Crestview cruises by Allen East 78-52

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

CONVOY — Crestview controlled the boards and the game on the way to an impressive 78-52 Northwest Conference win over Allen East at Ray Etzler Gymnasium on Friday night.

The Knights held a 36-24 rebounding advantage, including 11 offensive boards that led to seven Crestview baskets in the first half.

“Coming into the game I thought height advantage-wise, attack the rim, try to get some second shots and I thought defensive rebounding led to some transition points,” Crestview head coach Doug Etzler said. “We pushed the ball a little bit better tonight than what we’ve been doing and got a lot more shots at the rim. That’s obviously going to give you a lot better chance to score.”

Crestview (8-2, 2-1 NWC) led 17-12 at the end of the first quarter, with Carson Kreischer scoring eight of his 14 points in the period, including six off of offensive rebounds. The 6-3 senior finished with seven rebounds in the game.

It was Brody Brecht’s turn in the second stanza, as the 6-0 forward put in eight of his 12 points to help boost the Knights to a 38-22 halftime lead.

“The first half of the season defensively I’ve been really proud of how we played but I think we have the capability to match that at the offensive end too, but I don’t think we move the ball quick enough and we don’t cut hard enough,” Etzler said. “We’ve stressed that the last two weeks and I think finally in a game it showed up tonight. We had a little more energy, we had a little more fun, let’s keep this rolling this way offensively and try to get downhill, attack teams – if we do that, we have a chance to score some points.”

Any hopes of an Allen East (6-4, 0-2 NWC) comeback were dashed in the third period, as the Knights outscored the Mustangs by a 28-11 margin, which translated into a 66-33 lead at the end of the quarter. JJ Ward drained a pair of treys and scored eight points in the period, while Kalen Etzler added seven points.

Etzler, who finished with a game-high 18 points and seven rebounds, hammered home a crowd-pleasing dunk to open the fourth quarter and the Knights led by as many as 37 before both teams emptied their benches.

Along with three players in double figures, the Knights had three others near that threshold, as Mitch Temple scored nine and Ward and Carson Hunter each had eight.

“We had guys that had a really good week of practice,” Etzler said. “Carson Hunter probably had his best week of practice all year and he carried that over into the game. That’s what we need, every night someone has to step up and get it done for us and tonight we had several, but we have 10 guys that we feel really comfortable with, as long as we share the ball and play as hard as we can.”

Allen East had two players in double figures – Keaton Miller led the way with 13, including seven in the fourth quarter and Bradden Crumrine, who added 10 points.

Crestview had 11 turnovers and was 5-of-9 from the foul line, while the Mustangs were 10-of-13 at the free throw line with 14 turnovers.

The Knights are scheduled to play at Arlington (5-4) tonight.

Scoring summary

Crestview 17 21 28 12 – 78
Allen East 12 10 11 19 – 52

Crestview: Kalen Etzler 7-3-18; Gavin Etzler 1-0-3; Carson Hunter 4-0-8; Mitch Temple 4-0-9; Dmitry Lichtensteiger 0-2-2; Brody Brecht 6-0-12; JJ Ward 3-0-8; Carson Kreischer 7-0-14; Nasir Easterling 1-0-2

Allen East: Bradden Crumrine 3-4-10; Kaden Armstrong 2-0-4; Tyler Clum 2-2-7; Garrett Newland 1-0-2; Caden Jones 1-0-3; Gabe Criblez 4-1-9; Zach Miller 4-3-13; Carson Clum 2-0-4

JV: Crestview 49-34