Golden Bears face stiff test in matchup with Calvert

Press Sports Editor
sports@presspublications.com

Could Gibsonburg be turning the corner?
The Golden Bears, who began the season 1-4 after winning just three games last year, have won three consecutive games and are primed to face one of the top teams in their conference, the Sandusky Bay Conference River Division, in Tiffin Calvert in our Game of the Week.
Tony Egbert’s team defeated Elmwood, 62-39, last week, following up victories over St. Mary Central Catholic (55-41) and St. Joseph CC (56-37).
In the win over the Royals, Camden Mooney scored 21 points and Jake Hall chipped in with 11. Against the Panthers, Hall and Aiden Morant both had a game-high 17 points with Reese Walby scoring 10.
Gibsonburg’s other victory was a 62-33 triumph over rival Lakota, 62-33, a game in which Hall had 25 points. The Bears find themselves at 4-4 (3-3 SBC River) as we near the midway point of the season.
So why have things started to change?
“I think confidence is our big thing. The kids are playing with confidence,” said Egbert, now in his second season coaching the team. “Last year, we had a lot of inexperienced (players), and we talked before games like we always felt as though we had to feel teams out before we could be the aggressor. Now we’ve taken on the mentality that we know what we’re capable of doing, and we’re going to put it out there for 32 minutes. Now, we dive in head first and see what happens.”
Walby, who is just a 5-11 freshman, runs the point and is joined in the backcourt by the 6-0 Morant and the 5-10 Sam McEwan with 6-4 Zach McGough and Hall, who is 6-5, patrolling the post.
Hall leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.4 points and 6.5 rebounds, and is followed in scoring by Walby (11.5), Morant (7.3), Mooney (7.1), McEwan (5.8) and McGough (5.4). Walby is averaging 3.5 assists and Morant is close behind a 2.8 while McGough is averaging 5.5 rebounds, followed by Walby (5.4) and Hunter Wasserman (4.0). Xander Zimmerman, Grant Dawson, Nick Lucas, Aiden Senters, Nathan Billow, Jacob Henderson and Luke Foster have also seen action this season.
“Reece Walby has done a good job taking the reins and just doing a lot of things like a traditional point guard does; if he needs to score –– he can score it, he can distribute he can defend like crazy. Aiden Morant and Sam McEwan, those three guards have really set the tone with their aggressiveness — they’ve helped us get turnovers and some easy baskets,” said Egbert. “Jake Hall can score it in a variety of different ways, and Camden Mooney, who is our sixth man, had a big night against Elmwood. Zach McGough has had a couple of good nights rebounding for us, and Hunter Wassermann comes off the bench and does a lot of things that don’t always show up in the box score, like rebounding, screening and playing defense.
“We’ve had eight games with five leading scorers. We have a lot of different ways that we can beat teams,” Egbert said.
The final season for the five seniors — Lucas, McEwan, Hall, Henderson and McGough — is moving at a fast pace.
“They’re finally kind of diving in and I think we’re starting to see that they’re only guaranteed 15 more games in their career, and I think we’re starting to see the light go on,” said Egbert. “They’re not the most vocal group, but they all get along, and they have embraced the younger guys. They don’t care who does what, they just want to win.” The Bears face a big hurdle with Calvert looming.
The Senecas (6-2, 6-0) are in first place in the league, one game ahead of both Hopewell-Loudon and Old Fort. There are 10 teams in the conference, which has its fair share of quality programs.
Calvert is led by Gavin Wagner and Jacob Rombach. Harrison Shultz is a key contributor as well, and Caden Otterbacher is the son of Jon, the head coach.
Egbert talked about the challenges the Senecas pose.
“I think the big thing is they defend like crazy. Everything you do against them, you’re going to earn it. All five guys guard, and they’re big –– they rebound, they dominate the glass defensively; they’re incredible. That’s what Calvert teams do, they’re very sound defensively,” Egbert said. “Rombach, Wagner, Shultz and Caden Otterbacher are their best players. There are going to be a lot of one-and-done trips (on offense), so we have to make sure we get a great look. Caden, he’s a senior playing point guard. He’s really embraced that role, and he’s one of the best defenders in the league. I think they have three guys averaging in double figures right now.”
Calvert’s only losses have come to Margaretta (60-55) and Ottawa-Glandorf (70-43), teams that are a combined 13-2.
The game, which takes place on Tuesday, will be played in Tiffin.