Crestview girls win share of NWC title

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

CONVOY — Crestview survived a barrage of three pointers by Paulding and the Lady Knights earned a share of the 2020-2021 Northwest Conference championship with a 57-51 win over the Lady Panthers on Thursday.

Crestview (17-3, 7-1 NWC) shares the title with Delphos Jefferson (17-5, 7-1 NWC). The Wildcats defeated Spencerville 48-41 on Thursday.

With Laci McCoy scoring seven points in the opening stanza, the Lady Knights led 10-4 after the first quarter and 18-10 in the second quarter, before Paulding hit five consecutive triples, including three by Leigha Egnor, enough to give the Lady Panthers a 27-26 halftime lead.

Engor went on to finish with a team high 16 points plus seven rebounds, while Sadie Estle added 12 points and seven rebounds.

The game was tied 33-33 in the third quarter when Crestview went on an 11-0 run, which included a pair of treys by Bailey Gregory and one by freshman Cali Gregory, who finished with a game high 17 points.

However, Paulding responded with eight unanswered points, including two triples to make it 44-41 at the end of the period.

“They shot the ball so well in the second quarter and in the third quarter they made a run on us, and I knew they weren’t going to stop,” Crestview head coach Mark Gregory said of Paulding. “Credit our girls for making plays down the stretch. I’m just so proud of my team.”

The Lady Panthers hit 10-of-20 treys in the game, while Crestview countered with a 7-of-11 shooting performance beyond the arc.

A quick offensive rebound and bucket by Estle pulled Paulding to within one, 44-43 early in the fourth quarter, but a basket by Raegan Hammons and a bank shot by McCoy pushed Crestview’s advantage to 48-43. Later in the period, another basket by McCoy and successive free throws by Olivia Cunningham and Bailey Gregory put the Lady Knights ahead 57-48.

Gregory and McCoy each had 15 points and McCoy finished with seven rebounds.

“She’s really stepped up her game,” the elder Gregory said of McCoy. “She’s just doing all the little things – she’s getting steals, she’s rebounding, she’s scoring, she’s doing all the things we’ve talked about all season long and I’m just so proud of her. We had Bailey step up, we had Cali, we had Liv and we have girls who are playing lots of minutes.”

Paulding had a slight advantage on the boards, 23-20, but the elder Gregory said he was pleased with how his team battled for rebounds.

“I thought we had to rebound the basketball or it was going to be a long night for us,” the coach said.

Crestview committed just nine turnovers in the game, compared to 17 by Paulding. The Lady Knights converted 10-of-15 foul shots, while the Lady Panthers shot just two all game, hitting one.

Crestview will finish the regular season at Van Wert on Saturday (11 a.m. junior varsity start), and Paulding will play the winner of Jefferson/Tinora in the sectional championship game on February 20.

Scoring summary

Crestview 10 16 18 13 – 57
Paulding 4 23 14 10 – 51

Crestview: Breena Grace 1-0-2; Bailey Gregory 5-0-15; Cali Gregory 6-2-17; Laci McCoy 6-2-15; Raegan Hammons 1-0-2; Olivia Cunningham 2-4-6

Paulding: Claire Schweller 3-0-9; Jalynn Parrett 2-0-5; Janae Pease 3-1-9; Leigha Egnor 6-0-16; Sadie Estle 6-0-12

JV: Paulding 34-33