ready for this week which is you know the Tuesday- Friday or Wednesday-Friday, which we play and then you always go like Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday for the tournament.  So, I kind of like the format.  I wish we would have won those two games, but hopefully we can regroup and get ready for this week.”

          Huron (14-6), #5 in the final Swankonsports.com coaches poll in the small school division, plays Millbury Lake (2-20) on Wednesday night.  The Flyers lost in overtime to Elmwood (54-47) in their last game if the regular season on Friday.

          James says they will show them some zone and they are pretty fundamental in their play.  “We got a couple films and in the one film it looks like they played a 1-3-1 a lot.  They run a little bit of a ball screen offense.  We've got to do a good job of defending the back cuts and the ball screens and then we've got to be able to attack their zone and get out and run.  We can't let them set up.  So, hopefully we can get off to a good start on Wednesday and go into the sectional finals on Friday,” he said.

Published 2/21/23

© Swankonsports.com

There will be a special “Out of Bounds”

Saturday from 10 to 11 PM

First Source for All Things Sports

Huron With A Chance

          Huron, with a win at Willard on Friday night, will share the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division title with the Flashes.

          They shared it last year with Margaretta.

          They had a 10 game winning streak snapped on Tuesday night when Perkins beat them (54-51) in an “SBC” crossover.

          Coach Booby James says they weren’t mentally focused on Tuesday night.  “We started out real slow in that game.  I didn't think we really executed very well offensively or defensively.  They seem they got us out of our game a little bit.  I thought our kids were not real mentally focused to go over there and play and Perkins took it to us.  I didn't think we moved the basketball very well offensively and defensively I thought we gambled a little too much, but we seemed to get that corrected in the second half.  Then we're able to get within one, we just weren't able to, you get down 17 it's hard to get over that hump, and we weren't able to get over that.  I think we got it to 43-42 we just couldn't make a play to go take the lead and they were able to pull it out by three,” said James.

          Huron (14-5,7-2), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Willard (13-8,8-1), a winner of seven of it’s last nine, on Friday night in division plays.  The Flashes routed Edison (82-62) last Friday to earn no less than a share.

          James says Willard has two of the best players in the league.  “I think they're a lot better than the first time we played them.  A lot of role players have got a lot better and of course (Max) Dawson and (Cam) Robinson, they're the two best players in the league.  They're going to be very well coached as they are and they will be very well prepared for us.  They're playing at home so it's going to be just a just a very difficult task to go over there and beat them,” he told Swanknsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We're hoping that our kids we'll get back to form like we were in the last 10 games and somehow find a way to pull out a victory over there.”

          Huron is the only team to beat Willard in a division game this year.  That came (50-37) at Huron on January 6.  Dylan Hohler is the district 6 player of the year in division III, he averages 20 points and nine boards a game.  He was the division II player of the year last year.

          Huron has played outstanding defense since Christmas and James says they are going to have to do that again Friday.  “Well, we're going to have to defend the big two.  We did a pretty good job in the first game.  So, if we can defend the big two and communicate.  We're also going to have to make them play defense and move the ball a little bit better than we did on Tuesday night, but if we let those two guys get hot we are going to be a lot of trouble.  We have got to move the basketball, we have got to rebound obviously and we also have got to hit the offensive glass little better than what we did on Tuesday,” he said.

Published 2/17/23

© Swankonsports.com

There will be a special “Out of Bounds”

Saturday from 10 to 11 PM

First Source for All Things Sports

Huron Plays Dangerous Oak Harbor

          Huron, still just a game back in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, plays at Oak Harbor in a division game on Friday night.

          They trail Willard by game and play the Flashes next week at Willard, but the Tigers are likely going to need to win Friday in order to make next week mean something.

          They smoked Port Clinton (69-47) last Friday in a Bay Division game and then added (65-49) win over Clyde, of the Lake Division on Saturday.

          Coach Bobby James says they were solid performances.  “We had a nice weekend.  It's a tough weekend, we had couple SBC teams, one in the Lake and one in the Bay and it was a very physical weekend.  Our kids I thought played really hard, played really well defensively.  We got two big leads in both games and we're able to cruise through in the fourth quarters and come out with a good weekend.  I was proud of how the kids played,” he said.

          Huron (13-4,6-2), a winner of their last nine in a row, #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Oak Harbor (7-13,3-5) on Friday night.  The Rockets fell to first place Willard (67-44) in a division game last Friday and then Bellevue (61-48) in a crossover game on Saturday.

          James says Oak Harbor has a nice player and coach Eric Sweet prepares well for them.  “They have a they have a nice real nice sophomore in Stokes, he's a real good player.  They shoot a lot of threes and if they get hot we could be in trouble.  Going over to Oak Harbor is always a tough place to play.  Eric Sweet has been there for a while and he knows how to play us and he's a good coach,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “I think he's even quoted in The Plain Dealer (Tuesday) about some comments about playing against LeBron.  So, he's been around and like I said he's been a great coach and he's going to be prepared for us.  Our kids better be ready because we can't have one slip up going into the final weeks of the season.”

          James says those teams that can make three points shots are always dangerous because you never know.  “At the beginning of the year a lot of teams were doing that against us.  At the beginning of the year with how we played defense and teams were hitting threes and they were dangerous and they were taking it to us.  So, we really been trying to adjust to try to defend that three-point line a lot better and hopefully that will continue on Friday against Oak Harbor,” he said.

Published 2/08/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

Huron Wants to Return Favor

          Huron, a game behind Willard in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, plays host to Port Clinton in another big division game for the Tigers on Friday night.

          Coach Bobby James repeats the theme he has been using the last three weeks.  He says it another must win for them.  “We have got to keep pace.  Port Clinton got us in the first part of the league, right off the bat and we've got to make sure that we don't have anymore hiccups in our league because one hiccup and I think Willard's probably got it pretty much wrapped up if we lose another game.  So, we have to make sure we stay the course.  Port Clinton we know is a really good team.  Like I said, they beat us the first time so we have got to be really mentally and physically prepared to play them on Friday night,” said James.

          Huron (11-4,5-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, hosts Port Clinton (8-8,3-4) in a Bay Division game on Friday night.  The Redskins lost (64-61) to Eastwood in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

          James says they have some very good players, beginning with the big guy inside.  “Obviously, it starts with (Adam) Thorbahn, who's going to go play football in college.  He's a great athlete, I think he has scored like 1,200 points already for them.  The (Jackson) Beasley kid, number 5, he's really stepped up his game, really worked on it, and he's a good player.  He got us for 20 some points the first game and well they really just took it to us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “So, we've got to make sure that we can try to contain those two.  Then the (Nolan) Chamber, their point guard, he's had one game when he had 27.  So, we have got to try to figure some things out for Friday because we can't have another hiccup like in the first round.”

          Port Clinton won that first game (61-52) on December 17.  Huron has been playing outstanding defense the last month and James says that is the key again.  “I thought defensively we were really bad.  We gave up 20 some points in the first quarter.  They just took it right to us.  So, we've got to make sure that we slow them down a little bit defensively and make them work.  Like I said, the first game they just took it to us, but defensively we just had to be a whole lot better and we're going to continue to work on that this week,” said James.

Published 2/01/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

Huron Meets Defensive Minded Vermilion

          Huron, in second place in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, takes a break from division play this week to meet Vermilion, of the Lake Division, on Saturday night.

          Last week, the Tigers, winners of six straight, smoked Margaretta (62-39) in a Bay Division game on Friday night and added a (60-38) non-conference win over Norwalk St. Paul on Saturday.

          Coach Bobby James says they put a couple of nice games together.  “We had a nice weekend.  Came off a big win against Margaretta and then followed it up with our kids kept our stuff together and we're able to come over St. Paul and had win over there pretty big too.  So, we were happy with the weekend, like I said, we were really happy to avenge that loss to Margaretta the first time on Friday and we were real happy this weekend,” he said.

          The Tigers don’t play Friday, but James thinks Saturday afternoon is a good alternative.  Plus, he thinks the boys-girls varsity doubleheaders on Friday are good thing.  “Obviously, I would like to play a Friday and then have Saturday off, but we have a nice plan.  Coach (Kurt) Habermehl and I got together and we decided we'll try these afternoon games and they seem to work.  It's a lot of fun for our kids to play an afternoon game and have a Saturday night off.  Not too many times during the season do kids you know get a Saturday night off, so that's kind of fun.  So, we'll give it a try.  We've done it the last time, all three or four years, but what we did that was interesting and I don't mind it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Speaking of Title IX, we played the boys and girls together and that really drew some big crowds the last couple of years.  I thought that was great to come up with and was kind of was a nice idea.  So, maybe I wonder if maybe some of these weekends where we play a Friday, Saturday you might think about doing something more like that.”

          Huron (10-4), #5 in the Swankonspots.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Vermilion (5-11) on Saturday afternoon.

          James says the Sailors always play hard on defense and they have some shooters too.  “They are always going to be tough defensively.  They're always physical.  Kurt really get them to play hard every year no matter what their record is, how good or bad they are they always seem to play at the same level.  They play so hard under him.  They have the one shooter #4, can't pronounce his name the right way, so I don’t want to mess that up, but he's a good player.  Like I said they play so hard, so it's always going to be a challenge, especially when we're backyard rivals with Huron and Vermilion,” said James.

Published 1/25/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

Huron Must Defend Even Better

          Huron, a game back in the competitive Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, plays another critical game in the division on Friday night as they host the Margaretta Polar Bears.

          Both Huron and Margaretta trail Willard by a game and loser Friday night likely falls out of the division race.

          Huron played well last week in beating Toledo Bowsher (56-41) in a non-league game on Tuesday, Edison (68-32) in a division game on Friday and Norwalk (70-47) in an “SBC” crossover on Saturday.

          Coach Bobby James says they played some good basketball.  “We played pretty well last week started Tuesday with Bowsher and we had a nice weekend.  The kids moved the ball pretty well and we sat down and played some pretty good defense.  So, hopefully we can get that to continue throughout the season,” he said.

          Huron (8-4,4-2) plays host to Margaretta (10-5,4-2) on Friday night in Bay Division play.  Margaretta is coming off a (59-48) loss to Willard in division play last Friday.  They did beat Genoa (70-63) in overtime on Saturday in non-conference play.  The Polar Bears have been without senior Carmon Sosa in recent weeks due to a violation of team rules.

          James says the Bears still have a lot of good players.  He says this is clearly a must win for the Tigers.  “They're moving the ball pretty well, their dribble drive is nice, they have some freshmen that are stepping up and playing the game pretty well.  They're competing, they had a nice win against Genoa last weekend, a pretty good Genoa team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They beat us at the beginning of the year and we have got to be focused and even more focused than we have been in trying to come through with a win because like I said before one slip up and we're done.”

          Margaretta had a big second half and beat the Tigers (66-63) on December 9.

          James says his team must play better defense than they did in the first meeting.  “Defensively we have to be a whole lot better.  We can't be giving up 60 some points a game.  So, definitely we need to be a lot better defensively.  We're going to really work on some things that try to combat their offense and slow them down a little bit, but it is all going to start on the defensive end,” said James.

Published 1/18/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

Things Haven’t Changed for Huron

          Huron, trailing Willard and Margaretta by a game in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, play at rival Edison in a division game on Friday night.

          They play a crossover game with Norwalk on Saturday night.

          The Tigers beat the Toledo Bowsher Blue Racers (56-41) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          Coach Bobby James says it was a good outing for them.  “That was a good a good game for us.  We go down to Toledo… up, side, cross, I don’t know where we're going, but to Toledo Bowsher and on a Tuesday night you know an hour and a half drive.  We came in there they're pretty athletic team and our kids did a nice job (Tuesday) night of stepping up and competing and coming in ready to play I thought,” he said.

          Huron (6-4,3-2) plays over at Edison (2-8,0-5) on Friday night.  The Tigers won the first meeting at Huron (68-46) on December 2.

          James believes the Chargers are showing improvement.  “With youth you're always going to get better as the time goes on.  I know they've got some young kids playing.  The more they're in the gym, the better they're going to be.  So, it's a big match up on Friday for us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We are going to make sure that we come ready to play because at any given night in basketball anybody can beat anybody.  Edison is getting a lot better.  So, we need to make sure we stay focused come ready to play.  Edison is always a big rival and it's tough to play over at their place.”

          James says even after their (50-37) over Willard last week, the situation has not changed for them.  He says every division game is a must.  “We're in a must win in every game right now.  I mean every game is a must win no matter who we're playing.  We have got to finish out the “SBC”.   We've got to run the table if we have any aspirations of tying or winning the league.  So, one slip up's going to cost us and we have got to make sure that, like I said, our kids ready to play on every given and one slip up we're done,” said James.

Published 1/12/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

Must Win For Huron

          Huron, who trails Willard by two games in the standings in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, plays host to Willard in crucial game for the Tigers on Friday night.

          Coach Bobby James says there is no question this is a game they must have.  “It's a big game for us because, I'm not sure how big it is for Willard, but it's big game for us because we already have two losses and their sitting at zero. So, we have to really come prepared because I mean really if we lose this game or there's no shot of getting the league title.  So, we're really emphasizing that and how big it is for us and hopefully the kids will realize that and will be ready to play on Friday,” he said.

          Huron (4-4,2-2) entertains Willard (6-6,4-0), the Flashes are alone in first place in the Bay Division, on Friday night.

          James jokes that Willard assistant coach Dave Hirschy is better suited for the coach’s retirement home.  “What jumps off the film to me about Willard is Dave Hirschy is still there.  I can't believe it that guy so old.  I cannot believe he can still even walk around the court anyway.  I mean that guy's been coaching for like 50 years.  Joe (Bedingfield) must be getting a ton of community service points for having him on the bench.  What does he do just pick him up at the home every day and drop him back off.  I don't know, but you know having him around I guess you know Joe's got his good deed, he's going straight to heaven, but that's really what jumps off the film to me about Willard is Dave Hirschy is still there coaching,” said James.

