ONTARIO (Crawford County Now) — Winning at in the district tournament is never a given. That is true regardless of seed or number of previous appearances.
Facing your brother as the opposing coach adds another dimension.
Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon had just that combination when his No. 1 seeded Eagles took on his younger brother Chris’ No. 6 Western Reserve Roughriders.
Western Reserve led for most of the first three quarters before the Eagles rallied in the fourth quarter for a 51-46 win in the Division VI district semifinal at the O-rena inside Ontario High School.
With the win, Colonel Crawford (22-1) will face No. 2 Ashland Crestview — a 52-40 winner over Seneca East — on Friday for the district championship.
“Hats off to Western,” David Sheldon said. “I told you guys before; they’re playing really well the last 12 games. They came out with a great game plan.”
Falling short after leading for a large portion of the game was frustrating to Western Reserve coach Chris Sheldon, due to his perception that the officiating was uneven.
“We won the game. We won the game,” Chris Sheldon emphasized. “We flat out got beat by three stripes. They didn’t call a push, a hook, all night long. They traveled six times. All of those things go by the wayside. We outplayed Crawford. We were better than Crawford all night long. They didn’t call an over-and-back late.”
The Roughriders ran out to an 11-4 lead to start the game. Post Tyler Cooper scored all five of his points in the first six minutes. He then had to leave the game due to injury sustained in a bad fall, hampering Western Reserve in the post.
Tempering that loss was foul trouble for Colonel Crawford’s Payne DeGray, who was whistled twice in the first four minutes and spent the rest of the half on the bench.
“Payne only played four minutes in the first quarter,” David Sheldon said. “He’s got to be smarter. If you remember back to the district finals last year, he had two, then three (fouls) in the first half. He’s got to make better decisions, moving his feet, positioning. Payne’s got to be better Friday night.”
Brayden Holt scored five straight points to close the first quarter and pull the Eagles back to within 15-13.
Western Reserve (8-13) kept the pressure on in the second period, hitting five of 11 shots, 11 of 18 for the half. Cooper Roe knocked down a pair of 3-point shots in the frame.
Colonel Crawford struggled shooting, connecting on just three of eight attempts — one of five from three — as the Roughriders eased out to a 27-20 lead by intermission.
“We got some good looks in the first half, and they just didn’t go,” David Sheldon said. “And some guys made 3s for them. But sometimes we forgot to throw it inside.”
The Eagles finally began to chip away at the deficit in the third quarter. Parker Weithman and Holt each hit a pair of 3s in the frame as Colonel Crawford scored 19 points, and taking their first lead of the game, 39-37, on a basket by Payne DeGray with 42 seconds left in the period.
Hayden Tobias dropped a pair of free throws for the Roughriders to knot the score at 39-39 heading to the pivotal fourth quarter.
Chris Sheldon reiterated the reason, from his standpoint, that his team faltered in the third quarter and the second half.
“Look at how many free throws they shot and how many we didn’t,” Sheldon said. “(Tyler Cooper) is undercut at the rim. It’s a no call. That’s the way the ball goes sometimes. Unfortunately for us, that’s the way it went tonight.”
The Roughriders coach referenced a 20-9 discrepancy in fouls called, resulting in a 19-12 advantage in free throw attempts by Colonel Crawford.
“They’re denying and pushing us all over the place and not one off-ball foul call. On every curl, they were pushing us through every screen, blatantly pushing us.”
Whatever the reason, the Eagles took the lead for good, 41-39, on a basket by John DeGray. But Western Reserve would not go away. The CC lead was 2-5 points for most of the final eight minutes.
The biggest lead was 51-44 on two free throws by Holt with 42 seconds left in the game. Holt finished with a game-high 20 points.
David Sheldon praised Holt for his work at point guard. But he acknowledged that he couldn’t have done it without help.
“If you look at my two sophomores — Weithman 11 (points) and (John) DeGray 12. They stepped up on the big stage. You know what you’re going to get from Brayden, but those guys stepped up and made plays.”
Payne DeGray grabbed nine rebounds despite sitting for much of the first half.
Western Reserve had balanced scoring with eight players reaching the scoring column. Hayden Keith and Tyler Wood led the way with eight points each. Chase Hipp added seven points and seven boards.
Chris Sheldon loses only two seniors, neither of which played in the game. Everyone else is back next year.
“I can’t fault my guys. They were relentless, tremendous,” Sheldon said. “We won. Unfortunately, certain things are out of our control.
“At the end of the day, regardless of how bad those three (officials) were, we still had opportunities to win in the fourth quarter,” he added. “We missed two at the front of the rim, we miss a free throw. All these things come back to bite you.”
This is the position David Sheldon anticipates for his team each year.
“This is the game you want to be back to,” Sheldon said of returning to the district final. “I don’t know how many in a row — district finals — it’s been a lot. Your goal every year — get to the district final.
The rematch with Crestview is much anticipated as the Cougars handed the Eagles their only loss to start the season.
“You look at Crestview. They’re exceptional,” Sheldon said. “Justice Thompson is one of the best players in the area. He can score in multiple ways. And he’s got guys who can shoot around him. They’re well coached.”
Box score
Western Reserve 15 12 12 7 — 46
Colonel Crawford 13 7 19 12 — 51
Western Reserve (8-13): Shots 18-30; 3-pt. shots 4-10 (Cooper Roe 2, Hayden Keith, Chase Hipp); Free throws 6-12; Rebounds 21 (Chase Hipp 7); Turnovers 13. Scoring: Hayden Keith 3 1 8, Caleb Pausch 1 1 3, Cooper Roe 2 0 6, Hayden Dobias 0 3 3, Tyler Wood 4 0 8, Chase Hipp 3 0 7, Brexton Fraelich 3 0 6, Tyler Cooper 2 1 5.
Colonel Crawford (22-1): Shots 18-39; 3-pt. shots 5-18 (Parker Weithman 3, Brayden Holt 2); Free throws 10-19; Rebounds 22 (Payne DeGray 9); Turnovers 7. Scoring: Logan Goddard 1 1 3, Parker Weithman 4 0 11, John DeGray 6 0 12, Lucas Foy 0 1 1, Brayden Holt 5 8 20, Payne DeGray 2 0 4.