Danville did all the right things in a 83-52 blowout win over Crawfordsville on Friday night.
The Class 3A No. 2 ranked Warriors connected on 34-of-66 (52%) shots from the field, out-rebounded the Athenians 40-31 and forced Crawfordsville into 19 turnovers.
“No question is it difficult,” Athenians coach David Pierce said of facing the Warrior’s pressure. “They’re just intimidating because of their length and quickness to get into the passing lanes. We played intimidated and that’s why we had 19 turnovers.”
“You look at some of the production from our guys and I just felt like we played scared a little bit tonight.”
Crawfordsville (12-9, 4-3 SAC) dug out of a 6-0 hole to start the game, and twice took a 2-point lead early in the second quarter, but a 19-2 Danville run (19-2, 7-0 SAC) blew the game open in the second quarter. The Warriors led 39-23 at the half, and never looked back.
Kobe Ward led Danville with 21 points, while Dillon Ware was an efficient 9-of-13 from the field and added 20.
The win gives the Warriors their fifth Sagamore Conference title in the last seven years, and their first outright title since 2015.
Ty Lynas produced 16 points off the bench to lead the Athenians.
“I thought Ty Lynas had a good night for us,” Pierce said. “He was able to hit some shots tonight. There were some small good moments there.”
Karsten Williamson added 11 points in the loss on senior night.
Danville held Crawfordsville’s Jesse Hall to just four points. The junior entered Friday night’s league finale averaging 17.6 points per game in SAC action.
Brayton McMahon chipped in 13 points for the Warriors, and Peyton Roof 12.
The Athenians celebrated seniors Nate Mayer, Carson Scott, Cole Watt, and Williamson.
“Great kids,” Pierce said. “They’re hard nosed kids. K-Dub (Williamson) has been a program guy from day one. He lives in the gym. Cole Watt and Carson are the toughest kids we have. We get a lot out of them. And obviously Nate Mayer who is one of the nicest kids we’ve had around in a long time. They all come from great families, and we like all four of them. And you can’t always say that. They are great kids who will become great fathers and husbands some day.”
Danville hosts Decatur Central on Wednesday, before traveling to Avon on Friday. Crawfordsville closes the regular season out at Covington on Friday.
Danville 83, Crawfordsville 52
DV 12 27 26 18 — 83
CHS 10 13 15 14 — 52
DANVILLE (19-2, 7-0 SAC): Peyton Roof 5-9 0-0 12, Luke Wooten 0-2 0-0 0, Tyler Dostin 2-5 1-2 5, Dillon Ware 9-13 1-6 20, Brayton McMahon 4-7 2-2 13, Braxton Fulwider 3-6 0-0 7, Garrett Fulwider 2-4 1-1 5, Kobe Ward 9-13 1-1 21, Sam Comer 0-7 0-0 0; Totals 34-66 6-12 83.
CRAWFORDSVILLE (12-9, 4-3 SAC): Ty Lynas 6-11 3-3 16, Carson Scott 0-2 0-0 0, Karsten Williamson 3-11 4-4 11, Ziair Morgan 2-7 1-1 5, Jesse Hall 2-8 0-0 4, Cole Watt 1-2 0-0 3, Nate Mayer 1-1 0-0 2, Alex Kellerman 0-2 0-0 0, Ian Hensley 3-9 2-2 8, Mekhi Wallace 1-3 0-0 2; Totals 19-56 8-8 52.
3-Point Shooting: DV 9-21(McMahon 3, Ward 2, Roof 2, B. Fulwider, Ware), CHS 3-23 (Lynas, Watt, Williamson).
Rebounds: DV , CHS 31
Turnovers: DV 10, CHS 19