          James says Willard has the best player in the division in Max Dawson, plus the role players they have are getting a lot better.  “They have the best player in the conference in Dawson.  I mean what's he average like 27 or something game?  He's averaging 27 points a game because he's putting in the time.  Every time I've talked to that kid or seen him he's in the gym working on his game. So, he's very good and then (Cam) Robinson is also very, very good.  He's real physical.  Those two guys just jump off the film,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “If you watch them they are just going to be so hard to defend.  Their role players are stepping up.  You're not 4-0 in our conference for nothing.  Their losses are, you hate to say good losses, but look at the record of the teams that beat them.  They're not sitting around playing the little sisters of the poor.  They're out there they're playing competition and they'll be tournament ready by the time they're done with the season.”

Published 1/06/22

© Swankonsports.com

Score updates every 5 minutes on Friday and Saturday night

On our scoreboard at

https://www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Huron Looking to Play Well Again

          Huron will play Bowling Green as part of the “Jingle Bell Jam” at Cedar Point on Friday evening.

          The Tigers (4-3) played one of their better games of the season in beating Oak Harbor (62-33) in a Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division game last Wednesday.

          Coach Bobby James says they played some pretty good defense.  “We started on the defensive end.  We really been just really trying to hit that the last two weeks ever since that Port Clinton game.  We came out we really defended really well last Wednesday.  I think we gave up 18 points through three quarters. So, we were very happy defensively.  We communicated better and then offensively we moved the ball way better than we have before.  So, hopefully we can continue to build on that from last Wednesday going into (Friday) night, which Bowling Green is very, very good, so it could be one of our toughest, it might be our toughest matchup so far.  So, we have to use that momentum from last week we just really have to defend,” he said.

          James says playing at Cedar Point is a unique experience and he hopes a good one.  “It's a different atmosphere.  It's fun to play a little something over the holidays cause is if you talk to any coach holiday games and holiday practices you never know what's going to happen with the team over the holidays.  So, it's kind of interesting to go play over there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We practiced over there before, not this year, but last year we went over there before the tournament, a hell of a lot of good that did us against St. Mary's Memorial, but we thought we could use the backdrops because you don't see anything behind like a normal gym you got that opening in the back.  So, we'll see what happens it should be a fun atmosphere.  I know there's some really good games before us and after us so we're just glad to be part of it.”

          James says Bowling Green will be a challenge.  “They have a nice big down low.  He is a big strong kid.  He might be about 6-6 about 215 pounds, I don't know, he's a big kid on film, but they have they have some nice guards that can really shoot it.  If they get those two those guards rolling from the three-point line and that opens it up down low for the big kid.  So, you know it sounds like pick your poison.  They're playing really, really well.  Mason Roth, their head coach, has got them playing really well right now.  He's doing a nice job.  I've known his family forever, so there's a cradle of coaches through that Roth family.  So, we'll see what happens Friday night, but hopefully we're ready to go,” said James.

Published 12/30/22

© Swankonsports.com

Score updates every 5 minutes on Friday and Saturday night

On our scoreboard at

https://www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Huron Has to Play Defense

          Huron is at home for Oak Harbor in a Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division game, which is a must win game for the Tigers on Wednesday night.

          Last week, they lost (48-47) to Bellevue in a crossover game on Thursday and lost a Bay Division game (62-51) to Port Clinton on Saturday, dropping them two games behind Willard.

          Coach Bobby James says they didn’t play very well.  “I don't have any thoughts I'm just trying to forget about it that was a bad weekend.  The Bellevue game we got down and we made a nice little comeback and we took the lead and got a stop and then got another stop and then they had three shots the basket with 10 seconds left and the third one went in and then we lose by one point,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Then Saturday night, we just didn't come ready to play and Port Clinton took it to us.  We let them score 25 points in the first quarter and then we came back and end up taking the lead by halftime.  We had a nice little run in the second quarter and then we just came out flat in the third quarter and Port Clinton just did a nice job.  We just didn't play very good defense.  We didn't play any defense I don't think Saturday night.  So, we got it we got to get that figured out.”

          Defense has been the corner stone of the Huron program and James says they must start defending better.  “I mean we've always been known for our defense.  I can't figure this this out.  We're not talking, we're not communicating, we're not on the same page defensively.  We have got to figure that out real quick because we can't afford another loss in this league or it's over.  So, like I said we got it we just got to get this figured it out and it's got to be figured out pretty fast starting Wednesday,” he said.

          Huron (3-3,1-2) is at home for Oak Harbor (3-5,1-2) on Wednesday night.  The Rockets are coming (67-45) thrashing at the hands of Willard on Saturday night.

          James says they have to contest three point shooters.  “They have a really nice sophomore kid Stokes.  He's a really good player.  He's averaging about 20 points a game.  We have got to keep him out of the paint.  We have got to make him work for everything he gets.  We have got to get out and contest the three-point shooters.  If we don't do that, we're going to have similar results of Thursday and Saturday.  I told the kids we can't afford another slip up or this league is over,” he said.

Published 12/21/22

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

Huron Has to Get Back on Track

          Huron lost for the first time last week and they face two games this week at home against Bellevue in a crossover game on Thursday and at Port Clinton in a Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division game on Saturday.

          Last Friday, with some kids out due to illness, the Tigers lost (66-63) to Margaretta in a Bay Division game at Margaretta.

          Coach Bobby James says they kind of ran out of gas in the second half and didn’t play well on the defensive end.  “In the first half of we held them to 16 points, I think.  We did a nice job and had a high energy level and we were doing a nice job defending like we know how to.  In the second half, Margaretta came out and were so much more intense than we were and they took it to us and shot the ball really well in the second half.  Obviously, were pretty bad on defense in the second half and let them dictate the game and we have to figure out a way to change that,” he said.

          James says this is an important week for them to find themselves again.  “We will go back to the drawing board defensively.  We will go back and redo our fundamentals and get our kids back in shape.  Hopefully, we get some kids back this week healthy.  We are just going to go back to the drawing board.  I told the kids, I have never had a team that won the league that was undefeated.  So, we are going to keep going forward and everything is in front of us if we can keep plowing though like we did last year and a couple of years before,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We are just going to use that as a learning tool and go back to the drawing board and keep our focus.  The league is still in front of us and so is our season.  We can’t let one little blemish ruin our season.  We will be fine, we will get back to it, we will be good.”

          Huron (3-1), #5 in the first Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll of the season in the small school division, is at home for Bellevue (2-2) on Thursday night.  The Redmen beat Sandusky Perkins (64-59) in a Lake Division game on Friday night.

          James says he knows this will be a test.  “They are very good.  Before the season, you always look at the schedule and we knew this was going to be a good game.  This will be a great game for the tournament.  That is why we schedule Bellevue, they are very well coached.  (Coach) Ed (Rich) is doing a nice job.  I know he has had a tough year so far family wise with his wife.  We sympathize with him.  He runs a program the right way and does such a nice job.  We know his kids are going to be ready to go.  It will be a good test for us and will do nothing but make us better,” said James.

Published 12/13/22

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

swankonsports@gmail.com

Huron to Meet Rival Margaretta

          Huron takes to the road on Friday night to face the Margaretta Polar Bears in game in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          The two schools shared the division title last year.

          The Tigers (2-0,1-0) belted Edison (68-46) in their first division game last Friday.

          Coach Bobby James says the start of the game was key for them.  “I felt we had a really good first half.  We were able to control tempo and force some turnovers with our defense.  I was happy with our first half.  We were able to build a big lead and cruise into the second half,” he said.

          Dylan Hohler had 19 points against Edison.

          Margaretta (1-1,0-1) lost (70-59) to Willard in their Bay Division opener last Friday.

          James says the Bears are younger, but talented.  “I think they graduated four starters from last year, which was a really good team from last year.  We spit with them in the regular season.  I know they have two freshmen that are starting.  I want to say a sophomore, a junior and one senior.  So, they have some youth.  I have to watch a little more film on them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “I know they will always be competitive and it is always a tough place to play over there.  Our kids better be ready to go.  We need to have a really crisp week on practice and get ready to go into this weekend.”

          It’s a road game for the Tigers and James says a win in this one would be a feather in their cap.  “I know last year we took the first game in the series at our place, so we want to make sure we are focused.  It would be a huge advantage of for us if we were able to sneak out of there with a victory.  We are going to be totally focused on what we need to do and the task at hand.  Hopefully, we can have a great week of practice and get ready to go over there and play,” said James.

Published 12/06/22

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

swankonsports@gmail.com

Huron Meets Improved Edison

          Huron, the defending co-champion in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, plays at home against Edison in a division game on Friday night.

          Last week, they started their season, with (59-45) win at Sandusky St. Mary’s the day before Thanksgiving.

          Coach Bobby James says they played well, but they kind of rans out of gas in the late going.  “I thought for two and a half quarters we played pretty well.  With 10 practices in, we kind lost our legs in the fourth and got a little complacent.  I thought we played petty much like we could play for two and half quarters, but we have to learn how to finish games, finish at the foul line and close people out.  I think we will get better as time goes along with our practicing and as we get more games in.”

          Continued improvement is the goal of every team and James says they he thought they took some steps this week.  “We thought we had a pretty good week of practice.  We think we are getting our legs back.  Like a lot of areas teams, getting our legs back after football and some injuries worked out.  We have had a pretty good week in practice and hopefully we can make that next step into this week,” he said.

          In what is another example the yule log craze that began in Bellville, where there is a parade that carries that name on Saturday, Huron hosts Edison on Friday night.  The Chargers, also (1-0), beat New London (56-24) last Friday.

          James says they will have to have their “A” game against the improved Chargers if they expect to win.  “This the first annual “Yule Log Bowl” between Edison and Huron.  So, we are really taking this pretty seriously.  The winner gets a yule log,” James told Sawankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon with his tongue firmly placed in his cheek and then seriously added, “Edison has some kids playing up.  A lot of freshmen and sophomores.  A young team that has some talent is always dangerous.  We have prepared all week for them.  They are going to give us a challenge.  (Coach) Kyle (Hammond) does a wonderful job over there.  He will be prepared for us on Friday, so we better be ready to go.”

Published 12/02/22

© Swankonsports.com

Score updates every 5 minutes on Friday and Saturday night

On our scoreboard at

https://www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Huron Heads for St. Mary’s

          Huron, the defending co-champion of the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division, plays a crossover game on Wednesday night at Sandusky St. Mary’s, of the River Division to open the season.

          Coach Bobby James says his kids can’t wait to get the season started.  “I don’t think there is enough time for me to get anything assembled.  We will just see what happens Wednesday.  Hopefully, my assistant coaches know what they are doing.  I think we will be ready to go our kids are chomping at the bit to get out on the court and play a game.  They are sick of listening to me yell at them,” said James.

          Huron returns four kids that played a lot of minutes at the varsity level for a team that won the division II district title last year and James hopes that will help them with the jitters of opening night.  “I think with us having so many seniors and having a lot of experience and a lot kids that played big time football games I think that will help us going into Wednesday night.  With us not having the full preseason I really do think that is going to help.  I think they will be ready to go on Wednesday I hope,” he said.

          Huron is going to be division III this season.

          James says St. Mary’s will be well coached and they will come up with some surprises for the Tigers.  “Chris (Ceccoli) has done such a great job coaching.  He did a great job at Edison and now he is doing a great job at St. Mary’s.  They have two guards.  They are led by Brock Gill, I think he was all league last year coming back.  It is funny we go on vacation together as a family and now we are going to play against each other, so I have a couple of tricks up my sleave for Brock,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “It should be a good time, but he’ll have those kids disciplined and ready to go and I’m sure they will throw some things at us that we aren’t ready for.  He always does a nice job with that.  Hopefully, our kids are prepared and ready to go Wednesday night.”

Published 11/22/22

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

swankonsports@gmail.com

Huron Has Some Players

          Huron shared the title in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference and advanced to the division II regional last season and this season has the potential to be pretty good too.

          Coach Bobby James says they haven’t had their full roster for very long at all and they have a lot of things they must improve.  “The is our seventh day total, so we have had them about a week and we have had one scrimmage.  We have a lot to work on.  We are not where we need to be because they went two weeks into the playoffs and then I gave them some time off,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Right now, we are just trying to play catchup to get ready for next Wednesday.  It seems like it is coming really fast and we don’t have time to get ready.”

          Huron opens the season next Wednesday with Sandusky St. Mary’s in a non-conference game.  Their first Bay Division game comes December 2 against Edison.

          James says they will return some talent from that team last year, including the district player of the year in Dylan Hohler.  “We have two kids that started for me last year coming back in Dylan Hohler and Luke Rager and my sixth man in Adam Murray is back, so he will plug right in as a starter.  Then we brought some kids up from the JV team late last year, so we think they will plug in.  We have Jake Lagando, who was my backup five last year, who will plug right into that spot this year.  So, we have got some experience and some depth.  So, we are hoping having those guys back we can pick it up a little faster than if we were starting fresh,” said James.

          When you have some talent back that builds the expectations with the program.  James says they think they can be pretty good and really that is all that matters.  “It depends on who you talk to I guess, right?  My wife expects me to lose weight every year and that doesn’t happen.  We don’t know what is going to happen once the ball is tipped off.  We always have high expectations for our team here.  I am not sure what anybody else thinks and I’m not sure I care what anybody else thinks.  Hopefully, we can come together in the right time, but we will see, we have a lot of work to do,” he said.

Published 11/18/22

© Swankonsports.com

Score updates every 5 minutes on Friday and Saturday night

On our scoreboard at

https://www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Huron has to Play Four Quarters

          Huron makes the long trip to Coldwater to face the Cavaliers in a division V regional quarterfinal on Friday night.

