Crestview wins regional title, state berth

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

ELIDA — The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word dominate as “commanding, controlling, or prevailing over all others.”

The word dominate best describes Crestview’s 65-35 win Columbus Grove (17-8) in the Division IV regional championship at Elida on Saturday. The Lady Knights were in complete control from start to finish and the numbers don’t lie.

Crestview (22-3) shot 65 percent from the floor in the first half and 56.5 percent for the game, while holding Columbus Grove to 26.4 percent from the floor, including just 3-of-31 from three point range. Crestview had four players finish in double figures and the Lady Knights earned a 44-19 rebounding advantage.

Cali Gregory scored seven points in the opening quarter and Olivia Cunningham added five her 11 points as the Lady Knights attacked Columbus Grove’s 2-3 zone and raced out to an 18-8 lead at the end of the period.

“They’ve played 2-3 all year long and it’s been a really good 2-3 zone, but I thought the things we did, we were so unselfish,” Crestview head coach Mark Gregory said. “We got the ball, we moved it, we passed it, we got to the middle, we got to the dead spot and we hit the shots we needed to hit. I thought our kids executed our game plan perfectly on the offensive end and the defensive end.”

Cali Gregory added 13 more points in the second quarter, including three treys as Crestview rolled to a 33-16 halftime lead. The 5-8 freshman guard went on to finish with 24 points.

“Cali has struggled the last few games,” Gregory said. “She’s had an injury to a rib and I don’t know if it was healthiness or if it’s just that she’s a gamer, she steps up in big games for us and she has all year long. Tonight was another one of those big ones and her first half was huge for us.”

Any slim hope of a Columbus Grove comeback was quickly squashed in the third quarter. Jaylen Sautter opened the scoring with a triple, but Crestview followed up with 13 unanswered points, including five by Laci McCoy and four by Myia Etzler, who went on to account for eight points in the period. McCoy finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds and Etzler tallied 12 points and 16 rebounds.

“We’ve seen how far she’s come along,” coach Gregory said of Etzler. “She’s really grown and our group is such a tight knit group and I think that the difference in what you saw tonight.”

Kenzie King led Columbus Grove with 14 points and Sautter added 13.

The game was the opposite of an early regular season matchup between the two teams, when Crestview struggled to a 37-34 win.

“Both groups have improved,” Gregory said. “I’ve watched Columbus Grove get better as the season went on but our group has gotten really good over the season too. You see people like Laci McCoy who in that first game with them struggled mightily and actually sat most of the second half and Myia Etzler only played the second half of that game and you see how far along they’ve come.”

Crestview returns to the Division IV state semifinals for the first time since 2009. The Lady Knights will face Fort Loramie at 11 a.m. Thursday at UD Arena at the University of Dayton. The Redskins (27-1) finished the regular season as the Associated Press poll champion.

Thursday’s Crestview-Fort Loramie game will be broadcast live on 99.7 WKSD.

Scoring summary

Crestview 18 15 21 11 – 65
Col. Grove 8 8 10 9 – 35

Crestview: Bailey Gregory 1-0-2; Cali Gregory 9-2-24; Laci McCoy 5-0-11; Myia Etzler 4-4-12; Olivia Cunningham 5-0-11; Brynn Putnam 1-0-2; Breena Grace 1-1-3

Columbus Grove: Jaylen Sautter 5-2-13; Erin Downing 2-0-4; Kenzie King 5-2-14; Brynn Fortman 1-0-2; Emma Renner 1-0-2