Strong finish powers Colonel Crawford over county rival Bucyrus for sectional title
NORTH ROBINSON - "Who's ready for the moment," Colonel Crawford coach Zac Bauer has asked his team countless times this season.
Before tip-off Saturday evening in a Division III sectional championship against county rival Bucyrus, fresh off a win over Wynford in Thursday's postseason opener, he posed the question one more time.
Turns out, the whole team was ready for it and they ended the night cutting down the nets after a 41-27 win for the program's third sectional championship in four seasons. Were it not for Wynford upsetting the Eagles last year in this very round, it would've been four consecutive.
But that locker room immediately afterwards is when work for this season began.
"It speaks to their character because they never lost any faith in us as coaches, each other, or the program values that we've instilled," Bauer said. "When the year started there were expectations out there for this team, and we needed to live up to our own expectations day in and day out. Hold yourselves to a higher standard than anybody else can. And in the face of adversity we never hung heads, or turned into individuals. We were a group, and a team, and a family the whole time through.
"To see that rewarded now, and for them to continue to trust and pour into each other is a statement to the quality of our players."
And Bauer knew his team would be in for a battle Saturday night. Bucyrus had a ton of momentum from Thursday's win and despite the Eagles jumping out to a 10-2 lead after one, he knew the Lady Red would battle back. Which is why he stressed one thing in practice the week leading up — make the most out of your possessions.
"We pointed out to our girls on Thursday when we watched sectional semis that Wynford got down 10 to start the third and never panicked," Bauer said. "They were poised and composed, and they took their time.
"And something we've really worked hard on this week was getting quality possessions. It doesn't need to be a one pass, shot. We're not going to win the whole game with one possession or in one pass, it's going to be three or four passes, and we did that really well tonight. We slowed down, we got good looks, and we got the ball into the paint."
Bucyrus pulled within five at halftime (21-16) and again trailed by five after three (29-24) but would jump on the Eagles to start the fourth and make it a one possession game.
"After the first quarter, and then at halftime, we asked them to just give ourselves a shot," Bucyrus coach Brian Seybert said. "They are a solid defensive team, No. 2 in the league and No. 2 in the district for a reason. If you want to advance in the tourney, you've got to challenge yourself and try to beat teams like that.
"We tried to attack the rim and shots just didn't fall tonight like they did the other night for us. That just put a little more pressure on us, and it kept building and building."
Coming out of a timeout with 4:16 to go trailing 29-27, Bucyrus had a chance to tie the game but missed the shot. And from that point on the Eagles would close out on a 12-0 run highlighted by Gabby Roston going 8-of-8 from the free throw line and scoring 10 of her game-high 13 in the fourth quarter.
"That's Gabby Roston," Bauer said. "She's tough, she's not afraid to stick her nose in there, and she's gotten so much better at the free throw line late in games. And that's where she makes a huge difference."
With Bucyrus focusing on limiting Mira Holt and Allison Weithman, Colonel Crawford's top two scorers, the Eagles had to look to other options to lead the offense. In the first half it was Lexi Dure with five of her six points, along with Lexi Rush who had eight of her 10. And down the stretch it was Roston getting a layup then hitting free throw after free throw to extend the lead.
"It could be any of you, and we've seen that time and time again this year," Bauer said. "Lynae McKibben has stepped up in a moment, Lexi Dure has stepped up in moment, and Gabby has done that consistently for us the second half of the year. That's her having faith in what we've told her."
No. 2 Colonel Crawford advances to face No. 3 Clear Fork on Thursday at Shelby High School in a district semifinal slated for a 6 p.m. start. The Colts have outscored their first two postseason opponents 105-45 most recently throttling Huron for their third consecutive sectional title.
And as Bucyrus sets its sights on next season, the Lady Red bid farewell to a group of special seniors as they combined for 22 of the team's 27 points. Brook Dennison led the way with 12 points, five rebounds, and three steals.
"Brook Dennison wanted a little better choice in basketball, so she came to us," Seybert said. "And I've known Brook since the day she was born, basically another daughter to me. What a player she is, what a basketball IQ she has, and she had the ability to take over a game. We kind of laid it in her lap there towards the end and she hit a big shot. Addison Kemery comes here after a year and a half at Crawford, then sits out a whole year just so she can play basketball again at Bucyrus. What a tremendous athlete and player she is, and an even better person.
"Kendra Blizzard has stepped up these last few games shooting with the confidence we've been waiting for all year long, and she was playing stellar defenses as well. Addison Ricker is just solid player. We put her on a tough matchup at times and she just does what she needs to do, I don't know anybody better at hitting those little short range shots at the high percentage she does. And Adria Taylor, she just come sin and busts her tail. She didn't get a lot of playing time for us, but she gave us everything she had every day in practice and every game she played for us.
"It's gonna be hard replacing those five seniors, but I think we have some younger underclassmen ready to step into those roles for next season."
And though Bucyrus may not have won as many games as it was hoping this season finishing 9-15, the Lady Red proved they're capable of playing with anyone.
"We're not a pushover anymore," Seybert said. You play us, you better come and compete because that's what we're going to do. We're going to give you everything we have, we're not going to back down."
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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Colonel Crawford girls top Bucyrus for Div. III sectional championship