          The Tigers (9-2) beat Edison (35-14) for the second straight week in their playoff opener.

          Coach Sam Hohler says turnovers were the difference last week.  “Last week, I thought the kids were really focused.  It was kind of a repeat of the week 10 game as far as Edison was able to move the ball on us with their triple option offense, but turnovers helped us.  We had a scoop and score, a fumble recovery for a touchdown and we had a pick 6, interception return for a touchdown.  We were plus five in the turnover margin,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We didn’t turn the ball over at all.  They had five turnovers and that was really the difference in the game.  Our defense was able to get the ball back for our offense and we were able to do some things because of that.”

          Hohler says they talk about and work a lot on creating turnovers.  “We have kind of prided ourselves this year on that.  We stress that defensively.  Trying to create turnovers, whether it be fumbles or interceptions or strip sacks or whatever and just try to get the ball back for our offense, so we can have more opportunities to score,” he said.

          Coldwater (10-1), runner-up last season division VI, smoked North Union (41-7) last week.

          Hohler says the Cavaliers feature a lot of speed.  “They have a lot of team speed.  They are not the biggest team out there, but they are very athletic on both sides of the ball.  Offensively, they have some playmakers.  They can run the ball well or throw it and get their big plays from time to time with a lot of success.  Defensively, they kind of swarm to the football.  They have a lot of quick athletes.  They play tough defense.  It is hard to score a lot of points on them and keep up with their offense.  We will definitely have our hands full,” said Hohler.

          Hohler says if they score early or not, they are going to have to play 48 minutes to win.  “We told the kids that that is the mindset you have to have going in.  It is going to take four quarters and sometimes more to get the job done.  We played an overtime game this year that we lost.  The other game that we lost was at the end of the fourth quarter when Perkins went for two and got it.  So, we have been in some dogfights like that throughout the year.  This one could end up like that as well,” he said.

Published 11/01/22

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

swankonsports@gmail.com

Huron Plays Edison… Again

          Huron plays at home Friday night against arch rival Edison in a division V first round playoff game.

          Of course, they just played Edison last week and beat them (31-6) last Friday.  This a rare occurrence, a back to back game, but not unheard of.  Norwalk St. Paul and Monroeville is one that comes to mind, just last year it was Shelby and Clear Fork.

          Huron coach Sam Hohler says this is a dangerous Edison team and as a program that have already proven what they are capable of as they underdog.  “We played them at home last week and we are rivals.  We are schools that are just a few miles apart.  The game was hard fought by both teams.  We were able to come out on top,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Then you throw in last year Edison was a 16 seed and beat number one seeded Bellevue in the playoffs.  They have that kind of ability.  The key for us is to guard against that and make sure we have a good week of practice and get ready to go.”

          Edison, a run heavy triple option team likes to get the lead and then consume the clock with their efficient ground game. 

          Hohler says they can not let that happen on Friday.  “That was a focus last week and it will be again this week for us to make sure we get off to a good start.  We were able to get up on them a little bit early on.  They weren’t able to take the air out of the game so to speak and had to try and catch up a little bit and that was definitely an advantage for us,” he said.

          After losing by 25 points there might be a thought that Edison has to alter its game plan, however, Hohler says that would be unlikely in this case.  “Their best opportunity is probably to stick with what they do best and run that triple option offense effectively and try and keep the ball away from us and try and shorten the game the best they can.  We were fortunate to get a number of turnovers against them last week and kind of got them out of what they like to do and that definitely played in our favor,” said Hohler.

Published 10/26/22

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

swankonsports@gmail.com

Huron Must Take Care of Business

          Huron is at home for Edison in contest in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          A win by either would give them a chance to share the division title with Oak Harbor, who plays Port Clinton on Friday.  A win by the Rockets gives them the outright title.

          Last week, the Tigers (7-2,3-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, got a late field goal from Cam Manner and beat Port Clinton (27-26) on Friday.

          Coach Sam Hohler says it was a great win for them.  “Port Clinton had a really nice run last year in the playoffs.  They got beat in the state semifinals and they returned a lot of those kids from last year.  It was their last home game for their seniors,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “So, for us to go over there and find a way to win against a quality opponent was really huge for us.”

          Edison (6-3,3-1) smoked Vermilion (55-7) on Friday night in division action.

          The Chargers run the triple option offense and Hohler says that is something you almost never see except when you play Edison.  “They are one of the few teams in the area that run it.  They are really good at what they do.  It is just not something you see a whole lot of anymore,” he said.

          Hohler says he tells players on defense not to try and do too much, just do their job each play.  “Again, when you don’t see it all of the time it is hard to impress on your kids that they have one job to do and they have to stay focused on that,” he said.

          Hohler reminds the first thing that must happen if they are going to get a piece of the title is they have to beat Edison on Friday night.  “It is a rivalry game for us.  Our districts are right next to one another.  The kids, coaches and families all know one another really well.  If we have any chance of winning a league title, we just have to take care of our own business first and get a win against Edison to make that happen,” said Hohler.

Published 10/21/22

© Swankonsports.com

Score updates every 5 minutes on Friday night

On our scoreboard at

https://www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Huron Plays Port Clinton

          Huron, a game back in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, plays at Port Clinton in a division game on Friday night.

          The Tigers have only two losses this season and both are by the same score (29-28) on week five to Sandusky Perkins and week seven to Oak Harbor in a division game.  The Rockets are the division leader.

          Coach Sam Hohler says they have had a great season based on their experience and their tremendous leadership they have gotten.  “We have 15 seniors and a lot of our juniors too played last year for us.  We finished the year 6-5, so we knew what we had coming back this year.  The kids have really bought in and they have worked really hard with that terrific leadership and team chemistry,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “The two games we lost this year we lost to teams going for two at the end of the game.  We are really six yards away from being undefeated.  So, that’s how it goes sometimes, but the kids have been great.  They have rebounded well and we have had a couple of good weeks of practice here.”

          Being within such a razor thin margin of unbeaten this year it might be easy to be down on yourself, but not these kids.  Hohler says they have done a great job battling adversity.  “Our kids have had a great attitude all along with that.  They understand what’s at stake.  They knew they could have a pretty good season this year, that’s just how it is, it’s a case in the process.  Football is a great tool to help kids understand that, that things don’t always go your way.  You just have to keep scratching and clawing and fighting and hopefully things will work out for the best,” he said.

          Huron (6-2,2-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Port Clinton (5-3,2-1) on Friday night.  The Redskins are the defending division champs.  They smoked Willard (68-13) last week.

          Hohler says they have athletes and size too.  “Port Clinton had an amazing season last year.  They got to the division IV state semifinals and they return a good chunk of players from that, so they have a lot of experience.  I don’t know that they have the depth that they had last year.  They have a terrific quarterback in (Cameron) Gillum.  The (Adam) Thorbahn is a great athlete as a tight end, receiver, type for them.  Their offensive and defensive lines are huge.  Last year, we played them at our place.  We hung with them for a half and they kind of pulled way from us in the second half.  We are hoping that script will be flipped this year for us,” said Hohler.

Published 10/12/22

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

swankonsports@gmail.com

Huron Falls Short in Regional

          Huron’s outstanding season came to a close on Thursday night as they lost (40-29) to St. Mary’s Memorial in a division II regional semifinal at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University.

          It was the Tigers first ever trip to the regional at the division II level, they have been there before in division III.

          6’10” junior Austin Parks, an Ohio State commit, scored six of his game high 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Roughriders pulled away. 

          St. Mary’s Memorial coach Daniel Hegemier says they had more patience in the fourth quarter.  “Well, it was a battle.  I thought Huron defended Austin really well.  Hopefully, we learned something (Thursday) night about having a little more patience.  I thought defensively we were pretty dog gone good.  The zones really helped.  I hate playing zones to tell you the truth, but this is what we have to do to win and that’s what we are going to do.  We finally showed a little more patience in the fourth quarter and got the ball into Austin and he made a couple of nice passes inside and we made a couple of nice moves and that is how we got the win,” said Hegemier.

          St. Mary’s Memorial (18-7) will be play Gilmour Academy (21-5) for the regional title on Saturday afternoon.  The Lancers beat Toledo Central Catholic (65-54) in Thursday’s first semifinal.

          Outsized at every position, Huron coach Bobby James says they did a tremendous job on Parks and the two 6’6” sophomores in Evan Angstmann and Jace Turner, but they couldn’t put the ball in the basket.  “Obviously, we didn’t shoot the ball very well.  I thought defensively, we were phenomenal.  I talked to their coach and he said Parks hasn’t had to work that hard in over two months.  When you shoot like that you are not going to win many games,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “I couldn’t be more proud of this group and the way the behave on and off the court.  They are model citizens.  They played their butts off, but we were just out muscled down low.  The bottom line was we knew we had to stretch them out to open up driving lanes and when you don’t shoot the ball, they can pack it in.  It’s a lot different shooting over 6’10”, 6’6”, 6’6” than what we have seen.  I thought we had some great looks, we moved the basketball, they just didn’t go down.”

          Despite, their height advantage, St. Mary’s Memorial only outrebounded Huron 30-25.

          James says the Roughriders are hard to shoot over, but he thought they got some clean looks from the perimeter, but they didn’t go down.  “They sit in that 2-3 zone and they are long.  It looked like we had a seem and it is not there.  Our kids weren’t used to that.  I really did think we got some good looks.  Unsarcastically, we shot the ball bad from the three point line and a lot of them were open looks.  I thought we turned the ball over more than we have all year.  When you get the regional you have to play pretty flawless and I don’t think we did that.  Our kids battled their tails off and I thought defensively we played an excellent game.  We did what we had to on that end to win the game,” said James.

          Huron has been among the best defensive teams in North Central Ohio this winter, probably the best among the larger schools.  James says they did a very good job making things difficult for Parks.  “We were just sending three or four guys out there.  When you have a kid like Dylan (Hohler) that plays above the rim it makes it a lot easier.  I think he blocked him two or three times.  That makes our defense a lot better.  Joey (Schade) did a great job of really forcing him and battling and Dylan was able to come from the weak side.  I thought we had a nice game plan with that,” he said.

          Hohler led the Tigers with 14 points and 10 rebounds.  Schade added eight markers.

          Hohler’s three with 1:28 to go in the first quarter gave Huron their only lead (7-6) of the night, but they were able to keep it close most of the way.

          A Shade three with 4:43 left until half cut it to (13-12), but St. Mary’s Memorial led (20-14) at the half. 

          Back to back threes by Tait Fischer and Hohler made it (22-20) with 6:10 left in the third quarter. 

          Hohler’s hoop with 4:27 to play made it (32-26) and put Huron in striking position, but they scored only three points the rest of the way.

          James says wanted to beat St. Mary’s Memorial’s height down the floor, but they weren’t able to do that enough.  “I didn’t think we pushed it well enough in the first half.  I thought we were too tentative.  I don’t know it was nerves or what.  At the beginning of the third quarter, when we were able to get out and run a little bit, we made that nice run to get within 22-20.  Then it was like we are okay just walking the ball up the floor and we had to beat those guys down the floor.  That was our advantage and we didn’t take advantage of what we had to do to win,” said James.

Published 3/11/22

© Swankonsports.com

On Friday and Saturday night log onto our scoreboard

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

For constant score updates

Huron Plays Big St. Mary’s Memorial

          Huron faces St. Mary’s Memorial, out of the Western Buckeye League, on Thursday night at the Stroh Center on the campus of Bowling Green State University in a regional semifinal in division II.

          Gates Mills Gilmour Academy (20-5) takes on Toledo Central Catholic (20-5) in the first semifinal on Thursday night.  Winners tip it off at 4 PM on Saturday afternoon for the regional title.

          Huron (22-2) beat Lexington (46-39) on Saturday night to win the district.

          Coach Bobby James says they were able to play some physical basketball.  “We knew it was going to be a battle.  It was a physical game and it was a low scoring game and they grinded it out we did a nice job of matching their physicality and hanging in there and pulling it out in the end,” he said.

          The Tigers got eight blocks from district player of year Dylan Hohler and James says their defense was pretty good against the Minutemen.  “I really thought we made a lot of great plays on the defensive end.  I thought we did a really nice job of making sure they didn’t get a lot of offensive rebounds close to the hoop.  When they did get some offensive rebounds we were able to get some stops on their second chances.  I thought defensively we made enough plays to hold them in the 30’s, which is always key, and when you can do that, you like your shot of winning the game,” said James.

          St. Mary’s Memorial (17-7) downed Napoleon (61-53) in their district final at Ohio Northern.

          James says this is the biggest team that have seen to date.  “They are big.  They are 6’6”, 6’10” and I think another 6’5” guy.  It is obviously the biggest team we have seen.  We have some films on them and we have broke them down.  They are in the regional for a reason.  They play in a keck of a league in the “WBL”.  They have a kid on a full ride to Ohio State.  Hopefully, we can send them the wrong directions to the Stroh Center and see what happens.  He is a man.  There is a reason he is going Big 10, but we will see what we can do,” he said.

          Huron has made 36% of its threes this season and has made more than 150 on the season.

          James hopes they can force St. Mary’s to guard them on the perimeter.  “Hopefully we can knock down some threes.  I would have liked to have seen us shoot a little better from the floor against Lexington.  We made three or four threes.  Usually if we get eight to 10, I really like the way we play if we do that,” he told Swankonsports.com, “So, we are going to try and stretch them out a little bit and hopefully we can knock down some threes and open some driving lanes, but they have three guys that block shots and do an incredible job with that.  When you get to the regionals its always fun, but we do have our work cut out for us.”

          This an arena at Bowling Green, not a gym, but James says that they should be able to handle the environment.  “Playing St. Mary’s Memorial is what concerns me most.  I think we will be okay.  It’s a big venue.  I don’t think our kids will be intimidated by the venue.  It is just a great place to play the Stroh Center.  I took a tour of it on Sunday.  One time we were going to play there, we had terrible weather and we ended up playing our region at Ohio Northern the next night because it got cancelled.  I told the kids just go in there are have some fun.  It’s going to be the best place you ever play basketball, enjoy it and take advantage of it.  We are just so happy to be there are play there,” said James.

