MANSFIELD — It’s the game Richland and Crawford county boys basketball fans have been eagerly anticipating for the past year.
Top-seed and Division IV Associated Press poll champ St. Peter’s will meet No. 2 seed Colonel Crawford in the district championship game for a second straight season. The Spartans and Eagles will renew hostilities at 7 p.m. Friday at Willard’s Robert L. Haas Memorial Gymnasium.
St. Peter’s (25-0) advanced with an 81-71 win over upstart Lucas in the nightcap of Wednesday’s district semifinal doubleheader. The Eagles (20-4) punched their ticket with a 61-51 win over Norwalk St. Paul in Wednesday’s early game.
The Spartans won last year’s meeting 59-42 in a game that was closer than the final score indicated. Crawford led 27-26 at the half — the Eagles closed the second quarter on an 11-0 run — and led 30-28 midway through the third.
St. Peter’s outscored Crawford 19-7 in the fourth quarter, but the lessons learned that night should serve the Eagles well Friday, coach David Sheldon said.
“There’s nothing that compares to tournament experience,” Sheldon said. “By getting to the district final, they know what it’s all about. I think that (experience) helped us in our sectional final and our district semifinal.”
The Eagles certainly looked the part of district title contender in a workmanlike win over St. Paul. Brody Martin led a balanced attack with 21 points. Jordan Fenner, Reis Walker and Harley Shaum each had nine and Cameron McCreary added seven. Gavin Feichtner, a 6-foot-4 forward who had a great postseason run last year, sat out Wednesday.
“Once again, we had great balance,” Sheldon said. “Brody Martin stepped up and had a great game, then we go nine, nine, seven and nine.
“When we heard Gavin couldn’t play, it was next man up. That’s the great thing with the depth of our program.”
As good as the Eagles were Wednesday, the Spartans were every bit as impressive. All five starters scored in double figures in the win over a talented Lucas team.
Elijah Cobb led the way with 22 points, followed by Jared Jakubick with 16. Jonah Ramey had 15, while Caleb Stewart added 13 and Luke Henrich scored 11.
“Caleb and Luke are tremendous shooters,” St. Peter’s coach Joe Jakubick said. “They’re not going to make a move or pull up in your face and break you down, but they are very good shooters if you let them get their feet set.”
What troubled Jakubick was his team’s defensive effort. Wednesday was the first time all season the Spartans’ surrendered 70 or more points in a game.
“Defensively, we didn’t play to our abilities,” Jakubick said. “Lucas hit a lot of shots tonight, but we’ve got to do better because Colonel Crawford is a tremendous shooting team. They’ve got inside and outside players.
“We’ve just got to get focused for the next couple of days.”
St. Peter’s has won the past two district titles and advanced to the Elite Eight both seasons. Colonel Crawford hasn’t been to the regional tournament since 2013.
“There’s a reason they’re ranked No. 1 in the state,” Sheldon said. “They’re (undefeated). All the pressure is on them. They’re supposed to get back there.
“We look forward to coming back and playing Friday night.”
