Price, Lincolnview top Crestview 63-49

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

A late third quarter scoring flurry by Lincolnview turned what was a close game into a 63-49 victory over Northwest Conference rival Crestview on Friday night.

A pair of foul shots by Crestview’s JJ Ward pulled the Knights to within one, 35-34, with 3:02 left in the third period, but Landon Price drilled a deep triple, Collin Overholt turned a steal into a layup, then Price drained another trey to put the Lancers ahead 43-34. After a basket by Kalen Etzler, Overholt scored again and Daegan Hatfield converted a pair of free throws to give Lincolnview a 47-36 lead entering the fourth quarter.

After Etzler opened the fourth quarter with a three pointer, Price converted a layup that made it 49-39.

“He’s a kid who’s provided a spark off the bench for us all year long,” Lincolnview head coach Brett Hammons said of Price. “Those two big threes sparked us and got our defense going a little bit, and they he came down and made the layup. I’m proud of him and it gave him confidence and he’s huge reason why we won.”

“Whenever we needed a big stop they got a big score,” Crestview head coach Doug Etzler said. “They did a great job of attacking the basket and their guards played extremely well – they came to play and they did a great job.”

A two-handed slam dunk by Etzler pulled Crestview to within six, 50-44 with 5:55 left in the fourth quarter, but Lincolnview reeled off nine unanswered points, with seven of those coming from Creed Jessee, who drained a triple, a basket and two free throws. Meanwhile, the Lancers held the Knights scoreless for 4:30.

“We’ve worked really hard in practices and I think we’ve done a better job these last three or four games of limiting teams to just one shot, and I think we did a good job of that tonight,” Hammons said. “We forced them into difficult shots then got ourselves back into our offense.”

Four Lancers finished in double figures. Overholt and Jessee each had 11 points, while Price and Clayton Leeth each finished with 10. In addition, Daegan Hatfield scored nine, including six in the third quarter, while Aaron Cavinder finished with seven points.

“That’s the great thing about this group – they’re very unselfish and they’ll get the ball to the guys who are playing really well and at times, we’re a tough team to guard,” Hammons said. “We score in different ways – we have guys who can attack and guys who can catch and shoot, and I think we can be tough for teams to guard.”

Lincolnview (10-8, 5-1 NWC) enjoyed a 15-12 lead after one quarter, with Etzler accounting for eight of Crestview’s points, but scoring slowed considerably in the second quarter, as the Knights scored seven points and Lincolnview six, making it 21-19 at halftime.

“I thought only being down by two in the first half that we were in pretty good position, because I didn’t think we played very well,” Etzler said. “We kind of dodged a bullet with our missed free throws and we missed some shots in the paint that we typically make.”

Crestview (9-10, 2-4 NWC) finished the game 21-46 from the floor, including just 1-13 from three point range and 6-13 from the foul line. Etzler had a game high 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Carson Kreischer finished with 11 points and Ward added nine.

Crestview will host Wayne Trace tonight, while Lincolnview will entertain Coldwater.

Scoring summary

Lincolnview 15 6 26 16 – 63
Crestview 12 7 17 13 – 49

Lincolnview: Landon Price 3-2-10; Clayton Leeth 5-0-10; Aaron Cavinder 3-0-7; Collin Overholt 4-2-11; Daegan Hatfield 3-3-9; Jake Bowersock 2-1-5; Creed Jessee 4-2-11

Crestview: Kalen Etzler 10-2-23; Kaden Short 0-2-2; Gavin Etzler 2-0-4; Carson Kreischer 5-1-11; JJ Ward 4-1-9

JV: Lincolnview 45-32