By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
The season as a whole was encapsulated in one tournament game Saturday night.
Calhoun stumbled somewhere - the first quarter - played excellent elsewhere but wasn't quite able to get over the hump.
That's exactly what happened in the Red Devils' first round loss to Williamstown, 59-47.
The Red Devils struggled out of the gate and after taking a quick early lead fell behind by nine, 15-6, at the end of the first quarter.
That's when Calhoun coach Danny Bunch challenged his team to respond and respond it did playing the higher-seeded and favored Yellowjackets to a near draw the rest of the way.
The Red Devils made several runs at Williamstown and at times appeared to have the Yellowjackets rattled.
But every time Calhoun would make it close something would happen, such as a reserve coming off the bench and nailing back-to-back three-point shots to keep the Red Devils at bay.
Calhoun was led by senior Ryan Slider who closed out his brilliant career with a 16-point effort after being shut out in the first quarter. He was backed by junior Tyler Sims with 15 while junior Sam Brady added 10. Mason Sheldon chipped in with four and Lucas Wilson added two. Ethyn Miller, Tyler Gerwig and Cody Starcher all played but failed to score.
Game honors went to Williamstown's 6-5 Gage Wicks with 19. He was backed by Dakota Watkins with 16 and Brandon Travis with 13. Brad Alsup came off the bench to hit two three-point shots for six points while Josh Palmer had five and Josh Folwell two. No other Yellowjacket scored.
The win puts Williamstown into a Tuesday night matchup at Parkersburg Catholic.
For Calhoun the season ends with a final 8-14 record.
For the Red Devils a much better record could have been had with a break here or there since of the Red Devils' losses only five (counting this game) were by more than 10 points.
Bunch said this team seemed to get the basketball program moving in the right direction and he thanked the senior class for that. Calhoun's seniors included Slider, Sheldon and Starcher.
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