NORTH ROBINSON — The Colonel Crawford girls basketball team is beginning a brutal stretch, playing three games in three days and four in five days.

And they are doing so shorthanded, without the injured Kaylyn Risner and her 11 points per game.

Upper Sandusky, on the other hand, is playing considerably shorthanded, missing three starters.

Both teams needed players to step up and the Eagles got what they needed.

Crawford used outstanding balance and shot 56 percent from the floor to drop the Rams, 54-22, Tuesday night at Mac Morrison Gymnasium.

With the win, the Eagles are 4-3 in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and 6-4 overall. Upper falls to 3-5 in the league and 3-6 overall.

Colonel Crawford coach Kyle Fenner said she knew the Rams were without players and the Eagles put on the heavy pressure defensively.

“That’s not something to deal with, especially this season,” Fenner said of the Rams’ shorthanded nature. “We were missing Kaylyn Risner, too. We didn’t know that until after practice last night so that changed out rotations a little bit, too. We weren’t as shorthanded as (Upper).”

Upper Sandusky coach Jerry Vent felt that his team simply struggled to overcome the losses.

“The game plan was to try and be as good as we could in the half-court defense; they made some outside shots early in the game and that takes you out of the idea of trying to dig down on Teglovic inside,” Vent said.

“We have to handle pressure better,” Vent added. “Teams are going to come out and pressure us as much as they can when we have as many ball-handlers out as we do. Their pressure got us to play faster and out of rhythm. But we have to get better.”

Crawford came out firing early in the game, hitting seven of 12 shots in the first period, including two 3-pointers from Theresa Dzugan and a 3 from Corin Feik to take an 18-5 lead after one.

The Eagles increased that margin to 27-11 at the half, but Fenner felt her team played a little fast in the period.

“I thought a little bit in the first half we rushed our offense, but we tried to calm down and be a little more patient in the second half,” Fenner said.

The Eagles held a 40-12 margin heading into the final period.

“We got out of position defensively a lot,” Vent said. “Our rotation and our help defense were just off, and you miss your box outs at that point. If you’re not in your correct rotation, you’re going to miss those box outs because you’re not going to know where girls are. I have to get them more reps in practice and more prepared to play in these environments and understand how teams are going to come out and pressure us.”

Fenner said she was pleased with the balance her team showed. Teglovic led the way with 15 points and Dzugan added 10. But eight Eagles reached the scoring column.

“We talked about that in the locker room and said we have to step up here,” Fenner said. “We needed girls to do a little bit more and we did that.”

The Eagles are beginning a brutal stretch of games from cancelations from the COVID virus. Crawford hosts Bucyrus Wednesday before traveling to Mohawk Thursday. They finish at Carey Saturday.

“It is what it is,” Fenner said. “We’re just happy to step on the floor and play. There have been so many games canceled because of this whole COVID thing, we’re ready to step on the floor; we’re tired of practicing. Our practices have gotten a little bit ill. The girls may be tired, but they have to go.

“We had Theresa Dzugan in the point-guard spot, and she gave us pretty good minutes and we did some good things; we ran our offense in spots and got some good looks,” Fenner added. “I thought we were balanced offensively, and we got some points from everybody tonight. It’s hard to guard when you’re balanced.”

Upper Sandusky won the junior varsity game, 20-19. Addison Kemery paced the Eagles with 15 points.

Box score

Upper Sandusky        5        6        1     10 — 22

Colonel Crawford    18       9      13     14 — 54

Upper Sandusky (3-6, 3-5 N10): Shots 9-28; 3-pt. shots 2 (Alyse Swartz 2); Free throws 2-4; Rebounds 19; Turnovers 21. Scoring: Alyse Swartz 3 1 9, Lauren Schoenberger 5 0 10, Grace Vent 1 1 3.

Colonel Crawford (6-4, 4-3 N10): Shots 23-41; 3-pt. shots 4 (Theresa Dzugan 2, Corin Feik, Jenna Maddy); Free throws 4-6; Rebounds 29; Turnovers 9. Scoring: Mallory Plesac 2 0 4, Theresa Dzugan 4 0 10, Corin Feik 1 0 3, Ally Hocker 2 1 5, Jenna Maddy 2 0 5, Hannah Plesac 2 2 6, Allison Teglovic 7 1 15, Bayge Horner 3 0 6.

JV: Upper Sandusky 20-19.