SYCAMORE — A.J. Hess already has etched his name in the school record books as Mohawk’s leading scorer.
On Friday night he and his teammates wanted to accomplish something that as a unit it hadn’t done previously and that was to beat Northern 10 Athletic Conference opponent Colonel Crawford.
Mission accomplished.
By virtue of a blistering start and a suffocating defense Mohawk (19-2, 11-2 N10) defeated the Eagles 50-29 before a packed house on Senior Night.
“I’m a very emotional player. These four years have meant a lot to me. To come out and beat Colonel Crawford on our senior night by as much as we did … our senior class is now 1-7 against them, so it just meant more for us tonight,” Hess said.
Hess had 12 points and 3 rebounds to lead the Warriors. Brayden Chester added 11 and Boomer Cleveland 9.
“They were the last domino in our way before we head over to Carey Friday and try to share the league title,” Hess said.
Colonel Crawford (14-6, 9-4 N10) fell behind 16-0 before Derek Horsley got the Eagles on the scoreboard as the first quarter ended.
Mohawk head coach Paul Dunn changed things up this season and has used more man-to-man defense.
“We’ve always been a zone team. This year we said from the beginning for our guys to take the challenge on of one-on-one matchups and see who the better ball player is,” he said.
“Tonight, we made some defensive adjustments and put some different guys on different players. I thought Bryce did a really good job on Jacob Maddy. I’m really proud of those guys.”
Hess has enjoyed the individual honors but wants more for his team.
“It’s all been great. Senior year is supposed to be the best. I take it one game at a time and want to soak up every second of it,” Hess said. “I’ve had a lot of self-accolades, but not many as a team. A league title and a district title is what I want. This team we have now that is 19-2 can really do damage and make a push in the playoffs.”
He became the school’s all-time leading scorer against Bucyrus last month.
Dunn acknowledged his team’s dominant performance.
“We said, ‘You have step on the floor Friday night and believe in yourselves.’ We knew we could play with Crawford. That is a team that has given us fits for years. But our defense, we’ve improved the last few weeks,” he said.
Limiting Braxton Baker and Jacob Maddy to 7 points each is no small fete. Horsley scored all 9 of his team-high points in the first half.
“I thought we did a good job of taking care of the guys who hurt us last time. Maddy and Baker beat us up. We took that challenge on and our guys did the best they could,” Dunn said.
Colonel Crawford head coach David Sheldon credited the Warriors for their effort.
“Mohawk came out like they’re going to be playing for a league championship next week. It’s not the 16 points. It’s the best man-to-man defense that I’ve seen from a Mohawk team. I told Paul after the game that your man-to-man defense has gotten you where you’re at.
“A.J. Hess stepped up. He wants to play for a championship, and he played at both ends of the floor,” Sheldon said.
After the sluggish start the Eagles rallied to make it 27-18 at halftime. But the damage was done and Mohawk outscored Crawford 23-11 in the second half.
“Those kids were hungry,” Sheldon said. “We came out and missed shots and that’s a credit to their defense. It was good all night long.”
In its past three games Mohawk has gotten off to a combined 52-0 lead.
“At the start of the season a couple of games we went down 8-0, 10-0. We’ve been trying to crank these guys up before games. We emphasize the importance of the first three minutes of the game and the second half,” Dunn said.
“You can’t ask for a better environment for our seniors. Zaiden Fry hasn’t started a game for us all year and we come out and go up 16-0 with his energy. I’m really happy for those three seniors (Hess, Fry and Bryce Hannam) to be able to go out that way in that kind of fashion.
“The kids who have played in this program the past 7 or 8 years since we’ve been back here have been great at creating that environment. I think we’ve got a great home-court advantage here.”
Dunn said getting ready for Carey is now top of mind for his club.
“The big thing for us this week is to focus on that. We’ve got one game left for us to get a chance for a share of that title. I’m sure they’re hungry too and don’t want to share it with us. We will need a good week of practice to go play a tough team in a tough environment.”
Sheldon admitted his team didn’t meet the challenge.
“They’re a good basketball team. I’ve got nothing but respect for what they’ve done this year. I’m disappointed our guys didn’t step up in a big game. We’ve got guys who made it to the regional finals. Big-time guys, you’ve got to step up in big games.”
The Eagles host Ontario in a non-league game Saturday and finish the regular season at Upper Sandusky next Friday.
“Being consistent is what it takes to win a league championship, and Mohawk and Carey have been consistent all year. We were fortunate enough to win one last year,” Sheldon said.
“We’ve still got a good record at 14-6 with having one starter back. We’ve got to have a short memory with a Division II Ontario team coming into our house that’s very good.”
Colonel Crawford took the junior varsity game 18-17. Leading the way was Payne DeGray with 8. Ben Bogner scored 6 for Mohawk.
Box score
Colonel Crawford 2 16 7 4 — 29
Mohawk 16 11 16 7 — 50
Stats
Colonel Crawford (14-6, 9-4 N10): Shots 13; 3-pt. shots 1 (Derek Horsley); Free throws 2-4; Rebounds 19 (Ethan Holt 5); Turnovers 10. Scoring: Trevor Vogt 2 0 4, Ethan Holt 1 0 2, Derek Horsley 4 0 9, Braxton Baker 3 1 7, Jacob Maddy 3 1 7.
Mohawk (19-2, 11-2 N10): Shots 21; 3-pt. shots 6 (Brayden Chester 3, Bryce Hannam, Hunter Haynes, A.J. Hess); Free throws 2-6; Rebounds 17 (Bryce Hannam 5); Turnovers 6. Scoring: Zaiden Fry 3 0 6, Boomer Cleveland 4 1 9, Hunter Haynes 1 0 3, A.J. Hess 5 1 12, Bryce Hannam 4 0 9, Brayden Chester 4 0 11.
JV: Colonel Crawford 18-17.