NORTH ROBINSON — The weapons the Colonel Crawford Eagles have are impressive. The Wynford Royals were introduced to another Wednesday night.
Wynford battled the Eagles for a half, as Crawford held a 29-22 lead. But Crawford guard Nolan McKibben broke out in the second half, hitting five 3-point shots and finishing with 18 points in the Eagles’ 67-51 win.
Crawford improved to 4-0 in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, 7-0 overall, while Wynford fell to 0-4 in the league and 1-5 overall.
But for a half, the Royals were right with the Eagles before McKibben took over.
The Crawford senior opened the second half with three straight 3s, taking a 29-24 lead to a 38-27 lead and Wynford could never recover.
Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon said that, while stars Mason Studer and Carter Valentine show up every night, the Eagles need a consistent third scorer.
“(McKibben) led us in 3-point shooting last year, 47 percent, and he’s a kid that puts in extra work before and after practice,” Sheldon said. “It was nice to see the ball go through the hoop. He can really shoot it. He did a good job finding it in the second half.”
Not that Studer and Valentine didn’t score as well. Studer finished with 18 and Valentine added 15. But McKibben’s offense was needed.
“You gotta pick your poison against them,” Wynford coach Mike Smith said. “That’s a good basketball team. Our plan was to try and shadow Valentine and Studer and, with the film we watched, some of the other kids are a little gun-shy to shoot it.
“So that was our plan and I thought we executed the heck out of our plan tonight,” Smith added. “That was the best we’ve played for four quarters.”
Wynford was coming off its first win of the season on Tuesday, beating Mansfield St. Peter’s, 74-56. In that game, post Jarod Filliater scored 43 points.
Smith said that the second back-to-back nights in six days may have taken its toll on the Royals.
“Give Crawford credit, they are 7-0 for a reason,” Smith said.
“We fought through (the back-to-backs),” he added. “You’re going to have nights when you have a back-to-back. We had two this weekend and then, for some reason, we had Tuesday-Wednesday games, which I’ve never heard of.”
Sheldon said that his team got looks in the first half, but the ball didn’t drop.
“It was one of those halves,” Sheldon said. “But credit Wynford. I thought they did a good job of handling our pressure, we didn’t turn them over much against the pressure.
“In the second half, we made some shots, and we were able to extend the lead to 20 at one time,” Sheldon added. “That’s huge, we need that. We know, with our guards and people helping on Valentine and Studer’s penetration, we have to have guys step up and knock down shots.”
The Royals held a 15-14 lead after one period but the Eagles outscored the Royals, 15-7, in the second period, taking a 29-22 lead at the break.
Filliater opened the second half with a basket to cut the lead to 29-24 before McKibben’s outburst.
The Eagles led by as many as 16 in the third period and 19 in the fourth.
“We had three players in doubles and Baker had nine,” Sheldon said. “We didn’t turn it over all game. We just have to clean some stuff up. And the bottom line is, if you don’t make shots, we had good looks. Wynford clogged up the lane on us, and we’ve got shooters.”
Wynford sophomore Sam McMillan had a breakout game, leading the Royals with 18 points and Filliater added 15.
“We did a good job on Filliater, but the McMillan kid played very well,” Sheldon said. “He’s gonna be a good one as a sophomore. He plays so doggone hard, and he hurt us on the offensive glass. They have good, young kids coming. Wynford has a good sophomore and freshman class.”
Smith said that, while his team came up on the short end, the improvement is coming.
“We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, but I think a lot of that has to do with last night,” Smith said. “We had to go to Mansfield St. Peter’s; we missed a few layups at the end, I think that came from dead legs.
“From where we started that first game against Old Fort, I think we were a little deer in the headlights that first game,” he added. “Even our second game against Upper but I think we’re making progress and I hope people see that.”
Wynford won the junior varsity game, 38-35. Grant McGuire led Wynford with 15 points. Ryan McMichael topped Colonel Crawford with 16.
Box score
Wynford 15 7 15 14 — 51
Colonel Crawford 14 15 24 14 — 67
Wynford (1-5, 0-4 N10): Shots 21-53; 3-pt. shots 7 (Jaron Filliater 3, Grant McGuire 2, Cainen Allen, James Schiefer); Free throws 2-3; Rebounds 31; Turnovers 15. Scoring: Cainen Allen 3 0 7, Grant McGuire 2 0 6, James Schiefer 2 0 5, Sam McMillan 8 2 18, Jaron Filliater 6 0 15.
Colonel Crawford (7-0, 4-0 N10): Shots 22-54; 3-pt. shots 10 (Nolan McKibben 5, Mason Studer 2, Carter Valentine 2, Braxton Baker); Free throws 13-19; Rebounds 28; Turnovers 8. Scoring: Mason Studer 6 4 18, Braxton Baker 2 4 9, Nolan McKibben 6 1 18, Carter Valentine 5 3 15, Carson Feichtner 3 1 7.
JV: Wynford 38-35.