Lancers fall to Ottoville in district semis

Van Wert independent sports

LIMA — It’s tough to win against the No. 1-ranked Ottoville girls with one bad quarter, but the Lincolnview Lancers had two of them in their 62-27 loss to the Lady Big Green in their Division IV district semifinal game at Lima Senior.

The Lancers started out good against Ottoville, trailing by just a point, 13-12, at the end of the first quarter. But the middle two quarters sounded the death knell for Lincolnview, which was outscored 36-5 in those quarters and trailed by a whopping 32 points, 49-17, by the start of the final stanza of play.

Defense was the key to the game, as the Big Green shot 52.4 percent from the field (22 of 42) while holding Lincolnview to 26.5 percent (9 of 34). Both teams shot well from the free throw line, with Ottoville hitting 13 of 19 (68.4 percent) and the Lancers canning 7 of 11 (63.6 percent) from the charity stripe.

Turnovers were about even, with the Big Green losing the ball 21 times, to 25 for Lincolnview, but Ottoville dominated on the boards, bringing down 29 rebounds (11 offensive) to just 11 total for the Lady Lancers.

Claire Dye was the only Lincolnview player in double figures, with 10 points, while Abby Siefker led the Big Green with 19 points and Taylor Mangas added 11 points for Ottoville, Rachel Beining scored 8, and Rachel Turnwald had 7 points on the night. The Big Green had eight players in the scoring column, while seven Lincolnview players scored in the game.

With the win, Ottoville remains perfect at 24-0 and plays the Crestview Lady Knights (22-2) in the district finals on Saturday. Lincolnview ends its season with a very respectable 18-6 record.