Boys Basketball: Oberlin's uphill battle comes up short against Sandusky

SANDUSKY — Oberlin kept fighting back, but late in its 90-80 non-conference loss to Sandusky the Phoenix did not have the energy to land another counterpunch. With 4:11 left in the first quarter, senior Darrion Durham gave the Blue Streaks (13-3) a 9-8 lead when he connected on a pair of free throws to spark a 15-4 run to end the quarter and give Sandusky a 22-12 lead. Oberlin spent the rest of the game trying to fight its way out of that hole. The Phoenix (9-5) cut the lead to a point, 33-32, with 1:47 left in the first half and trailed 42-37 at halftime. Senior Ty Locklear opened the third quarter with a conventional three-point play to pull the Phoenix within a basket at 42-40, but Sandusky answered with a 9-0 run. Oberlin was not done. After the Blue Streaks pushed their lead to 51-40 with that run, the Phoenix answered with a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 51-49. A 9-2 Sandusky run that closed the third quarter and opened the fourth put away the game. Oberlin was never able to cut the Blue Streaks lead under 10 points the rest of the way. Against an aggressive Sandusky press, the Phoenix, playing without starting point guard Marius Harrell who missed the game with a right foot injury, turned the ball over 33 times. "He's our point guard and we have a three-guard offense," Oberlin coach Kurt Russell said. "Not having Marius in there really put a lot of pressure on Andre (Yarber) and Ty. We really don't have any other guards on our team. "Dre and Ty got winded, understandably, and Sandusky pressed the whole game. This was the type of game that we really missed Marius." Locklear scored 18 points and pulled down six rebounds while Yarber scored 17 points and handed out six assists. Junior Isaac Thompson added 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, while freshman Josiah Bowen-Pride scored 16 points and collected six rebounds. "We knew, coming in, if we threw a lot of bodies at them we could possibly wear them down," Sandusky coach DeMar Moore said. "Midway through the third quarter that kind of showed. "Oberlin is a great team and our guys kept coming and kept coming. Credit to them, they played their butts off. They played us tight, played hard and aggressive. "It's a team we don't normally get to see and they are really athletic. They have guys that can really score. Credit to them but I think our defensive pressure and intensity wore them down late." Russell was pleased with how his team kept fighting. "I thought that we responded very well," he said. "In the third we cut the lead to one and were right in striking range, but I believe (Sandusky's) depth got to us. We got winded and the game ballooned a little bit out of our control." Yarber said his team was confident it could come back, even after falling behind early. "We've been in that situation before," he said. "We knew what we could do, but at the end we just couldn't do it. Sandusky plays very fast and that's something we're going to have to play against because we're going to see that in the playoffs." Jarrein Alexander led Sandusky with 21 points while De'Mar Moore added 17. Patrick Brown scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter. Contact Mike Perry at 329-7135 or macsportstalk@gmail.com. Sandusky 90, Oberlin 80 OBERLIN (80): Andre Yarber 6-4-17, Josiah Bowen-Pride 7-0-16, Isaac Thompson 4-2-10, Ty Locklear 5-7-18, Dayvion Witherspoon 1-1-3, Omario Hopkins 0-1-1, Korey Russell 0-0-0, Silas Brandt 2-1-5, Kevyn Steen 3-1-10. Totals 28-17-80. SANDUSKY (90): Kye Scott 0-2-2, Jarrein Alexander 7-4-21, Israel Fletcher 2-2-6, Darrion Durham 6-2-14, Isaiah Taylor 0-0-0, De'Mar Moore 8-0-17, Daylen Green 4-0-10, Jaylin Dorsey 1-0-2, Patrick Brown 4-7-15, Britton Lanning 1-0-3, Josh Garrett 0-0-0, Nate' Abbott 0-0-0. Totals 33-17-90. Oberlin 12 25 20 23 -- 80 Sandusky 22 20 22 26 -- 90 Three-point goals: Oberlin 7-20 (Steen 3, Bowen-Pride 2, Yarber, Locklear), Sandusky 7-19 (Alexander 3, Green 2, Moore, Lanning). Field goals: Oberlin 28-58 (48.2 percent), Sandusky 33-72 (45.8 percent); Free throws: Oberlin 17-23 (73.9 percent), Sandusky 17-28 (60.7 percent); Rebounds: Oberlin 45 (Thompson 10), Sandusky 32 (Alexander 5). Turnovers: Oberlin 33, Sandusky 13. Total fouls: Oberlin 18, Sandusky 22. Fouled out: Bowen-Pride. Junior Varsity: Sandusky, 67-47.