CRESTLINE — After just 10 days of practice because of an extended football season, Colonel Crawford was expected to be a little rusty as it opened its season Monday in Crestline.
But the one thing that knocks off rust is a great defensive effort. And the Eagles got just that.
Crawford held the Bulldogs to just eight of 24 shooting and forced 22 Crestline turnovers as the Eagles came away with a 50-23 win.
The Eagles used a combination of man and zone pressure to keep the Bulldogs off-balance most of the game.
“Thank God for our defense,” Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon said. “We played good defense, but we didn’t shoot the ball well from the outside. Let’s not kid ourselves, they were in a 2-3 zone, and you have to make shots.
“I’m proud of our defensive effort, they kept us in,” he added. “We’ve always taken pride in our defense. We just got to keep getting shots up. Two weeks ago, we had a football in our hands, now we have a basketball. We have to keep getting a lot of shots and skilled work. We’re happy to come on the road on a Monday night and take care of business.”
The Bulldogs never scored more than eight points in a quarter, which counteracted Crawford’s slow start offensively.
“It’s good to get a game under our belts,” Sheldon added. “Ten days of practice and it’s good to get a game under our belts. We have four new starters out there and a lot of new faces. So, what you forget about is we still went on the road and win by 27.”
Crestline coach Tyler Sanders was happy with his team’s effort, something he was not happy with in its season opener Saturday night against Buckeye Central.
“We played with no energy on Saturday and that’s very disappointing,” Sanders said. “We did not know what to expect tonight. This is about as happy as I can be after a loss.
“Crawford is freaking good, and Maddy is a handful, Derek can shoot the ball, Baker can shoot the ball and the other two just do all the dirty work,” he added. “Our guys battled so hard for four quarters. I was just really proud of their effort today. I told them, ‘As long as you play hard you are going to keep yourself alive for a large part of the game.’”
Crawford struggled from the perimeter in the first half, hitting just three of eight shots in the second period. Still the Eagles’ defense was dominant as Crawford held a 20-8 lead at the half.
Crawford’s Braxton Baker scored seven of his game-high 19 points in the second period.
The Eagles’ came to life offensively in the second half, scoring 15 points in each period.
“We did a better job in the second half of getting in the paint,” Sheldon said. “In the first half, we were just running our offense outside. We got to get in the gaps against the zone. We did a better job of getting in the gaps and in the paint to create for others or for Baker to create for himself.”
Baker was the focal point of the Crestline defense as well, as he was shut out in the first period, but 6-foot-5 Jacob Maddy scored all 10 of Crawford’s points in the frame, en route to 12 for the game.
“We were just trying to jam Maddy up anytime he was in the post and make it hard for him to catch,” Sanders said. “With Baker, we were just in the zone trying to talk because knew he was going to go corner to corner trying to spread out the zone. Basically, whoever was in the corner he was in will stay with him and then the other four playing their other four.”
Sheldon said he was pleased with the performance of his post.
“Jake had a great first quarter, but we got to have more than a first quarter,” Sheldon said. “He has to finish. He’s got to be a force for us inside night in and night out.”
Isaiah Perry scored eight of his team-high 12 points for the Bulldogs, but the rest of the team scored just 11 points against that stiff Crawford defense.
“After Saturday night, I was concerned, and I was pretty pleased,” Sanders said. “The score is not indicative of the way the game went.”
Crawford won the junior varsity game, 41-16. Lucas Foy led the Eagles with 12 points and Logan Goddard added 11. Karter Koge led the Bulldogs with eight.
Box score
Colonel Crawford 10 10 15 15 — 50
Crestline 4 4 7 8 — 23
Stats
Colonel Crawford: (1-0) Shots 18-39; 3-pt shots 2 (Braxton Baker, Tyler Smith); Free throws 13-16; Rebounds 22; Turnovers 9. Scoring: Trevor Vogt 0 3 3, Ethan Holt 1 2 4, Derek Horsley 3 2 8, Braxton Baker 8 2 19, Tyler Smith 1 0 3, Jacob Maddy 5 2 12, Ryan McMichael 0 1 1.
Crestline: (0-2): Shots 8-24; 3-pt. shots 1 (Trevor Shade); Free throws 6-8; Rebounds 16; Turnovers 22. Scoring: Carter Jones 2 0 4, Trevor Shade 1 0 3, Isaiah Perry 3 6 12, Jake Bruce 2 0 4.
JV: Colonel Crawford 41-16.