Lancers earn berth in Div. IV state tourney

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

BOWLING GREEN — The Lincolnview Lancers return to the Final Four for the first time in nearly two decades with a dominating 71-51 victory over Mansfield St. Peter’s in the Division IV tournament at Bowling Green State University’s Stroh Center.

Lincolnview (26-1) scored the first seven points of the game and never looked back as the Lancers won their first Division IV regional championship since 1997 — the year Lincolnview won its last state championship. The Lancers led by seven, 16-9, at the end of the first quarter — a run fueled by 8 points from Chandler Adams — and were up by 16 points, 36-20, at the half.

The momentum shifted just a bit in the third quarter when the Spartans (23-4) outscored Lincolnview 16-11 to cut the Lancers’ lead to 11 points, 47-36, but Lincolnview players made their free throws down the stretch to outscore Mansfield 24-15 and win going away.

Unlike the defense-oriented battled against Lafayette, the Lancer offense came into play more against Mansfield St. Peter’s. Coming off a game when they made just over 30 percent of their shots, the Lancers canned 24 of 46 (52.2 percent) field-goal attempts against the Spartans, including 4 of 10 from three-point range (40 percent). Lincolnview was 19 of 29 from the free-throw line (65.5 percent).

The Lincolnview defense held the Spartans to 14-of-45 shooting from the field (31.1 percent), with Mansfield making 7 of 21 three-point attempts. The Spartans were 16 of 24 at the charity stripe (66.7 percent).

The Lancers dominated on the boards, bringing down a whopping 43 rebounds to just 17 for St. Peter’s. Lincolnview had 12 turnovers to 7 for the Spartans.

The Lancers had three players in double figures, led by Hayden Ludwig’s 16 points. Derek Youtsey added 14 points, while Chandler Adams finished with 12 points. Lincolnview’s Josh Leiter nearly made it to double figures with 9 points in the game.

Jared Jakubick, son of Mansfield Coach Joe Jakubick, led all scorers with 18 points, while Mason Campbell had 13 points for the Spartans.

The Lancers will now play at 2 p.m. Friday at the Schottenstein Center on the campus of Ohio State University against Jackson Center (23-4), which downed Yellow Springs to win its own Division IV regional championship.