Knights top Ottoville in double overtime

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

ELIDA — Crestview teetered on the brink of elimination from the OHSAA Division IV district tournament, but the Knights found a way to rally past Ottoville 72-67 in double overtime at the Elida Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.

After a missed trey by Javin Etzler, Derick Dealey tracked down a rebound and found Etzler who buried his second attempt and tied the game at 48 with 15 seconds left in regulation.

In the first overtime, the Knights found themselves down 58-54 with 38 seconds left, but freshman Kalen Etzler drilled a triple to pull his team within one. Ottoville freshman Josh Thorbahn hit two foul shots a short time later to increase the Big Green’s lead to 60-57, but Crestview’s Drew Kline drained a three pointer from the top of the key to knot the score at 60 with 10 seconds left. A shot by Ottoville’s Nick Moorman rimmed out at the buzzer and the game went to another extra session.

“Drew is a competitor,” Crestview head coach Jeremy Best said of his junior point guard. “I thought we were dead in the water a couple of times but we kept hitting big shots.”

Crestview (21-3) used free throws to seize control and win the game in the second overtime. The Knights were 10 of 14 from the foul line in the period, including a five-of-six performance by Dealey, three-of-four by (Kalen) Etzler and one by Trevor Gibson that sealed the victory with 10.9 seconds left.

“I said just one Trev, just one and he got it for us,” Best said.

“We haven’t been in that situation too many times through the year,” Best added. “We haven’t had many possession games, but we had one of those on Friday night against Parkway and I think that carried us through tonight.”

It appeared the game would be anything but close when Crestview jumped out to an 11-3 lead at the end of the first quarter, then extended it to 15-3 early in the second quarter. Derek Stout was unstoppable in the second period, scoring 10 of his 14 points in the eight minute span. However, Ottoville (18-6) chipped away and trimmed the deficit to 23-18 by halftime.

Crestview maintained a six or seven point lead for much of the third quarter, and the Knights led 41-31 90 seconds into the fourth period, but Ottoville went on 17-4 run before Javin Etzler’s triple forced overtime. The Big Green’s Ryan Bendele scored 13 of Ottoville’s 19 points in the quarter, and finished with a team high 21 points. Thorbahn scored 17 and Moorman 13.

“Ottoville is a great team,” Best said. “What a basketball game.”

Javin Etzler led all scorers with 24 points, Stout 14, and Kline 12. Dealey tallied nine points and Kalen Etzler finished with eight.

Crestview will play Hicksville (20-5) in Friday’s district championship game (7 p.m.) at Elida. The Aces topped Wayne Trace 54-41 in last night’s second game. The winner of Crestview-Hicksville will advance to next Tuesday’s regional semifinal at BGSU.

Scoring summary:

Crestview 11 12 13 12 12 12 – 72
Ottoville     3 15 11 19 12   7 – 67

Crestview: Wade Sheets 1-0-2; Javin Etzler 7-3-24; Drew Kline 5-1-12; Derek Stout 7-0-14; Derick Dealey 1-6-9; Trevor Gibson 0-1-1; Kalen Etzler 2-3-9; Jace Vining 1-0-2

Ottoville: Ryan Bendele 6-4-21; Logan Kemper 2-4-9; Nick Moorman 4-4-13; Josh Thorbahn 4-8-17; Ryan Suever 0-1-1; Drew Fisher 3-0-6