No. 2 Eagles get by Blue Devils 61-45

CAREY – Carey had things trending in the right direction.The Blue Devils led early in the third quarter and trailed by just two points with possession with 90 seconds to go in the quarter.But, Division III No. 2 Colonel Crawford controlled the rest of the third quarter and finished strong in the fourth quarter as Carey fell 61-45 in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action on Wednesday. The win was CC's 45th consecutive regular-season win."They are a really good team," Carey coach Jamie Young said. "They are really disciplined in what they do. Defensively, they just lock you up. We had good looks and we missed layups."Landen Kemerley scored on an offensive rebound to open the second-half scoring for the Blue Devils (5-6 overall, 3-3 N10) to take a 32-31 advantage. That would be the only lead Carey had all game against the Eagles (13-0, 8-0) though.Carter Valentine answered with a 3 for CC and the Eagles used a 9-2 run to seize a 40-34 lead. Brayden Young and Ashton Hill scored to keep the Blue Devils within 40-38. But, Valentine dropped in a bucket for Colonel Crawford and Derek Horsley hit a triple at the buzzer to push the lead to 45-38."In the second half, we didn't get those opportunities," Young said. "Not like the first half. They were a little more stifling on defense."Valentine hit a pull-up jumper to open the fourth quarter and a 3 from Mason Studer ballooned the margin to 50-38. Carey only got as close as 10 points the rest of the way."I thought the game changer was the second half and the way we guarded," Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon said. "We hold them to 12 points until that 3 at the end to get to 15. We locked down a lot better defensively in the second half."Young spoke about his team's energy level and if they were tired. It was the Blue Devils' fourth game in six days. After a state championship run in football, Carey is still getting its legs fully going for basketball."You know what? Honestly, no," Young said. "I don't think we are as tired as I thought we were going to be. We have competitors is what it is. That group we are playing with, they all compete."Treys by Valentine and Braxton Baker helped CC to an early 10-3 lead. Carey cut the margin to two points on three separate occasions, but a 3 from Studer gave the Eagles a 19-14 lead after eight minutes.Colonel Crawford pushed the lead to 26-18 in the second quarter on another triple from Baxter, but Carey got back into the game. The Blue Devils' offense got a injection of energy from a Bryce Conti dunk. Anthony Bell then hit a 3-pointer, Kemerley scored in the paint and Young nailed a triple at the buzzer to get Carey within 31-30 at halftime."We were making shots. That helps," Young said. "Especially with a team like this because they go on runs. They always do and always have since I've been coaching here for seven years. Dave's teams always go on runs."Valentine led all scorers with 25 points and seven rebounds while Baxter added 13 points. Studer added 12 points for Colonel Crawford, who had just nine turnovers in the game."They have athletes at all five positions," said Sheldon of the Blue Devils. "They are so physical and they play so hard. I thought our guys matched the intensity. We shared the ball again all night."Young topped Carey with 17 points while Kemerley scored 10 points. The Blue Devils shot just two free throws on the night and held a 27-22 rebounding edge."I would have liked to be more aggressive," Young said. "I thought we were aggressive. We were missing the shots. They were letting the contact go. We just have to be bigger. We are a football school. We have to finish. We have to be stronger."