Willard tops defending state champion Rogers

WILLARD — Willard senior Cassie Crawford has not shot it as well as she would like to this season from three-point range.What better time to break out of a slump than against the two-time defending Division II state champions at home on a night when seniors were recognized?Crawford hit four 3-pointers en route to 22 points and nine rebounds, leading the Flashes to a 48-41 non-league win over No. 9 Toledo Rogers on Monday."We need that from her," Willard coach Barry Pfahl said. "She can take over a game, both in the paint and with the three. Sometimes she is kind of reluctant and shares the ball. There are some games where she can not do that. In a game like this, I need her getting 20-plus points."Pfahl expounded on the school's all-time leading scorer who will play next season at Ashland University."The great thing about Cass is how unselfish she is," he said. "It's not like she goes out and shoots it every time. We will go out and play somebody else next week and she might have 10 points and eight assists. That is what I like about her. She is a great team-orientated kid."Crawford opened the game's scoring just over a minute in with a 3-pointer. Later, Willard (16-3) used a run of six straight points for a 9-3 lead to force the Rams into a timeout. Rogers responded with back-to-back buckets by Logen Love to bring the Rams within two points after eight minutes.The Flashes played their best stretch of basketball in the second quarter. Kalli Sowers hit a jumper and Mckenna Stephens scored off of a nifty pass from Crawford to open the second quarter.Leading 17-12, Crawford hit a 3-pointer and after Love scored for Rogers, consecutive tallies by Presley Feltner, Crawford, and Layla Dials pushed Willard ahead, 26-14."I think we out-skilled Rogers a little bit," Pfahl said. "With the defense we played, that enabled us to do what we do. They were physical and they were fast. I thought our kids did an excellent job."The Rams made a run with the next three scores, but Crawford hit a 3 and Stephens scored for a 31-22 advantage.The teams exchanged scores over the next few minutes before Crawford was good for a 3 and Stephens' score made it 42-29 with 1:18 left in the third quarter.Leading 42-31 after three quarters, Stephens extended the lead with a layup off of an assist by Feltner. Crawford followed with a steal and score to make it 46-31.The Rams scored the next eight points to get within 46-39 with 1:14 left, but Stephens slammed the door shut with a layup off of an out-of-bounds play with 35 seconds left."We get a lot of good inside and high-low passing out of Presley and Mckenna," Pfahl said. "We get a lot of easy baskets that you do not think we would get against a team with that kind of size."Love paced Rogers with 14 points. She added nine rebounds while Winter Richburg had 13 points."I was apprehensive coming in," Pfahl said. "This is the first game that I knew zero about who we were playing. We made no attempt. We told the kids this game was to get better and get ready for the tournament."Stephens tallied 16 points and six rebounds while Feltner hauled in seven rebounds."If you look down the road, we have Margaretta coming here and then probably Shelby and Bellevue in the district tournament," Pfahl said of the three teams that are a combined 50-2. "We can play with these people. I don't care who it is. We have come a long way."Willard committed just 13 turnovers and Stephens' two free throw makes on three attempts were the only free throw attempts the Flashes had. TOLEDO ROGERS (13-4)Alazyonna Kimble 1-1—3, Logen Love 9-1—19, Winter Richburg 5-1—13, Anastacia Morgan 3-0—6. TOTALS 18-3—41. WILLARD (16-3)Mckenna Stephens 7-2—16, Cassie Crawford 9-0—22, Presley Feltner 3-0—6, Kalli Sowers 1-0—2, Layla Dials 1-0—2. TOTALS 21-2—48. Rogers 7 9 15 10 — 41Willard 9 17 16 6 — 48 3-point FGs: (R) Richburg 2; (W) Crawford 4.