Despite a slow start at Ithaca last Friday night, the North Crawford boys basketball team had little trouble rallying for a 72-43 win over the Bulldogs to remain undefeated in the Ridge and Valley Conference.

The Trojans’ slow start left them trailing the Bulldogs 13-8, when the first quarter ended. The second quarter, well, that was a totally different story. North Crawford outscored Ithaca 21 to 4, with senior forward Joe Childs scoring 17 of those points. The Trojans went into the locker room leading by 12 points, 29-17.

In the third quarter junior forward Tyler Olson took over the game scoring 14 points as the Trojans continued to dominate the Bulldogs, outscoring them 23 to 7 and making the score 52-24 at the end of three quarters.

When you trail a team by more points than you’ve been able to score in three quarters going into the fourth quarter, your chances of winning the game aren’t that good. Ithaca did manage to score 19 points in the fourth quarter and the Trojans put up 20 more, but the game was over long before the final seconds ticked away.

Childs led all scorers with 31 points and Olson scored 16 points. Rounding out the scoring for North Crawford were Austin Abbey and Cody Hershberger with six points each and freshman Brady Allbaugh scored four points.

The Trojans travel to Kickapoo tonight, Thursday, Jan. 31 for a game against the Panthers. Then, it's on to Boscobel with the girls team for a doubleheader with the Bulldogs this Saturday, Feb. 2.

On Tuesday, Feb. 5, North Crawford will host the Seneca Indians for Parents Night.

Following the Trojans victory over Ithaca, their overall record improved to 12-3 and their conference record went to 9-0. There are just five conference games remaining and the Trojans seemed poised to take another conference title. Kickapoo and Wauzeka-Steuben are 6-3 in conference play, while LaFarge is 5-3.