For the third time in the last four years Crawfordsville girls basketball will have to take on the Danville Warriors in the opening round of the Class 3A Sectional 25 on Wednesday which is hosted this year at Lebanon. Each of the last three seasons, the Warriors have been the team to end the Athenians season. A season ago it was in the sectional semi-finals and the two previous years it was in the opening round like this season.
In total this will be the eighth meeting between the two Sagamore Conference foes in the last four seasons. Crawfordsville comes into the sectional with an overall record of 7-15 on the season while the Warriors holds an impressive mark of 19-4. The two teams met up in Danville on Nov. 26 with the Warriors coming away with a 75-29 win. Crawfordsville coach Tyler Smith knows the challenge that will be up against yet again.
“They always present a huge challenge,” Smith said of the Warriors. “They’re really athletic across the board and it really doesn’t matter what you throw at them, they’ve seen it and know how to beat it. We’ll try to mix things up the best we can. We feel like we’re a better team than when we played them last. We’re going to go in there and give it our best shot as it’s just another chance to play.”
Danville with their 19-4 record claimed the out-right Sagamore Conference title with a perfect 7-0 record in conference play. While the Warriors don’t boast a dominant scorer, their success lies in their depth as they have four girls scoring over or near 10 points per game. Senior Cameryn Rector is the leading scorer for the Warriors with 12.5 points per game. Sophomore Addison Davis scores 10.6, senior Isabelle Wooten 9.9, and sophomore Emma Ancelet scores 9.3.
Crawfordsville is led in scoring by junior Taylor Abston who equals Rector’s 12.5 per game scoring average. Abston also grabs 8.8 rebounds to go along with 2.2 blocks. Senior Elyse Widmer scores six a game with Riley Gardner averaging nearly five.
Something that Cville can and is using as the prepare for the sectional is that they are playing some of their best basketball of the season. They come into Wednesday’s matchup against the Warriors winners of three out of their last four. What’s even better is that other players have stepped up such as Gardner. In their 56-43 win over North Vermillion, the sophomore turned in one of the best performances in school history scoring 22 points and grabbing 19 rebounds.
“These last few games, there’s just been a different vibe and feel with our girls,” Smith said. “We want to be playing our best and we feel like we’re doing that. Even though it’s a tough opponent, the mood is different with us than if we were entering on a losing streak. This is also the last ride for our two seniors. We want to go out play for them.”
The Athenians and Warriors will tip things off on Wednesday at 6 pm at Lebanon. The winner will advance to Friday’s semi-finals to take on the winner of the second game that evening between 15-7 Monrovia and 6-16 Tri-West.
