NORTH ROBINSON — First came the set-up. Junior guard Logan Goddard drilled a deep three-point shot to tie the game at 63 with 17.1 seconds to play.

Then came the clincher. Senior Trevor Vogt, one of the best athletes in Colonel Crawford history, came up with a loose ball, drove down the floor and dropped in a running 15-foot shot just before the buzzer sounded.

Instant pandemonium ensued inside a standing room only Mac Morrison Gymnasium Saturday as the Eagles beat Wynford 65-63 in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game for the ages.

Final minutes

Colonel Crawford (8-3, 4-2) trailed much of the game, but made shots when it counted.

“First of all, we do a great job making the extra pass and Logan Goddard hits a big three. Then we have to transition from trapping and fouling and they called a time out,” Eagles head coach David Sheldon said.

“We switched the ball screen, if you looked, we made an adjustment and sort of doubled and (Grant) McGuire slips and Trevor, being the great athlete that he is picks it up and goes coast to coast — like we see him hurdling out on the track — and makes an incredible play.”

The Royals led 52-45 going into the final quarter before Crawford made its comeback to set the stage for Vogt’s heroics.

The 6-foot-2 senior broke down the final play and put it into perspective with his other achievements.

“The Carey football game for sure was maybe top because of the win streak they had. But this is so close. What’s going through my mind is don’t pick it up. Because if I dive at that and miss then it’s two years in a row where I gambled for something and they hit a game winner,” Vogt said.

Last year Wynford won on a shot by McGuire with 3.6 seconds left.

“But I said I gotta go for this and I’m sprinting down the court and I see like 2.5 something like that on the clock, then 1.8 and then 0.8. I shoot a little floater, looked up, saw it went in and then I got tackled by all my guys,” Vogt said.

Balanced attack

Payne DeGray led the way with 19 points and 9 rebounds.

Goddard added 18 points on six threes and Vogt had 14, to go along with 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals, none bigger than the last one.

“It’s so hard to put us away. We are a football player team. We have one only-basketball player. We fight to the end, and we all have stamina and play defense ’til the end. It’s so fun to play with these guys.”

Vogt praised the play of his younger teammate.

“Goddard just played phenomenal. It’s exactly what we expect him to do. Me and Connor (McMichael) attack and try to get to the rim and kick out and he came through with a couple big shots.”

Wynford (9-2, 4-2) was led by Ashton Warren’s 21. The 6-foot-4 senior added 4 rebounds and a steal. McGuire netted 13, Wes Prenger had 11 and Sam McMillan 10 before fouling out with 1:31 left in the game.

Chess match on the court

Wynford head coach Mike Smith knew it would be a dogfight.

“Our rushed shots, our missed free throws. It was very similar to last year’s game. They got the last shot this year and we got the last shot last year. Hats off to David. They were ready for us,” he said.

Both teams shot 10-of-17 from the foul line.

“I don’t think we played particularly well. There were times we handled it pretty well. We didn’t attack the basket a lot today, but that’s due to them. I’m sure they were trying to take that away. We had some slip-ups and took a couple dumb shots with a couple bad turnovers,” Smith said.

Sheldon said Wynford’s defense forced his team to adjust.

“Against that 1-2-2 zone, we can’t run our stuff. You gotta make basketball players get into the middle and either Payne or Connor would take or, when they got stopped, kick it out to Goddard or Bruner,” he said.

“They’ve got 6-5, 6-6 in the middle with Warren and McMillan and that’s why we got the open looks. And he got open looks because his teammates did a great job of making extra passes in positions that he can make shots.”

The Royals led 30-26 at halftime and Warren had 15 of his 21.

Fourth quarter

Colonel Crawford outscored Wynford 20-11 in the fourth quarter, with Goddard hitting three from beyond the arc and DeGray a pair of inside baskets.

Prenger hit a lay-up off a turnover and Wynford took its biggest lead at nine points, 57-48, with 6:46 remaining. From there the Eagles clawed their way back outscoring the Royals 17-6.

“They are so explosive. I’ve been here 18 years and those athletes, and that team reminds me of Wynford in 2005-2011 when (Tim) Ehresman was coaching them and making regional runs,” Sheldon recalled.

“We were helping off Warren a little bit. He was shooting 19% coming into the game from threes. Hats off to Ashton. He’s a great senior player and he made big threes for them.”

Sheldon acknowledged that he made some adjustments.

“We put Connor on the top of our press break. He can put it in the gap off the bounce and he made good decisions all night. We hung around and had a chance at the end. We showed a little guts and character against a very good basketball team that I have the utmost respect for.”

Sheldon said DeGray played a strong game.

“He was a warrior out there. Payne just runs through a wall. I got on him a couple times because he had some defensive breakdowns, but he cleaned up the offensive glass. You forget that he’s only a sophomore at times. He’s very special.

“This game, this atmosphere. Two great communities,” Sheldon said. “Not too many times in my 18 years have I been the underdog. It’s special seeing this place rock.”

‘A hard league’

Smith looked ahead after the tough loss.

“They had one more shot than we did, and it went in. We’re going to go back to work and learn a life lesson. This league is not easy. It’s a hard league, so we got to buckle up for Seneca East, another hard one next week.”

The Royals host the Tigers on Friday night. Colonel Crawford goes to Mohawk and then entertains Lucas on Saturday.

Wynford, Crawford and Seneca East are all 4-2 in the league, trailing leader Carey at 6-0.

Box score

Wynford                         19     11      22     11 — 63

Colonel Crawford        14     12      19     20 — 65

Wynford (9-2, 4-2 N10): Shots 21-56; 3-pt. shots 11-17; (Ashton Warren 6, James Rindfuss 2, Grant McGuire 2, Wes Prenger); Free throws 10-17; Rebounds 21 (Grant McGuire 6); Turnovers 9. Scoring: Ashton Warren 7 1 21, James Rindfuss 2 0 6, Wes Prenger 3 4 11, Grant McGuire 5 1 13, Drew Johnson 0 2 2, Sam McMillan 4 2 10.

Colonel Crawford (8-3, 4-2 N10): Shots 23-49; 3-pt. shots 9-18 (Logan Goddard 6, Kaden Bruner 2, Trevor Vogt); Free throws 10-17; Rebounds 25 (Payne DeGray 9); Turnovers 9. Scoring: Logan Goddard 6 0 18, Trevor Vogt 5 3 14, Connor McMichael 3 1 7, Kaden Bruner 2 0 6, Ryan McMichael 0 1 1, Payne DeGray 7 5 19.