NORTH ROBINSON — For the first time this season, Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon said that his team got punched in the mouth.

He wanted to see how his team responded.

“We got punched in the mouth early in the game,” Sheldon said. “We got down 17-8 and I thought we responded in the second through the fourth quarter and that’s a credit to our guys.”

Mohawk held Crawford All-Ohioans Mason Studer and Carter Valentine to just three points in the first half and the Warriors held a 17-8 advantage early in the second quarter on a 3-point shot from Brayden Chester.

From that point on, however, the Eagles dominated the game.

Junior Braxton Baker tossed in 24 points and the Crawford defense limited Mohawk to just 28 points over the final three periods in a 73-42 win Friday night.

With the win and Upper Sandusky’s 60-42 loss to Carey, the Eagles have clinched a share of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference championship.

Crawford travels to Seneca East on Monday and finishes its regular season by hosting Upper Sandusky. Crawford has a chance to take an outright N10 title with a win in either game.

The state’s number one Division III team improved to 12-0 in the N10, 19-0 overall. Mohawk, which has had an outstanding season, fell to 9-4 in the league, 14-6 overall. The Warriors finish their regular season at Hopewell-Loudon on Tuesday.

Mohawk matched Crawford basket-for-basket early in the game but Baker and the Eagles came storming back, getting a big 3 from Derek Horsley, a Jacob Maddy layup, and five points from Baker, cutting the lead to 19-18 with 4:53 left in the half.

From that point, however, Crawford outscored Mohawk, 15-4 the rest of the way, and held a 33-23 lead at the break.

Mohawk coach Paul Dunn felt that his team struggled defensively in the second quarter when the Eagles outscored the Warriors, 25-9, in the frame.

“That’s a very talented team,” Dunn said. “We didn’t play enough defense in the second quarter, and you can’t do that against them.”

Baker said that his opportunities in the first half gave him a chance to score.

“I got a lot of points off of offensive rebounds early in the game and I got some putbacks and some free throws,” Baker said. “I looked at the scoreboard and I had 11 points.”

Baker added that on nights when Studer and Valentine are struggling offensively, the Eagles have a number of options to score. Studer finished with seven points and Valentine added 13, all in the second half. Horsley came off the bench and scored 11 points.

“I knew I had to step up,” Baker said. “If they’re not hitting, we had to get some points somewhere. Of course, it’s not just me. We have Nolan, Derek, Carson, and Derek, too. They can all step up and get the job done.”

Sheldon felt that Baker’s ability to emulate Studer has helped him.

“He’s our third-leading scorer and I thought Braxton stepped up and played well,” Sheldon said.

“At the end of last year, I told Braxton he had to ride Mason’s (Studer) coattails,” Sheldon said. “It really benefited Braxton and he has played well all year long.”

Mohawk post A.J. Hess led the Warriors with 18 points and Bryce Hannam and Chester each added eight.

“A.J. has been our best offensive player this season,” Dunn said. “We wanted to get him the ball in the paint a lot more, because (Crawford) plays such good perimeter defense. But he stepped up and hit some big shots.”

After a slow start shooting the basketball, the Eagles came back strong. Crawford was just two of 13 in the first quarter but came back and finished hitting 27 of 51 shots from the floor. Mohawk was five of 12 shooting in the first half and finished 16 of 50 for the game.

In the junior varsity game, Colonel Crawford game away with a 43-29 win. Ryan McMichael led the Eagles with 17 points and Trevor Vogt added 10. Hunter Haynes led Mohawk with 13 points.

Box score

Mohawk                     14       9      10       9 — 42

Colonel Crawford      8     25      20     20 — 73

Mohawk (14-6, 9-4 N10): Shots 16-50; 3-pt. shots 9 (A.J. Hess 3, Reese Hannam 2, Bryce Hannam 2, Kahne Hayman, Brayden Chester); Free throws 1-5; Rebounds 24; Turnovers 20. Scoring: Brayden Cleveland 1 0 2, A.J. Hess 7 1 18, Kahne Hayman 1 0 3, Reese Hayman 3 0 8, Bryce Hannam 3 0 8, Brayden Chester 1 0 3.

Colonel Crawford (19-0, 12-0 N10): Shots 27-51; 3-pt shots 10 (Derek Horsley 3, Braxton Baker 3, Nolan McKibben 2, Mason Studer, Carter Valentine); Free throws 8-12; Rebounds 20; Turnovers 11. Scoring: Mason Studer 3 0 7, Derek Horsley 4 0 11, Braxton Baker 8 5 24, Nolan McKibben 2 2 8, Carter Valentine 6 0 13, Jacob Maddy 2 2 6. Ethan Smith 1 0 2, Carson Feichtner 1 0 2.

JV: Colonel Crawford 43-29.