NORTH ROBINSON — Entering Friday night’s game with Carey, the Colonel Crawford Eagles were riding a 58-game regular-season win streak, 40 straight in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
Well, the impressive streak had to end sometime, and it did to the Blue Devils.
Crawford never led for the final 2 ½-quarters of the game but was able to tie it twice in the fourth quarter. Each time, however, the Blue Devils were able to make a play, keeping the Eagles at bay.
Carey came away with a 51-47 win, keeping itself unbeaten. The Blue Devils improved to 3-0 in the N10, 4-0 overall, while the Eagles fell to 2-1 in the conference, 4-1 overall.
The loss snapped both Eagles’ streaks. The last time the Eagles lost a regular-season game was Jan. 17, 2020, a 69-40 decision to Upper Sandusky.
Carey coach Jamie Young said this could be a great win for his program.
“It won’t mean a lot if we don’t come out and play tomorrow (against Buckeye Central),” Young said. “Anytime you can come to Crawford and get a win, that’s awesome. Any league win on the road is awesome. You gotta be happy with it.”
The game was intense throughout but really ramped up in the fourth period, when the Eagles came back from a 10-point deficit to tie the game at 37-37 on a Jacob Maddy basket, then, after the Blue Devils took a 46-41 lead, Crawford rallied again to tie the game at 46-46 on a Braxton Baker jumper in the lane with 3:04 left.
As they had done much of the game, the Blue Devils made the big plays. Carter Smiley came off an inbounds pass and drained a 3-point shot from the left corner, giving the Devils a 49-46 lead with 1:40 left.
Trevor Vogt split a pair of free throws, cutting the lead to 49-47 with 44.4 seconds left, but Carey guard Alexander Putnam dropped two free throws moments later increasing the lead to 51-47.
“In the second half, we got some big buckets,” Young said. “We used a couple of out-of-bounds plays that Crawford hadn’t seen yet, and I think we got two 3s out of that. Then we really spread them out and Brayden did a great job of getting to the basket. He was attacking the most I’ve ever seen him.”
Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon said that his team, which is one of the best defensively in the league, didn’t make plays when it needed.
“Defensively, we just didn’t get a stop when we needed it,” Sheldon said. “(Brayden) Young put them on his back when they needed it down the stretch. We were just a little slow in our rotations.
“We have to guard them on the perimeter. They are very balanced,” he added.
The tone of the game was set late in the first half. Crawford tied the game at 19-19 on a Baker jumper in the lane. Baker was very effective in the period, scoring 10 of his 17 points in the frame.
But from that point, the Blue Devils scored the final nine points of the period to take a 28-19 lead at the half.
“Six of the last seven possessions in the first half, they were able to score,” Sheldon said. “We can’t give away possessions like that.”
Carey was more balanced than Crawford, as three players scored in double figures. Brayden Young and Putnam led the way with 13 points each while Smiley knocked down four 3s and finished with 12.
Conversely, the Eagles got 17 points each from Baker and Maddy, but the remainder of the team scored just 13 points.
“We just didn’t capitalize at moments in the game,” Sheldon said. “We had our chances; we just weren’t able to make plays at critical moments.”
Sheldon felt that losing a couple of players to foul trouble in the first half, including Maddy, was a key.
“Jake did a very good job offensively, but he only played a couple of minutes in the first half because of foul trouble,”
Sheldon said. “But he has to play 32 minutes, you can’t play 16 minutes.”
“Crawford is a good team and Braxton Baker is one of the best players in our area, definitely our league, and to come over here and play the way we did, I’m proud of my kids,” Young said. “This is the first time we’ve beaten Crawford at Crawford in I don’t know how long.
“It was a great team victory for us,” he added. “A lot of kids contributed and anytime they made a run we just executed and got back.”
Colonel Crawford won the junior varsity game, 37-19. Lucas Foy led the Eagles with 15 and Payne DeGray added 12. Eli Steen and Sam Cole scored four each for Carey.
Box score
Carey 12 16 9 13 — 51
Colonel Crawford 6 13 16 12 — 47
Carey (4-0, 3-0 N10): Shots 18-44; 3-pt. shots 6 (Carter Smiley 4, Alexander Putnam, Bryce Young); Free throws 9-14; Rebounds 19; Turnovers 3. Scoring: Carter Smiley 4 0 12, Alexander Putnam 2 8 13, Butch Brodman 1 0 2, Bryce Young 2 0 5, Austin Niederkohr 3 0 6, Brayden Young 6 1 13.
Colonel Crawford (4-1, 2-1 N10): Shots 18-42; 3-pt. shots 2 (Braxton Baker , Derek Horsley); Free throws 9-11; Rebounds 24; Turnovers 8. Scoring: Gabe Thew 1 0 2, Trevor Vogt 1 1 3, Derek Horsley 1 2 5, Braxton Baker 8 0 17, Jacob Maddy 7 3 17, Ryan McMichael 0 3 3.
JV: Colonel Crawford 39-17.