Rockets rebound, defeat Redskins

BY YANEEK SMITH, BEACON CONTRIBUTOR

PORT CLINTON — Following a tough loss to Margaretta, Oak Harbor needed to right the ship in its matchup with Port Clinton and did just that, defeating the Redskins, 68-25. The Rockets led, 14-5, after the first quarter and put the game out of reach by outscoring the Redskins, 20-4, in the second quarter to take a 34-9 lead into the half.

“The keys to our win at Port Clinton were a sound defense and fundamentals on offense. The team responded with the challenge of taking defense personal. And, the challenge of staying aggressive to the basket while setting good screens on offense,” said Oak Harbor coach Tom Kontak. “To begin the 2019 year with a win on the road in league play, was huge for the confidence of our team.”

Oak Harbor (7-3, 3-2 SBC Bay) got a game-high 21 points from Logan Harris and Sophia Eli helped pace the attack with 17 points. Auna Tack and Riley Steinbrick each scored 10 points.

Port Clinton (1-11, 1-4) was led by Marcella Brenner, who scored seven points.

Oak Harbor second quarter dunks Redskins

BY YANEEK SMITH, BEACON CONTRIBUTOR

PORT CLINTON — Trailing by seven points heading into the second quarter, Oak Harbor went on a tear, holding Port Clinton to just two points until halftime and taking control of the game. The Rockets outscored the Redskins in the second quarter by 11 points and won the game, 52-34.

Oak Harbor trailed, 15-8, after the first quarter before it went on a 13-2 run in the second quarter to led 21-17 at halftime. From there, the Rockets (5-4, 1-4) steadily built their lead, winning the third quarter, 15-9, and the fourth, 16-8.

“We knew they’d come out with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and they did. Being a rivalry game, we knew you could throw records out the window a little bit,” said Oak Harbor coach Eric Sweet. “They made some shots early, they converted on some tough baskets, give them credit. We settled for open 3-pointers early, (but) we were more aggressive in the second quarter. It was a huge second quarter for us. We kept grinding and we got the lead up to 15-18 points.”

Port Clinton (1-9, 0-5 SBC Bay) scored 15 points in the first quarter but just 19 total points in the final three quarters.

“We started off real well, got the ball to Dylan Simpson, who had six points in the first quarter. We thought we had an advantage inside. We scored 15 points in the first quarter (and then) Oak Harbor went to a full-court press to not allow us to get into your set plays,” said Port Clinton coach Von Graffin. “We only hit two 3-pointers all night. By not shooting well from the perimeter, it made it really hard for us to score in the second half. We scored 19 points in the last three quarters combined. We did a great job on one of the best players in the league, Jac Alexander. I don’t know if he’s had less than 15 points this year. He scored 13. I was real proud of our players for their defensive effort. We’ve got to be able to score the basketball.”

Jac Alexander led his team with 13 points and Clay Schulte added 10. Blake Booker and Hunter Wilkins each scored nine points.

Having a balanced scoring attack is something Sweet has been asking of his team recently.

“That was something we talked about after Willard and Margaretta. We had a tough road game at Willard,” he said. “We as a group needed to get the best shot available, especially with teams keying in on Jac. Against Port Clinton, those three guys did that. Very balanced scoring is something we’re looking for.”

Port Clinton’s Max Brenner led all scorers with 16 points and Dylan Simpson chipped in with six.

Margaretta 51, Oak Harbor 41

Margaretta showed why it’s one of the best teams in the Sandusky Bay Conference as it defeated Oak Harbor, 51-41.

The Polar Bears (8-2, 4-1 SBC Bay) controlled things from the outset, taking a 17-10 lead following the first quarter. Holding a 27-19 lead at halftime, Margaretta outscored the Rockets, 10-5, to go ahead 37-24.

“I thought we settled for 3-pointers against them. We shot 30 3-pointers and we only made seven of them. We shot 30 2-pointers, and only made eight of them,” said Oak Harbor coach Eric Sweet. “We were not very effective overall with our shooting. We were 15-of-60 overall. I think their length threw us off a little bit. I think Margaretta’s length and size affected the game. We held them to 51 points, but we just couldn’t score the ball well enough.”

Nick Leibacher led the Bears with 14 points and Dylan Morris and Mitch Raifsnider each scored 11.

Jac Alexander led all scorers with 19 points, but no other Rockets scored more than six points.