BUCYRUS — Had it been a boxing match, it would have been stopped in the first round.
Colonel Crawford scored 29 first-quarter points to pummel Bucyrus, 69-18, in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
Eagles’ senior Payne DeGray was the ringleader. But more than his dominance in the post, DeGray scored his 1,000th career point midway through the third quarter.
DeGray becomes the 13th boys’ player in Colonel Crawford history to reach the 1,000 plateau.
“It’s an honor to be No. 13,” DeGray said. “Coach (David Sheldon) said in the locker room I’m the first post player since Jim Shuck to score 1,000 (at Colonel Crawford). That’s a pretty big deal.”
Sheldon described DeGray as a throwback.
“Payne — he’s the old school (player),” Sheldon said. “You look at the history of basketball, he is old school. He’s never taken a 3-pointer. The game of basketball has evolved around the 3-point line.”
In fact, DeGray rarely shoots the ball outside of five feet from the rim. In fact, he scored his game-high 18th-and-19th points on a stick-back before a timeout allowed him to exit the game as the crowd acknowledged his accomplishment.
It was quite a week for DeGray who reaped the benefits of his recently concluded football career, before adding his name to the Eagles’ hoops scoring honor roll.
“You look at this week and he’s signing a football scholarship (to St. Francis of Indiana),” Sheldon said. “Now, you see him doing this on the basketball court.”
But the self-effacing DeGray preferred not to shine the spotlight on himself.
“It’s been a pretty big week,” DeGray agreed. “But, we have bigger goals. I knew this (scoring record) was coming up. But in the end, I’m a team player. We have to go to Mount Gilead (on Saturday). That’s where my focus is right now. I’ll celebrate this tonight with my family, then back to work tomorrow.”
“He goes out, he’s got that lunch pail mentality and he’s a worker,” Sheldon said. “He gets beat on every night.”
As to the game itself, the difference going in was obvious — the powerful, one-loss Eagles versus the injury-plagued, shorthanded Redmen. Colonel Crawford (15-1, 11-0 N10) tacked on 19 more points in the second quarter to lead 48-9 by intermission.
The entire second half was played with a running clock.
“We’re giving up too many 3s in the 13 defense,” Bucyrus coach Brian Hargis said. “I thought the 13 would help us shade around DeGray. You’ve gotta pick your poison. We weren’t trying to give up too many layups to DeGray. He’s a big man.”
The Eagles only had four 3s for the game but three of them came in the opening period onslaught.
“It’s an unfortunate situation,” Sheldon said. “I feel bad for Brian because he had three good seniors coming back. The unfortunate thing (season-ending knee injury) with Demaris (Munn-Page) during football. A great kid. I just hate seeing that. Then, some other things have come up.
“That’s the thing about athletics, it’s not always fair. You have adversity and I feel for Brian because he’s worked really hard.”
Ten different Eagles reached the scoring column. Brayden Holt seconded DeGray’s 19 with 15 points and Parker Weithman added 10. DeGray pulled down seven rebounds.
Colonel Crawford shot 54 percent from the field, hitting 30 of 56 shots.
“They gave us good pressure, but we just kind of threw the ball around tonight,” Hargis said. “We gave up (11) offensive rebounds and they don’t miss often. They play hard, they trap hard.”
Charlie Randall led Bucyrus (2-15, 1-10) with seven points and Lincoln Blizzard added six. Cohen Chapman grabbed six boards.
“Charlie’s really quick and we wanted to give him a step and make him miss shots,” Sheldon said. “But he’s quick. Credit to him, he played all the way to the end, had a great move at the end.”
The Eagles were not distracted by DeGray’s 1,000th point night.
“I’m proud of our guys. We called off the press after the first quarter,” Sheldon said. “But even in our half-court man, with our physicalness, we’re able to turn people over. We challenge everybody at the rim.”
Colonel Crawford also won the junior varsity game, 58-26. Carter Cramer led the Eagles with 29 points. Oliver Oberlander had 10 for Bucyrus.
Box score
Colonel Crawford 29 19 12 9 — 69
Bucyrus 5 4 6 3 — 18
Stats
Colonel Crawford (15-1, 11-0 N10): Shots 30-56; 3-pt. shots 4-10 (Parker Weithman, Peyton Baker, Tyler Lash, Brayden Holt); Free throws 5-9; Rebounds 25 (Payne DeGray 7); Turnovers 4. Scoring: Walker Cramer 1 0 2, Parker Weithman 4 1 10, Peyton Baker 1 0 3, Evan Metzger 1 0 2, Tyler Lash 3 0 7, John DeGray 3 0 6, Wyatt Spiegel 1 0 2, Brayden Holt 6 2 15, Carter Cramer 1 1 3, Payne DeGray 9 1 19.
Bucyrus (2-15, 1-10 N10): Shots 5-18; 3-pt. shots 3-5 (Lincoln Blizzard 2, Charlie Randall); Free throws 5-11; Rebounds 24 (Cohen Chapman 6); Turnovers 24. Scoring: Charlie Randall 2 2 7, Lincoln Blizzard 2 0 6, Cohen Chapman 0 1 1, Da’Shawn Cosey 1 2 4.
JV: Colonel Crawford 58-26.