Gregory hits milestone in win over VW

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

CONVOY — Lexi Gregory joined the 1,000 point club and along the way led Crestview to a 54-33 win over county rival Van Wert at Ray Etzler Gymnasium on Monday night.

Gregory, who needed nine points to reach 1,000, hit the milestone when she drained a trey from the top of the key with 7:17 left in the second quarter. Seconds later, the game was paused for a brief celebration.

“I’m so proud of her and happy for her at the same time,” Crestview head coach and father Mark Gregory said. “That’s a kid who could care less about the 1,000 points. She’s most happy with the fact that we got the victory tonight.”

The 5-8 senior, who also recorded over 1,000 career kills in volleyball, finished the night with a game high 20 points.

“Kudos to her,” Van Wert head coach Hannah Phlipot said. “Along with the 1,000 kills in volleyball, that’s a phenomenal accomplishment.”

After Van Wert’s Jerica Hueber drilled back-to-back three pointers to pull the Lady Cougars to within three, 11-8, late in the first quarter, Gregory hit a bucket and foul shot, then drained a triple at the buzzer to increase Crestview’s lead to 17-8.

After Gregory’s milestone three pointer, Laci McCoy converted four free throws and a bucket and Olivia Cunningham drilled a trey to cap off an 18-0 run, giving the Lady Knights a 29-8 lead. Cunningham finished with eight points.

“That was probably our best stretch we’ve played all year long,” the elder Gregory said. “I think we’re playing with a lot of confidence and knocking down some shots but also keeping extra balls alive on offense and getting stops on defense.”

“We didn’t show up mentally tonight and didn’t execute things we worked on in practice the last three or four days,” Hannah Phlipot said. “They sped us up and there were a couple of times we found ourselves in traps, traveled and dragged our pivot foot. Couple that with the fact that they got hot and shot very well from the outside, and that’s very hard to stop.”

Leading 31-12, Crestview rattled off an 11-4 run to begin the third quarter, with two buckets coming from Gregory, a pair of baskets by Kylie Etzler and one by Cunningham.

The Lady Knights, who led 46-22 to start the final period, got a pair of triples from Bailey Gregory, who finished with 10 points, while Van Wert’s Emilee Phillips scored four points in the quarter.

Huebner led Van Wert with eight points, while Clouse had a team high seven rebounds.

“Jerica gave us some life in the first quarter and Jamison’s done a great job on the boards the last couple of games,” Phlipot said. “There’s fight in us, it’s just the mental mistakes that killed us.”

Crestview held a commanding 37-19 advantage on the boards, including six each by Cunningham and McCoy.

“I thought we attacked the offensive and defensive glass tonight,” Gregory said. “We had several girls who were so active on the glass and that’s who we need to be, because we’re not bigger than everyone we play.”

Van Wert (3-12) will travel to Shawnee on Thursday while Crestview (7-8) will entertain Ada the same night.

Scoring summary

Crestview 17 14 15 8 – 54
Van Wert 8 4 10 11 – 33

Crestview: Bailey Gregory 3-1-10; Kylie Etzler 3-0-6; Lexi Gregory 7-3-20; Laci McCoy 1-4-6; Raegan Hammons 2-0-4; Olivia Cunningham 2-3-8

Van Wert: Carlee Young 1-0-3; Kyra Welch 1-0-3; Carly Smith 1-0-2; Jamison Clouse 2-0-4; Jaylyn Rickard 2-0-5; Jerica Huebner 3-0-8; Sofia Houg 2-0-4; Emilee Phillips 2-0-4

JV: Crestview 37-28