Knight boys get win over Hicksville Aces

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

CONVOY — CK is short for the Crestview Knights. It could also stand for the Cardiac Kids.

Crestview held off the Hicksville Aces 50-46 in Saturday’s boys’ basketball non-conference matchup at Ray Etzler Gymnasium. The Knights improved to 12-4 overall, with 9 of the 16 games being decided in the final seconds.

Leading 46-43 with 7.2 seconds left, Crestview’s Brett Schumm knocked down two foul shots to extend the lead to 48-43. But Hicksville’s Payton Tunis drilled a three-pointer moments later to make it 48-46.  With less than one second left, Crestview’s Javin Etzler was fouled and hit two free throws to seal the victory.

“I’ll take it,” Crestview head coach Jeremy Best said. “Our guys played hard but give Hicksville credit, they’re a good team and we definitely had a hard time defending them.”

Neither team was able to generate much offense in the first quarter. The Knights led 13-9, then extended the lead to 25-18 at halftime. Hicksville’s Jake Greer accounted for 10 of his team’s 18 points.

Crestview’s Drew Kline scored eight of his game high 18 points in the second period, then scored six more in the third quarter. Defensively, he accounted for four steals.

“He’s a young man that rarely comes out of the game,” Best said. “He’s under a lot of pressure, and as a sophomore he continues to do a good job.”

Each team scored 12 points in the third quarter, and on three occasions, the Knights were able to extend their lead to as many as nine.

Trailing 37-30 to start the final period, Hicksville (12-5) began chipping away at the lead. Tunis scored 10 of his team high 14 points in the quarter, and halfway through the final stanza, the Aces trailed by just one, 41-40.

Crestview hit just two baskets in the quarter, with a key one by Grant Schlagbaum with 90 seconds left. But the Knights were able to connect on 8-of-12 free throws in the period, including three by Derek Stout.

Crestview has a tough weekend ahead, with a key Northwest Conference game at home against Spencerville (13-4, 6-0 NWC) on Friday, then a non-conference road game at state-ranked Wayne Trace Saturday.

“Our primary focus right now is on Spencerville,” Best explained. “I like where we are in the league (5-0), and we control our own destiny.”

“We need to have a heck of a week of practice and get mentally and physically tougher, because Spencerville is going to bring a senior dominant team in here, and they’re going to lay some wood to us if we’re not ready to play,” Best added.

Box score:

Crestview   13  12  12  13–-50

Hicksville     9    9  12  16–-46

Scoring:

Crestview (50) — Drew Kline 18, Derek Stout 9, Javin Etzler 7, Trevor Gibson 6, Spencer Rolsten 1, Brett Schumm 5, Grant Schlagbaum 4.

Hicksville (46) — Payton Tunis 14, Logan Thiel, 13, Jake Greer 10, Michael Myers 5, Parker Thiel 1, Hunter Evans 4.

JV: Crestview won 59-35.