Upper Sandusky gets back on court, and back to winning

GALION -- Upper Sandusky had almost nine months of built-up frustration.After seeing last season end due to COVID before a regional semifinal tournament game, the Rams have been affected by the pandemic for the first chunk of the season this year.On Wednesday, Upper Sandusky finally had the chance to get back on the court when it traveled to Galion.The Rams hit 10 3-pointers, topping Galion, 60-41, in non-league action -- Upper Sandusky's seventh-straight win over the Tigers."The last time we were supposed to play, it was seventh period and I got a call that the game was cancelled," said Upper Sandusky coach Jeff Winslow of the matchup against Lima Shawnee that was supposed to happen in March. "It was nice to get out and play. It is kind of weird with the set-up, but it was nice to see the kids out there finally getting the competitive juices flowing."Cade Adams was particularly effective for Upper Sandusky. The senior missed all but 30 seconds of the first quarter and all of the fourth quarter with an ankle injury. In the middle two quarters, he made six 3s including five in the third quarter."That is him. He can flat out shoot it," Winslow said. "When he misses, I don't understand. When the kid is open, he makes it. When he gets that open 3, it is a layup. That is what he can do."The Rams (1-0) raced out to the first nine points of the game as Holden Daris and Levi Lamb each hit 3s while Zach Sheaffer added a three-point play. After Rece Payne hit a jumper for the Tigers (0-1), Jackson Smalley hit a triple for Upper Sandusky to make it 12-2.Later, a bucket down low by Gavin Carey and another 3 from Daris extended the lead to 20-9. Daris entered the game when Adams left hurt in the first quarter."Holden Daris is a freshman and the kid is tough as nails," Winslow said. "We have noticed that through all of our practices. He comes out and he is not scarred of nothing. He gets after it and defends."The Rams led 22-11 after one quarter and Carey's tally down low opened the second quarter scoring. Galion played better in the second quarter, forcing Upper Sandusky into some turnovers while executing on the offense end.The Tigers clawed back first within 24-20 on the strength of a 9-0 run. After Lamb scored for the Rams, Hudson Miller nailed a triple, bring Galion within 26-23 with 3:22 left in the second quarter.Upper Sandusky finished the first half strong, as Adams hit his first 3 of the game and Trent Beamer scored off of an out-of-bounds play to surge ahead 31-24 at halftime. The Tigers got as close as 35-31 in the third quarter. Adams ignited the Rams' offense as he hit all five 3s in just over two minutes. His last came with 3:13 to go in the third quarter and it gave Upper Sandusky a 50-33 lead."I thought overall, I was pretty happy with how everything went," Winslow said. "We really only had five practices coming into this and they did too. There is lots we need to correct, but it not going to happen overnight this year."The Rams' lead ballooned as high as 20 points, including once in the fourth quarter when Smalley scored. Upper Sandusky struggled at the free throw line, at one point hitting just 2 of 13 free throws until Lamb made the last one of the third quarter for the Rams."Usually you play 30, 40, 50 games in the summer and then you play games in scrimmages," Winslow said. "We haven't and that is the first time this team has played another high school team. It was nice to get out and just play and get your feet wet and see what we need to improve on."Carey finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Beamer added 11 points. Winslow said Beamer had just one practice after coming out of quarantine and will move into the starting lineup once he gets some practices under his belt."We were counting on that," said Winslow of the big nights from his post players. "They are 6-foot-6 and pretty athletic. They have a lot of skill. They can take you off the dribble and they can shoot the ball. They are pretty strong underneath. We expect to get big production out of them."The Rams are back in action Saturday when they travel to Wynford. Upper Sandusky (1-0) Zach Sheaffer 1 1-1 3, Jackson Smalley 3 0-0 7, Levi Lamb 2 1-2 6, Cade Adams 6 0-2 18, Gavin Carey 5 3-11 13, Holden Daris 2 0-0 6, Trent Beamer 5 1-2 11. Galion (0-1): Troy Manning 3 0-0 6, Brayden Eckels 0 0-0 0, Rece Payne 4 0-0 11, Hanif Donaldson 5 2-4 12, Hudson Miller 2 0-0 6, Andrew Sparks 2 0-0 4, Jaxon Oswald 0 2-2 2, Kyle Foust 3 0-0 6. Upper Sandusky 22&emsp;&emsp;9&emsp;&emsp;22&emsp;&emsp;11 -- 64Galion&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;13&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;12 &emsp;&emsp;-- 47 3-POINT GOALS: Upper Sandusky 10 (Adams 6, Daris 2, Smalley, Lamb);Galion 5 (Payne 3, Miller 2). REBOUNDS: Upper Sandusky 27 (Carey 10); Galion 25 (Donaldson 11) TURNOVERS: Upper Sandusky 17; Galion 19.