WEST LAFAYETTE — Crawfordsville’s boys couldn’t out-shoot West Lafayette in a 69-53 basketball loss.
The Athenians, who fall to 2-3 overall, fell behind early to the Red Devils, who moved to 3-2 with the win.
The home team got out early and never looked back.
“We’ve yet to start well in the first quarter,” Crawfordsville coach David Pierce said. “We are wanting to work into our offensive flow, but we aren’t nearly patient enough on offense. Our shot selection is not good enough. We need better percentage shots, especially early, but all throughout the game.”
The Athenians got the deficit back to single digits a couple times, but those moments were quickly answered by the Red Devils, who were dialed in at Barberry Gym.
“I really thought we were dialed in defensively,” WL coach David Wood said. “We have not had the best of defensive efforts the last couple games, and I encouraged the guys to be proud of their defensive efforts. That got us going.”
Some of that defensive effort by the home team helped make it a long shooting night for Crawfordsville, who finished 18-of-47 for the night, including an 8-of-21 game from long range and a perfect 9-of-9 effort at the line.
“We want to shoot about 14 three’s a game,” Piece said, looking at his stats computer. “We shot that many in the first half. We have to get closer to the rim. We have to be more patient and more disciplined on offense.”
Crawfordsville was led in scoring by the 10-point games of Jesse Hall and Nat Schroeter. Hall got half his points from the line, as WL was focused on the Athenians leading scorer from the start.
Schroeter cashed in with a 5-of-6 night from the field and the big junior pulled down six boards.
“Nate had a great game,” Pierce said. “We competed hard, and lots of what we did tonight was good, but we had an off-shooting night from the guards and we lost our focus a couple times, especially when we started making a run. We’ve got guys still getting adjusted to the varsity roles they have. It was a really physical game tonight with not a lot of fouls called, and we have to adjust to that. Westside loves to play, to compete, and I think our guys are still a little shell-shocked.”
Sophomore guard Ziair Morgan complemented his six points with seven rebounds to lead the team.
“He didn’t have a turnover,” Pierce said of his point guard, “against a very good defensive team.”
Tyler Boyle led the Red Devils with 21 points, followed by Yanni Karlaftis with 16 and Will Lasater with 13. Karlaftis was game-best with nine rebounds.
Overall, WL was 28-of-53 from the field, 8-of-21 from long range and 5-of-9 from the stripe. They won the rebound battle 34-24 and had only seven turnovers. They forced Crawfordsville into eight turnovers, but cashed in with 15 points off those miscues.
“I’m glad we played Crawfordsville early,” Wood said. “We gave Sam Schott his first start, and he did a great job on Hall. Boyle was outstanding. Crawfordsville is going to be a good team. They share the ball well and they attack on offense. We felt good about getting this win.”
The Red Devils have a home game tonight against Crispus Attucks and will play North Montgomery in January.
The Athenians have a week off before the big county and conference matchup with the Chargers next Friday.
WEST LAFAYETTE 69 CRAWFORDSVILLE 53
CRAWFORDSVILLE 6 13 16 18 - 53
WEST LAFAYETTE 18 9 22 20 - 69
Crawfordsville (2-3): Lynas 1-6 0-0 3, Williamson 4-12 0-0 9 , Morgan 2-7 0-0 6, Hall 2-5 5-5 10, Schroeter 5-6 2-2 12, Hensley 2-4 0-0 6, Watt 0-1 0-0 0, Meyer 1-1 2-2 4, Kellerman 1-4 0-0 3, Scott 0-1 0-0 0, Hernandez 0-00-0. Totals 18-47 9-9 53.
West Lafayette (3-2): Boyle 9-15 0-1 21, Lasater 6-8 0-1 13 , Martin 2-4 0-0 6, Karlaftis 7-14 2-4 16, Schott 1-3 1-1 3, Driggs 0-1 0-0 0, Shrewsberry 2-6 0-0 6, Omonode 0-0 0-0 0, Ragheb 0-0 2-2 2, Brummet 01 0-0 0, Krinz 1-1 0-0 2, Adeyanju 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-53 5-9 69.
3-Point Shooting: CHS 8-21 (Lynas 1-3, Wiiamson 1-4, Morgan 2-4, Hall 1-3, Kellerman 1-4, Hensley 2-3); WL 8-21 (Boyle 3-6, Shrewsberry 2-5, Lasater 1-3, Driggs 0-1, Martin 2-3, Brummet 0-1, Schott 0-2).
Turnovers: Crawfordsville 9, West Lafayette 7.
