NORTH ROBINSON — According to Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon, his Eagles were still in preseason mode in the early portion of the season, thanks to the football team and its deep playoff run.

“This is our fourth week going at it,” Sheldon said. “The normal preseason is four weeks, and, because of our great football run, we only had two scrimmages. I feel like we’re getting our basketball legs; I thought we did a good job sharing the basketball.

“But our offense was set up by our defense. Our defense in the first half was phenomenal.”

Well, Crawford’s preseason ended Tuesday night.

The Eagles had not been shooting the ball well in their first three games, wins over Old Fort and Upper Sandusky, and a loss to Crestview.

To say Crawford broke out in a big way is an understatement.

Seven Eagles dropped 15 of 22 shots from outside the arc and Crawford made 30 of 47 shots from the floor in overwhelming Buckeye Central, 85-30.

CC guard Brayden Holt knocked down a three to open the game and that got the Eagles on the run. Crawford scored 22 of the game’s first 23 points and was never challenged after that.

Crawford led 27-2 after the first period and led 52-4 moments before the end of the first half. Holt scored all 18 of his points and post Payne DeGray scored all 12 of his points.

“Guys shot the ball well tonight. I feel like we’re finally getting our legs under us conditioning-wise,” Sheldon said.

Buckeye Central coach Chris Moyer said that, once the floodgates opened, there was nothing the Bucks could do.

“You kinda knew they had this bundled up in them,” Moyer said. “They hadn’t shot it well in three games and Holt came down and knocked one down right away; we got overwhelmed. We couldn’t make a bucket; they were doing a great job of getting us out of our stuff. And we just couldn’t get a stop.”

The Eagles also did a masterful job of stopping BC star Jack Phillips. Phillips failed to score in the game.

“Jack Phillips came into the game averaging 19 points a game and he doesn’t score; our guys take that to heart and it’s that physicality of our weight room,” Sheldon said.

“We were denying him and helping on him every time he got off a screen. We were really just trying to pressure him. We held him to one shot which allowed our offense to get out run,” he added.

Crawford also did a great job of passing the ball into and out of the post. Ten Eagles scored in the game. Parker Weithman scored all 11 of his points in the fourth period.

“We had great balance,” Sheldon said. “I thought Brayden Holt did some scoring, but he also set up other players and we shared the basketball. Payne was getting doubled-teamed; we got shooters wide-open shots.

“That’s the key to this team. We can be unselfish because we have a lot of guys that can do different things. I thought that got us off to the great offensive start.”

Hunter Caudill led the Bucks with 13 points, but BC’s offense seemed out of synch the entire night.

“Early on, we did have some good looks,” Moyer said. “Once it started snowballing — a typical Colonel Crawford team — they’re going to punish you. They’re going to feast on those when you’re not making shots.”

Box score

Colonel Crawford 85, Buckeye Central 30  

Buckeye Central        2       4      11     13 — 30

Colonel Crawford   27     25      20     13 — 85

Buckeye Central (3-1, 1-1 N10): Shots 11-36; 3-pt. shots 4 (Hunter Caudill 3, Jeremiah Fishpaw); Free throws 4-7; Rebounds 8; Turnovers 11. Scoring: Alec Phillips 1 0 2, Hunter Caudill 4 2 13, Cayden Jarvis 2 0 4, Jeremaih Fishpaw 2 2 7, Matthew Heefner 2 0 4.

Colonel Crawford (3-1, 2-0 N10): Shots 30-47; 3-pt. shots 15 (Logan Goddard 3, Parker Weithman 3, Peyton Baker 2, Lucas Foy 2, Brayden Holt 2, Kaden Bruner 2, Brady Hill); Free throws 8-8; Rebounds 28; Turnovers 2. Scoring: Peyton Baker 2 0 6, Logan Goddard 3 0 9, Brady Hill 1 0 3, Parker Weithman 4 0 11, John DeGray 2 0 4, Lucas Foy 2 0 6, Brayden Holt 6 4 18, Kaden Bruner 2 0 6, Dom Dean 4 0 8, Payne DeGray 5 4 14.

JV: Colonel Crawford 51-7.