The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

Blue Jays, Lancers win sectional games

Van Wert independent sports

Lincolnview and Delphos St. John’s boys were the winners of Division IV sectional basketball games played in the Cougar’s Den on Friday.

Lincolnview's Kade Carey (5) goes up for a shot against Temple Christian in a Division IV sectional game won by the Lancers at Van Wert on Friday. (Jan Dunlap/Van Wert independent)

The Blue Jays won the opener 56-32 over Fort Jennings, while the Lancers overcame a spirited Lima Temple Christian team 50-43 in the second game of the night.

St. John’s led by seven points, 18-11, at the end of the first quarter and never looked back after that. The score was 32-16 at the half and the Blue Jays led by 23 points, 50-27, heading into the final quarter of play.

Unusually, it wasn’t top scorer Curtis Geise who led St. John’s on Friday. Geise, who had trouble finding the basket, scored just 8 points, but switched to playmaker instead, passing the ball off to his teammates, who picked up the slack. The “Ryans,” Koester and Buescher, led St. John’s with 16 and 13 points, respectively, while Eric Clark added 11 points for the Blue Jays. Brandon Kohli was the Musketeers’ top scorer, with 12 points, while Nick VonSossan added 11 counters for Jennings.

In the nightcap, Lincolnview shook off a slow start and put together just enough offense to down the pesky Pioneers.

The Lancers trailed by four points, 11-7, at the end of the first quarter, but went on a 19-6 run in the second period to lead by nine, 26-17, at the half. Temple Christian rallied in the third stanza, outscoring the Lancer boys 18-10 and trailed by just a point, 36-35, at the end of three. But Lincolnview went on a 14-8 run in the final stanza to secure the victory.

The Lancers were led by Kyle Williams, who had 17 points on the night, while Conner McCleery added 15 points for Lincolnview. The Pioneers’ – and the game’s – top scorer was Justin Kroehler, who had 21 points on the night. Only two other Temple Christian players scored, though. Evan Sutton had 14 points, and Andrew Rhoad added 8 for the Pioneers.

The Lancers and Blue Jays will now face off, starting at approximately 8 p.m. Friday night in one of two Division IV sectional championship games.

POSTED: 02/28/13 at 7:43 am. FILED UNDER: Sports