Published 3/09/22

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron Eliminates Norwalk From the Tournament

          A (12-1) run in the third quarter helped propel the Huron Tigers to the district championship game as they downed Norwalk (64-43) on Thursday night in a division II district semifinal at Ashland School.

          Daniel Traczek hit three at the halftime buzzer get Norwalk with nine (27-18) and the Truckers started the second half on a (9-1) run over the first 2:28 as Caleb Sommers connected on a triple to put the Truckers with one (28-27) with 5:32 left in the quarter.  But, the Tigers would respond in a big way as Luke Rager buried back to back three to ignite Huron on that (12-1) run and it (40-28) Tigers with 2:20 to play in the third.  Norwalk (13-12) would get no closer than 14 (57-43) in the fourth quarter.

          Huron coach Bobby James says he was nervous, but his kids made big plays.  “The three at the end of the half I just had a terrible feeling.  It was one of those momentum swinging plays and that is why I get so mad.  I knew coming out they had the momentum and they got down to one and Rager had two big threes.  I mean what a way to play,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “They played off of him the first half and I know he can shoot the basketball.  If he makes one or two, he gets really confident.  Then Dylan (Hohler) just took late in the third and fourth quarters.  He’s that good.”

          Rager had 19 points in the game and Norwalk coach Steve Gray felt he was the difference for Huron.  “Rager hit two big threes and he is averaging six a game and I thought he was outstanding (Thursday) night.  I thought he was the different in the game.  We tried to pick our poison.  We chased (Tait) Fischer and Hohler and Schade.  We were trying to force another player to step up and he did it,” said Gray.

          Hohler, the district 6 player of the year had 21, including a two hand dunk on a fast break and Joey Schade added 11.

          Gray says his played hard and they were right there in the third.  “We had a glimmer of hope there for a while, didn’t we?  They are really good.  They are well coached, they are very talented.  I said this week they are one of the better passing teams we have faced all year.  They are just so unselfish with the ball.  Our kids up until the last three or four minutes they competed their fannies off and I couldn’t be more proud of them.  We had it to one and we had a chance and then in a blink of an eye it got away from us,” said Gray.

          Huron also had an (11-2) run to start the game and a (16-4) run in the second quarter.

          James says during those times they played well on defense and controlled the glass.  “I thought we did a really good job of when we were making our runs.  When they made their runs we let them offensive rebound and when that happened we paid the price for that.  If that happens on Saturday that will be the end of the year for us,” he said.

          Gray says their strategy was to hang around and make a game in the fourth quarter.  “We had about three or four threes rim out on us and if those go down maybe it’s a little bit different.  All we wanted to do was in the fourth quarter be in position to put pressure on them, but we never quite got there,” he said.

          The Norwalk coach reiterated that Huron is very good and he hopes they win on Saturday night.

          Huron (21-2) plays Lexington (15-9) in Saturday night’s district final.  The Minutemen beat Mansfield Senior (44-33) in Thursday’s first semifinal.

          James says he is not surprised to be playing Lexington.  “They are big, they are strong and they are very good.  I thought they were probably best team in the district when we started voting.  I know their record didn’t match that up.  Luckily, we are meeting in a district championship not sectional finals or the district semis.  We are going to have our work cut out for us.  We just have to do the things we do and hopefully not let them get going,” he said.

          James wants his kids to come out Saturday night and play loose.  “I told the kids, the Willard game we had to win, to win the league, we had to win.  I thought we had to win the sectional or it would have been a disappointing year.  Now, this is just fun.  Anything can happen in the tournament.  We are going to go out and have fun and play our game.  If we win, we win, great, we move on, if we lose, we lose, but right now this is all fun.  The kids are enjoying it and I’m enjoying it.  This is great,” said James.

Published 3/04/22

© Swankonsports.com

On Friday and Saturday night log onto our scoreboard

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

For constant score updates

Huron Expects War With Norwalk

          Huron meets Norwalk in a division II district semifinal on Thursday night at Ashland High School.

          The winner plays Lexington or Mansfield Senior for the district title on Saturday night.

          In last Friday’s sectional final, Huron downed Ontario (65-54) to advance to the district level.

          Coach Bobby James says Ontario pushed them pretty hard.  “We wanted to make sure we were ready to go for the districts.  I was very nervous about Ontario because I knew how much they were improved.  I felt their dribble drive was going to key against them and I thought we did a better job in the second half of containing that and running up a double digit lead in the second half and then we are able to maintain that.  When you get in the tournament it is always going to be light that.  It’s everybody’s last shot.  They know if they lose, they go home.  I knew we were going to get a game Friday from Ontario and it wasn’t going to be like the first time we played them,” said James.

          Huron (20-2) plays Norwalk (13-11) on Thursday night.

          The Tigers hammered the Truckers (61-23) back on January 15, but James believes this is going to be a different kind of game too, just like last week.  “I think there are a lot of different circumstances with that Norwalk game.  It was kind of like a fluke the way we played them over there and the way they played.  They were coming off two really hard games with Tiffin on a Tuesday and Clyde on a Friday and we played them on a Saturday and there were just out of gas.  I think you are going to see a much different team on Thursday,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Once again, they are much improved as Ontario.  I think it is going to be a battle and hopefully we are around in the fourth quarter.  If we aren’t ready to play, they are going to take it to us and beat us just like they did Upper Sandusky.”

          Norwalk beat Upper (47-36) to win their sectional last week.

          James says the Truckers play a physical kind of defense that they are going to have to be ready to attack.  “They are big, they are strong, they are physical and they wear you down defensively.  They pound you on both ends of the floor.  They have always been good.  Coach Gray, you go back through the years they are always so good defensively.  They are going to be that good defensively on Thursday.  I am telling right now if we aren’t ready to play, we are going to get blown out of the water.  Hopefully, our kids get the right mindset for (Thursday).  They are just going to pound us defensively and the same thing offensively, so we better be ready,” he said.

          Now, of course, Norwalk runs a lot of sets when they have the ball.  James says you have to concentrate on the actions you will see from the Tuckers.  “You have to hopefully take away some of their personnel because they run 20 sets at least.  We are concentrating on what we can do against their main sets and concentrate on their personnel because they run so many if you try to scout everything and put everything in smoke will be coming out of our kids ears, so we won’t be able to do that.  We are going to try and concentrate on what their best assets are offensively.  They are great screeners, they post pretty well.  So, we are going to do the best we can to defend them and its darn near impossible.  Hopefully, we are ready to play on both ends of the floor,” said James.

Published 3/03/22

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

There will be a special Saturday night edition of

“Out of Bounds” this week 10 PM to 11 PM

To cover tournament basketball

Top Seeded Huron Meets Vermilion

          Huron, the number one seed in division II in the Ashland district, and co-champ of the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division, along with Margaretta, plays Vermilion in a sectional semifinal on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

          They beat Willard (61-55) last Friday to earn their share of the title in the Bay Division.

          However, coach Bobby James says that doesn’t earn them any bonus points come tournament time.  “That’s the great thing about basketball, everybody makes the tournament.  Everybody is 0-0.  It’s just one game at a time.  It’s survive and advance and that is what we have to do on Tuesday somehow find a way to beat Vermilion and advance to Friday,” he said.

          Huron advanced to the district semifinal last year and James hopes that tournament experience is going to be a plus this week.  “We have three or four kids that play some good minutes in our tournament games last year.  I wanted to get them another tournament game on Tuesday.  They all wanted to play, so we decided to play on Tuesday.  I just think that experience last year really will help going into Tuesday’s game against Vermilion,” said James.

          The winner of the game will play Ontario (8-14) for a sectional title on Friday night at Willard.

          Huron (18-2), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays Vermilion (4-18) in a first round game on Tuesday.  Vermilion has won two of its last three, including a (54-46) win over Perkins in an “SBC” Lake game on Saturday.  However, Huron beat them (55-36) on January 29.

          James says they have improved since then.  “They are big and they have improved, even from the last time we played them.  They are big, strong kids.  They are shooting the ball a lot better and they got their point guard back in Wells.  They are going to give us everything we want and I know it’s going to be a tough game.  They are 15 miles from us.  They are a well coached team and they are much improved,” said James.

          This very much could be a tempo game.  James says they want to force the pace.  “We want to make them play fast.  We want to make the take quick shots.  If they are able to get the tempo and pound with their two bigs it is going to be a tough game, I feel.  We want to get them up and down.  We want to get the game moving and we want there to be as many shots as quickly as possible on both ends of the floor,” he said.

Published 2/21/22

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

There will be a special Saturday night edition of

“Out of Bounds” this week 10 PM to 11 PM

To cover tournament basketball

Huron to Play For Title

          Huron shares first place in the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division with Margaretta and with a win at home Friday night over Willard they can do no worse than share the title.

          Margaretta plays at home against Oak Harbor in division play on Friday night.

          The Tigers whipped Sandusky Perkins (61-24) in a crossover game on Tuesday.

          Coach Bobby James says they were focused and did an outstanding job rebounding the basketball.  “I thought we came out pretty focused Tuesday night.  Our kids were really chomping at the bit to play them and I thought we did a nice job defensively, especially on the defensive glass we held them to one and done and were able to get in our transition and get down the floor.  They were pretty focused and we got up pretty big by half and we were able to rest of our kids in the fourth quarter.  I was really pleased with the effort on Tuesday night,” said James.

          Huron (17-2,8-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at home against Willard (13-8,4-5) in a division game Friday.  The Flashes got a non-conference win over Wynford (84-63) on Tuesday night. 

          James says they have two outstanding players.  “They have two really, really good players.  Two first team all district players in Trey Paxton and Max Dawson.  Two really good kids.  I have enjoyed watching them play on tape and I enjoy watching their games.  They can really carry a team.  They are very dangerous.  Their record is very deceiving.  They are playing a lot of young kids, so they kind of go on a rollercoaster up and down.  You look at their wins and they have some very quality wins over Shelby and Tiffin Columbian and they look Sandusky to overtime,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “So, if we are not on our best game on Friday we are going to be in trouble and it is going to cost us a league.  Maybe I will try and send all of those kids a care package.  Maybe I’ll give Paxton and Dawson different directions to the school, so they show up late or something.  Maybe we will go down there and kidnap them.  We are hoping we bring our best effort and we can come out where we want to be as “SBC” champions.”

          James says if you are an athlete and a competitor then these are the kind of games you want to be part of.  “That is what we have always preached.  If you are a competitor this is what put the uniform on for to be in position for a league title and we knew it was going to come down to the wire and hopefully our kids are going to be ready for Friday.  I don’t why they wouldn’t be.  It’s pretty much all on them now.  We can do all of the x’s and o’s and coaching that we want.  If they aren’t ready to put on the uniform and be a part of game like this, they shouldn’t be playing sports,” he said.

Published 2/17/22

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

There will be a special Saturday night edition of

“Out of Bounds” this week 10 PM to 11 PM

To cover tournament basketball

Huron has to be Ready on Both Ends

          Huron, the co-leader in the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division, plays at home against Oak Harbor in a division game on Friday night.

          The Tigers (15-2,7-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, share first in the Bay Division with Margaretta.

          On Tuesday night, the Tigers downed Port Clinton (50-42) in a division game.

          Coach Booby James says they had to grind one out against an improving team.  “They are much improved form the first time.  They got their football legs out of them and they are moving the basketball pretty well and they are shooting the ball pretty well.  I knew it was going to be tough going over there on a Tuesday night.  It was kind of a dead gym, not a lot of energy, and our kids came through and I was really happy for them because, like I said, I think Port Clinton has gotten a lot better.  They played really well last night and our kids did a nice job competing with them and taking home the victory,” said James.

          Huron is two baskets from being unbeaten this year and James says they done a good job executing under pressure.  “We have been in some close games.  In a couple we have come out on the short end of the stick and a couple we have won.  So, they know what it takes to win the game and I hope they have learned from the season going forward in the next couple of weeks and the tournament.  They are competing pretty well.  We went over the Clyde Saturday and did a nice job competing over there and we did Tuesday and hopefully we can keep it going into Friday,” he said.

          Oak Harbor (10-9,4-4) beat Willard (57-53) on Wednesday night in a Bay Division game.  In the first meeting between the Tigers and Rockets, Huron won (81-51) on December 22.

          James says the Rockets can score and they will have to be able to do that too.  “They can light it up.  The (T.J.) Hallett kid is averaging close to 20.  He is shooting at a high level and shooting a tone of threes.  We have to make sure we take care of him.  Kind of like cut the head off the snake.  He makes them go and he has really had a great year this year for Oak Harbor,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We just have to take care of the three point line and the bottom line is we just have to score and making sure we are operating with a high efficiently at the offensive end.  Pressure them a little bit and sure we make it as difficult for them to score as possible.”

Published 2/10/22

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron Plays Dangerous Port Clinton

          Huron, the co-leader in the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division, plays at Port Clinton on Friday night is a key division game.

          They share first place with Margaretta.  They also have home games with Oak Harbor and Willard on their division schedule.

          Last Saturday, they beat Vermilion, of the Lake Division, (55-36) in a crossover game.

          Coach Bobby James says they picked it up in the second half.  “In the first half they gave us all we wanted and I think we were up one or two at the half, but then we kind of refocused and we were able to break it open in the second half and  did a nice job executing offensively and defensively.  So, it was a game of focus and now we have to get back and get ready for this week and that is where we are at right now,” said James.

          Huron (13-2,6-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, visits Port Clinton (10-6,3-4) on Friday night.  The Redskins played three games in four nights last week, losing two of them.

