NORTH ROBINSON — It was a matchup that favored the Colonel Crawford Eagles.
A team that has been inconsistent offensively in Buckeye Central faced a long and athletic basketball team in the Eagles.
The result was quite predictable.
The Eagles limited the Bucks to just 33 percent shooting on 18 total shots over the first three periods and allowed just 22 points.
BC made a furious comeback in the fourth frame, knocking down four 3-point shots to cut the Crawford lead to 46-42 with 20 seconds left. But that was as close as the Bucks would come as the Eagles came away with a 50-42 win.
The win was the 16th in the last 17 games for Crawford, which finished the regular season with an 18-4 record, 13-3 in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference. Buckeye Central enters the tournament with a 6-16 record, 4-12 in the conference.
On a night when the Eagles didn’t shoot the ball well, Crawford coach David Sheldon felt his defense was the difference in the game.
“I thought the first three quarters we were phenomenal defensively,” Sheldon said. “In the fourth quarter we got a little lax but give Buckeye credit. They hit some big shots. They stayed the course.
“We didn’t make free throws down the stretch. The game was never in doubt. They made a little run there, but we had it the whole time. It’s nice to send our two seniors off at home with the ‘W’.”
Buckeye Central coach Eric Picklesimer said that, when playing a team as athletic as the Eagles, patience offensively is key.
“We wanted to ball fake them, which we did a pretty poor job of in the first half. We wanted to reverse the ball and get them off their spots,” Picklesimer said. “We tried a lot of screen plays and they defended very well. We just had to keep battling and be persistent. We were there in the fourth, but they just pulled away there late.”
The Eagles didn’t shoot it well at all in the first three periods, hitting just 13 of 33 shots, but their defense helped them to a 36-17 lead late in the third period.
From there, Buckeye’s Darren Wurm got hot, scoring 11 points in the fourth period as Colonel Crawford seemed to lose its intensity late.
After BC’s Jake Heefner scored on a follow with 20 seconds left in the game, cutting the lead to 46-42, Crawford’s Jordan Fenner and Zye Shipman each canned a pair of free throws, sealing the win.
“You look back over the course of a 22-game season you have some ugly games and tonight was one of those ugly ones,” Sheldon said.
“We were just lethargic, it looked like. With all the dog and pony show of senior night, we found a way to get a ‘W’. But give Buckeye credit. They do a good job of trying to control some tempo and I thought they did a good job of being patient and in the fourth quarter they got hot and hit some big shots.”
Brady Biglin led the Bucks with 15 points and Wurm added 13.
“We talked about dribble penetration all week and boxing out because of how long and aggressive they are,” Picklesimer said.
“We battled with them. Mason Stahl did a nice job on Gavin (Feichtner). I mean, that kid has been scoring at will lately, and that helped our defense. But they had other guys that stepped up and made plays.”
Fenner knocked down 20 points to lead the Eagles and Reis Walker added 10.
Both teams open tournament play next week.
Buckeye Central, which comes in as the 11th seed, will face fifth-seed Lucas on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Galion High School.
Picklesimer said that battling the Eagles will help his team against the Cubs.
“(CC) is the best team in our sectional,” Picklesimer said. “We just competed for about three and three quarters of a game with them. They are unanimously the best team and our guys showed they can compete.”
The Eagles will face the winner of Tuesday night’s Crestline-Monroeville game on March 1 at 6:15 p.m. at Galion High School.
Sheldon said that getting this one out of the way is important.
“Now you start the second season and now there is a sense of urgency and every possession is so important,” Sheldon said. “Everyone is 0-0 starting Monday. This was a great way to finish. I’m very proud of this group. They have played with a chip on their shoulders all year and now I know we have to lock in starting Monday when we prepare for the sectional final.”
Box score
Buckeye Central 5 7 10 20 — 42
Colonel Crawford 8 14 14 14 — 50
Stats
Buckeye Central (6-16, 4-12 N10): Shots 14-32; 3-pt shots 6-15 (Darren Wurm 3, Brady Biglin 2, Tyler Rose); Free throws 8-10; Rebounds 24 (Tyler Rose 5); Turnovers 15. Scoring: Tyler Rose 2 2 7, Darren Wurm 5 0 13, Brady Biglin 4 5 15, Mason Stahl 2 1 5, Jacob Heefner 1 0 2.
Colonel Crawford (18-4, 13-3 N10): Shots 17-45; 3-pt shots 6-18 (Jordan Fenner 4, Reis Walker 2); Free throws 10-16; Rebounds 26 (Chase Walker 10); Turnovers 9. Scoring: Reis Walker 3 2 10, Jordan Fenner 7 2 20, Brock Ritzhaupt 1 0 2, Zye Shipman 3 3 9, Gavin Feichtner 1 3 5, Chase Walker 2 0 4.
JV: Colonel Crawford 63-58.