Knights make it to Division IV state finals

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

COLUMBUS — One more to go.

The Crestview Knights are headed to the Division IV state finals after a gritty 54-50 win over New Madison Tri-Village in a state semifinals game played Thursday at the Schottenstein Center on the campus of Ohio State University.

It was a No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle between the Knights and Patriots, who both showed they earned those state rankings during an intense battle on Thursday.

Tri-Village led 16-12 at the end of a quarter and the Patriots were up by five points, 24-19, at the half. The Knights then ratcheted down the defense in the third quarter, forcing Tri-Village into turnovers while upping the level of their offensive game to outscore the Patriots 15-4 in the third period for a six-point lead, 34-28, at the end of the period. Tri-Village came back in the fourth quarter to outscore Crestview 22-20 but just couldn’t get over the hump against the Knights’ stingy defense.

It was a matter of making free throws down the stretch and Crestview, a 76-percent free-throw shooting team, was up to the challenge, with Damian Helm a perfect 10-for-10 at the charity stripe, including 6-of-6 in the final minute of play.

Tyson Bolenbaugh led the Knights with 15 points, while Cam Etzler had 13, including 6-of-8 from the line, and Helm scored 10 points on free throws for his offensive total.

Tyler Cook led Tri-Village and all scorers with 20 points, with Damion Cook adding 16 points for the Patriots, who had only four players score in the game.

Crestview was 14 of 37 from the field (37.8 percent), including 4 of 14 from three-point range (28.5 percent). The Knights won the game from the free throw line, though, canning 22 of 27 free throw attempts (81.5 percent).

Tri-Village was 18 of 41 from the field (43.9 percent), including 4 of 8 (50 percent) from three-point range. The Patriots were 10 of 13 from the free throw line (76.9 percent).

The rebounding edge went to Tri-Village, which brought down 29 boards to 23 for the Knights, while Crestview had fewer turnovers, 9-15, than the Patriots.

Tri-Village ends its season at 26-2, while the Knights (28-0) now play Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas (18-11),  for the Division IV state title. Aquinas defeated Canal Winchester Harvest Prep (26-1) in the other state semifinal game. Game time is at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.