NORWALK — On paper, the Colonel Crawford-Bloomdale Elmwood game figured to be a close, hard-fought game.
In practice, it didn’t work that way.
The Eagles scored the first 10 points of the game and never looked back en route to a 46-26 win in the semifinal round of the Division III district tournament.
With the win, the state’s top-ranked team improved to 24-0 on the season and will play Western Reserve on Saturday at 8 p.m. with the winner getting a ticket to the regional tournament at Bowling Green State University.
Elmwood finished its season at 16-9.
The Royals controlled the tempo from the outset but couldn’t put the ball in the hole early, digging a hole it never came out of.
“Obviously, we got off to the horrid start in the first quarter,” Elmwood coach Ty Traxler said. “I don’t know if it was nerves, but we missed a bunch of shots in the first quarter we usually make, the Wentz kid had a couple of open 3s, Bryce (Reynolds) had a couple of shots in the paint.
“And maybe if we have a better start that might give us a little more confidence,” he added. “I have to hand it to our kids for battling back in the second quarter and making a game of it.”
Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon felt that his team’s defensive effort was the difference in the game.
“We did a nice job on the defensive end,” Sheldon said. “Reynolds averaged 22 points a game and we held him to 15. And Lentz averaged about 13 points, and he didn’t score. We held their two best players to 15 points total.”
Crawford came out quickly, as Carter Valentine and Mason Studer each scored four points, before Carson Feichtner added a bucket and Crawford held a 10-0 lead with 4:01 left in the quarter.
After Reynolds scored for Elmwood, Feichtner took the ball to the hole and the Eagles held a 12-2 lead after one period.
The Royals managed to cut the Crawford lead to 14-11 on a Kyler Heiserman 3 with 3:02 left in the second quarter but Studer scored three points and Feichtner added a bucket as the Eagles held 19-14 lead at the half.
The third quarter was all Crawford’s Braxton Baker. The 6-foot-4 junior scored all nine of his points in the quarter and scored all but three of the Eagles’ points as Crawford held a 31-21 lead entering the final frame.
“That’s what we want to do, get Baker more shots,” Sheldon said. “We want to do that, but we also have more options.”
Traxler said that the third period was much like the opening frame for his team.
“Quite honestly, defensively, I thought we played well enough to be in the game, our offense just sputtered,” Traxler said. “And we couldn’t get that third or fourth guy going and making shots. We became reliant on Bryce (Reynolds) and Hayden (Wickard) to get us baskets. That’s unfortunate because we have other capable guys.”
Sheldon said that Elmwood’s ability to control the tempo of the game forced the Eagles to play a different type of game. Colonel Crawford committed just one turnover for the game.
“That’s what they do, limit possessions,” Sheldon said of the Royals. “But we went out and got the lead early and took them out of their game a little bit.”
Feichtner scored 12 points to pace the Eagles and Mason Studer scored 11.
“But all we wanted to do was win,” Sheldon said. “Whether it was by 40 or by 80, all we want to do, at this point in the season, is win the game.”
Crawford has played in an abundance of big games over the last four years and Sheldon felt that the Eagles’ experience in those games was a factor.
“It means a lot,” Sheldon said of his team’s experience. “We’ve played in a lot of big games and in the district tournament. We just played our game, just focused on one possession at a time. We did that all night.”
Traxler said that Crawford’s ability to control the game was huge. He also felt that Crawford’s point guard, Studer, was huge.
“(Crawford) is a very good defensive team, they have good team length. I thought that disrupted us a little bit,” Traxler said.
“We’ve played a very tough schedule, the thing (Crawford does) better than some of the teams we play is their control of the ball. Their point guard is an exceptional player, he controlled every aspect of the game on offense and on the defensive end. He held our point guard to zero points, and he’s averaged 13 the last two years. We knew that was going to be the challenge.”
Box score
Colonel Crawford 12 7 12 15 — 46
Bloomdale Elmwood 2 12 7 5 — 26
Colonel Crawford (24-0): Shots 18-43; 3-pt shots 2 (Braxton Baker, Nolan McKibben); Free throws 8-10; Rebounds 27; Turnovers 1. Scoring: Mason Studer 5 1 11, Nolan McKibben 1 0 3, Braxton Baker 4 0 9, Carter Valentine 2 3 7, Jacob Maddy 1 2 4, Carson Feichtner 5 2 12
Elmwood (16-9): Shots 10-37; 3-pt. shots 2 (Hayden Wickard, Bryce Reynolds); Free throws 4-5; Rebounds 19; Turnovers 7. Scoring: Kyle Heiserman 1 0 2, Brady Zeigler 1 0 2, Hayden Wickard 3 0 7, Bryce Reynolds 5 4 15.