Knights beat Lancer girls; VW loses

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

Crestview held off a fourth-quarter rally to edge county rival Lincolnview in a Northwest Conference game, while the Van Wert Lady Cougars lost a Western Buckeye League game to Elida in girls’ basketball action on Thursday.

The Lady Knights got out to quick lead, 9-4, in the first quarter of their game against Lincolnview and led by nine points, 32-23, heading into the final quarter of play. But the Lady Lancers weren’t quite done, as they outscored Crestview 15-10 in the final stanza to give the Knights a bad moment or two before finally falling, 42-38.

Lincolnview’s Katie Dye led all scorers with 17 points, while the Knights had two players in double figures: Maddie Preston, with 14 points, and Danica Hicks, with 13 markers.

Both teams shot reasonably well from the field, with Crestview making 16 of 38 field goal attempts (42.1 percent) and the Lancers hitting 15 of 35 for a 42.9 percent field goal success ratio. Free throw shooting was a key to the game, as the Knights hit 9 of 15 free throw attempts (60 percent), while Lincolnview made just 5 of 16 from the line (31.3 percent).

Both teams had 16 turnovers in the game, while Crestview had the edge in rebounding, 13-11. The Knights also had 14 points in the paint, compared to 8 for Lincolnview.

At Van Wert, Lady Cougar Alex Morrow was the only player on either team in double figures, scoring 11 on the night, the Elida still won the game, 39-33, thanks in part to another less-than-stellar offensive effort on the part of the Cougars. Katie Smith led Elida with 9 points.

Van Wert led 8-6 at the end of the first quarter and was up 19-15 at the half. But a bad third quarter did in the Cougars, as they were outscored 13-4 to trail by five points, 28-23, heading into the final stanza. Elida won the game on free-throw shooting, making 16 of 26 at the line (61.5 percent), while Van Wert hit only 2 of 8 free-throw attempts (25 percent).

Elida is now 2-7 overall and 1-2 in the WBL, while the Lady Cougars are 2-8 overall and 0-3 in league play.

The Cougar junior varsity team also lost, 33-27, and is also 2-8 on the year.