Lady Knights ground Ayersville 48-33

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

PAULDING — A pair of 10-0 scoring runs by Crestview allowed the Lady Knights to pull away from Ayersville, on the way to a 48-33 Division IV sectional semifinal win at Paulding High School on Wednesday.

It was the eighth win in nine games for Crestview and it put the Lady Knights in the lower bracket sectional championship game against Edon on Saturday. The Bombers defeated Edgerton 44-32 to advance to the title game.

“I’m really proud of our effort and we had a lot of girls that stepped up tonight,” Crestview head coach Mark Gregory said. “We got a lot of girls in the scoring column and I thought we had girls that did a nice job rebounding.”

“Credit Ayersville though because they’re a scrappy and physical team, they crashed the defensive glass and credit our kids because they continued to battle all night long,” the coach added.

Crestview jumped out to an early 9-3 lead with triples by Lexi Gregory, Kylie Etzler and Olivia Cunningham, then the Lady Knights later scored 10 unanswered points, starting with a Gregory layup at the first quarter buzzer, then buckets by Gregory, Etzler, Bailey Gregory and Laci McCoy to put the Lady Knights ahead 21-7 halfway through the second quarter.

“It came from the defensive end, making plays and deflections,” Gregory said of his team’s scoring runs.

Leading 29-14 early in the third quarter, Crestview again scored 10 unanswered points, with seven coming off the hands of Lexi Gregory, who finished with 17 and set a new Crestview record for most three pointers in a career.

“That’s a big thing for her and I’m kind of glad it’s done and now we can move forward, but I’m proud of her for all the work and time that she’s put in,” Gregory said of his oldest daughter.

Leading 41-23 to begin the fourth quarter, Kaylee Wolford scored a pair of quick baskets to push the lead to 45-23. She finished with four points and four rebounds.

“We had a lot of girls step up tonight,” Gregory said. “I thought Kylie Etzler did so many good things defensively and offensively, Laci McCoy’s rebounding and defense helped, and Kaylee Wolford came in and gave us a lift off the bench. I think the girls are buying into what we’re trying to do and I’m excited to see what we can do here.”

Bailey Gregory scored 10 points and Cunningham added eight.

As a team, Crestview was 20-43 (47 percent) from the floor and held a 22-16 rebounding advantage, with McCoy accounting for six boards. Crestview shot just two free throws, converting one.

Taylor Addington led Ayersville (6-17) with nine points, and the Lady Pilots were held to 35 percent shooting (13-37), while going 5-11 from the foul line.

Saturday’s sectional championship game against Edon (11-12) will begin at approximately 8 p.m. at Paulding, after Lincolnview and No. 2 seed Ottoville.

“Their guards are pretty good, they get after it defensively and their coach has done a great job with that team,” Gregory said of the Bombers.

Scoring summary

Crestview 13 16 12 7 – 48
Ayersville 7 5 11 10 – 33

Crestview: Kaylee Wolford 2-0-4; Bailey Gregory 4-1-10; Kylie Etzler 2-0-5; Lexi Gregory 7-0-17; Laci McCoy 1-0-2; Raegan Hammons 1-0-2; Olivia Cunningham 3-0-8

Ayersville: Neva Sheets 2-0-5; Taylor Addington 3-3-9; Kaylee Dockery 2-0-4; Maci Froelich 1-1-3; Kryshel Dales 2-1-6; Kacee Okuley 3-0-6