No. 4 Ottoville edges Crestview in OT

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

CONVOY — Two of northwest Ohio’s best Division IV teams met at Ray Etzler Gymnasium on Tuesday night and the game lived up to the hype.

A late overtime trey by Ottoville’s Will Miller was the difference as the No. 4 Big Green defeated Crestview 61-59. The winning shot came off an assist by Josh Thorbahn, and it happened after JJ Ward put the Knights ahead 59-58 with 17 seconds left.

“We have trusted our guys to get a look in that situation before and I believe in putting in our guys to execute, so I can’t be more happy for him and to have Josh trust him and hit him with a really great pass,” Ottoville head coach Keith Utendorf said. “I’m really proud of both of them.”

“Two tremendous teams that really had multiple guys step up and make some big plays in big moments,” Utendorf added.

“I’m proud of our guys effort tonight,” Crestview head coach Doug Etzler said. “Both teams made big plays in the fourth quarter and in overtime. Give Ottoville credit for hitting a big ‘3’ to win the game.”

The game was tied 9-9 after the first quarter, with Kalen Etzler accounting for seven of Crestview’s points, then the Knights scored the first 11 points of the second quarter and led 20-9 with just over four minutes left. However, Ottoville closed the quarter with a 13-6 scoring run and trailed 26-22 at halftime.

“We fought through a lot of adversity in the first half with foul situations and we were kind of disjointed,” Utendorf said. “Credit Crestview, they frustrated us and guarded us really and made us do some things we were uncomfortable with on the offensive end.”

Ottoville held a 32-31 lead with 2:15 left in the third quarter, but Crestview rallied to take a 41-35 lead entering the fourth. Thorbahn scored seven of his 29 points in the period, while Gavin Etzler countered with a pair of treys.

Miller scored seven points in the fourth quarter, Thorbahn added six and Ottoville held a 51-49 lead with 1:52 left, but were able to tie the game and force the extra session.

“We were able to force some turnovers in the second half and that changed the momentum,” Utendorf said.

Thorbahn scored the first seven of Ottoville’s points in overtime, while Ward and Gavin Etzler each hit treys and Carson Kreischer added a bucket.

Kalen Etzler led Crestview with 21 points and 11 rebounds, Ward scored 16 points, Gavin Etzler added 14 and Kreischer finished with seven points and 11 rebounds. The Knights held a 32-29 rebounding advantage, but committed 19 turnovers, compared to just seven by Ottoville. In addition, Crestview was 4-of-8 from the foul line, while Ottoville was 14-of-18.

Miller finished with 12 points and Ryan Suever added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Big Green.

Crestview (10-4) is scheduled to host Ada on Friday, while Ottoville (12-2) will entertain Fort Jennings.

Scoring summary

Crestview 9 17 15 10 8 – 59
Ottoville 9 13 13 16 10 – 61

Crestview: Kalen Etzler 8-2-21; Gavin Etzler 5-0-14; JJ Ward 6-0-16; Carson Kreischer 3-1-7; Nathan Lichtle 0-1-1

Ottoville: Will Miller 4-2-12; Kyle Manns 2-3-8; Ryan Suever 3-2-10; Kellen Schlagbaum 0-2-2; Josh Thorbahn 11-5-29

JV: Ottoville 51-48