NORTH ROBINSON — The boys high school basketball season officially began Wednesday as the Crestline Bulldogs headed to Mac Morrison Gymnasium for a non-conference clash with Colonel Crawford. The Eagles had little trouble with their cross-county foes, rolling to an 88-31 victory.
The Eagles started fast, posting 21 points in the opening frame while holding the ‘Dogs to just six for an early, 15-point advantage. It was much the same story in the second quarter of action as Crestline managed just five points with the Eagles soaring to a 24-spot in the quarter to extend their lead to 45-11 entering the halftime break.
In the third, Colonel Crawford would come out with their intensity still high as they scorched the Bulldogs’ defense for another 28 points while holding the offense from Crestline to just nine in the quarter. Entering the fourth with a 73-20 advantage, the Eagles showed no signs of slowing down, continuing to score at will to the tune of 15 points in the frame en route to an 88-31 throttling of their guests.
Inside the arc, Crawford did not seem to miss a shot, going 26/35 (74.3 percent) on their two-point attempts. From the perimeter, the Eagles struggled a bit but still converted on 9/33 (27.3 percent) shot attempts. Crestline finished the contest at 12/33 (36.4 percent) from the interior and made just 1/13 (8 percent) three-point field goal attempts. At the charity stripe on the evening, the Eagles posted a 9/11 (81.8 percent) clip with the Bulldogs hitting 4/7 (57.1 percent) of their free-throw efforts.
The home team dominated on the boards, collecting a total of 45 rebounds; 17 on the offensive glass and 28 defensive rebounds. Crestline grabbed 24 rebounds on the evening; seven offensive boards and 17 defensive. First-game jitters appeared to have also gotten to the ‘Dogs’ offense as they committed 24 turnovers on the evening with the Eagles finishing with just 10 miscues on the offensive end.
Four players from Colonel Crawford finished in double-figures on the evening in the season opener, led by 20 points from recent Tiffin University commit, Gavin Feichtner. Feichtner also grabbed five rebounds, dished out an assist and had a steal on the night. Jordan Fenner chimed in with a well-rounded stat line, scoring 13 points while also picking up five rebounds, collecting eight assists and swiping five steals on the defensive end. In his debut with the team, sophomore Carter Valentine contributed 11 points, an assist and a pair of steals while teammate Chase Walker scored 10 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out two dimes, had a steal and swatted away four blocks in the win.
Other statistics for the home team in their runaway victory were: Team- 24 assists, 20 steals, 6 blocks; Mason Studer- 9 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals; Reis Walker- 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks; Brock Ritzhaupt- 4 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists; Mason McKibben- 4 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals; Drayton Burkhart- 4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal; Seth Miller- 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist and Carson Feichtner- 2 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist.
Up next for the Eagles will be a trip to Kenton for a non-conference game on Saturday, Nov. 30. Northern-10 Athletic Conference play is set to begin for Crawford next Saturday, at home vs. Upper Sandusky. The Bulldogs kick-off the Mid-Buckeye Conference portion of their schedule Friday, Dec. 6 with a home game against the Kidron Central Christian Comets before traveling to Ridgemont for a non-league game the very next day.
Crestline defender Kaden Ronk stares down Colonel Crawford point guard Jordan Fenner during Wednesday’s season opener at the Eagles’ Mac Morrison Gymnasium.
Spencer Harley eyes up a shot while Crawford’s Jordan Fenner closes out on defense during Wednesday’s season opener. The Eagles had no issues with the visiting Bulldogs, cruising to an 88-31 victory.
Colonel Crawford sophomore Carter Valentine looks for a driving lane on Wednesday during the visiting Crestline Bulldogs. Valentine scored 11 points in his debut with the team as the Eagles soared to an 88-31 victory over the ‘Dogs.
Chase Walker skies to the rim as Crestline defender Ethan Clark looks on. Walker was one of four members of the Colonel Crawford Eagles to reach double-figures in scoring on Wednesday as the Eagles blew out the visiting Bulldogs; 88-31.
