HOLMES TOWNSHIP — Colonel Crawford put itself into a situation to compete for a league title. But it took a resilient effort, clutch free throw shooting and the Eagles’ patented defensive pressure to get the job done.
The result was a 48-42 victory over rival Wynford in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference boys game Friday night inside a packed Dr. Michael A. Johnson Gymnasium.
“After last weekend I questioned us. We got beat on the offensive glass and on 50/50 balls over at Seneca East. That’s one of the only times we did that, and our guys came back and got those (tonight) and that was the epitome of this game,” head coach David Sheldon said.
Colonel Crawford (15-5, 10-3) is tied with Carey for first place in the league. Seneca East and Mohawk are a game behind. A four-game co-championship is possible if Mohawk beats Crawford, Upper tops Carey, and Seneca East beats Wynford in the final weekend.
“You look at our rebounding advantage tonight. Payne DeGray in double figures (with 15 boards), Connor (McMichael, with 4) at the end. Just proud of our effort. That’s a very good basketball team, so explosive,” Sheldon said.
Crawford controlled the glass 28-9 as Wynford played without its two bigs, Sam McMillan and KJ Kotalik, in the lineup.
Trevor Vogt led the way with 19 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and a pair of steals. DeGray added 16 points, an assist and 2 blocked shots and McMichael 7 points.
Grant McGuire started off red-hot, scoring all 11 of the Royals first-quarter points as they trailed 13-11.
“I thought Grant tried to put them on his back. He’s a very special player with a Wynford name that’s rich in tradition, that I grew up loving, and Grant’s a great kid,” Sheldon said.
“Trevor was really good on both ends of the floor. After the first half, Trevor comes over to me and says, ‘Coach, I need McGuire.’ He guarded him the whole second half and he got 8 points. Trevor got to the rim and finished, or he would find Payne and knock down shots.”
McGuire finished with 22 points, 3 rebounds and 3 steals. Wes Prenger chipped in 11 points, 2 boards and 2 blocks.
Wynford slips to 13-8 overall, 6-7 in the N10.
Colonel Crawford built a 25-20 halftime lead with Vogt scoring 10 points in the second quarter.
But the game clinching plays came from backup Lucas Foy, who hit a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter to put the Eagles up 44-40, and from sophomore Connor McMichael.
In that stretch McMichael hit on 4-of-6 free throws, but he grabbed offensive rebounds on both misses to keep ball possession with under 22 seconds to play.
Wynford head coach Mike Smith was disappointed in the outcome, but not the effort, of his squad.
“I wouldn’t say that we didn’t box out. When you’re losing things don’t always go your way a lot of the times. With about 40 seconds to play at the other end I thought we had a jump ball, and they called a foul. It was a jump ball, but we don’t get that call,” he said.
“We were down two people and I played six guys and they fought and fought and fought. I thought our game plan was really good. We were trying to spread them out. We tried to use our quickness to get to the rim. They made plays and we didn’t.”
The edge in rebounding was significant.
“We knew that was going to be a problem. We tried our best. With Payne, he’s a beast inside when you don’t have Sam to neutralize that a little bit. Grant did his best,” Smith said.
Sheldon agreed with the assessment.
“Payne is a tough kid. He’s a physical specimen for a sophomore. He missed some bunnies, but he kept going on the offensive glass. He was relentless.
“I thought he did a great job guarding Warren. And last time he really hurt us. We switched guys and he did a great job on both ends of the floor.”
Wynford trailed 29-28 after three quarters.
“We were trying to get close going into the fourth and we were right there. We had to try to extend the game and keep our guys fresh. We just ran out of gas a little bit at the end,” Smith said.
The Eagles won the first meeting on a buzzer beater by Vogt 65-63.
“Anybody who is watching us right now, we’re playing better defensively. We didn’t run our 12 much and when we did it was effective. But we’ve been playing man-to-man and have been for the last two weeks. That’s for the tournament because you’re going to have to play man-to-man.”
Sheldon said the start of the fourth quarter was pivotal.
“We’re up one and we got stop, score, stop, to extend it. Lucas Foy steps up once again hits free throws and we’ve seen that a couple of times with his handle. That’s the epitome of the 8 brothers playing in there and stepping up when it’s your turn,” he said.
Sheldon knows the challenge ahead.
“We get to play for a league championship next Friday against a very, very good Mohawk team. But to have that opportunity, that’s your goal every year. And for this group, everybody was counting us out before the year. These guys have bought into the defensive end and roles on the offensive end, they all know their strengths and it’s a brotherhood,” he said.
“They just want to win.”
Smith thinks the defensive effort can carry over into the post-season.
“We’re improving with the guys we have. I think this is really going to help us. If we can defend like we did tonight, we have a really good shot of moving on into the tournament.”
Box score
Colonel Crawford 48, Wynford 42
Colonel Crawford 13 12 4 19 — 48
Wynford 11 9 8 14 — 42
Colonel Crawford: (15-5, 10-3 N10): Shots 17-36; 3-pt. shots 3-8 (Trevor Vogt 3); Free throws 11-13; Rebounds 28 (Payne DeGray 15); Turnovers 8. Scoring: Logan Goddard 1 0 2, Trevor Vogt 8 0 19, Lucas Foy 0 2 2, Connor McMichael 1 5 7, Ryan McMichael 1 0 2, Payne DeGray 6 5 16.
Wynford (13-8, 6-7 N10): Shots 16-38; 3-pt. shots 9-19 (Grant McGuire 6, Wes Prenger 2, James Rindfuss); Free throws 1-2; Rebounds 9 (Grant McGuire 3); Turnovers 5. Scoring: Ashton Warren 2 0 4, James Rindfuss 2 0 5, Wes Prenger 4 1 11, Grant McGuire 8 0 22.
JV: Colonel Crawford 36-31.