Published: December 2, 2006
Royals play hard but fall to favored Upper
By Gary Ogle
Telegraph-Forum staff
HOLMES TOWNSHIP -- Wynford had no intention of being a sacrificial lamb Friday, not even for the heavily-favored Upper Sandusky Rams. The Royals battled Upper Sandusky even through three quarters and led in fourth before falling in an independent boys basketball game, 85-75.
"I don't think our kids ever believed that," Wynford coach Tim Ehresman said about being double-digit underdogs in the eyes of many. "Nobody backed down. To come out and play as hard as we did for as long as we did, I'm real happy."
Ohio State-bound Jon Diebler didn't disappoint the sell-out crowd on either side of the gym. It took the Upper Sandusky senior less than 30 seconds to drain his first 3-pointer on the way to a 40-point night.
Fifteen of those came in the fourth quarter after the Rams fell behind 61-58.
"They know Jon is a great player and we weren't really going to slow him down," Ehresman said. "Hats off to Upper Sandusky. They played very well. They finished and shot foul shots. We didn't and that was the difference in the game. That is disappointing."
The Royals outscored the Rams from the field but lost the game at the line where they were a very un-Wynford like 12-26, five of 13 in the final period. Upper Sandusky cashed in on 23 of 29 tries at the charity stripe.
The Rams problems came in the field where they were 27-76, 14 of 43 in the first half even though they led 44-34 at the break.
"We felt fortunate at halftime, shooting that way, to be ahead. We felt it was going to go down to the wire," Upper Sandusky coach Keith Diebler said, noting the Rams' pressure had forced 19 Wynford turnovers before intermission. "You gotta make them pay when you steal the basketball."
The Upper Sandusky coach said not converting Wynford turnovers into points and hitting just four of 22 from the arc kept the normally combustible Rams' offense at low simmer.
Upper Sandusky was up 27-25 midway through the second quarter when the Rams came up with a steal in the press and found Jon Diebler cutting through the lane for a two-handed slam dunk. That ignited a 17-9 run until halftime.
"We're a good shooting team and that's why we just kept shooting," Jon Diebler said. "Give Wynford credit, they're going to do some damage."
The Royals certainly did in the third quarter. First by attacking the press and forcing the Rams to back off, and then by taking the ball inside. Finally, they switched defenses in the halfcourt.
"We talked about being strong with the ball and being more patient," Ehresman said. "We changed defenses a couple of times. It kind of slowed them down and got them off balance a little bit."
Wynford chipped away at what was at times a 12-point Rams' lead and tied the score at 58 when Preston Eibling canned a jumper in the lane with seven seconds left on the third quarter clock.
Then Eibling, who led the Royals with 14 points off the bench, made a strong baseline move for a three-point play and Wynford's first lead since early in the first quarter.
It was also its last.
First Kevin Brodman, and then Jon Diebler, canned 3s to put the Rams back out in front. Free throws by Travis Bachtell and another jumper on the right wing by Jon Diebler made it a 10-point run. The Royals went nearly three minutes before scoring again and never got closer than six points.
"One of the things that happened is Jon (Diebler) took some key shots and hit some key shots," Keith Diebler said.
Alex Falk scored 19 and grabbed nine rebounds, six at the offensive end. Jon Diebler had a double-double with 15 boards to go with his 40 points.
"Alex (Falk) did a real nice job," Keith Diebler said. "His motor is running 90 miles per hour. He's all over the floor. He hits big shots and he knows when and when not to."
