BOWLING GREEN (Crawford County Now) — Colonel Crawford is headed where no Eagles boys’ basketball team has gone before.
A 44-37 win over Lima Central Catholic Saturday afternoon inside the Stroh Center put them in the state semifinals. It marked the first regional crown for the school.
For head coach David Sheldon the emotions were clearly visible as he cut the last portion of the net on the court and spoke to the media a few moments later.
“It’s special. I still remember in fifth grade and seventh grade, my years being the ball boy when my dad (former Wynford head coach Rob Sheldon) went to the Final Four,” he said.
“I’m the son of a father who coached 30-some years and who is in every hall of fame in the state of Ohio. And there’s so many great coaches in the state of Ohio, I’ve got so many friends … guys don’t get a chance for a Final Four, and the legends I look up to. It’s a blessing; all the glory goes to God and to my guys.”
Colonel Crawford (25-1) will play next week against an opponent to be determined. Date, time and site will be released on Sunday by the OHSAA.
Again, the Eagles relied on being physical and their patented lock-down defense, limiting Thunderbirds star Jordan Priddy to 11 points.
“What we did to Priddy. He’s a dynamite player. I’ve watched 12 films, and he is lightning. It took a team effort. We tried to face-guard him. You have to find him in transition, and we had three guys back tonight on the shot.”
Primarily it was Logan Goddard’s task to guard Priddy, a 6-foot-2 junior.
“He’s a tough little kid,” Sheldon remarked of the 5-foot-10 Goddard.
The result was Priddy getting into early foul trouble and being forced to sit for 6 and 1/2 minutes of the second quarter.
Crawford took a 13-10 lead after one quarter thanks to a Goddard 3-pointer and another basket on a nifty pass from Brayden Holt.
Holt again led the way with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals. Payne DeGray added 11 and John DeGray 9.
“Brayden handled the trap so well,” Sheldon said. “He did a great job of attacking that and trying to get the ball out of his hands. You know, we’ve seen that throughout the year.
“He is the best I’ve seen run the show. The thing about Brayden is his pace, he never gets too high or too low. You look at his face and you wouldn’t know if he just scored a bucket or turned it over.”
Lima Central Catholic finishes its season at 18-8.
The defense held LCC to just 4 second-quarter points and built a 26-14 lead. A Parker Weithman trey from the left corner just beat the buzzer.
“That was a big shot going in the half,” Sheldon said. “And credit to (Brayden) Holt. He is the facilitator. They double him. He finds them and Parker and Logan get wide open 3s.”
The Thunderbirds made a comeback in the third quarter, outscoring the Eagles 12-6. Jaxon White hit a pair of free throws and a 3.
But Payne DeGray got an inside hoop and John DeGray added two foul shots and Colonel Crawford pushed the lead back to 10 at 30-20.
The brothers DeGray combined for 20 points and 14 boards.
“Good teams are going to make runs. I thought we withstood that,” Sheldon said.
“My big fella got two early (fouls) too and we played him. At this level you gotta play. Fortunately, he didn’t get three. A couple of possessions there we went box-and-1. We just changed it up.”
Goddard opened the fourth quarter with a 3 but White and Brady Parker countered. Suddenly, LCC trailed 35-32 with 4:31 to go.
But Holt found DeGray open inside before Parker scored for Lima Central Catholic to make it 39-37.
Again, Holt made a big play at a crucial time, stealing the ball and driving for a basket to extend the lead.
“He’s a quarterback and has that patience in the pocket. He’s the son of a coach. He’s grown up and understands what it’s all about to direct and coach a team. The point guard’s the coach for 32 minutes during the game,” Sheldon said. “And he showed that tonight.”
A powerful Payne DeGray dunk with 11 seconds left, and his subsequent free throw, sealed the Eagles the win.
“Our motto is one possession at a time our way, and then it’s the next possession. And when we get a lead (late), we go four corners and spread the floor,” Sheldon said.
“I thought we did a good job of staying to that, and then the big fella’s dunk. That was the exclamation point. The loud meter in there went up a little bit.”
The 6-foot-5 junior reflected on the long journey.
“At the beginning of the season if you told me that this was going to happen, I would’ve not said yes. But we put in a lot of work throughout the season, and we’ve grown a lot from our first loss to Crestview,” DeGray said.
“To beat them in the district finals, and then come here to Bowling Green and show out, it’s a special thing.”
The tourney trail has been challenging.
“It’s been a grind since then. It hasn’t been an easy game,” Holt said.
With a league title, sectional, district, and now regional championships secured, one step remains for the Eagles.
“It’s so hard to get to the Final Four,” Sheldon said. “We’re going to enjoy this tonight and tomorrow go back to work.”
Box score
Central Catholic 10 4 12 11 — 37
Colonel Crawford 13 13 6 12 — 44
Lima Central Catholic (18-8): Shots 12-33; 3-pt. shots 2-9 (Brady Parker, Jaxon White); Free throws 11-14; Rebounds 21 (Jordan Priddy 6); Turnovers 9. Scoring: Jordan Priddy 2 7 11, Brady Parker 3 1 8, Aazaad Burton 2 1 5, Jaxon White 3 2 9, Drew Pester 1 0 2, Dom McKee 1 0 2.
Colonel Crawford (25-1): Shots 17-41; 3-pt. shots 3-14 (Logan Goddard 2, Parker Weithman); Free throws 7-11; Rebounds 26 (Brayden Holt 8, Payne DeGray 7, John DeGray 7); Turnovers 7. Scoring: Logan Goddard 3 0 8, Parker Weithman 1 0 3, John DeGray 3 3 9, Brayden Holt 6 1 13, Payne DeGray 4 3 11.