NORTH ROBINSON — Colonel Crawford guard Jordan Fenner was honored by the school for scoring his 1,000th career point before Saturday night’s game against Wynford.
Fenner reached the milestone in the Eagles’ 72-61 over Mohawk Thursday night.
Fenner took control early in the game against the Royals, scoring 15 of his team’s first 20 points and finishing with 24 as the Eagles bested Wynford, 52-41.
The win put the Eagles in second place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with a 9-2 conference record, 12-3 overall. Wynford fell to 9-3 in the league, 11-5 overall.
Fenner took over the basketball game early, getting into the lane at will.
Then, after Wynford had cut the lead to 39-37 early in the fourth period on a Gavin Leffler basket, Carter Valentine scored in the lane, Mason Studer knocked down a 3-point shot and Fenner controlled the tempo of the game the rest of the way.
“Jordan Fenner was really good tonight,” Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon said. “You look at his scoring and I’m glad to get his 1,000 points are out of the way and he hit big shots.
“In the first half, we isolated him a lot, just one-on-one,” Sheldon added. “His pull-up jumper at the rim is as good as anybody’s. Jordan has hit big shots in the big games.”
While Wynford coach Steve Mohr also felt that Fenner was good on the offensive end, he felt that Crawford’s defense was the difference in the game.
“They were really good defensively tonight,” Mohr said. “We had a hard time getting into everything and give them a lot of credit defensively.
“I don’t think we read the things they were doing to us defensively, I think we stood too much,” Mohr added. “I don’t think we stepped back to the ball when they were pressuring so much on the screens. When they were doubling Josh (Crall), our screeners had to step back.”
Wynford jumped out quickly, taking a 9-4 lead, before Fenner brought the Eagles back. He scored nine points in the first period and added the first four of the second period as the Colonel Crawford took a 20-15 lead.
Wynford didn’t quit. Crall scored 14 points for the Royals, who trailed 39-35 after three periods and were down by only two early in the fourth frame.
“We got off to a slow start, they led, 9-4, and we called time out,” Sheldon said. “We make a run and extend it to eight at the half. Wynford is a very good team and they make a run in the third quarter and then we talked about making a run in the fourth quarter.
“We really did extend the lead in the fourth quarter. We hit some big shots and got stops, and we spread the floor and held it the last three minutes.”
Mohr said that this loss is a learning moment for his team.
“The only thing tonight showed us is that we’re not good enough to be league champions,” Mohr said. “We contended, we’re just not good enough to be league champions. We still have a lot to play for. We’ll learn from this and move forward.”
Crall, who entered the game leading the Northern 10 in scoring at 26 points per game, was doubled by the Eagles.
“To hold Josh Crall, one of the best players in the area, to 14 points, it’s a phenomenal job,” Sheldon said. “We really wanted to gap help him, because if he gets into the lane, he is so good at getting to the rim or getting to the foul line. And I thought our guys did a phenomenal job on him.”
Mohr said that his team got the Eagles to the foul line too much.
“The bottom line, we just sent them to the line way too much,” Mohr said. “I’m not complaining about the officiating, but we just sent them to the line way too much tonight. We fouled shooters, we fouled people on the offensive glass. We had it at four or six there, and we had some turnovers that really stopped us from having any opportunity from making the most of it.”
Colonel Crawford also won the junior varsity game, 59-32. Mason McKibben led the Eagles with 20 points and Carson Feichtner added 10. Toby Butterfield paced Wynford with 11 points.
Box score
Wynford 13 8 14 6 — 41
Colonel Crawford 16 13 10 13 — 52
Wynford (11-5, 9-3 N10): Shots 15-38; 3-pt shots 5 (Josh Crall 3, Isaac Sterrett, Jaron Filliater); Free throws 6-12; Rebounds 29; Turnovers 15. Scoring: Matt McBride 1 0 2, Isaac Sterrett 1 0 3, Dustin Brady 2 0 4, Josh Crall 5 1 14, James Schiefer 0 2 2, Gavin Burris 2 3 7, Jaron Filliater 2 0 5, Gavin Leffler 2 0 4.
Colonel Crawford (12-3, 9-2 N10): Shots 17-32; 3-pt shots 4 (Mason Studer 2, Carter Valentine, Jordan Fenner); Free throws 14-24; Rebounds 22; Turnovers 5. Scoring: Mason Studer 2 0 6, Reis Walker 3 0 6, Jordan Fenner 7 9 24, Carter Valentine 3 0 7, Gavin Feichtner 0 5 5, Chase Walker 2 0 4.
JV: Colonel Crawford 59-32.