By John Groth
thepaper24-7.com
CRAWFORDSVILLE – Going up against the state’s top Class 3A team, Crawfordsville coach John Blackwell thought they needed a near-perfect game.
With too many first-half turnovers and quick shots, they didn’t come close.
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Class 3A No. 1 Danville limited Crawfordsville to single digits in every quarter in the visiting Warriors’ 64-30 Friday night win, spoiling the Athenians’ Senior Night.
Danville (18-0, 7-0 SAC) finished off its conference season perfect, while Crawfordsville (10-8, 2-5 SAC) ended its league play on a three-game slide and suffered its fifth-straight loss overall.
The Athenians were held to their lowest point-total this season and haven’t finished with that low a score in nine years when they suffered an 84-29 loss to Lafayette Jeff in 2001.
“They’re very good,” Blackwell said. “We were playing uphill against those guys. If anybody beats them, I’ll be shocked if they come from behind to beat them.”
Danville senior and Purdue recruit Travis Carroll had a double-double, totaling game highs of 22 points (on 9-of-12 shooting) and 15 rebounds. Junior Tyler Hall added 14 points and senior Jordan Weidner finished with 12.
Leading just 12-7 after a slowed-down first quarter, the Warriors took control.
They went on an 8-1 run during the first four minutes of the second quarter, then closed it with five-straight points in the final 8.5 seconds. Carroll scored on a basket and a foul and Weidner scored a basket after a Crawfordsville turnover with one second left to give Danville a 32-14 halftime lead.
Danville forced Crawfordsville into nine first-half turnovers and held the Athenians to just 2-of-6 shooting in the second quarter. The Warriors limited the Athenians to seven points in each of the first three quarters before they scored nine in the fourth.
Warriors’ coach Brian Barber said opponents have tried playing a slower tempo on them a lot this season. Conference rival North Montgomery did it in its game against Danville, but Barber acknowledged his players knew how to handle it.
“We beared down, tried to stay in front of our guys, get good pressure and make [Crawfordsville] make quick decisions. They had some turnovers and we got baskets,” Barber said. “When teams hold the ball on you, you have to stay patient.”
Junior Trent Crabtree and sophomore Caleb Rasmussen led the Athenians with nine points each.
Crawfordsville struggled shooting all over. The Athenians hit just 12 of 47 field-goal attempts (25.5 percent), went 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from three-point range and just 5-of-13 (38.5 percent) from the free-throw line.
Life doesn’t get any easier either. The Athenians travel to Class 4A Zionsville (16-4) for a 7:30 p.m. game tonight.
“I told them to wake up in the morning and to be exciting about playing every game and having the opportunity to beat a really good team,” Blackwell said. “Our margin for error is just as small as [Friday] night.”
The box score:
Danville 12 20 16 16 – 64
Crawfordsville 7 7 7 9 – 30
Danville: Michael Humphrey 3-6 0-0 6, Tyler Hall 5-11 4-5 14, Kyle Mackey 1-3 1-2 4, Jordan Weidner 5-10 1-1 12, Travis Carroll 9-12 4-7 22, Trent Schaffer 1-2 2-2 4, Austin Chalfant 0-1 0-0 0, Luke Fields 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Cooper 1-1 0-1 2, Jordan Leonard 0-0 0-0 0, Jon Pedigo 0-1 0-0 0, Drew Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Steven Konechik 0-0 0-0 0. 3-point shooting: 2-8 (Humphrey 0-1, Hall 0-2, Mackey 1-2, Weidner 1-3). Rebounds: 40 (Carroll 15, Hall 7, Weidner 5). Fouls: 16. Turnovers: 14. Totals: 25-47 12-17 64
Crawfordsville: Luke Wren 0-0 0-0 0, Nolan Harris 1-5 1-6 3, Kyle Blankenbeckler 1-9 0-0 2, Caleb Rasmussen 4-9 1-1 9, James Miller 2-6 0-1 5, Trent Crabtree 3-10 3-5 9, Jason Donahue 1-3 0-0 2, Cole Priebe 0-2 0-0 0, Jake Zurawski 0-0 0-0 0, Seth Lewis 0-1 0-0 0, Reece Heron 0-0 0-0 0. 3-point shooting: 1-13 (Harris 0-1, Blankenbeckler 0-5, Rasmussen 0-1, Miller 1-2, Crabtree 0-1, Donahue 0-1, Priebe 0-1, Lewis 0-1). Rebounds: 25 (Rasmussen 4). Fouls: 15. Turnovers: 12. Totals: 12-47 5-13 30
The updated Sagamore Conference standings (through Feb. 19), courtesy of John Harrell’s website:
SAGAMORE
Conf. All Off. Def. Margin Streak
Danville 7-0 18-0 71.3 44.6 26.7 Won 18
Lebanon 5-2 11-8 62.3 58.2 4.2 Won 2
Tri-West Hendricks 3-2 12-4 61.6 53.9 7.7 Won 8
North Montgomery 4-3 8-10 58.1 60.8 -2.8 Lost 2
Frankfort 2-3 8-11 60.9 59.8 1.2 Lost 1
Crawfordsville 2-5 10-8 59.3 57.2 2.1 Lost 5
Southmont 1-4 8-9 61.0 63.2 -2.2 Lost 2
Western Boone 1-6 7-11 51.5 55.6 -4.1 Won 1
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