VW County girls’ roundball round-up

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

The 2016-2017 high school basketball season is in full swing, and, on the ladies’ side, three Van Wert County teams have enjoyed differing degrees of success.

On paper, Van Wert’s record may not be impressive (4-10, 1-3 Western Buckeye League), but head coach Rob Adams believes the Lady Cougars are making real progress after going 0-22 last season.

“We have won four games, which is a small step, but a very important step,” Adams said. “We are still very young, but the girls are starting to learn how hard winning is.”

After serving as an assistant last season, Adams was named head coach in October and immediately began working to turn things around.

“The biggest challenge has been establishing our team identity with such a short amount of time to work with,” Adams said. “We established our defense first, but are now starting to develop team chemistry on offense.”

Adams added that improving offensive transition and overall offensive ability will be important during the remaining games.

“We like to play fast and aggressive, and that comes with turnovers,” Adams said. “If we can learn to control our turnovers and become better passers, our offensive production will improve.”

When it comes to scoring, the Lady Cougars have shared the load, which makes it harder for opponents to key on one player.

“Ally Jackson and Reagan Priest have been fairly consistent scorers, with Cassidy Meyers, Abby Jackson, and Alexis Rupert all chipping in,” Adams said. “Our leading rebounders have been Cassidy Meyers and Ally Jackson.”

While this year’s team continues to improve, Adams is excited about the future.

“Our JV squad has come very capable newcomers that will add excitement to our team in the coming years, so development of those players is critical to next year’s production,” Adams said. “We have a lot of moving parts and once we learn how to put it all together, I believe this team will contend in the WBL.”

The Lady Cougars defeated Paulding 60-29 last night, and will return to action tomorrow night at Kenton.

Just past the midway point of their regular season schedule, the Crestview Lady Knights are in the midst of a busy stretch. The Lady Knights played powerful Coldwater last night (a 58-41 loss) and will host Lima Central Catholic tomorrow, Delphos St. John’s Saturday, then play at Van Wert on Monday.

Crestview is 6-6 (1-3 NWC) and, at one point, enjoyed a five-game winning streak.

Win or lose, head coach Mark Gregory is pleased with his team.

“Our team plays so hard all of the time,” Gregory said. “I am so proud to watch them no matter if we are up or down.”

“We have played a lot of really good teams and also played on the road 8 of our first 12 games,” Gregory added.

The Lady Knights have one of the younger teams around the area, with just one senior (Ashley Dealey), four juniors, three sophomores, and three freshmen.

“I see growth every time we step on the floor,” Gregory said.

Paige Motycka, 5-8 junior guard/forward, is the team leader in scoring and rebounding, averaging 19.5 points and nine rebounds per game, while a pair of 5-5 guards, freshman Lexi Gregory and junior Lyvia Black, each average 11 points per game.

Gregory said that, while there have been many positives so far, there’s work to be done during the remaining regular season games.

“We have to continue to improve on our rebounding, take care of the basketball in late game situations and communication,” Gregory said.

“I have been pleased with our energy and enthusiasm, and I’m excited to see what the second half of the season has in store for the Lady Knights,”

After last season’s 5-18 finish, the Lincolnview Lady Lancers are off to a solid start, with a record of 9-4 (3-1 NWC), and head coach Dan Williamson is pleased with his team’s play.

“The biggest positives so far this season have been our ability to rebound on both ends of the floor and the improvement of our defense,” Williamson said. “We have only been outrebounded in two of our games this year, and are averaging about eight offensive rebounds a game.”

“Our defense has been a big reason we have nine wins up to this point, as we are giving up 37 points a game.”

Defensively, the Lady Lancers are holding opponents to 34 percent shooting, including just 22 percent from three-point range.

On the offensive side, junior post player Kayla Schimmoeller has been Lincolnview’s leading scorer, with an average of 11.4 points per game. Junior guard Alena Looser is averaging 9.1 points per game, and sophomore guard Lakin Brant is averaging 6.8 points per game.

“I would love to see our offense more consistent during the second half of the season,” Williamson said. “We have really relied heavily on our defense to win games, so, hopefully, we can continue to gain confidence in the offensive end to make it a little easier on our defense.”

“In order for us for us to become the team we want to be, we need to be able to finish games and stay focused on doing the little things each possession,” Williamson added.

The Lady Lancers topped Antwerp 38-31 last night, and will host state-ranked Columbus Grove tomorrow night.