Lancers fall to DSJ in sectional semifinals

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

BLUFFTON – A slow start proved to be very costly as No. 10 seed Lincolnview fell behind early and couldn’t catch up in a 53-43 loss to No. 8 seed Delphos St. John’s in the Division IV sectional semifinals at Bluffton University on Tuesday.

The loss ended Lincolnview’s season at 5-18, while the Blue Jays (11-12) advanced on to face No. 2 seed Columbus Grove in the sectional finals at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

“We told our guys that we needed to be solid for four quarters tonight and unfortunately we weren’t able to do that,” Lincolnview head coach Brett Hammons said. “We got off to a tough start but I felt after that we settled down and did a good job. We were able to execute on both ends but we just dug ourselves into a hole early and it was hard to come all the way back from that.”

Behind eight points by Landen Grothaus and a pair of baskets by Nolan Schwinnen, Delphos St. John’s jumped out to an 18-8 first quarter lead, then the Blue Jays pushed the lead to 30-13 at halftime. Daegan Hatfield scored four of Lincolnview’s eight first quarter points and Garrett Richarson accounted for all five of his team’s points in the second period.

Grothaus, who finished with a team high 14 points, scored two more baskets in the third quarter and Delphos St. John’s carried a comfortable 40-24 lead into the fourth quarter.

Richardson scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, including a 5-of-6 showing at the foul line, while Cole Binkley and Ethan Crow combined for Lincolnview’s remaining nine points in the period. Crow finished with eight points.

In addition to Grothaus, two other Blue Jays hit double figures – Landon Elwer had 11 while Aaron Moenter finished with 10.

It was the final game for nine Lincolnview seniors – Richardson, Hatfield, Crow, Binkley, Avery Slusher, Elijah Peterson, Hugo Salinas, Carson Fox and Landon Price.

“I’m so proud of the nine seniors that we had on this team,” Hammons said. “They battled and did everything that we asked of them and they will be missed from our program.” 

Box score

Blue Jays 18 12 10 13 – 53
Lancers 8 5 11 19 – 43

Delphos St. John’s: Landen Grothaus 5-2-14; Nolan Schwinnen 4-0-8; JJ Bonifas 1-0-3; Austin Moenter 2-0-5; Ethan Druckemiller 1-0-2; Landon Elwer 5-1-11; Aaron Moenter 4-0-10

Lincolnview: Garrett Richardson 6-6-20; Cal Evans 1-0-2; Carson Fox 1-0-2; Landon Price 1-0-2; Daegan Hatfield 1-2-4; Cole Binkley 2-0-5; Ethan Crow 4-0-8