NORTH ROBINSON — Crestline coach Tyler Sanders decided to take the air out of the basketball when his Bulldogs faced Colonel Crawford.
For a half, the Bulldogs were able to do that.
But Crawford coach David Sheldon increased the half-court pressure in the second half, Mason Studer scored 24 points and post Jacob Maddy added 16 rebounds as the Eagles dropped the Bulldogs, 52-28, Wednesday night at Morrison Gymnasium.
Sanders felt that his team spreading the floor in the first half was successful.
“We did have a good start, I thought we did a great job of taking out Carter in the first half,” Sanders said. “He got on a little bit in the second half, but I thought we fought hard.”
Crestline limited Crawford star Carter Valentine to just two points in the first half and 11 for the game. But they had no answer for Studer, who scored 13 points in the first two frames as the Eagles held a 26-15 lead at the half.
“(Valentine’s) an incredible player,” Sanders said. “I’ve been saying, they are the two best players in the area, in any division, it’s not even close. They have a really good chance at running their schedule and winning the N10, just like last year. So, for us to go out and compete as hard as we did, regardless of the score, we played hard the entire time and never let our heads down and that was key.”
Sheldon said that teams will try to slow the game down on his team.
“(Sanders) tried to keep his kids in the game and he did early and, a credit to our guys, we never lost our composure,” Sheldon said. “When you have a 10, 15-point lead in that kind of game, it’s like a 30-point lead because of the time.
“I thought in the second half we made an adjustment. We went into our 2-3 zone spreading it out,” Sheldon added. “We made them take a little bit quicker shots and they couldn’t just hold the ball.”
Crawford began trapping in the half-court out of their 2-3 zone and forcing the Bulldogs to shoot the ball before they wanted to. Crestline scored just three points in the third period as the Eagles increased the lead to 39-18 entering the final period.
“We spread it out with Valentine and Studer in the passing lanes, and we forced them to take quick shots,” Sheldon said. “In the first half, they were trying to get isolations on one of our posts and letting (Lucas) Cochran go one-on-one. So that was an adjustment we made.”
“I’m not gonna lie, we weren’t ready for what they brought us in the second half, I don’t think anybody was, so we were kinda adapting on the fly, and they did a good job of forcing us into shots we didn’t want,” Sanders said.
“We did a great job of limiting possessions early, and, honestly, we didn’t make the layups that we needed to make and hit the free throws in the first half to keep it as close as we needed to.”
Maddy, in his first game as a varsity player, was dominant on the glass, getting 10 rebounds in the first half.
“Jake Maddy did an outstanding job rebounding,” Sheldon said. “He gets paid to go get it and he was flying. In the first half, I think I had him for double-digit rebounds. That’s a guy that’s buying into his role as a junior. We need guys to buy into their roles. We talk about every shot is a pass to you, go get it off the glass.”
Sanders, conversely, was not pleased with his team’s ability to rebound the ball. Crawford held a 29-19 edge on the glass.
“I was a little disappointed in our rebounding effort,” Sanders said. “That being said, they have some tall, lanky kids that are good at rebounding. And coach Sheldon’s kids are always known for rebounding. I’m not shocked but I am a little disappointed that we didn’t do better.”
Lucas Cochran and Josh Hall paced the Bulldogs with nine points each, but the Bulldogs made just 10 of 32 shots from the floor.
Sheldon said that teams will try to spread the floor against the Eagles.
“Offensively, they were trying to face guard and triangle Valentine and Studer all night, and both had great patience and composure and got some other guys good looks. They just didn’t go at times. Mason, you expect that out of a four-year letterman, what he did tonight.”
Box score
Crestline 11 4 3 10 — 28
Colonel Crawford 18 8 13 13 — 52
Crestline (0-1): Shots 10-32; 3-pt. shots 1 (Josh Hall); Free throws 6-13; Rebounds 19; Turnovers 13. Scoring: Connor Lusk 1 1 3, R.J. Johnston 2 3 7, Josh Hall 4 0 9, Lucas Cochran 3 3 9.
Colonel Crawford (1-0): Shots 20-48; 3-pt shots 4 (Mason Studer 2, Braxton Baker, Trevor Vogt); Free throws 8-9; Rebounds 29; Turnovers 4. Scoring: Mason Studer 9 4 24, Braxton Baker 3 0 7, Carter Valentine 4 3 11, Jacob Maddy 2 1 5, Trevor Vogt 2 0 5.
JV: Colonel Crawford 30-25.