Sunday, December 19, 1999

Tornadoes nab key win on the road

By John Montgomery
Sports Writer

SHELBY &emdash; Coaches often like to say their team played a solid game after a big win. So much in fact that it's become almost cliche.

But sometimes a cliche perfectly describes what happened.

Just ask Columbian coach Matt Hutchinson, who watched his Tornadoes earn a hard-fought 53-49 Northern Ohio League game at Shelby by using an improved offense, harrying defense and good foul shooting at the end.

"Huge, huge league win on the road," Hutchinson said following the victory that evened his team's record at 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the NOL. "I think of all the gyms in the league, this is one of the most difficult to win at. I think we're very fortunate to come in here tonight, play a solid game and get a win."

The Tornadoes started that solid game early, with Brad Cox taking a lob pass on an out-of-bounds play and putting Columbian up 2-0 56 seconds into the contest.

And after Shelby's Kenny Fritz knocked down the first of his three 3-pointers on the night to give the Whippets a 3-2 edge with 5:39 to go in the opening quarter, Columbian really went to work.

The Tornadoes' defense kept the Whippets (1-3, 0-2) scoreless for the next 4:12 while four different Columbian players hit baskets to grab a 10-3 lead on the way to ending the first period with a 13-7 advantage.

Shelby rallied back in the second, with Zach Wildman draining a 2 and a 3, Craig Harvey hitting a foul shot and Fritz tossing in a basket to inch ahead 15-13 with 3:02 left before halftime.

But it was the last lead the Whippets would hold.

David Price and Brent Wise each scored from the post to put Columbian on top 17-15 with just under two minutes to go in the second quarter and Todd Focht netted a 2 and a 3 to push the lead to 22-15 with 27 seconds left before halftime.

Only a buzzer-beating running jumper from the right wing by Shelby's Mike Albert kept the halftime lead from being seven points.

Columbian started the third quarter strong, taking a quick 10-point lead off a baseline jumper by Brad Cox and another 3-pointer by Focht at the 7:22 to go in the period.

The lead eventually grew to 32-19 when Brian Eachus knocked down a trey from the top of the of the key at the 5:03 mark on his way to 11 points on the night, giving the appearance of a blowout in the making.

But the Whippets wouldn't allow it.

Shelby gave up just one more bucket &emdash; a Nate Nahm layup late in the quarter &emdash; while scoring nine points &emdash; five from Fritz &emdash; to trim the deficit to 34-28 at the end of the period.

Columbian jumped out 41-30 in the fourth quarter on Nahm's bucket from the post and Eachus' bucket from the right block and 3-pointer from the right baseline.

After Columbian's Chris Brooks made a foul shot to give Columbian a 10-point lead (42-32) with 4:59 to go in the game, Shelby started a rally.

Albert hit a foul shot, Dustin Sallee had bucket and two free throws and Fritz, who ended with 19 points, nailed a pair of foul shots to bring the Whippets to within three (42-39) with 2:16 to play.

A mental lapse against the Shelby press resulted in a Columbian turnover and a timeout one second after Fritz' foul shots.

The cheers of Shelby fans turned to groans moments later when Focht stole a pass and was fouled. He made both free throws on his way to 19 points in the game to put Columbian up 44-39 with 2:01 to go.

Nick Hummel's free throw cut the gap to 44-40 at the 1:39 mark, but Shelby was forced to foul to stop the clock and get the ball.

Columbian made the Whippets pay, hitting 9-of-12 from the foul line in the last 1:20 of play to earn the win.

And they needed them, because every trip down the court for Shelby seemed to end in a 3-point attempt. Wildman nailed one from the right wing to narrow the gap to 50-43 with 28 seconds to play and Fritz tossed in two treys from long range, the last coming with 4 ticks left on the clock to make it 53-49 Columbian.

But the Tornadoes ran out the clock from there to preserve the win, a win made doubly sweet because it came on the road after a league loss at home, according to Hutchinson.

"Everybody has talked all year about 'You've got to win all of your games at home.' We get beat by Willard last week in our first home league game. If you're going to lose one at home, you've got to come back and pick one up on the road somewhere," Hutchinson said. "Hopefully we've made up for our setback last week by getting this big league win."