Staying the course: Colts overcome emotions to top Ontario on Senior Night

BELLVILLE — On senior night, emotions are always at an all-time high.

That was the case for Clear Fork on Friday night as they honored seniors Trinity Cook, Bekah Conrad and Bella Molina.

The emotions and nerves got the best of the Colts for the first four minutes of the game but, eventually, they calmed down for a 51-27 win over Ontario in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference action.

"Getting the win was the most important thing not just for our seniors, but for our team in general," Cook said. "This is what we are all about — playing hard and playing for each other."

Earning the start on senior night, Cook and the rest of the Colts let their nerves show as they held a 2-1 lead halfway through the first quarter. Clear Fork coach Scott Sellers burned a timeout just to get the emotions in check and give the Colts a chance to refocus.

It worked as the Colts bolted to a 14-4 lead at the end of one.

"Senior night," Sellers said with a laugh. "I think they were all out of breath within the first 30 seconds of the game, and that just comes with the territory. They calmed down. The excitement of the night got to us in the beginning, but we settled in. We went into the half with a 19-point lead and then came out a bit flat in the third, but once we got our rotations down, we were able to come out and play with the energy necessary to win at home against Ontario."

The Colts (15-2, 8-2) stretched the lead to 29-10 at the intermission for one simple reason — they didn't panic and they stuck to their guns. They kept up the full-court pressure on defense and started getting in the lane on offense to create easier shots.

"We just stuck to who we are," Cook said. "We play hard and for each other and it is what we have done all year and what has made us successful. We just stayed focused, kept our head on straight and stuck to what worked."

Sellers said he knew his team would overcome the slow start after the emotions of the evening wore off and the game slowed down some. He stuck to the game plan despite the sloppy start, found successful rotations and the Colts woke up in the second quarter with 15 total points, the most they scored in a single quarter in the game.

"This is our 17th game, and the way we play has worked very well in 16 of those games," Sellers said. "We will take that. We have to make adjustments as we approach the end of the season and tournament time comes and the kids are buying in. I would rather have an ugly win than a pretty loss."

The Warriors (3-14, 1-8) weren't about to go away quietly as they started the second half on a solid 8-2 run, forcing another CF timeout. After back-to-back buckets by Conrad stopped the bleeding, Ontario's Rylee Nigh went on a personal 5-0 run to cut it to 35-23, the closest the Warriors got after the first quarter.

Much like the start of the game, Ontario came out after halftime with a lot of energy.

"I like it," Ontario coach Mitch Willeke said. "We get the energy that we call, 'River Valley energy' where we come in against a very good team like Clear Fork and we focus in and bring a little bit extra. We just struggled to make shots, plain and simple."

The Warriors did struggle to make buckets. In the first half, five of their 10 points came from the free-throw line. They made just two field goals.

"Clear Fork is so tough to prep for because you try to focus on Conrad, who is a game-breaker, and then we couldn't simulate their defensive pressure," Willeke said. "We played very hard, but in the end the credit goes to them."

Nigh led the Warriors with eight points while Taylor Counts added seven and Lauren Sexton had five.

With just five games remaining in the regular season, Willeke is hoping to help his team achieve one thing that could help take momentum into the offseason and help the young squad turn things around next season.

"Consistency," Willeke said. "That consistency is what I want to see in the last five games. All games are learning curves for us because we are so young, but if we can learn from mistakes and learn from situations that we can assess and make adjustments on the fly, I think that will give us a lot to build on heading into next season."

After a tough third quarter, the Colts played much better in the fourth with a 14-4 advantage in the final eight minutes.

"It was a lot of nerves and emotion," Cook said. "I know I was super nervous and felt weird because of it being senior night. The crowd was amazing, but we just were a little too hyped up. But we adjusted, calmed down and settled in."

Conrad led all scorers with 18, including eight in the fourth, while Kyleigh Belcher had seven and Melodie Blubaugh and Cook five apiece. Molina had two on senior night.

Although the Colts will play another game on their home floor, Sellers wanted to make sure his team had a senior night as the ever-changing landscape of the pandemic brings uncertainty. He wasn't sure what the future held so he made sure his seniors had their night. He was thrilled to see them walk out of the gym with a victory.

"They left with a win against a team that I don't know if they have ever beat in their careers," Sellers said. "That is a team that has been their nemesis in other sports, so I am happy for my seniors. They went through a three-year period where they didn't win a lot but, this year, they bought into the things we were trying to do, were unselfish and I am really happy for the kids, their parents and their grandparents who could be here."

Clear Fork travels to Pleasant on Thursday before hosting Marion Harding on Jan. 29 in two key MOAC games before the tournament draw on Jan. 30. Ontario hosts Galion on Thursday and Pleasant on Jan. 29.

jfurr@gannett.com

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Twitter: @JakeFurr11

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Staying the course: Colts overcome emotions to top Ontario on Senior Night