          James feels the Redskins are dangerous.  “They are very much improved.  They had that really late start with football going as far as they did go to the final four and then they had to hurry up and play a game right away.  They are a very good basketball team if you ask me,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I think if they didn’t have football there might be a different race going into this second half of the season.  It is going to be a tough place to play over there.  They are going to be ready for us and we have to be our best over there Friday night.”

          Huron won the first meeting convincingly (71-43) On December 18, it was the Redskins second game of the year.

          James says Friday night will be a more difficult challenge for them.  “They are physical and Ryan (Hicks) does a really nice job of getting them into their sets, they do a nice job of screening and executing.  Like I said, Ryan has done a nice job getting them ready for the second half and now they are really starting to get their basketball legs under them and knocking down shots.  That is kind the scarry part is with them, they hit like 15 threes against Perkins,” said James.

Published 2/02/22

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron Plays Rival Vermilion

          Huron, now the co-leader in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, plays at home Saturday night against Vermilion in a crossover game in the “SBC”.

          They slipped back into a share of the lead with Margaretta when the Polar Bears beat them (47-45) in overtime last Friday when the Bears scored at the horn of the overtime period.

          Coach Bobby James says they didn’t execute well enough on offense.  “It was a good high school game I guess if you don’t care about scoring points.  Usually when we give up 41 points we win, nine times out of 10.  I thought we came out slow in the first half and missed some shots and they came out pretty well and built an 11 point lead and we were fortunate enough to claw back in it.  We had a couple of opportunities to take the lead and we just didn’t finish at the offensive end.  That seemed to be the problem we had all night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “It was the first time all year that we didn’t seem to execute and when we did execute we missed the shots.  You’ll have those games.  It was a good environment.  That is two games we have lost on last second out of bounds plays underneath our basket.  So, I better take care of that this week.”

          Jake Leibacher scored 31 points for Margaretta in the win, but it was Ben Palomo that scored the game winner on an uncontested layup.

          James describes that final play.  “We had a guy that was supposed to mark the backside block, the guy that was guarding the guy taking the ball out of bounds.  We wanted him to mark the backside block because we felt that Leibacher was going to screen or he was going to screen and slip and we wanted to play underneath.  Our guy that was guarding the ball went with Leibacher.  He thought maybe he was going to go for the lob or something.  When he moved out, we had a little hesitation with the guy that was guarding Palomo.  When he hesitated, I don’t know if he thought he was supposed to switch or not, it feed him up for a backside layup.  It was a little miscommunication that ended costing us the game.  They made the play at the end and we didn’t, so that is the bottom line there,” said James.

          Huron (12-2), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, hosts Vermilion (2-13) on Saturday night.  The Sailors lost (69-65) to Lorain Brookside on the Tuesday night.

          James says it will be physical.  “It seems like a lot of these teams when we are playing them are showing improvement about the time, we are playing them.  It will be a gritty game.  They will play hard.  It is always a backyard rivalry.  No matter what the records are they are going to play hard just like last year and the year before and the year before that.  They are going to come ready to play if they could beat us that would make their season,” he said.

Published 1/26/22

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron Tries to Protect Lead at Margaretta

          Huron is the leader in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference leading Margaretta by a game and they play at Margaretta on Friday night in the biggest game of the year in the division.

          The Tigers (11-1,6-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, overwhelmed Norwalk (61-23) in a crossover game last Saturday.

          Coach Bobby James says they did a very good job of taking Norwalk out of what they want to run.  “We did a nice job defensively I thought of pressuring their guards and making it hard to get in their sets.  We did a pretty good job, I was happy.  We didn’t play very well Friday night defensively and to come back and have that on Saturday was nice to see,” said James.

          James adds they have neem shooting the ball well too.  “We shot it well on Saturday.  I think we made eight 3’s in a row and it was nice to see.  Hopefully, we can continue that going into Friday.  We have been shooting it pretty well the last five games.  Like I said, hopefully can continue that on Friday,” he said.

          Margaretta (10-3,5-1), #4 in our small school poll, kept themselves in the race by beating Willard (69-60) last Friday.  Huron won the first matchup with the Bears (61-50) on December 10.

          James says Margaretta is the favorite to the win the division title, in his opinion.  “Margaretta I always said they were the best team in our league and hopefully we could compete with them this year.  I still feel they are the best team in the league.  They are going to have a real advantage over there in their place.  Hopefully, we can go over there and compete and hang around in the fourth quarter and be in the game.  As long as our kids have fun that’s what it’s all about, right?” said James.

          Jake Leibacher (19.1 ppg, 60% FGP) is Margaretta’s best player.

          James says they can’t give him easy shots.  “Nobody has been able to figure that out for three years of him play varsity basketball.  We are hopefully going to make it has hard as we can on him.  Nobody has stopped him in three years,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We don’t have a magic potion to stop him Friday night.  Hopefully, we can just play our game and we can be right there with them scoring wise.  That’s our game plan, if we can score with them, we have a chance to be in the game.  I don’t know if we can win, but be in the game.”

Published 1/21/22

© Swankonsports.com

On Friday and Saturday night log onto our scoreboard

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

For constant score updates

Huron Knows What It Has to do

          Huron, the leader in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, plays at rival Edison on Friday night in a division game.

          They play at Norwalk in a crossover game on Saturday night.

          The Tigers beat Toledo Bowsher (65-54) on Tuesday night and coach Bobby James felt that was good prep for them.  “I thought it was a good game for us to play.  Bowsher showed us a different style basketball that we haven’t seen this year and I thought our kids did a really nice job of handling the different styles that they brought at us to come away with a 10 point win.  It was a division I school and were happy to be able to do that,” he said.

          Huron (9-1,5-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays over at Edison (2-9,0-5) on Friday night.  Edison won for the first time in almost two months Tuesday night when they beat Clear Fork (45-37) in a non-league game.

          James says they have to ready.  “When you put two backyard rivals together it is always going to be a little something added to the game, so we have to be ready to go and be prepared both mentally and physically to play them on Friday.  Every game for us when you are in first place is a big game for us because you want to make sure you don’t have any hiccups and maintain that, especially going into next week against Margaretta.  We will be ready to go, I know we will.  We have some nice seniors that know what’s at stake and we should be ready to go (Friday),” said James.

          James says the target is painted on them.  “If Edison gets that win Friday that is a huge signature win that they haven’t had in a long time over there.  We have the bull’s eye on us and we have to mentally prepared for that.  We better be ready to go each and every time we step out on the floor,” he said.

          Huron visits Norwalk (7-5) on Saturday.  The Truckers beat a quality Tiffin Columbian team (56-55) on Tuesday.

          James says it’s good for them to play a team like Norwalk.  “They had a huge win Tuesday against Columbian over at Tiffin.  Columbian is probably one of the best teams we have seen on film and for them to go over there and play like that.  It’s going to be a nice, tough, physical, game for us Saturday night.  Coach (Steve) Gray always has a million sets he puts in and they run them really well.  You don’t want to get into a possession by possession game with them both offensively and defensively because they execute so well on both ends,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We are looking forward to this.  This is only going to get us better for the tournament and the back stretch of our league.  That is why we schedule Norwalk to make sure that we are prepared for what we need to do.”

Published 1/14/22

© Swankonsports.com

On Friday and Saturday night log onto our scoreboard

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

For constant score updates

Huron Maintains First Place; Hammers Willard

          Huron stayed unbeaten in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference and alone in first place by winning at Willard (73-55) on Saturday night.

          The Flashes, the defending champs, fall two games back after the first round of play.

          Huron jumped out to a (12-0) lead with 3:15 in the first quarter and as four different Tigers scored.  They led (19-9) after one an built the lead to as much (30-10) with 4:58 to go in the half after a Luke Rager hoop.  Willard would close the half on an (11-5), but it was a deep hole to dig out of.

          Huron coach Booby James says Willard is a tough place tin win and they had to start the game in good form.  “We did a nice job starting out.  Just to get that start over here was very crucial because this is a tough place to play.  They had been on a roll.  They beat Shelby, they had Sandusky down to the wire.  I thought we came in right from the beginning and executed pretty well offensively and did a nice job defensively.  When they did miss shots hold them to one and done and get out and go,” said James.

          Willard coach Joe Bedingfield says the missed some shots, several seemed to go in and out, gave up some stick backs, and that kind of effected their defensive play too.  “We definitely didn’t have a good start.  We have some young kids and missing some shots effected the other end.  We didn’t box out early on and gave up some offensive rebounds.  I thought they did a better job than we did of playing physical basketball.  They got off to a good start and I just told the kids we have to learn from that because the effort is there.  We didn’t give up and got back down to eight with some traps and rotations.  You can’t have starts like that against a good team like Huron and expect to win,” said Bedingfield.

          Some of those missed shots were caused by good defense by Huron.  James says they were able to get some hands in faces.  “I thought defensively we did a nice job of contesting a lot of shots and getting a hand up.  We worked on that all day (Friday).  If we don’t contest those shots those two guards are really good players and if they don’t work for everything they get it would be a long night,” he said.

          Max Dawson led Willard (6-4,2-2) with 24 and Trey Paxson added 17, but the rest of the Flashes combined to score only 14 points.

          Huron (8-1,5-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on the other hand, had great balance with four players in double figures led by Joey Schade with 17, Dylan Hohler with 14, Tait Fischer 13 and Rager added 12.

          James says that balance is important to them.  “We did a nice job I thought, especially at the free throw line when they were fouling.  We had four guys in doubles and one with nine.  If we do that and continue to do a good defensively, we have a good shot to win a lot of games,” he said.

          Huron made nine of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter.

          Willard made it game in the second half, twice slicing the Tiger lead to less than 10.  They cut it to (42-33) with 3:01 to play in the third quarter after a Cole Weiss goal, but Huron stretched it back out to (53-34) at the end of three. 

          After some intense full court 2-2-1 pressure, the Flashes go to within eight (58-50) after a Dawson three with 4:24 left, but could get no closer.

          Bedingfield says down like they were they had no choice but to try and extend the floor.  “We gave them a problem in the second half defensively, but we have been in that situation too when you have a lead and you are trying to not shoot quick shots and their kids are pretty good about that.  Our kids did a nice job of rotating and making it hard,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “When you do have a lead, you want to tell your kids not to shoot outside and look for inside layups.  We knew when we got down at halftime that we would have to extend the floor and that is not something we always do due to lack of depth.  Our kids did a nice job of battling back, but it just wasn’t enough against a good team.  They knocked down free throws and just did enough in that second half to pull away.”

          James says they didn’t execute their press breaker early in the fourth quarter, but then got their heads on straight.  “We got a little sloppy and weren’t in the right positions.  I told the kids we have time outs don’t worry about it, but I thought we threw the ball around too much in that little stretch, but we regrouped and that is the sign of a good team when you can regroup and go back in and make them pay for pressing and I thought we did a nice job of that after that initial two minuets when we were turning the ball over,” said James.

Published 1/08/22

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron With Showdown with Willard

          Huron, the leader in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, clashes with Willard, the defending champion, on Saturday night at Willard in a key matchup.

          The Tigers lost for the first time last Thursday (48-47) to Western Reserve in a non-league game.

          Coach Bobby James says a competitive game like that was good for the Tigers.  “It was a good hard fought game between two really good teams.  They are still undefeated, they had a nice big win (Tuesday) night.  It was good for us to go up against competition like that.  We were right there until the end, one play away.  They made a nice play at the end of the game and got to the free throw line and were able to knock down a shot to win by one.  It was a heck of a basketball game.  I think both Western and us were not up to par.  I think you saw two teams that just gritted it out and fought has hard as they possibly could,” said James.

          Huron plays at home against Sandusky St. Mary’s (2-5) in a crossover game on Thursday.

          James says they better be ready to go.  “They have a nice guard in Brock Gill and the (Sedric) Cook kid is a nice shooter, so we have to really be ready to defend the perimeter.  We have to jump out early and make sure that we don’t let them get some momentum and some steam. Our kids are ready to go.  I think they want to get that taste out of their mouths from losing last week.  I am glad we were able to schedule this game last minute because we lost one in that tournament because of all of the COVID stuff that went on with that tournament at Perkins.  Our kids are ready to play, so I’m glad we could pick it up to get back to 20 games,” he said.

          Huron (6-1,4-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Willard (6-3,2-1) on Saturday.  The Flashes lost a tough one (62-58) in overtime to Lake Division leader Sandusky on Tuesday night.

          James says these are games you look forward to playing.  “You play the game for games like Western and Willard and Maragretta this year, so we are looking forward to Willard.  It’s a big game for us.  They will be up for it like they always are.  I have a hard time with their assistant coach, I really don’t like that guy.  He seems to be able to beat me in wing eating contests, we will have to figure that out latter.  I should be a great game with two great guys that I like coaching against with “Hirsh” and Bedingfield,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Joe is doing a heck of a job over there with the last three “SBC” championships.  It’s just great to go in that gym with all of that tradition and see if we can come out on top.  It will be a tough battle, but hopefully we are ready for Saturday.”

          James adds that the Willard guards Trey Paxton and Max Dawson are exceptional talents.  “That (Max) Dawson kid is a good golfer too.  I got to know him during the golf season.  The funny thing about (Trey) Paxson is I coached him when we were at Wooster camp, he was on my team, he is a great kid.  I enjoyed coaching him, I have enjoyed coaching against him.  He seems to make some shots, that’s a shot we wanted him to take, and it’s like oh, man, it went in.  Their guards are really good and then the Robinson kid is starting to turn it on.  He is playing a lot better.  So, they have nice team, they are much improved.  It is going to be a huge challenge for us to go over there and come out with a victory,” said James.

Published 1/06/22

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron and Western Both Undefeated

          Huron and Western Reserve are going to play Thursday afternoon if the final details can be worked out.

          Both are unbeaten on the season after the first month of play.

