HURON — Sandusky may be six games under .500 but judging by the smiles on the faces of the Huron Tigers, the Blue Streaks might as well have been a ranked team. Behind inspired play from senior Zach Grieves, Huron defeated Sandusky Saturday night, 56-52.
“It was probably the greatest win,” Grieves said. “We haven’t beat them in five years.”
Grieves was instrumental in victory. After Sandusky used a 11-0 late in the second quarter to take a 28-21 halftime edge. After teammate Steve Bowers hit a jumper to start the second half, Grieves hit back-to- back old fashioned three-point plays gave Huron the lead.
When the fourth quarter started however, Sandusky led 39-37. Grieves then took over. He opened the quarter with a basket, then buried a 3-pointer. After a Sandusky free throw, Grieves hit another 3 for a 45-40 Huron lead. Cordney Strickland answered with a 3 for the Blue Streaks. Grieves came back with a basket and on the following offensive possession made a saving dive and behind the back pass to keep the ball alive and Bowers scored to give the Tigers a 49-43 advantage.
The score was 53-49 after Sandusky’s Damyion Smith scored with 30 seconds left. Huron senior Brandon Poorman attacked the rim looking to dunk. He was fouled , but the ball still found its way through the hoop. The crowd went berserk, Poorman completed the three-point play and the Tigers were on their way to victory.
“We knew we should beat them,” Grieves said. “We are senior orientated and we have been playing together for how long and they are kind of young. We were like this is ours to win and we need to win this game. We are going for sectional seeding. We want a bye so this win was huge for us.”
Grieves led all scorers with 24 points including 16 in the second half.
“Coach got on me real bad at halftime,” Grieves said. “I wasn’t leading and I am supposed to be the captain of the team. I was down on myself so we buckled down and we said the fourth quarter is the time for us to shine.”
Huron raised their record to 9-6. Steve Bowers had eight of his 10 rebounds in the second half. Bowers and Poorman each scored 12 points. Derek Dowell was the only other Tiger to score and had eight points.
“It is great win for the program,” Huron coach Bobby James said. “It is a huge win for our kids. They played very well and together. They executed offensively and really handled the glass. Zach played well but it was a whole team effort tonight.”
Huron did a great job for most of the game limiting the Blue Streaks to just one shot a possession. Late in fourth quarter, Sandusky hit the boards strong getting several second and third chances opportunities.
“In the first part of the third quarter we let our intensity drop and they made a nice run to get back in it,” Sandusky head coach Steve Keller said. “In the fourth I thought we really competed but we just could not buy a basket. We were 5 of 14 from the free throw line and that really hurt us. Their size hurt because they threw over our double teams as the game wore on.”
Sandusky led 15-11 after the first quarter, Huron began the second quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 18-15 advantage, but Sandusky scored the next 11 points. Strickland and sophomore Tristen Jeffries each scored twice during the run. Huron made three free throws to close out the half cutting Sandusky’s halftime edge to 28-21.
Rayshawn Daniels led the Blue Streaks with 12, Smith added 10, Jeffries had nine while Strickland had eight. Jay Page led the team with 12 rebounds. Sandusky took care of the ball having just six turnovers while forcing Huron to commit 21.
