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By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
Saturday night's 66-43 Class A sectional loss to Williamstown in a game played at Ellenboro was something of the Red Devils' season in a nutshell.
The Red Devils did well in some aspects of the game but in the overall Calhoun was done in by three things that happened all too frequently in the just completed 2-21 season. The Red Devils' nemesis were (1) the other team had a ton of three-point field goals; (2) the other team had a ton of free throws or (3) Calhoun had a ton of turnovers.
Saturday night Williamstown had an average (for the other team) amount of three-point goals (5); a high number of free throws (15 of 31) and Calhoun had more turnovers (14-5). Those three things plus a bit of a scoring drought in the third quarter proved fatal.
There were ties and lead changes in the first half as Williamstown enjoyed a 13-10 first quarter advantage and extended it by a point to 30-26 at halftime.
In the first half the Yellowjackets were hampered by Calhoun's big front line, especially senior Ricky Hall.
With the 6-5 Hall keeping the middle clogged Williamstown was unable to run the offense it wanted, finally reverting to long range shooting to assure it the halftime lead. While Hall had eight first half points the Yellowjackets countered with three three point goals and eight of 14 free throws.
One thing that hampered the Red Devils was Tyler Gerwig getting in foul trouble early in the first quarter and being forced to sit out the second quarter. Gerwig had five rebounds but was shut out in the scoring column. Gerwig had averaged 14.4 over the last five games of the season and was coming off a career high 26 against Parkersburg Catholic.
Then there was the third quarter drought, something that hit the Red Devils all too often in the latter part of the season.
With Calhoun sputtering Williamstown enjoyed a 15-5 edge in the third good for a 45-31 edge heading into the fourth. Calhoun surged a couple of times in the fourth but was unable to get the lead under double figures before head coach Danny Bunch emptied the bench giving all his players a chance to see action under tournament circumstances.
Ryan Slider led Calhoun with 12 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, three steals and three blocks.
He was backed by Trent Phillips with 11 points and eight rebounds. Hall had eight while Luke Moore and Lucas Wilson added three each and Ethyn Miller, Sam Brady and Derek Dawson had two apiece. Gerwig and Luke Sheldon both played but did not score.
Williamstown 9-13 had four players hit double figures led by Landon Travis with a game high 18 off the bench. He was backed by Jarric Hoskins and Hunter Neely with 12 apiece while Chandler Weber had 10. Josh Palmer with seven, Josh Diebold with five and Austin Hall with two rounded out the scoring. Dakota Watson, Aaron Brooks and Mac McCormick all played but did not score.
Williamstown will play Gilmer County Wednesday night at Ritchie County High School but for Calhoun the season is over.
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