          The game was originally supposed to be part of the Perkins Holiday tournament, bit it has been sliced in half due to COVID concerns.  Perkins and Sandusky St. Mary’s play Wednesday.

          Huron coach Bobby James says they really want to play Western.  “I really wanted to play this game.  It’s the same thing as last year we got canceled last year, Western and us because of COVID.  I told Chris (Sheldon) (Monday) that we have to find a way to play the game because it is going to make us both so much better for the season whether the outcome is win or loss,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Playing a Western Reserve that is undefeated we really wanted to go against a very good team, so I am really happy that we are 99 percent sure that we are going to have that game at 4:30 on Thursday, so let’s just keep our fingers crossed that we can keep that going.”

          Huron (6-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, entertains Western Reserve (7-0), #3 in the small school poll, on Thursday.

          James says the Roughriders are very unselfish on offense and physical on defense.  “They have a nice group.  What I noticed on film and what jumped out at me was how well they passed the ball.  They do a nice job of dribble penetrating.  They always seem to find the open guy and make the right pass.  They are a very good passing team.  Defensively they get in you and they are physical.  We really want to play this game because they are going to make us better for the stretch run in our league,” he said.

          Really James says they teams are very much alike.  “That’s what I said to the kids (Monday).  I said it’s like playing us.  A lot of dribble drive, they pass the ball well, they shoot the ball pretty well and they attack you defensively.  It is like looking in the mirror a little bit except they have a lot of kids with headbands and long hair and we don’t have that.  I don’t know if we can’t grow our hair out in Huron or what.  They look good and they are fun to watch.  Hopefully, it’s a good game and they don’t eat us up too bad,” said James.

Published 12/28/21

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” this week will air

On Wednesday night 10 to midnight

Your First Source for All Things Sports

Huron Has to be Focused

          Huron, the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division leader, plays at Oak Harbor in a division game on Wednesday night.

          The Tigers (5-0,3-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, edged Bellevue (43-38) in a crossover game last Thursday and dominated Port Clinton (71-43) in a Bay Division game on Saturday night.

          Coach Bobby James says they picked up their game on Saturday.  “Obviously, we played a lot better Saturday than we did Thursday.  We didn’t shoot the ball great over at Bellevue.  Saturday, we shot the ball pretty well against Port Clinton, so I was really happy to see that.  We did a nice job defensively against their big stud (Adam) Thorbahn,” he said.

          James says the Tigers are a team that must play solid defense.  “Well, I’m saying I’m the worse offensive coach around, so they better learn how to play defense and we really work on that a lot because my strategy on offense doesn’t seem to work all of the time.  Yeah, we work on it a lot during the week, every day is a shell drill and we really work on ball pressure.  Our guards are doing a nice job putting pressure on other team’s offenses and making it hard to get in their sets,” said James.

          Oak Harbor (4-3,1-1) lost a crossover to Old Fort (60-41) on Friday and Willard beat them (60-42) in a Bay Division game on Saturday night.

          James says they have to be focused in making the trip across the bridge to play the Rockets.  “Oak Harbor has the (T.J.) Hallett kid that averages over 20 points a game.  He is a good shooter and if we let him get on a roll, he is going to keep them in the game.  It is always tough to play over there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “(Coach Eric) Sweet will do a nice job, like he always does and have them ready to play and if we aren’t ready to play it is going to be a tough matchup over there.  We have to make sure we are mentally focused and ready to go over there or we are going to get beat.”

Published 12/21/21

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” this week will air

On Wednesday night 10 to midnight

Your First Source for All Things Sports

Huron Defending Teams

          Huron has won all three of its games so far and they play at Bellevue in an “SBC” crossover on Thursday and host Port Clinton in a Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division game on Saturday.

          They beat Margaretta (61-50) last Friday in a key Bay game.

          Coach Bobby James says they were able to protect their home floor.  “It was a nice win in order to keep pace we thought we would have to win here against them and take care of our home court against the Willards, Margarettas, Port Clintons, Edisons, and Oak Harbors.  So, we thought we did a nice job.  We got off to a quick start Friday and got up by eight or 10 and then we were able to sustain their late run in the fourth quarter to pull out a nice victory for our kids,” he said.

          James says they tried to make things difficult for Margaretta’s leading scorer last week with marginal success, but overall it was a good defensive effort.  “Jake Liebacher is so hard top keep out of the lane and then if he does miss shots in the lane, he is so hard to keep off of the glass off his own miss.  We thought we made them work for a lot of their stuff.  There were a couple of guys that we thought we might be able to double him off of, but then they started hitting threes,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We let my guard Luke Rager out there on an island and said if we are going to win you are going to have to defend.  I thought we did a nice job on him and then I look in the scorebook and he had 21 or 23.  They are a good ballclub and they are going to win a lot of games this year and it was good for us to get that first win against them.”

          Huron (3-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, at Bellevue (2-2) on Thursday night.  Bellevue beat Perkins (47-46) in a Lake Division game on Friday and Edison (55-32) in a crossover on Saturday.

          James says that will be a challenge for them.  “Bellevue has a couple of nice guards.  They have some size.  Ed (Rich) has them playing well, I think they have won two in a row.  Going over there is always a tough place to play.  They are much improved for a year ago, so we are going to have our work cut out for us when we go over there on Thursday,” he said.

          It has been a late start to the season for Port Clinton and James says they don’t have much of a scouting report yet.  “I don’t know if they have had any scrimmages.  I know they had a tremendous football season, so it will be interesting to see how they come out of that coming into basketball right away.  I will see if I can get the film on that because I have not seen them yet.  It is going to be an interesting week for the Huron Tigers, so hopefully we come to play both nights,” said James.

Published 12/14/21

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron Has to Score More

          Huron plays at home against Margaretta in a key early season game in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          The Tigers won their division opener (58-33) over Edison last week.

          Coach Bobby James says they forced the issue with their defense.  “I thought we came out with some defensive intensity.  We had good ball pressure.  We had nice rotation.  I think we had nine guys in in the first quarter and kept our guys fresh for the second and third quarters.  It was a nice opening win.  Our kids I thought played very well defensively.  Hopefully, we can knock down some shots this week,” he said.

          Huron (2-0,1-0) plays host to Margaretta (3-0,1-0) on Friday night.  The Bears beat defending Bay Division champ Willard (66-56) last Friday behind 34 from senior guard Jake Liebacher.

          James says Liebacher is a beast.  “The first thing that jumps off is Jake Liabacher.  He is one of the best, if not the best player, we face.  His athleticism is great.  They have a lot of guys around him too.  I think this is the best team they have had over there in a long time, for as long as I have been coaching.  The (Ben) Palomo kid is a nice player.  The (Nathan) Schaefer kid is a good shooter.  They have a very good team and hopefully we can compete with them on Friday,” said James.

          Slowing down Liebacher is a big deal for the Tigers, but James says more than that they have to be able to score more points.  “He is tough in a lot of ways.  He is good going to the basket, he posts up very well.  He is a physical kid, he is quick, he has all of the intangibles of a basketball player.  It is a big key keeping him out of the lane and I don’t know how we are going to do that or if we even can.  I think last year he scored a combined 60 some points on us it seems like,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “He is a tough matchup, but I think the bottom line is you are just going to have to be able to score with the Margaretta Polar Bears.  If we don’t score it isn’t going to matter.  So, offensively we have to make sure we are very efficient Friday night.”

Published 12/08/21

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron Plays Rival Edison

          Huron plays host to Edison in a Bay Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          The Tigers are coming off an impressive (56-26) win over Ontario in non-conference play last week.

          It was a 30-point win and coach Bobby James says they were alright.  “For a first game I thought we played okay.  We didn’t knock down as many shots as maybe we would have liked, but I thought defensively we did a nice job against Ontario and disrupted their offense and made it a little bit harder to get into a flow.  It was a good first game for us and hopefully we can keep improving on what we did last week,” he said.

          James says their offensive execution has to get better going forward and so does their defense of the post.  “I think we really need to improve on the offensive end execution wise.  Ontario’s big guy beat us up a little bit down low, he was their leading scorer, so we have to improve a little bit on our post defense and make it a little more difficult to enter that pass into the post, a little bit more ball pressure hopefully.  I would like to see us move the ball a little bit more offensively and get a little better flow than we did in the first and second quarter in the first game,” said James.

          Edison (1-0) beat New London (45-30) in their opener last Friday. 

          James says the Chargers, who finished last in the division last year, are better this winter.  “They got a big win the last week and Kyle’s got them playing pretty well right now.  Off season he changed some things up I know that offensively, so we are going to have to be ready to guard a little bit better than what we did in week one,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Just try and get better and execute.  Kyle (Hammond) is a great coach and those guys will be ready to play.  They will be up to play Huron, it is a rivalry game with us.  Hopefully, our kids can match their intensity and we can come out with a victory.”

Published 12/02/21

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Huron Working on Some Things

          Huron advanced to the district tournament a year ago and they are looking to put together another strong team this year out of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          Coach Bobby James says the preseason is short, but they have been rounding into shape.  “It is going pretty good.  We have had two scrimmages already.  We are about a week behind like a lot of people with football and their new playoff system.  Our kids made the playoffs, so we have had our kids about two, two and half weeks.  So, it is going pretty good right now because we have everybody back healthy.  I think we are getting into some good practice habits,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “It is right around the corner.  I don’t know if anybody feels like they are ready yet.  I think everybody wishes they had one more week, but there is nothing we can do about that.  So, we are just plugging along and trying to get ready as possible for next week.”

          James says they have things to work on this week on both ends of the court.  He says they have talk more and they have to take better shots.  “We need to run our offense better.  In our offense we are not moving in the ball it is one pass and a shot or not taking great shots, just a couple of things like that.  I would really like to see us move the ball a lot better.  Defensively, it boils down to communication.  We are not talking as much as we want.  Hopefully, by next week we can get that corrected,” he said.

          Huron tips off the campaign next Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, against the Ontario Warriors at home in a non-conference game.

          James says Ontario will come ready to play.  “Tim (Mergel) did a nice job over at Madison.  I think he is a good coach.  We played Joe (Balogh) last year and I really wanted to get Ontario on the schedule because I wanted to play Joe one time before he retired.  I am sure Tim will keep that Ontario tradition going.  I’m sure they will play hard and I’m sure they will play pretty sound defense.  I wish him the best of luck over at Ontario.  He is a good guy, he is a good coach, and I’m sure Ontario will be well coached offensively and defensively,” said James.

Published 11/18/21

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Shelby Speeds Past Huron

          T.J. Pugh scored 16 of his game high 26 points in the first quarter and Shelby raced to a (28-10) lead and never looked back in blasting Huron (75-49) in a division II district semifinal on Wednesday night at Ashland High School.

          They return Saturday night to face Norwalk, who beat Ontario (66-62) in overtime in the second semifinal, to play for a district title and a berth in the regional tournament.

          Shelby scored the first six points of the game and lead (10-2) with 5:10 to play in the first quarter.  It was (20-5) with 2:59 to play in the first after a Cody Lantz old fashion three point play.

          Whippets coach Nathon Loney says their goal was to get a good start the game.  “We really wanted to make a statement for our first quarter compared to last game.  Last game we struggled a little bit in the first quarter.  We played very nervous.  I preached to the kids that you have to come out with your foot on the gas.  They took it personal they had a very good first quarter, a pretty good first half, I didn’t like our defensive energy there toward the end of the second half, that is something we will have to work on.  The kids kind of got lazy there, when you have a first half like you did it’s kind of expected, I hate to say that, but with the way kids are right now it is hard to keep their minds tracked on the same style we played.  The first quarter I was pretty happy,” said Loney.

          The lead grew to 20 at (33-13) after a Cody Lantz field goal with 6:48 to play in the half.  The lead stood at 17 (45-28) at the half.  It never got closer than 22 in the second half.

          An honest Huron coach Bobby James says they didn’t have the personnel to stay in the game with Shelby.  “We just didn’t have a horse that could keep them in front.  We are not very good at zone.  We tried it a couple of times this year and we just aren’t any good at it.  Our only hope was to keep (Pugh) out of the lane and make him kick it and then their guys miss threes.  We weren’t good enough physically to keep him out of the lane.  We are just a group of kids that tried to come together and play hard.  I never have to tell them to play hard, I am proud of the way we are,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “I told them in (the locker room) I have had a lot of good teams and this is the first time in D2 that I have gotten to a district.  We have gotten to the regionals a couple of times in D3, but never in D2.  So, I was very happy with them.  Shelby is a heck of a team, they are a handful.  All of them, they know their roles.  They were ready to go and they were just physically better than we were.”

          Lantz chipped in with 19 points for the Whippets. 

          Shelby continued to get into the lane and make shots or at least create havoc with resulted in an easy opportunity.

          Loney says it is something they have been working on.  “We have been working on our four out and one in offense a little bit.  The Vermilion game they kept going underneath.  I said, T.J. we work on that shot everyday pulling up with that shot off that screen and you don’t shoot it, why is that?  He said, I’ve got you this game coach and I think he hit it three times in the first quarter.  He and Cody did a very good job of bringing that energy that first quarter,” he said.

          After watching film, James said he thought the only way they would have a chance was to spread the floor and try to get some open three point attempts.  He says that plan failed.  “That was kind of like the game plan.  We wanted to spread them out and try and beat them off the dribble and try and slow the game down a little bit.  In the first quarter as you could see that worked out pretty well for us.  That was a great game plan Bobby, that is what I said to the guys on the bench, this is a hell of game plan you came up with.  I thought maybe if we dribbled in and jump stopped and kicked and got it to our three point shooters because that is what we are a three point shooting team, if we could knock those down.  Realistically, we would have to have played the best game we have ever played and then we had to play better than the best game we have ever played and then we probably needed to recruit before this game and go play,” said James.

          Shelby gets a chance to avenge a district semifinal loss to Norwalk last season on Saturday night.

