Lincolnview shuts down Kalida 44-32

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

KALIDA — When Lincolnview and Kalida met on December 23, the Wildcats posted a 52-49 victory but the Lancers turned the tables on Friday night with a 44-32 Division IV sectional championship win.

“I think at this point in the year you have every game circled,” Lincolnview head coach Brett Hammons said. “Kalida is a great team and we knew we were going to have to play well to win tonight.”

“It felt good to get this sectional championship,” Hammons continued. “Seeing the looks on the players faces was great. This is a goal they had and it was good to see them accomplish it.”

Lincolnview, the No. 4 seed, got it done with defense by holding No. 5 seed Kalida to just 29 percent shooting (14-of-50), including just 3-of-21 from three point range. In addition, the Wildcats shot just four free throws and connected on one.

By comparison, Lincolnview was 12-of-26 from the floor, which including 8-of-17 from beyond the arc, and the Lancers connected on 12-of-21 foul shots.

The first quarter was to Kalida’s liking, as the Wildcats led 12-9 at the end of the period. Lincolnview’s points came on triples by Collin Overholt, Clayton Leeth and Creed Jessee. Brandon Miller and Luke Erhart accounted for all of Kalida’s points in the quarter.

“I feel our defense was very good tonight,” Hammons said. “We struggled to score in the first half and our defense kept us in it. We really made things hard and contested all of their shots.”

Jessee, Aaron Cavinder and Garrett Richardson each hit a trey in the second quarter to give Lincolnview an 18-17 halftime lead. All five of Kalida’s points came from Brandon Miller.

Back-to-back buckets by Jake Bowersock gave the Lancers a 22-17 lead in the third quarter, then a triple by Cavinder and a basket by Leeth expanded the lead to 27-17. Kalida scored the final four points of the period on buckets by Miller and Ayden Warnecke, but the Wildcats trailed 27-21.

The lead grew to 34-21 as the Lancers seized control in the fourth quarter. Lincolnview went 11-of-13 from the foul line down the stretch.

Cavinder led Lincolnview with 13 points while Jessee added 10 and Leeth nine. Jessee also pulled down seven rebounds. Miller led all scorers with 17.

“Aaron made some big shots for us from outside,” Hammons said. “We did just enough on the offensive end to get the win.”

Lincolnview will face Columbus Grove in the Division IV district semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Elida. The Bulldogs defeated the Lancers 70-49 on January 26.

Scoring summary

Wildcats 12 5 4 11 – 32
Lancers 9 9 9 17 – 44

Kalida: Ayden Warnecke 1-0-2; Brandon Miller 8-0-17; Tyson Siefker 2-0-4; Luke Erhart 3-1-9

Lincolnview: Garrett Richardson 1-0-3; Clayton Leeth 3-4-9; Aaron Cavinder 3-4-13; Collin Overholt 1-1-4; Jake Bowersock 2-1-5; Creed Jessee 3-2-10