Lady Knights advance to district finals

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

LIMA — It took some cool as ice free-throw shooting by Mackenzie Riggenbach at the end of regulation and two extra quarters of play, but the Crestview Lady Knights were finally victorious in their Division IV district semifinal game against Kalida, winning 53-47 to advance to the district finals against No. 1-ranked Ottoville.

It didn’t look like the Knights were going to make it out of regulation, trailing 43-40 with less than two seconds remaining on the clock. But Riggenbach was fouled on a desperation heave and made three straight free throws to tie the game up and send the game into overtime.

Neither team did much in the first overtime, which ended in a 45-all tie, but Crestview outscored the Wildcats 8-2 in the final OT to escape with the win.

The Knights are now 22-2 on the year, while Kalida ends its season at 15-9.

Riggenbach and freshman Emily Bauer led the Knights with 15 points apiece, while Terra Crowle added 10 points and Kennis Mercer had 8 points for Crestview. Kylie Osterhage led all scorers with 17 points, while Jackie Gardner added 10 points for Kalida.

Both teams made 16 field goals and 14 free throws, but the difference was that Crestview had seven treys, compared to just one three-pointer for the Lady ‘Cats. The Knights were 16 of 41 from the field (39 percent), while Kalida made 16 of 53 field goal attempts (30.2 percent). Crestview was 14 of 22 from the free throw line (63.6 percent), while the Wildcats made 14 of 25 from the line (56 percent).

The Lady Knights were dominant on the boards, bringing down 35 caroms to 22 for Kalida, but also turned the ball over more (23-11).

Crestview led by a basket, 12-10, at the end of the first quarter, but the Wildcats went on a 10-5 run in the second period to lead by three points, 20-17, at the half. The Knights cut Kalida’s lead to a single point, 29-28, at the three-quarter mark before tying the game at 43-all on Riggenbach’s clutch free throws.

The Knights will play Ottoville (24-0) in a district finals game that begins at 7 p.m. Saturday at Lima Senior.