NEW WASHINGTON — For two periods, it was a game. Buckeye Central was battling a heavily favored Colonel Crawford team and trailed just 24-20 with 1:44 left in the first half. Crawford held a 28-20 lead at the break.

Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon felt his team needed to pick up the pace in the second half.

The Eagles did just that, outscoring the Bucks, 27-9, in the third period and raced past BC, 73-42, in the regular-season finale for both teams.

In the game, CC forward Gavin Feichtner scored his 1,000th career point, joining teammate Jordan Fenner in the Eagles’ 1,000-point club.

“The teammates behind me were always supportive of me,” Feichtner said. “Jordan, with his 1,000, the whole community is proud of us.”

Feichtner said that two players in the same class reaching that goal was important to the players.

“It means a lot,” Feichtner said. “You don’t get that very often. It means a lot to everybody.”

Sheldon said that Feichtner has grown in two years.

“Look at tonight. Gavin gets 1,000 points,” Sheldon said. “I’ve coached five players in my 14 years that have scored 1,000 points and Gavin is one of the most unique. He’s going to go play college baseball, but he could have played college basketball. The thing about Gavin is he is such a tough guard because he can shoot the 3 and he can take you down and post you up. He’s a special athlete with God-given talent. He’s really turned into a mature young man, having that scoring mentality.

“You have two 1,000-point scorers in the same class,” Sheldon added. “That just shows how unselfish this class is. They won 77 games in four years. It’s not a one-man show. These guys just want to win. That’s a special accomplishment.”

Sheldon said that going more up-tempo was key.

“We didn’t turn the ball over much in the press,” Sheldon said. “We didn’t want to play at their pace. We went back to just picking them up half court. I thought in the third quarter we got a lot of deflections and got us out in transition.”

The Eagles came out in the third quarter and scored the first 14 points, taking a 42-20 lead. Feichtner, Fenner and Chase Walker scored all 14 points.

Walker and Feichtner led the Eagles with 18 points and Fenner added 16.

“I felt in the third quarter we (picked up the pace),” Sheldon said. “We got some offense off of our half-court defense, then the flood gates opened.

“We had great balance, Jordan with 16 and Gavin 18 and Chase 18,” Sheldon added. “Reis Walker had a heck of a game. He had seven points, but we’ve been on him about getting on the glass like his younger brother. He got us second shots.”

Crawford held a 55-29 lead entering the final frame.

Buckeye Central coach Eric Picklesimer said that Crawford’s second-chance opportunities were the difference in the game.

“They’re good,” Picklesimer said of the Eagles. “We helped them by not boxing out and that’s the bottom line. We gave them too many shot opportunities.

“We played them well defensively. We battled with them. But you can’t give up two and three shots per possession, and, ultimately, that’s what killed us.”

Sheldon said that his team was not playing as intensely as they could in the first half.

“In the first half, we just missed some bunnies,” Sheldon said. “We had some good looks point-blank. Credit to Buckeye, they came out and hit three or four 3s and shot it well. They’re more of an inside presence and they hit some shots. We just felt our pressure had to get a little more intense.”

Crawford finished the regular season with a 19-3 record, 14-2 in the Northern 10. BC fell to 3-19 and 2-14.

Damian Dean and Nick Ramey led the Bucks with 10 points.

Crawford won the junior varsity game, 41-21.

Box score

Colonel Crawford    12      16      27     18 — 73

Buckeye Central       11       9        9      13 — 42

Colonel Crawford (19-3, 14-2 N10): Shots 29-54; 3-pt shots 6-18 (Gavin Feichtner 3, Brenden Grady 2, Carter Valentine); Free throws 9-16; Rebounds 42 (Chase Walker 8); Turnovers 6. Scoring: Mason Studer 0 1 1, Reis Walker 3 1 7, Jordan Fenner 5 6 16, Brock Ritzhaupt 2 0 4, Carter Valentine 1 0 3, Gavin Feichtner 7 1 18, Chase Walker 9 0 18, Brenden Grady 2 0 6.

Buckeye Central (3-19, 2-14 N10): Shots 16-39; 3-pt. shots 35-12 (Nick Ramey 2, Aiden McDougal, Alex Kanney, Damien Dean); Free throws 5-12; Rebounds 26 (Damian Dean 5); Turnovers 18. Scoring: Aiden McDougal 2 1 6, Tyler Rose 1 0 2, Logan Niese 1 0 2, Alex Kanney 1 1 4, Brady Kerschner 3 2 8, Damian Dean 4 1 10, Nick Ramey 4 0 10.

JV: Colonel Crawford 41-21.