          Loney feels they are playing pretty close to their best right now.  “I feel like we are playing pretty good basketball right now.  We are so much better defensively than we was a month ago even.  The Huron coach and I talked afterwards and he said you guys are just so physical and big and strong and it just hard to match.  I think we did a good job off using our physicality (Wednesday) night and our size.  I’ll tell you what that Vermilion game woke up the physicalness in us.  They were super physical and they have some big strong kids.  Our kids knew that if we didn’t come and play physical it was going to get rough.  It brought out a different character in our kids and I like to see it, especially right now,” said Loney.

Published 3/04/21

© Swankonsports.com

Get all of the tournament scores right here

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Huron Must Capitalize

          Huron takes on the top seed in the district in the Shelby Whippets in a division II district semifinal on Wednesday night at Ashland High School.

          That game will be followed by a matchup between the Ontario Warriors and the Norwalk Truckers.  The winners of those games meet on Saturday night for a ticket to the regional tournament.

          Huron (11-6) beat Clear Fork (57-51) last week to win a sectional title. 

          Coach Bobby James says the game had a lot of ebbs and flows to it.  “It was a great game.  I thought it was a fun high school game as fun as I have been part of this year.  Clear Fork is very well coached and they came into Huron with a good game plan.  It was a back and forth game.  We took the lead a little bit in the first half and then they were able to come back and take the lead in the second half.  We made some timely free throws down the stretch.  We made a nice big three at the end,” said James.

          Shelby (18-3), the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion, routed Vermilion (71-36) in their sectional final. 

James says there is no question this is the best team they have played this year so far.  “They are very, very good.  They are as talented 1-8 as anybody I have seen.  They are the most talented I have seen on tape.  They are very good, they are long and big and athletic, they just get up and down the floor so well and they are huge, it’s just unbelievable.  They are just a very good team.  They are the best team I have seen on film,” he said,” he said.

In terms of Shelby’s up tempo offense, James says they must have defensive balance or the Whippets are going to get easy scores.  “We are going to have to get five guys back in the paint and get back fast because they get out and go and they are athletic enough they beat people down the floor.  So, we have to make sure we are not sitting and watching our shots go in or miss, we have to make sure we are back and set up our defense,” he told Swankpnsports.com on Tuesday, “We cannot have a four on two or a three on one because then they build momentum and it goes down and down and down after that.  We really have to make sure we are playing five on five instead of giving them any advantage offensively.”

On defense, Shelby also wants to force tempo by pressing and James says they must convert their chances to score.  “They really get up in you in their pressure.  We just have to make sure we are taking care of the basketball and we have to maximize our opportunities.  If they trap and we are able to break that trap and get a wide open looks we have to be able to knock it down.  If we can do that I think we can possibly hang around for a little bit.  If we can’t knock down our open looks after breaking their pressure or get some layups or getting a little bit of an offensive advantage, we could be in trouble,” said James.

Published 3/03/21

© Swankonsports.com

Get all of the tournament scores right here

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Huron has to Get Clear Fork off its Spots

          Huron, of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, will be at home Friday night for a sectional semifinal in division II against the Clear Fork Colts of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.

          Huron (10-6) has won its last three games, including wins over Sandusky Perkins (44-36) in an “SBC” crossover last Wednesday and then a (63-27) Bay Division win over Edison on Friday.

          Coach Bobby James says hopefully they are peaking.  “With a coach like me we are always going to be scrapping the bottom of the barrel, but hopefully we can be resilient and the kids not listen to me and get over the hump here and win a tournament game. We haven’t won one in the while.  I think we are playing a little better.  We won over at Perkins and they were playing really well and we got a win over there Wednesday in a hard fought game.  We finished up with senior night on Friday and I thought we played pretty well the first quarter and then things got a little out of hand.  We got away from our game and played a lot of subs.  Hopefully we are moving in the right direction for Friday against a really good Clear Fork team,” said James.

          Clear Fork (8-14) last weekend beat Mid-Buckeye Conference champion Lucas (61-53) on Friday and lost to Colonel Crawford (71-55), the Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion, unbeaten on the season.

          James says they really don’t matchup very well with the Colts.  “They are big and they are athletic and they are strong.  Everything that we are not.  It is going to be a heck of a battle for us to stay in the game.  I watched them against Colonel Crawford and they played them really well for the half.  I think they were down 29-26 and they looked good.  With their size, if they knock down threes we are going to be in trouble.  It is like pick your poison with they size and athleticism,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I just think they are a nice team and they are playing well at the end of the season, which is not good for us.  Hopefully, we can catch them on an off night, that is what we are hoping.”

          Huron is known for outstanding defense.  James says they must force Clear Fork away from where they want to get the ball.  “They run that pick and roll continuity and I think we are going to have to take away that roll from the start.  We also want to make sure we can guard their three point shooters because I think what they are really good at is hitting that roll guy and if you take that basket away they do a nice job of kicking it out to their set shooters.  I think if their shooters get their feet set we are going to be in trouble.  I think if we can chase then off that line and make them take contested jump shots rather than wide up jump shots or layups that would be in our favor.  That is a tall task to ask from our kids with their size and athleticism,” said James.

Published 2/24/21

© Swankonsports.com

Get all of the tournament scores right here

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Huron Still Building

          Huron downed Sandusky Perkins (44-36) in a crossover game in the Sandusky Bay Conference on Wednesday night.

          The Tigers host Edison for senior night on Friday night in “SBC” Bay Division action.

          Coach Bobby James says the win over the Pirates on Wednesday was a quality victory.  “The way Perkins was playing the last three weeks.  I think they knocked off Columbian, Sandusky, and really they had Norwalk beat and that kid hit a circus shot at the end to put it in overtime.  I was really happy with the way our kids played.  It wasn’t pretty, but we gutted one out,” said James.

          With the tournament starting next week, James this is the kind of game that gets you ready for the postseason.  “That is why I really wanted to play this game because I knew that would be the case with the way they were playing.  They are big and physical.  That felt like a tournament game if we would have had a crowd because it was like just one play after another play.  To get us ready for the tournament, we just gutted it out,” he said.

          Huron (9-6,5-4) plays host to Edison (0-19,0-9) on Friday night.  They just played Edison and beat them (68-39) on Saturday night. 

          James believes Edison will play with energy trying to avoid a winless regular season and he says they must match that energy.  “We are just going to go in and play the game like we normally do.  It is senior night, so hopefully we have the energy from that,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win over Perkins, “We have to go out there and be ready to play because they want to get a win in what will be their last regular season game.  We have to make sure we match their energy and come ready to play.”

There will be a special tournament edition

Of “Out of Bounds” this Saturday

From 10 PM to 11 PM

On Swankonsports.com

Huron at Willard for Huge Game in Bay Division

          Huron trails Willard and Oak Harbor, the co-leaders in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, by just a game and they play at Willard on Friday night.

          With just a couple weeks left in the regular season, the Bay Division couldn’t be closer with Margaretta also a game back. 

          It was the Tigers that made things very interesting by knocking off Oak Harbor (50-41) last Friday and dropping the Rockets back into a share of the lead.

          Coach Bobby James says defense was the difference.  “Our kids played pretty gritty.  It is very hard to play over there, especially when Oak Harbor is pretty good.  We did a nice job, we were gritty and we were very fortunate to come out of their with a win,” he said.

          James says their program is built on the ability of the players to defend.  “We try to preach that.  We try to make teams work for every possession.  What we did a good job with Friday against Oak Harbor making them work we did not do a great job the next day, which was very disappointing.  We haven’t given up 70 points as long as I can remember and that’s what I told the kids on Saturday,” said James.

          Norwalk St. Paul of the Firelands Conference beat them (71-55) in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

          Huron (7-5,4-3) plays at Willard (14-5,6-2), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, on Friday night. The Flashes have won their last four, including a division win over Edison (81-48) last Friday and a (62-29) non-conference win over Wynford on Tuesday night.

          James says it is going to come down to defense again for the Tigers.  He says they can not allow Willard to get out on the fast break.  “They are tough to stop, especially in transition, if we let them get out and run and get ahead of us like that we are going to be in trouble.  The first game they got out and beat us down the floor and they got out in transition and we didn’t stop the basketball very well.  They are very good at getting out and attacking right away,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “If we don’t stop the basketball and take away the paint.  They got in the paint a lot.  In the first game they scored 42 of their 63 points in the paint, so we have to make sure we do a better job of protecting the paint and make them shoot contested jump shots.”

Published 2/10/21

© Swankonsports.com

Click the listen line to hear our live shows

“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday

“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on Saturday

Huron Looks to Sweep Oak Harbor

          Huron is the only school to have beaten Oak Harbor in Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division game this year and they look to do it again, this time on the road, on Friday night.

          Oak Harbor leads Willard by a game in division standings.  Huron trails by two.

          The Tigers put together wins over Margaretta (62-48) last Thursday in a division game and Vermilion (46-38) in a crossover game on Saturday.

          Coach Bobby James says they are starting to find themselves again.  “I think last week we finally got our legs back from being off for about three weeks.  We played really well against Margaretta and we played pretty well against Vermilion and that Vermilion game was a physical game.  If we can keep things going in this direction, I like the way our team is starting to play a little bit,” he said.

          Huron (6-4,3-3) is at Oak Harbor (8-6,6-1) on Friday night.  The Rockets took the division lead when they beat Willard (50-43) January 22.  Huron handled the Rockets a (57-32) loss back on December 23.

          James says they must contain Oak Harbor’s Blake Booker (19.5 ppg) in order to have a chance to beat the Rockets again.  “It starts with (Blake) Booker, he is really, really good.  He reminds me a lot of Margaretta with Leibacher.  They are always going to have the best kid on the floor in our league with Booker.  We have to try and contain him the best we can.  When we played them the first game, the first half, we didn’t contain him very well, and he had like 15 in the first half and then we did a better job in the second half and that is why we were able to beat them.  So, we are going to try and contain him and be able to guard the other guys and hold them down a little bit, so it is going to start with our defense,” said James.

          When it comes to slowing down Booker, who is nearly a 40% three point shooter and an 80% free throw shooter, James says it tough because he is so good at creating his own shot.  “You almost have to chase him off his spot, but then what he is really good at is hoping back and getting his shot off.  He is strong and he is able to do that really well.  He is able to push you off one dribble and hop back.  He is really good at that hop back shot, no matter its is from 15 feet on in or the three point line he is really good,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “He is a great kid.  He has really worked at his game.  I remember when he came over as a freshman and played our freshmen when he was at Put-in-Bay.  He is a kid that you root for and glad that he has made that stride, you just hope he doesn’t make that huge jump against you when you play them.  You have to root for that kid, he has really worked his tail off.”

Published 2/04/21

© Swankonsports.com

Click the listen line to hear our live shows

“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday

“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on Saturday

Huron Trying to Pick up the Pieces

          Huron is still trying to figure out where they are at and where they can get to in this season.

          They host Margaretta in a Bay Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference on Thursday night.  They play Vermilion in a crossover game on Saturday night.

          After not playing for almost a month, they returned to the floor last Friday to lose to Port Clinton (45-42) in a division game.

          Coach Bobby James says it was obvious they were out of the shape.  “We practiced two days and played a game after that.  We had 14 days of not doing anything.  We had multiple kids sick.  More than one case on our team.  I remember looking at our kids a halftime and thinking, man, I hope we can get them to come out of the second half they were so tired.  They looked at me, I said let’s keep going and focus on what we have got to do.  We just didn’t have our legs.  It’s really hard, we hadn’t played in a month and it’s just crazy.  I give the kids credit, they played hard to the best of their ability.  We came up short and hopefully we can get back with our legs underneath us here coming up soon,” said James.

          It has been a season like no other due to the interruptions created by the COVID-19 virus.  James says they have to think team first and take care of themselves.  “We talk off the air that we don’t know what the heck is going on anymore.  I just told our kids that we have to get though this.  We can’t have anymore hiccups, because if we have anymore hiccups our season is over.  We have, what four weeks left in the season?  We go into the next week or the week after and we get shut down the season is over,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I just tell the kids you can’t be selfish.  You have to do what is best for the team.  Just give me one month just being safe and try and do the best we can and get back to where we were before Christmas and the way we were playing together.  It was almost like we were starting over the other day.  We couldn’t put in any new plays.  We had to rehash the plays.  It was like the first day of practice again.  It really was bizarre.”

          Huron (4-4,2-2) hosts Margaretta (10-5,4-2) on Thursday night.  The Polar Bears beat Clyde (59-43) in a crossover game on Tuesday night.  In the first two meetings between these two teams, Margaretta won (50-45) on December 4.

          Jake Leibacher is the leading scorer in the division and James says they have to contain him and be efficient on offense.  “We need to make sure we contain him a little bit.  It starts with him and they say you have to cut the head off the snake and we are going to try and do that the best we can.  They got us over there at their place, so our kids will be geared up and ready to go on Thursday.  Hopefully, we get some of our energy back, get our legs back and we give them a good game.  We have to contain Leibacher.  We just have to make shots and make free throws,” he said.

Published 1/27/21

© Swankonsports.com

Click the listen line to hear our live shows

“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday

“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on Saturday

Defense a Priority for Huron

          Huron, now a game behind the tri-leaders in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, plays down the road at Edison in a division game on Thursday night.

          They also host Firelands Conference leader Western Reserve on Saturday night in a non-conference game.

          A loss to Willard (63-56) last Wednesday dropped the Tigers from their share of the lead.

          Coach Booby James says they let the Flashes get in the paint too much.  “They got into the paint on us pretty good.  I think on the stats they had 42 points in the paint, which 42 of their 63 and we have to correct that and make sure we keep people out of the paint area and make them shoot contested jumpers, so we are really working on that this week, move our feet and keep people in front of us,” he said.

