NORTH ROBINSON — With the game on the line, the Colonel Crawford defense was the difference in the game.

The Eagles trailed by six, 41-35, entering the final frame, but then shut down the Wynford offense for the first four minutes of the period, holding the Royals to just one field goal and five points, to gain a 51-46 Northern 10 Athletic Conference win.

Colonel Crawford improved to 1-3 in the N10, 3-3 overall, while Wynford dropped to 1-3 in the league and 1-5 overall.

When the Eagles needed to turn up the heat defensively, they were able to do so.

Crawford guard Jordan Fenner also hit nine of this team-high 18 points in the final period as well, hitting a jumper and five free throws in the last 5:44 of the game.

“We’re down six going into the fourth quarter and we went to our 1-2-2 three quarter (defense) and I thought we sped it up,” Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon said. “We got some turnovers and we got some easy looks.”

Wynford coach Steve Mohr said that his young team just has trouble finishing with the game on the line.

“We didn’t handle their half-court trap,” Mohr said. “(Col. Crawford) went to a 1-3-1 trap and a 1-2-2 zone and we just turned it over. We had problems getting the ball inbounds. You look at the turnovers we had on inbounds plays, you look at the turnovers we had against their 1-3-1 press, they weren’t trapping us. We just turned the ball over.”

The Eagles came out early in the game sizzling, tossing in 21 points on 9 of 19 shooting and taking a 21-13 lead after one. But the Royals stepped up defensively in the second period, holding the Eagles to just four points to tie the game at the break, 25-25.

“We got some open looks in the second, we just didn’t make many,” Sheldon said. “There were a lot of times inside we just did not finish around the rim. We have to be better at finishing with contact. We missed a lot of bunnies tonight and a lot of those were in that second quarter. We were just rushing.”

Wynford guard Josh Crall scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the first half, but the Eagles limited the Wynford star to just one field goal in the second half.

“We were trapping (Crall) a little bit, trying to get the ball out of his hands. He’s a great player,” Sheldon said.

Mohr felt that his young team is suffering growing pains right now.

“We just didn’t execute in the fourth quarter,” Mohr said.  “It’s growing pains. Pain hurts. We just have to keep battling.

“I can’t fault our effort,” he added. “I can’t fault their concentration. We’re just finding ways to blow leads and give the game away. We have to do a better job in those situations.”

Sheldon agreed with Mohr.

“(Wynford) is going to be a team that is getting better,” Sheldon said. “Steve is doing a great job with them. Credit our guys. We could have panicked going into the fourth period and we just played one possession at a time.”

Mohr said that his team is working hard to finish games.

“Right now, we’re a big if,” Mohr said. “If this would have happened, if that would have happened. I told our kids, we’re sick of being an if team. We’re right there. We’re right there in the situations to win basketball games, to get a reward for our hard work. Right now, we’re just finding ways to lose basketball games.”

Colonel Crawford also won the junior varsity game, 44-41. Mason McKibben led the Eagles with 17 points and Cade Hamilton added 10.

Khylee Davis scored the Royals’ first 22 points en route to 27 for the game.

Wynford                      13    12   16      5 — 46

Colonel Crawford     21      4    10    16 — 51

Stats

Wynford (1-5, 1-3 N10): Shots 15-33; 3-pt shots 7 (Josh Crall 3, Isaac Sterrett 3, Brock Noblit); Free throws 9-16; Rebounds 24; Turnovers 21. Scoring: Brock Noblit 2 1 6, Gunnar Coffman 2 0 4, Isaac Sterrett 3 0 9, Josh Crall 7 7 24, Caleb Rausch 0 1 1, Gavin Leffler 1 0 2.

Colonel Crawford (3-3, 1-3 N10): Shots 19-53; 3-pt shots 5 (Jordan Fenner 2, Gavin Feichtner 2, Zye Shipman); Free throws 8-11; Rebounds 33; Turnovers 16. Scoring: Reis Walker 4 0 8, Jordan Fenner 6 4 18, Zye Shipman 3 0 7, Brock Ritzhaupt 1 0 2, Gavin Feichtner 3 3 9, Chase Walker 3 1 7.

JV: Colonel Crawford 44-41.