SHELBY — Make it an even dozen.
The top-seeded Eagles came in and took care of business here in the boys Division IV sectional final on Friday night. The result was a 55-30 win and Colonel Crawford’s 12th straight sectional championship.
“Everything they’ve been through. To win that many doesn’t happen everywhere. My wife’s (Wynford girls coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon) been coaching 27 years and me 21. You can’t take championships for granted because it’s so hard to get there,” Colonel Crawford head coach David Sheldon said as his team cut down the nets behind him.
Colonel Crawford (16-7) fell behind Sandusky St. Mary Central Catholic after one quarter, 15-14, but after that it was all Eagles.
“I’m happy for these kids and we get to move on to Willard. Keep guarding. I’ve always said defense wins championships. Some nights you might not make shots, but this group knows what it takes. Preparation, short turn-around and we go Tuesday to Willard,” Sheldon said.
The Eagles made shots, led by senior Braxton Baker. He set the tone with 10 in the first quarter.
Baker poured in 28 points, had 3 rebounds, and got great support as Jacob Maddy and Trevor Vogt each scored 8 and Maddy grabbed 8 rebounds.
“I felt like I could attack the paint pretty well. I could either go to the rim or dump it down to our post guys or someone cutting,” Baker said.
Baker scored 4 points in the final quarter, including a two-handed dunk that brought the crowd to its feet with 3:50 remaining.
“Pushing it out in transition as well. I felt like we handled pressure very well, especially in the first half. They were running a 1-2-2 press. We didn’t really turn it over. We were prepared for it tonight.”
Sheldon relies on his senior leader.
“Bake had a great game. He’s been through the wars. He’s the one starter back from that great team last year. I’m so happy for this team. They’ve been through adversity this year and we lost 5 games by 11 points total and tonight they get to celebrate a championship.”
Crawford plays at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Willard High School against Norwalk St. Paul, a 45-44 winner over Lakeside Danbury in the other sectional title game. St. Paul brings an 11-13 record into the district tourney.
Keeping a team-first mindset has been a cornerstone to the Eagles’ success.
“They all bought into the roles. Every year we change it up depending on our personnel,” Sheldon said. “This group from day one has done that.”
A strong start allowed the Eagles to build a 27-19 lead and hold St. Mary to 11 second-half points.
“We were very aggressive getting to the rim and then getting to the foul line a lot in the first half. You’ve got to be strong. It gets physical come tournament time. I thought we did that, and defensively, 15 points the first quarter and then we hold them to 15 the last three,” Sheldon said.
“That’s what we pride ourselves in year-in and year-out. We gotta guard because that’s the one thing that travels with you every night out.”
The Eagles were efficient at the foul line hitting 20-of-24 attempts.
St. Mary (7-17) got 12 points from Charlie Kaftan and 11 from Sedric Cook.
Panthers head coach Chris Ceccoli praised Colonel Crawford’s performance.
“They’re very talented. They’re well coached and a disciplined and well prepared. I thought we had a good game plan coming in,” he said.
“We just stopped making shots and a lot of that had to do with their defense. We were scoring early then all of a sudden, we stopped scoring.
“Baker is a great player, but Maddy inside is a load and really the (Derek) Horsley kid impressed me with the way he facilitates for them,” Ceccoli said. “He did a great job of keeping everyone under control and keeping his poise.”
Sheldon said his team came ready to play.
“They were locked in this week in practice. You could just tell they want to keep the tradition going. We prepared Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday,” Sheldon said.
“It’s a credit to everybody. Our scout guys do a great job of running the other team’s offense and I’m just happy for this group. There’s so much pressure. Twelve straight. That’s hard. You got to enjoy the now.”
The tournament run is nothing new to Baker.
“Just one game at a time. You gotta stay locked in. Some of my other teammates have a lot of experience too, so that helps. Keeping our confidence as we go one game at a time,” he said.
Box score
Sandusky St. Mary 15 4 10 4 — 30
Colonel Crawford 14 13 15 13 — 55
St. Mary (7-17): Shots 12-37; 3-pt. shots 4-14 (Charlie Kaftan 2, Kyle West, Sedric Cook); Free throws 2-9; Rebounds 15 (Charlie Kaftan 5); Turnovers 17. Scoring: Sedric Cook 4 2 11, Braylon Harris 1 0 2, Kyle West 1 0 3, Charlie Kaftan 5 0 12, Brock Gill 1 0 2.
Colonel Crawford (16-7): Shots 17-32; 3-pt. shots 1-3 (Braxton Baker); Free throws 20-24; Rebounds 21 (Jacob Maddy 8); Turnovers 6. Scoring: Trevor Vogt 2 4 8, Ethan Holt 0 6 6, Braxton Baker 10 7 28, Jacob Maddy 4 0 8, Lucas Foy 0 1 1, Ryan McMichael 0 2 2, Payne DeGray 1 0 2.