Ottoville ends Crestview’s season 58-49

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

ELIDA — A second half surge by No. 2 seed Ottoville proved to be too much for No. 3 seed Crestview, as the Big Green posted a 58-49 win in the second Division IV district semifinal game of the night at Elida on Tuesday.

The Big Green (21-2) led by just one, 31-30 with 2:46 left in the third quarter before going on 14-3 run that spanned into the final period. Kyle Manns scored six of those points and Ryan Suever added two buckets, one coming after an offensive rebound and the other via a crowd pleasing slam dunk.

Suever, who finished with a team high 14 points, added another dunk later in the quarter. Manns scored eight of his 10 points in the final period and two other Ottoville players – Will Miller and Josh Thorbahn each added 10 points in the game. Thorbahn also had six rebounds and seven assists.

Crestview’s Kalen Etzler led all scorers with 21 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter. The 6-8 senior also finished with 12 rebounds.

“I’m so proud of our kids,” Ottoville head coach Keith Utendorf said. “We had guys step up all over the place tonight. Our role players played their roles and made plays when they were called upon.”

“Credit Crestview, they came back every time we got out ahead and they responded each time, but our kids also responded,” Utendorf added. “The second half we really focused on making the extra pass for the best shot, not the first one, and we found guys in the gaps of their different zones. We got the ball inside and finished and made foul shots at the end.”

“I have to give a lot of credit to Ottoville,” Crestview head coach Doug Etzler said. “They are a very good team and they were well prepared. Ottoville did a great job of pressuring us and making things really tough for us at the offensive end. They had great balance with four guys scoring in double figures.”

“I’m really proud of my guys for battling for four quarters tonight and I’m also proud of the season we had,” he added.

Ottoville jumped out to a 12-4 first quarter lead, but the Knights (18-6) closed the gap to 14-11 by the end of the period, then Crestview opened the second quarter with buckets by Carson Kreischer and Etzler to take a 15-14 lead.

The Knights led on two other occasions in the period, 19-18 and 21-20, before a triple by Trae Schlaghbaum gave the Big Green the lead for good, 23-21.

Ottoville finished 23-of-49 shooting and 9-of-14 from the foul line, compared to 18-of-41 and 10-of-19 by Crestview. Each team had 30 rebounds, but the Knights committed 17 turnovers, while Ottoville had eight.

The loss marked the end for four Crestview seniors – Etzler, Kreischer, Brody Brecht and Dmitry Lichtensteiger.

“Our seniors did a great job of leading us this year and our underclassmen did a great job of getting better everyday and competing at a high level,” Etzler said. “A great group of guys to coach.”

Ottoville will play Columbus Grove for the district championship at 7 p.m. Friday at Elida.

Scoring summary

Crestview 11 10 12 16 – 49
Ottoville 14 9 16 `9 – 58

Crestview: Kalen Etzler 7-5-21; Gavin Etzler 1-3-6; Carson Hunter 1-0-2; Brody Brecht 1-0-2; Carson Kreischer 4-0-8; JJ Ward 2-0-4; Rontae Jackson 2-2-6

Ottoville: Will Miller 4-3-11; Ryan Suever 7-0-14; Grant Kortokrax 1-0-2; Kyle Manns 4-2-10; Josh Thorbahn 4-2-10; Jack Langhals 2-0-6; Trae Schlaghman 1-2-5