Thus far, the Gibsonburg boys’ basketball team is doing what it hoped — winning big games.

In an attempt to carry the momentum from last season’s run to the Division III district finals, the Golden Bears have started off the season 5-1, which includes a 3-0 mark in the Toledo Area Athletic Conference.

In their run to the district finals last season that saw them lose to Ontario, 71-63, in overtime, the Bears finished the season on a tear, winning eight of their final 11 games en route to one of the best seasons in school history.

Gibsonburg 6'4" senior post Logan Jones goes to the basket with a Toledo Christian player efending in the Golden Bear's 57-53 victory. (Press photo by Doug Hise)

The Bears, picked to finish second in the TAAC before the season began, have already defeated Maumee Valley Country Day (46-43), Toledo Christian (57-53) and Elmwood (54-51), all in thrilling fashion. Gibsonburg’s other two victories came against Hopewell-Loudon (67-48) and Danbury (85-39).

Against Maumee Valley, the Bears rallied late, overcoming a four point deficit with a minute to play to steal the road win. In their defeat of Toledo Christian, Bears guard Dylan Dorfmeyer connected on a three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining to give his team a one point lead. Beating Elmwood might’ve been the toughest victory of all, as the Bears came back after being down double digits to defeat their former Suburban Lakes League foe.

Gibsonburg coach Brent Liskai, in his 10th season, says what stands out with this team is its ability to remain focused during crunch time.

“They remember what it felt like to leave that locker room with that feeling (after the district final),” he said. “They’re pretty good in close games because they’ve been there.”

Liskai speaks highly of his players’ character and how well they work together as a cohesive unit.

“They’re great kids, a joy to coach,” said Liskai, a Gibsonburg alum who also serves as the school’s athletic director and teaches U.S. and World History at the high school level. “The biggest improvement is in practice — these seniors are great with the younger kids. Our young kids have improved so much since day one. They’re (the seniors) leaving their mark that way by getting through to the young kids.”

The team, which lost Jeremy Helmke and Nick Sneider to graduation, starts five seniors. Returning Alan Miller Jewelers All-Press first team selection Gage Beaber runs the point. Dorfmeyer serves as the shooting guard and 6-foot-2 Nate Yarborogh is the small forward with Adam Clark (6-1) and Logan Jones (6-3) manning the post at power forward and center, respectively. The team, which goes nine deep, features a bench of Isaiah Arriaga and Jordan Kreglow, both point guards, and Andrew Cantrell (shooting guard) and Matt Tille (power forward).

The 5-9 Dorfmeyer, who suffers from diabetes and must remain conscious of his blood sugar throughout games, has been arguably the Bears’ most clutch performer this season. In addition to hitting the game-winning three-pointer against Toledo Christian, he also made the game-winning free throws with just seconds remaining against Maumee Valley — the team’s marquee win of the season.

Winning close games is something the team learned to do well last year during its late season run.

“It benefits that we’ve already been in this situation,” said Beaber. “And it’s good to know that anyone can make free throws (late in the game).”

Part of what makes Gibsonburg successful is that they’re so well-rounded offensively. In six games, the Bears have had four players lead the team in scoring, with Beaber and Jones having the honors two times apiece. The scoring attack is incredibly well-balanced, with the top four scorers averaging three points of one another. Beaber currently leads the team at 14.3 points, followed by Dorfmeyer (13.3), Yarborogh (12.7) and Jones (11.2).

The offense is engineered by the 5-11 Beaber, with Jones, a good mid-range shooter, serving as the primary option down low and Dorfmeyer and Yarborogh supply scoring punch from the perimeter.

Liskai notes that the turning point for this group came last year in midseason when Yarborogh moved into town and the team started to get healthy. 

“Once they got acclimated to playing together, they did well,” he said. “It’s good that they can appreciate what each other is capable of.”

The Golden Bears, after competing for nearly four decades in the now-defunct SLL, joined the TAAC this year, placing them with programs of more comparable size. That was not the case with some of the old SLL schools. Gibsonburg departed the SLL with the smallest boys’ enrollment (138), but is now the biggest school in the TAAC.

Still, the Bears finished in the top four of the SLL in four of the final six seasons, highlighted by a second- and two third-place finishes during that span.

In basketball, however, with the competition Gibsonburg faces in the TAAC, including the likes of Maumee Valley, Ottawa Hills and Toledo Christian, means that winning a conference championship might be as difficult. Ottawa Hills reached the D-IV state tournament two years ago, TC has been a regional final qualifier in multiple seasons, and under Coach Jim Robinson, MVCDS has become a perennial contender in the league.

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