BOWLING GREEN — During a magical run, the Colonel Crawford Eagles were led to a 26-0 record by their point guard, talented Mason Studer.
Studer was the player that led everything Crawford did on offense and defense and was one of the main reasons that the Eagles won the Northern 10 Athletic Conference along with sectional and district titles.
But during the Eagles’ Division III regional final game against Ottawa-Glandorf, the Titans’ game-plan was quite simple: slow down Mason Studer.
“We knew it was going to be a challenge,” O-G coach Tyson McGlaughlin said. “We talked to our guys the last two days about the importance of sticking to our guns and sticking to what we do. We got a little sloppy on Wednesday night with some of our pressure but tonight we just said we were going to get out the legs of Studer.
“For a lack of better words, perhaps, cut the head off the snake,” McGlaughlin said. “We tried to make him work for practically everything he got. He’s just a phenomenal player and he makes that team go. He made some big plays, but I just thought the constant pressure by our guys was the difference tonight.”
The Titans used double-teaming and full-court pressure on the Crawford star, and the Eagles struggled from the floor in the first half, as Ottawa-Glandorf held a 28-13 lead at the break.
Crawford used a second half run to cut the Titans’ lead to 39-36 early in the fourth quarter before O-G sophomore guard Colin White scored nine of his 22 points in the Titans’ 51-44 win.
With the win, Ottawa-Glandorf (24-2) advances to the state tournament and will play Columbus Africentric on March 18 at 10:45 a.m. at the University of Dayton.
“You know, it’s been a special ride,” Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon said. “I’ve been blessed to be a small part of these guys. The five seniors were the rock of this team. And today we just came up a little short.”
The first half was the difference in the game. Crawford scored just four baskets and committed seven turnovers in the first 16 minutes. The Eagles made only four of 18 shots in the first half and were outscored in the paint, 14-0.
“The bottom line comes back to the first half, and, against an unbelievable team like O-G, you can’t score 13 points,” Sheldon said. “And we struggled to score in the first half. And, in the second half, we went to 31 from 13. In a regional championship, you have to play an almost perfect game to win.”
Studer and senior Carter Valentine came to life in the second half. Studer scored 11 of his 13 points and Valentine scored nine of his 14 points as Crawford trailed just 48-44 with 45.3 seconds left on a pair of Valentine free throws. But from that point, the Titans knocked down five of six free throws the rest of the way to seal the win.
“Going into this game, we had all kinds of respect for Coach Sheldon and Colonel Crawford,” McGlaughlin said. “They’re 26-0 for a reason and they got great players. Great community support. Obviously, he does a fantastic job year in and year out.”
Sheldon said that his team effort was good, it just didn’t put the ball in the hole.
“Our focus, these guys were exhausted, and they turned it up a notch, even in the second half, running through exhaustion and pain. I couldn’t be prouder of our effort,” Sheldon said. “We just forgot to make shots in the first half.
“We were one-of-10 from twos in the first half. That can’t happen against a great basketball team.”
Junior Braxton Baker backed Studer and Valentine with 12 points. Sheldon said that the Eagles were able to come back from their 15-point deficit by being more aggressive on offense.
“We were attacking the press,” Sheldon said. “It wasn’t anything different. These two (Mason Studer and Carson Valentine) were getting shots for us. We had a couple of other guys hit some 3s. We just kept attacking
“You gotta do that against their pressure,” he added. “You can’t just pull it out. We made shots, that’s the bottom line. You hate to say it, that’s the name of the game. You can X and O and X and O but, if you forget to make shots, you’re going to go home more often than not.”
White was also a key in the game. Crawford had no answer for the 6-foot-4 sophomore, who had little trouble getting to the hole.
“There’s a reason (White’s) going to be playing on national TV someday,” Sheldon said. “He’s a Division I player and he’ll be on national TV. He’s a special player and he’s a great kid. He’s just a really, really, really good player. He sorta put them on his back for 22.”
White felt that the Eagles were playing too far off him early in the game.
“I thought they were playing off me too far and let me get too much of a head of stream and I could get to the rim, and I was shooting it okay, so I thought they had to respect that so I could blow by and finish,” White said.
Caden Erford and Eli Schmenk each backed White with 11 points, but McGlaughlin thought that his team’s pressure was the real difference in the game.
“That’s what we preach all the time,” McGlaughlin said. “Our press might not make turnovers in the first quarter and might not in the third quarter. But we try to wear on you. In that second quarter, we went four deep with our bench and that’s not something they were really accustomed to doing. When you’re going full court, we’re putting two guys on the dead ball situations and they give it up, I don’t care how good a shape you’re in, it’s going to wear on you.”
Studer said he was not happy with the loss, but the Eagles’ point guard was happy with the season as a whole.
“It’s been an amazing season,” Studer said. “We had success. And we made a deep tournament run. It hasn’t settled in completely; it will take a while. But looking back on it, there’s a lot to be proud of. Right now, we don’t feel that. We just lost. But, at the same time, this group has done a lot, accomplished a lot, broke a lot of records. Just a really solid season overall.
“It sucks to go out like this, but, at the same time, we made it farther than anyone else has,” he added. “Obviously, we wanted to make it to state and that’s a goal, but we got a lot done, too.”
Sheldon said that his team’s juniors, Derek Horsley, Baker, and Jacob Maddy, played well again and have played well all season.
“Baker and Horsley and Maddy gave us good minutes and they have all year,” Sheldon said. “The seniors have accepted them, and Braxton Baker had a breakout year for us. The kids accepted their roles, and they will definitely change next year. But it was just a special group.
“To get to the Elite 8 is special and I told the guys ‘Thanks for letting me be along for the ride.’” he added. “The good Lord has blessed me with this group that will go down in history as the best right now.”
Box score
Colonel Crawford 6 7 13 18 — 44
Ottawa-Glandorf 9 19 7 16 — 51
Colonel Crawford (26-1): Shots 13-42; 3-pt shots 8 (Braxton Baker 4, Carter Valentine 2, Mason Studer, Derek Horsley); Free throws 10-10; Rebounds 24; Turnovers 10. Scoring: Mason Studer 2 8 13, Derek Horsley 1 0 3, Braxton Baker 4 0 12, Nolan McKibben 1 0 2, Carter Valentine 5 2 14.
Ottawa-Glandorf (24-2): Shots 17-35; 3-pt. shots 5 (Caden Erford 3, Eli Schmenk, Colin White); Free throws 12-14; Rebounds 23; Turnovers 11. Scoring: Carson Fuka 0 2 2, Caleb Kuhlman 0 1 1, Eli Schmenk 3 4 11, Caden Erford 4 2 11, Colin White 8 3 22, Theo Maag 2 0 4.