Defense leads L’view past Ottoville 35-31

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

DEFIANCE — No. 9 seed Lincolnview survived a scoreless second quarter and used sterling second half defense and late free throws to secure a 35-31 win over No. 7 seed Ottoville in the Division IV district semifinals at Defiance High School on Thursday.

It was the second straight upset victory by Lincolnview and it put the Lady Lancers in the district championship game against rival Crestview.

Lincolnview jumped out to an 8-2 advantage first quarter advantage and led 11-6 when Makayla Jackman hit a late trey, but it was the last time the Lady Lancers would score until the third period.

Ottoville outscored Lincolnview 12-0 in the second quarter with Erica Thorbahn and Elise Kramer combining for 10 points in the period, allowing the Big Green to take an 18-11 lead into halftime. The Lady Lancers suffered eight turnovers in the quarter and went 0-for-4 from the floor.

However, Lincolnview quickly found new life in the third quarter when Kendall Bollenbacher scored a quick bucket then drained a right wing triple less than one minute into the period to make it 18-16.

“I always preach the first three minutes of the third quarter (are important) and the girls really bought into it,” head coach Kyle Williams said. “We just preached to the girls to trust what we have been doing.”

Ottoville answered with a 6-2 run to make it 25-18 but Lincolnview scored the final nine points of the quarter, including seven by Jackman, to carry a 27-25 advantage into the final period.

“We switched to zone which was huge for us defensively,” Williams said. “Our bigs stayed out of foul trouble and we played inside-outside basketball.”

Bollenbacher added an early fourth quarter bucket, then neither team scored until the two minute mark of the period, when Carly Thorbahn hit a triple then later hit a foul shot to tie the game 29-29. It came down to free throws after that and Lincolnview, which began the quarter 0-of-3 from the foul line, went 6-of-6 from the charity stripe, with Zadria King, Carsyn Looser and Bollenbacher each hitting two with under 40 seconds left.

“We preach to our girls that free throws win games and they took it to heart tonight,” Williams said. “I’m so proud of everyone in our program and I couldn’t be more proud to coach these girls.”

Bollebacher finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Jackman added 10 points. Looser chipped in with a game high 11 rebounds and Lincolnview won the rebounding battle 27-19.

Kramer led Ottoville (10-14) with 11 points.

Lincolnview will face No. 1 seed Crestview for the district championship at 8 p.m. Saturday at Defiance. The Lady Knights won the regular season matchup 65-42.

Box score

Lincolnview 11 0 16 8 – 35
Ottoville 6 12 7 6 – 31

Lincolnview: Makayla Jackman 4-1-10; Kendall Bollenbacher 6-2-15; Emerson Walker 1-0-2; Carsyn Looser 1-0-2; Zadria King 2-2-6

Ottoville: Erica Thorbahn 3-0-8; Carly Thornbahn 2-3-8; Elise Kramer 5-0-11; Shayla German 2-0-4