NEW WASHINGTON — One side effect of the Crestline football team reaching the state playoffs this year: It set the basketball team off to a slow start.
As a result, injuries and wear and tear took a toll as the Bulldogs opened the season with four straight losses.
Things are beginning to turn, however.
The Bulldogs are still a little short-handed, missing senior Carter Giesige with an injury, but the Bulldogs are on an ascension.
“I think they were just tired,” Crestline coach Paul Webb said. “It was hard to do a preseason but keep them so they could get healthy also. Missing Goose and trying to figure a way to play without Carter and we missed Kieran against Mount Gilead; and trying to figure out a way to play without him.
“But now that we’re starting to get healthy, we’re starting to understand who we are. It’s really fun; and it’s been great the last two games. Hopefully, we can keep things going on Saturday.”
The Bulldogs traveled to Buckeye Central Tuesday and struggled in the first half against the Bucks, making just three field goals, trailing 21-13 at the break. But they came storming back in the second half, outscoring BC, 30-17, in the final two periods to come away with a 43-38 win.
Coupled with a 54-40 win at North Baltimore on Friday, Crestline is now 2-4 on the season. Buckeye Central fell to 3-3 overall.
Buckeye Central coach Chris Moyer said that his team never got into a flow against Crestline.
“We struggled all night offensively,” Moyer said. “Mainly with turnovers. You can’t turn the ball over 17 times; that’s been our nemesis here since our first two games. That’s on me. I’ve got to find a way to get us better offensively; to put us in better positions.
“We’re gonna get back to work tomorrow and try and figure out what we’ve got to figure out here.”
BC guard Hunter Caudill scored nine of his team-high 15 points for the Bucks in the first half, who overcame an 8-5 Crestline lead early and led, 10-8 after one.
The Bucks led by as many as 11 points early in the third period, as guard Caydin Jarvis drained a three, giving BC a 24-13 advantage.
Crestline responded, however, getting threes from Derek McCunn and Quentin Kapp to cut the Buckeye lead to 28-26 with 1:38 left in the quarter.
After Caudill dropped two free throws to increase the lead to 28-24, Kieran Barnett drained a basket and McCunn hit a three as the Bulldogs cut their deficit to 30-29, entering the final frame.
Webb said that a talk at halftime seemed to spur his team.
“We came in frustrated, and we really kinda got into (the players) a little bit,” Webb said. “We’re trying to do moves that we don’t teach; we’re not taking our jump stops and taking it through. I thought we could have got fouls but we were kinda shying away from the contact.
“We told the kids, ‘You have to take care of the basketball; you have to stick to the things we do, and we’re gonna be fine,’” Webb added. “’You can come back but we have to stick to what we do.’”
Caudill opened the fourth period with a runner from the left baseline, increasing the lead to 32-29 but two baskets from Barnett and a Brett Cheney bucket gave Crestline a 35-32 advantage, the Bulldogs’ first lead since the first quarter.
Jack Phillips came right back for the Bucks, hitting a free throw and a three, as BC held a 36-35 lead with 4:37 left.
With the game tied at 38-38 with less than two minutes left, Kody Lawhorn hit three of four free throws, giving Crestline a 41-38 lead. From there, Barnett hit two free throws with 4.5 seconds left, sealing the win.
Webb talked about his team’s balance, especially in the final frame. Barnett paced the Bulldogs with 16 points.
“Kody Lawhorn is a great example of that.” Webb said. “He had one point entering the fourth quarter and he ended with seven. He hit some big free throws down the stretch. Kieran Barnett is a leader. He is one of our three captains. For him to go down and hit the two to basically ice the game is exactly what we have to have.”
Moyer was happy with his team’s defense in the first half.
“Our defense in the first half was fine; we only gave up three field goals,” Moyer said. “Seven free throws; we have to quit fouling. That’s been another nemesis for us this year. We’re playing good defense, and we did a good job on Cheney; not letting him get alone down in the post.
“In the second half, we lost shooters, and they got it going a little bit. We broke down defensively and it didn’t help that we had no flow offensively.
Credit to Crestline. Coach Webb does a great job, scouted us very well and took away a lot of the stuff that we like to do offensively.”
Box score
Crestline 8 5 16 14 — 43
Buckeye Central 10 11 9 8 — 38
Crestline (2-4): Shots 13-34; 3-pt. shots 3 (Derek McCunn 2, Quentin Kapp); Free throws 14-10; Rebounds 19; Turnovers 14. Scoring: Kody Lawhorn 1 5 7, Derek McCunn 2 0 6, Kieran Barnett 5 6 16, Quentin Kapp 2 0 5, Brett Chaney 3 3 9.
Buckeye Central (3-3): Shots 13-43; 3-pt. shots 5 (Hunter Caudill 3, Cayden Jarvis, Jack Phillips); Free throws 7-12; Rebounds 26; Turnovers 17. Scoring: Hunter Caudill 5 2 15, Cayden Jarvis 2 0 5, Jeremiah Fishpaw 1 2 4, Jack Phillips 3 3 10, Donnie Fourtner 1 0 2, Matthew Heefner 1 0 2.
JV: Buckeye Central 28-24.