The Van Wert County Courthouse

Friday, Mar. 29, 2024

Columbus Grove outduels Crestview 50-42

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

ELIDA — No. 8 seed Crestview trimmed an 11-point halftime deficit down to three early in the fourth quarter, but the Knights could get no closer and fell to No. 1 seed and Associated Press Division IV poll champion Columbus Grove 50-42 in the district semifinals at the Elida FieldHouse on Tuesday.

Crestview’s Kalen Etzler congratulates Columbus Grove’s Blake Reynolds after Tuesday’s Division IV district semifinal game between the two NWC schools. Wyatt Richardson/Van Wert independent

The loss ended Crestview’s season at 13-12, while Columbus Grove improved to 24-0 and advanced to Friday’s district championship game against Kalida. The No. 4 seed Wildcats upset No. 2 seed Ottoville 44-40.

The Knights trailed 13-9 after one quarter and were down just one, 16-15, with 3:20 left in the second period when 6-8 junior Kalen Etzler picked up his third personal foul and had to sit for the remainder of the half. From there, Columbus Grove went on a 13-2 run to grab a 28-17 halftime lead.

“They took advantage of that (third foul),” Crestview head coach Doug Eztler said. “Having Kalen in the game at both ends for us is huge.”

“You get the best player off the floor, whether it’s him scoring at the offensive end of the floor or challenging every shot at the defensive end, it definitely changes things,” Columbus Grove head coach Chris Sautter said. “We told our guys we had to push it to double figures with him off the floor.”

The Knights clawed back into it in the third quarter by switching from man-to-man to zone defense and holding the Bulldogs to just six points, while getting five points from JJ Ward and four from Brody Brecht.

“It slowed them down a little bit and as long as we knew where (Tayt) Birnesser was at and they liked to attack that short corner middle, I thought we did a good job of taking those two things away,” Etzler said.

“We couldn’t hit shots,” Sautter said. “Give them a lot of credit, it worked against St. John’s too.”

Back-to-back buckets by Ward pulled Crestview to within three, 36-33 with 6:10 left to go in the final period, but Gabe Clements immediately drilled a three pointer, then followed up with a steal and layup to increase Columbus Grove’s lead to 41-33. Seven of Clement’s nine points came in the fourth quarter.

“I think if you look at JJ’s progression this whole year, as the year went on he just got better and better,” Crestview head coach Doug Etzler said. “He bought in defensively and he took great shots for us. He’s a good basketball player and we’re looking for big things from him next year.”

The Knights were held scoreless for just over five minutes, while until an offensive rebound and slam dunk by Kalen Etzler with 1:07 left in the game. Meanwhile, Blake Reynolds converted 7-8 free throws in the final period and led all scorers with 22 points.

“It was good enough to win and that’s all that matters,” Sautter said. “When you play teams twice they’re going to be pretty well prepared for you.”

Etzler finished with 12 points, including seven in the final quarter, while Ward and Brecht each scored 11. Carson Kreischer scored six of his eight points in the second quarter.

Despite the loss, Etzler was pleased with his team’s effort.

“You never like to lose, you’d like to see the season keep going, but I was proud of after being down like we were at halftime there was no quit in us,” Etzler said.

Scoring summary

Crestview 9 8 12 13 – 42
Col. Grove 13 15 6 16 – 50

Crestview: Kalen Etzler 5-1-12; Brody Brecht 5-0-11; Carson Kreischer 3-2-8; JJ Ward 5-0-11

Columbus Grove: Blake Reynolds 6-10-22; Tayt Birnesser 2-3-6; Evan Hopkins 3-0-7; Gabe Clement 4-0-9; Ethan Halker 2-0-4

POSTED: 03/03/20 at 11:28 pm. FILED UNDER: Sports