Knights edged by St. Henry in overtime

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

ELIDA – The Crestview Knight boys’ basketball team did it best, but fell in a classic district semifinal battle to the St. Henry Redskins 57-51 in overtime.

Crestview took a two-point lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Redskins rallied in the second period, outscoring the Knights 11-7 to take their own two-point lead, 22-20, at the half.

Crestview came back strong in the second half, doubling the score on the Redskins, 14-7, to take back the lead, 34-29, heading into the final stanza.

Again, though, St. Henry rallied and was ahead 44-41 with 4.7 seconds left when Nick Adam let fly a three-pointer that tied the game and forced the contest into overtime.

The Redskins did just enough in OT to win the game, hitting just 6 of 16 free throws and a couple of big field goals to overcome Crestview in the final period of play.

Kyle Stahl led St. Henry with 15 points, while Jordan Bender also was in double figures for the Redskins with 13 points. Caleb Heitkamp and Craig Knapke added 9 points for the Mercer County squad.

No one scored in double figures for the Knights, which had a balanced scoring effort among seven different players. Leading the way were Adam and Damian Helm, who both scored 9 points in the game, while Dallis Gibson and Josh Ream added 8 points apiece for Crestview.

The Knights were 6 of 22 from three-point range (27.3 percent), and made 11 of 25 two-point attempts (44 percent). Crestview shot well from the foul line, making 9 of 12 free throw attempts (75 percent).

St. Henry made 5 of 11 three-point attempts (45.5 percent) and was 14 of 29 from two-point range (48.3 percent). The Redskins canned 14 of 24 free throws (58.3 percent).

St. Henry also dominated the boards, bringing down 33 rebounds to 25 for the Knights. Crestview had far fewer turnovers, though, losing the ball just 14 times to 23 times for the Redskins.

The Redskins will next play Fort Recovery, which downed Delphos St. John’s 51-46 in the other Division IV district semifinal contest.