          James says defensively you can’t allow the other team to drive and kick out to shooters and they were doing too much of that.  He says that will be the feature of practice this week.  “That has always been our philosophy is to try and get teams to pass the ball side to side instead of in and out.  If you look at every drill you attack the basket and kick out for a three their hands are ready, their feet are ready to shoot.  Our philosophy has always been to get them to pass side to side instead of in and out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “When you allow the ball in the paint, a lot of bad things can happen.  We will try and correct that this week and move forward, we have a big game on Thursday against Edison and another one Saturday against Western.”

          Huron is below what would be considered the average when it comes to defensive shooting percentages on the season, 48.9% on two points field goals and 28.1 on threes.

          The Tigers (4-3,2-2) play at Edison (0-6,0-4) on Thursday night.  The Chargers have struggled a bit this year and lost to Port Clinton (57-42) in a Bay Division game last Wednesday.  The Chargers shoot less than 40 percent from the field on the season.

          James says it hasn’t been a very good season for Edison so far, but James knows they will be ready to play them.  “Anytime when put Huron and Edison together it is always a rivalry, so they are going to come out ready to play.  Kyle (Hammond) is a good coach.  I know they are off to a rough start.  He coached for me, he is a great coach.  He has been in the regionals twice, he knows what he is doing.  So, he will have his kids ready no matter what.  We have to be prepared and match their energy over at their place and be ready for a dogfight,” said James.

Published 1/06/21

© Swankonsports.com

Click the listen line to hear our live shows

“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday

“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on Saturday

Huron Has to Play Well at Defensive End

          Huron hosts Willard in an important first round game in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Wednesday night.

          The Tigers and Flashes both trail division leading Margaretta by a game.

          Huron has won their last four, including belting Oak Harbor (57-32) last Wednesday.

          After losing their first two, coach Bobby James says they have started to shoot the ball much better.  “I think the two things that has improved the most is our three point shooting and also our free throw shooting.  We struggled early with those two things and now we are shooting much better from both lines.  That has been a key to get moving in the right direction,” he said.

          Huron now shooting 29% from behind the three point line and 70% at the charity stripe after not making much at all early. 

          Huron (4-2,2-1) is at home for Willard (4-3,2-1) on Wednesday night.  The Flashes blew out Edison (72-35) in a division game last Wednesday.

          James says the Flashes are well coached and they have been a thorn in their side over the years.  “What is really impressive is their kids despite listening to Dave Hirschy and Joe Bedingfield they seem to really thrive over there right now.  If we can get them to listen to those two coaches more, I think we have a chance (Wednesday) night, but if they just do their own thing and don’t listen to their coaches we could be in trouble.  No!  I’m just kidding.  Willard is really tough,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They play hard, they are always physical and they seem to always give us problems throughout my whole career.  I know that Dave have been there most of the time and Joe has done a great job.  They run a lot of sets.  They are very well coached team and they play hard and Joe and Dave are doing a great job over there.”

          James says to be successful in shutting down the Flashes they must know what each player on the court can do and then try to limit them.  “I think the key is not so much to take away their sets because they run so many that we could spend a week on it and wouldn’t be able to defend them all.  I think we have to know their personnel and what their personnel can do to us offensively.  So, we are focusing on each individual person and what their strengths are instead of trying to take away all of their sets.  Like I said, they are very well coached.  I’m sure they will be ready to play (Wednesday), it’s a big game, and we are looking forward to it.  We have had some trouble with Willard since I have gotten here.  We will just try and dig in and see what we can do,” said James.

Published 12/30/20

© Swankonsports.com

Click the listen line to hear our live shows

There will be a special edition of

“Out of Bounds” Wednesday night 10 to midnight

Huron Putting Things Together

          Huron plays at home against Oak Harbor in a Bay Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference on Wednesday night.

          The Tigers have won their last three, including two last week, in beating Norwalk (55-36) on Thursday and Bellevue (58-43) on Saturday in cross over games.

          Coach Bobby James says their play got a lot better, especially when to comes to running their offense.  “I guess this is the Christmas miracle.  We are actually moving the ball a little bit better.  The kids are starting to jell a little bit, getting used to each other, so it seems like it has been a long time coming since we started practice to get where I think we are right now,” he said.

          The holidays season can be a fork in the road for a lot of teams and James says he’s not sure what to make out of this team quite yet.  “The holidays are weird with kids.  Mostly when you have seniors everything is pretty good.  They have a goal and it’s their senior year and they know this is their last hurrah,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “With my team it is going to be curious how we handle these holidays because we have two sophomores, juniors that haven’t played and a couple of seniors that didn’t play a lot last year.  This could be an adventure here these holidays.”

          Huron (3-2,1-1) entertains Oak Harbor (3-3,2-0) on Wednesday night.  The Rockets beat Edison (61-38) in a division game on Friday night, but lost a cross over to Old Fort (58-50) on Saturday.

          James says the Rockets are an outstanding perimeter shooting team, led by the division’s second leading scorer in Blake Booker (18.3 ppg) and they need to be able to get a hand in the face of shooters.  “They are good.  I think they might be tied for the lead in the conference.  The have a really good team.  Booker is a good player.  They shoot a lot of threes.  We have to make sure we contain their three point shot and keep moving the ball like we were doing,” said James.

Published 12/23/20

© Swankonsports.com

Click the listen line to hear our live shows

There will be a special edition of

“Out of Bounds” Wednesday night 10 to midnight

Huron Must Improve its Shooting

          Huron goes in search of its first win of the season on Friday night as they visit Port Clinton to face the Redskins in a Bay Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          Last Friday, they lost (50-45) to Margaretta in division game.

          Coach Bobby James says they certainly had a chance to win the game at the end, but they couldn’t finish.  “We didn’t shoot the ball very well, but we were in position to win the game.  I think there were 30, 40 seconds left, I can’t remember, but we are shooting at the line to tie the game a missed a second free throw and they went down and they made their free throws and we didn’t.  We did not shoot the ball very well, I think we were like 5-21 from the three point line and 10-20 from two.  We played hard in were in position to win we just didn’t come away and that’s what we are trying to figure out with these young kids,” said James.

          Huron is a young team this year and James feels they are making progress, but there really isn’t a lot of evidence to work with.  “It’s hard to tell, we played a good Ontario team, and I was trying to get the COVID-19 protocols in place at halftime of that game, but that didn’t work out for us and we had to come out in the second half and that didn’t work out well for us.  I did see a little bit of growth,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I think the longer we play together and practice together I think we will get more familiar with each other, but I can tell you it is time consuming and it’s a struggle right now, but they are good kids and I think we are starting to see a little bit of growth here.”

          Huron (0-2,0-1) is at Port Clinton (0-2,0-1) on Friday night.  The Redskins are coming off a (53-34) loss to Willard in a Bay Division game last Friday.

          James says the Redskins are bigger and stronger than they have been and they are going to be a challenge for them.  “Thorbahn is his name I think, number 23, he is a nice player.  He has a college football body.  He is a big player.  He can shoot the three and they play hard and they are a lot more athletic than they have been.  They can surprise some people in the league, so it’s going to be a struggle over there.  We are going to have to the shoot the basketball well.  Hopefully, their size doesn’t get us.  I was impressed with them against Willard.  They were hanging right in there for three quarters, they were right there,” said James.

Published 12/10/20

© Swankonsports.com

Click the listen line to hear our live shows

“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday

“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on Saturday

Huron With a Tough One with Ontario

          Huron travels to Ontario to meet the Warriors in their first game of the boys’ basketball season on Friday night, the day after Thanksgiving.

          With a lot teams being affected by the COVID-19 virus, including Ontario, Huron coach Bobby James says they have been one of lucky few far that haven’t been.  “To be honest, we have been as close to normal as we could be, I guess right now.  We have gotten three scrimmages in.  So, we are just trying to put things together and figure out who is going to play and where they are going to play because we have all new guys.  We didn’t get the spring and the summer, which set us back, but we got all of the preseason for us.  We got our guys on time and so far, knock on wood, no COVID related crap that we are dealing with, so we are hanging in there,” said James.

          There are a lot new kids for the Tigers this year working into new roles on the team and James says it’s new for him, but he has done a lot of smiling this year.  “I don’t think I have ever smiled while I was coaching basketball.  They are really great kids and I couldn’t ask for a better group to deal with this pandemic that we are dealing with.  At times I smile and I smile because I don’t want to yell, so if I smile it might be a little easier to handle.  Sometimes I smile for the good and sometimes I smile for the bad because I don’t know what the heck is going on out there,” he said.

          Ontario was the runner-up in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference last year and they are of course coached by hall of famer Joe Balogh.

          James they have some familiarity with the Warriors and their kids and he knows it is going to be a tough physical battle on the court on Friday night.  “We usually scrimmaged them every year, us and Upper, and had a really good scrimmage the day after Thanksgiving, which was a really good conditioner after we eat all of that turkey.  They have the Shaver kid back and Kurtz, I think they are all-district kids.  I know they have some size.  Joe is a legend an they will be ready to play no matter how many practices they have had,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We know it is going to be a tough, aggressive, big, physical team.  We look at is a big game to get us ready for our conference.  I have the upmost respect for Joe, like everybody else does, and it is just going to be fun to coach against him.  I think I did it one time when we were in the districts at Mansfield Senior, maybe my second year of coaching.”

Published 11/24/20

@ Swankonsports.com

You can listen to our listen line 24/7

For the latest high school sports news

At www.swankonsports.com 

Huron With A lot of New

          Huron had an excellent season last year, but the Tigers coaching staff will have to find the right pieces to the puzzle this year as they don’t have much experience back from last season.

          That puzzle became more complex with the COVID-19 pandemic, perhaps more like a rubix cube.

          Coach Bobby James says sometimes he feels like he is a candidate for a rubber room.  “I thought I was nuts before this COVID started, but now I know I’m nuts.  Just the amount of work and paperwork and waiting for the shoe to drop about if you are going to be able to practice or if you are going to have a game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “It’s insane, but like the great Jimmy Buffett said, if we can’t laugh we would all go insane.  I feel like that is where I’m at every day.  We are trying to figure this out day by day like everybody else and luckily we have been on the healthy side so far.”

          It looks like the State of Ohio will not stand in the way of the basketball season moving forward, but that could change at any time.  Huron is scheduled to open the season the day after Thanksgiving at Ontario.

          There is going to be a lot of new faces on the Huron basketball team this year, but James likes what he sees.  “I really like my kids.  We lost the top six players from last year, our top six are gone.  We have a brand new team from the JV and varsity kids last year.  I have two kids that saw any minutes last year, so we are young, we are small, but I really like our basketball sense, I really like the way we shoot the basketball, and I just like being around these kids.  So, it’s a great group to coach, I just hope we can continue to go forward with this group,” he said.

          Leadership is going to be a very important aspect to basketball success this year and James says that means off the floor too.  “We had a scenario where our kids all wanted to go down and hang out down in Dayton because our volleyball team won the state title, so we had to address that.  It is just always something, but we have great kids and they know how important the season is to them and they really want to get through it, but we have some great senior leaders that are very smart, they are great in the classroom, they were great for football and I hope they continue to bring that to the basketball court.  I have no doubt that they will,” said James.

Published 11/19/20

© Swankonsports.com

Click the listen line to hear our live shows

“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday

“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on Saturday

Huron Locks Horns With Clyde

          Huron, the outright champion of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, plays host to Clyde, of the Lake Division, in a division IV regional quarterfinal game on Saturday night.

          The Tigers (7-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, are unbeaten on the season and coach Sam Hohler says they have a number of kids that have played a lot football at Huron and that has been a big plus for them this year.  “We have 23 seniors on our team, so we have very good leadership and overall team experience.  So, a lot of our guys are two and three year players.  That has been really beneficial for us all year,” said Hohler.

          Huron leads the Bay Division in points scored and fewest points allowed this season.  Quarterback Cole Parker has thrown 15 TD passes and he has run for eight more for the Tigers.

          Last Saturday, Huron destroyed Bryan (44-22) in a game that frankly wasn’t that close.  Hohler says they were ready to play.  “We had a great start and were up 37-0 at halftime.  We had the bye week the previous week and had a few guys that had some bumps and bruises get healthy.  We had a great week of practice in preparation.  We were really firing on all cylinders to start the game,” he said.

          Clyde (5-3), who is second in the Lake Division in passing this season, 20 yards behind Perkins, instead ran the ball for ran the ball for more than 300 yards in a (28-15) win at Wauseon on Saturday, Michael Daniels carried it 47 times for 312 yards and three scores for the Fliers.

          Hohler says they are very much aware for the Fliers and their talented kids.  “We have scrimmaged Clyde the last few years and we are very familiar with one another.  We are old Sandusky Bay Conference rivals.  Obviously, what they did last year making a terrific run for the D-4 state title was unbelievable.  They have a great coaching staff.  They have kids that really buy into their program.  They have worked on some things throughout the season.  They play a very tough schedule.  For them to be able to run the ball like they did was very impressive against Wauseon.  For us, we will definitely have our hands full on Saturday night.” said Hohler.

          Huron has returned three kicks, two of them on punts, for scores this season and Hohler hopes they can make their special teams a factor on Saturday night.  “The first thing we have got to do is not turn the ball over and give them extra opportunities.  They are very balanced on offense.  They play terrific defense, so we can’t afford to give them the ball because they will just keep it from us all night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The other area we hope we have an advantage is special teams.  We have a terrific punter and kicker this year, coverage teams and return teams.  So, we are hoping that will be an advantage for us.”

Published 10/20/20

© Swankonsports.com

Click the listen line to hear our live shows

“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday

“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on Saturday

www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Listen on your PC, your phone or your vehicle audio system

www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Listen on your PC, your phone or your vehicle audio system

www.swankonsportshosting247.com

updated every 5 minutes Friday and Saturday nights

www.swankonsportshosting247.com