Boys Varsity Basketball

Eagles Eliminate Royals in Sectional Final

By: Todd Enders, "Royal Times"

The Colonel Crawford Eagles were too much to handle for the Wynford Royals. The Royals put together three successful quarters against the Eagles; unfortunately the game involved four quarters for the Royals. Wynford played a solid 24 minutes, but the Eagles played a complete 32 minutes. Coach Steve Mohr was pleased with the Royals effort. "We give ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter. Its a cliche, but the games 32 minutes long. As well as we played for 24 minutes to keep within touch, we weren't quite as good as Crawford on the offensive end."

The first quarter saw the Royals get out to a 5-0 lead, but the Eagles stopped the run with a steady dose of three's and inside post play. The Royals, Hunter Miller, had the hot hand as he kept the Royals close with 10 of the his 12 points for the Royals in the first quarter. The Eagles lead after one quarter of play, 16-12.

The second quarter found the Eagles jumping out to a quick nine point lead 21-12 as the Royals were forced to call a timeout to slow the Eagles momentum. Crawford increased their lead to as many as 13 points during the second quarter, 25-12, when Wynford had difficulty scoring. The Royals managed to put together a run before the half cutting the Eagles lead to seven before intermission, 27-20.

The Eagles came out a little sluggish on the defensive end of the court to start of the second half and the Royals took advantage of their effort. Wynford outscored the Eagles in the third 18-17, and managed to get within three of Crawford during the third quarter. Alex Crall and Mason Davis hit back to back threes to bring it to, 39-36, in favor of the Eagles. This was as close as the Royals would get with the Eagles holding on to a 44-38 lead at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was the difference in the game. Crawford outscored the Royals 20-3 in the fourth quarter by increasing their defensive intensity and getting to the foul line. Crawford's defensive pressure forced some crucial turnovers by the Royals, and the Eagles converted on 19-22 from the foul line was the difference in the game. "Their defensive intensity made it difficult for us to get into our sets and reverse the basketball, and they got to the line and hit their foul shots. That was the difference in the game.", according to Coach Mohr. 

The Royals were lead in scoring by Hunter Miller with 18 points and Mason Davis and Jake Glowaski with 9. The Eagles now advance to district play at Ashland University while the Royals disappointing, 8-16, season comes to an end with the 64-41 loss to the Eagles.