NORTH ROBINSON — No one ever said that life in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference is easy.
Colonel Crawford is finding that out right now.
Crawford has played at Upper Sandusky, at Carey and Mohawk in the last three games, all good, solid basketball teams.
They were tests that the Eagles passed with flying colors.
Crawford was able to close out the final three periods with big runs and held off the Warriors, 56-53, Friday night.
With the win, the Eagles improved to 4-0 in the N10, 6-0 overall. Mohawk fell to 2-1 in the conference, 3-2 overall.
Eagles’ coach David Sheldon said his team has been up to a stiff challenge in the last three games.
“It’s been a tough three-game stretch,” Sheldon said. “You look at Upper, at Carey and now Mohawk, that’s a pretty good basketball team. They have three senior guards. Last year, it was a two-point game, and the Hess kid is dynamite for a sophomore. They’re very well-coached. Paul Dunn does a great job with them. They’re disciplined at the offensive end and they run the zone as well as anyone we play.
“But it’s been a three-game grind and it doesn’t get any easier,” Sheldon added. “We have a tough game with Wynford coming up.”
When the Eagles needed runs late in the final three periods, they got them.
Down, 21-13, midway through the second period, CC went on a 10-0 run the rest of the way to take a 23-21 lead at the half. Mason Studer and post Chase Walker each scored four in the run.
In the third period, the Warriors grabbed a 39-33 lead with two minutes left on two free throws from Tyler Hayman, before the Eagles scored the final six points of the period to tie it at 39-39 going into the final period.
With the game on the line, the Eagles took control late.
Leading 52-49 with 1:50 left, Sheldon spread the floor and forced the Warriors to foul to get the ball. In that final 1:50, Studer hit five of six free throws to seal it.
“But a credit to our guys, it was a game of runs and we made the run late in the game,” Sheldon said. “We spread the floor to get them out of that zone. And then we made some free throws down the stretch.
“That’s the sign of a good basketball team,” Sheldon added. “When you’re playing a good team like Mohawk, you have to match runs and that was the big thing. At the end, when we were able to spread the floor and make free throws, that was huge.”
Mohawk coach Paul Dunn said that, while his team gave a great effort, turnovers late hurt his team.
“We just gave up way too many easy possessions to them,” Dunn said. “We turned the ball over too many times. To a team like that, you just can’t do this. We’re aspiring to be a program like that, consistent every year. We’ve been in this gym in games like this probably three of the last five years and we’ve only walked away with one win.
“We have to be able to figure out how to close games out and do what we’re doing well for longer stretches of time and stop straying away from it,” Dunn added.
Dunn felt that the second period was a difference for his team.
“I never doubt my kids’ effort,” Dunn said. “That’s in their blood, that’s in their DNA. I just think if we lose games like this it’s because mentally, we break down. We have guys that don’t turn the ball over and they did. We had some questionable shots in the first half, especially in that second quarter. We just wanted to get good looks. We have to be more mentally in the game in every second of the game. I know we’re going to play hard. We just have to mentally block it in.”
Forward Carter Valentine led the Eagles with 19 points and Studer added 17. Walker was huge with a 14-point double-double, an effort that impressed Dunn.
“Chase Walker is probably the best true big man in this league,” Dunn said. “He’s been playing varsity now for three years and you have a guy like Valentine, who is 6-foot-5 and can jump out of the gym. We don’t have those kinds of athletes, yet. We knew we were going to struggle rebounding. We focused on it, but guys like that are going to make plays.”
Hayman paced the Warriors with 17 points and Hess tossed in 13. Austin Tusing contributed 10.
“I don’t know if we ever really play a post on the floor,” Dunn said. “But we have guys that can attack the basket. That causes a lot of help-side defense to leave their shooters. Sometimes, I think we fall in love with it a little too much and It kinda makes us one-dimensional, but when our guys are on, we have some pretty good shooters.”
Sheldon said that his team took good care of the basketball late in the game.
“We were just turning the ball over too much (in the first half),” Sheldon said. “They’re so good in that zone is reaching, digging, and grabbing and we were making lazy passes and that was a struggle. You can’t get good shots and offensive rebounds if we turn the ball over. We took a little lead going into the half and that was big. We started valuing the basketball.
“They have shooters all over the floor,” he said. “You have to guard everyone, and they are a tough matchup. They can put it on the floor. It’s a good win, and, like I said, it’s nice to get the last three and we’ll move on to (Saturday).”
Colonel Crawford won the reserve game, 44-34.
Braxton Baker led the Eagles with 16 points and Jacob Maddy added 11. Collin Barth topped Mohawk with 11.
Box score
Mohawk 14 7 18 14 — 53
Colonel Crawford 8 15 16 17 — 56
Mohawk (3-2, 2-1 N10): Shots 19-46; 3-pt. shots 8 (A.J. Hess 3, Tyler Hayman 2, Landon Snyder 2, Trey Combs); Free throws 7-11; Rebounds 21; Turnovers 11. Scoring: Tyler Hayman 6 3 17, Austin Tusing 3 4 10, Landon Snyder 3 0 8, Bryce Lange 1 0 2, A.J. Hess 5 0 13, Trey Combs 1 0 3.
Colonel Crawford (6-0, 4-0 N10): Shots 20-46; 3-pt shots 4 (Mason Studer 2, Nolan McKibben, Carter Valentine); Free throws 12-14; Rebounds 27; Turnovers 10. Scoring: Mason Studer 4 7 17, Brock Ritzhaupt 1 1 3, Nolan McKibben 1 0 3, Carter Valentine 8 2 19, Chase Walker 6 2 14.
JV: Colonel Crawford 44-34.