Crunch time: Shelby uses strong second-half start to put away Ontario in key MOAC game

ONTARIO — Shelby normally starts games off with a lot of energy and builds a first-half lead to take into the locker room.

But, lately, the start of the second half hasn't been the Whippets' strong suit. At least until Friday night, when they used a 14-2 run to start the third quarter to turn a 41-26 halftime lead into a 55-28 advantage in the first four minutes of the third quarter during a 78-50 win over Ontario in a key Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game.

"We have had slow second-half starts all year, so the biggest emphasis tonight was to start the third quarter off fast," Shelby sophomore Alex Bruskotter, who scored a game-high 21 points, said. "Our last game against Wooster, we had a nine-point lead at halftime and gave up the lead by the end of the third. We put an emphasis on our third-quarter start tonight and it helped up pull away."

After building a 24-16 lead at the end of the first quarter, Shelby outscored Ontario 17-10 in the second to take a 15-point halftime lead.

Ontario coach Tim Mergel made some halftime adjustments on the defensive end, but they didn't include putting a focus on Shelby senior Marshall Shepherd from beyond the arc. Shepherd opened the second half with a 3-point dagger and scored 12 of his 16 points in the third quarter, when the Whippets put up 29 points and cruised the rest of the way.

"We made some adjustments at halftime defensively, but then Shepherd comes out and bangs a 3 right out of the gate," Mergel said. "Then our kids start feeling sorry for themselves, and we need to learn how to adopt that next-play mentality. We run a good play and work the ball and get an open guy, but the pass is at his feet and we turn it over.

"We need to do a better job of doing the little things, and we just aren't making winning plays, offensively or defensively."

Shepherd set the tone with his 3-pointer and offensive explosion and the Shelby defense picked up the pressure, creating turnovers and turning them into layups. The Whippets help Ontario to just 11 points in the third quarter and 13 in the fourth.

"There have been some not-so-great second-half starts for us this year," Shelby coach Greg Gallaway said. "It has been an emphasis to start the game strong and keep the same energy coming out of halftime. Our guys did a great job. We wanted to speed up the game and pressure them full-court, and our guys did a good job of getting turnovers and turning them into transition buckets."

Gallaway was most impressed with senior Jeremy Holloway, who has stepped up his game recently. He finished with 12 points, giving the Whippets three players in double figures, but it was the plays he made that didn't show up in the scoring column that were game-changers.

"Jeremy Holloway is so impactful for us as a team," Gallaway said. "When we have success, he is that guy who is the catalyst. He is leading the MOAC in blocks, is super active on the boards, and it all starts with him."

While Bruskotter, Shepherd and Holloway scored in double figures, Andre Hill, Issaiah Ramsey and Bryson Baker chipped in eight points apiece in a balanced effort.

"We had great balance tonight and guys off of the bench played some key minutes as well," Gallaway said. "Bryson Baker was a great spark by coming in and going straight into attack mode, and that is something we always talk about."

Bruskotter, who is leading the MOAC with a 19.4 points average, admitted having multiple players step up and handle the scoring load took a lot of pressure off him as a go-to scorer.

"We played so well as a team tonight, "Bruskotter said. "When everyone gets going, it makes it so much easier on me. Jeremy (Holloway) got going and his leadership was huge tonight and is tough to stop, and the same goes for Shep (Marshall Shepherd) and Andre (Hill). They are all great teammates, and when they all get going we are tough to stop."

Ontario (4-8, 4-3) dropped its fifth straight game after a three-game winning streak.

"We are not very good passers," Mergel said. "When you don't hit guys in stride or hit shooters in the pocket and instead we have to catch the ball at our feet and ankles, it makes it tough. Then you throw in a team like Shelby with its athleticism, that half-second of timing is crucial."

Mergel hopes to figure out how to bring back what made the Warriors so successful in the first seven games of the season, when they put up a 4-3 record.

"We just have to commit ourselves to play hard for 32 minutes and, right now, we are so inconsistent and we let one mistake turn into two and two into three," Mergel said. "We just cannot have 20-plus turnovers a game and expect to win. That is 20 possessions we give up in a game. It is a struggle, but we will get better. We have made strides."

Braxton Hall led the Warriors with 12 points while Brady Zehe had nine, Josh Young, Darian Delbrugge and Alex Rathburn scored seven apiece and Grayson Purvis scored six.

Shelby (10-3, 6-1) finished the first round through the MOAC in a three-way tie for first place and start the second time through with one nightly goal: take care of business.

"The MOAC is a tough league at the top and we cannot afford to slip up," Bruskotter said. "We knew Ontario would be fired up to play us, especially at home on a Friday night in a big game, so we just wanted to come out and take care of business and not let one slip away."

Gallaway said he has his players believing in staying on task and not getting too far ahead of themselves. They proved it Friday night in a game they could have easily overlooked.

"Our guys know that every MOAC game from here on out matters so much," Gallaway said. "They are so smart, but we aren't looking ahead. We want to take care of business each night and not look four weeks or four days down the road. Our guys are buying into that mentality."

Ontario is back in action on Saturday at Ashland while Shelby travels to Pleasant on Thursday.

jfurr@gannett.com

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Twitter: @JakeFurr11

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Alex Bruskotter, Marshall Shepherd, Jeremy Holloway all score in double-figures for Shelby Whippets