The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

Crestview clamps down on Lincolnview

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

No. 9 Crestview’s suffocating defense was the difference during Thursday’s regular season finale against Lincolnview.

The Knights held their county and conference rivals to single digits in each of the four quarters in a 45-25 victory. In addition, Crestview held Linconlview to 11-of-41 shooting (27 percent) and forced 18 turnovers.

Not even two defenders could stop Crestview’s Cali Gregory (5) from going to the hoop for two of her 23 points. Bob Barnes/Van Wert independent

“I really liked our effort tonight,” Crestview head coach Mark Gregory said. “We did a great job of getting in the passing lanes and we got a lot of deflections and turnovers. We didn’t come up with some of the 50-50 balls that I would have liked to but our effort was definitely there tonight.”

Behind six points by Cali Gregory and four by Laci McCoy, Crestview (17-4, 6-2 NWC) rolled to a 12-4 lead entering the second quarter. Lincolnview’s points came on a bucket by Emerson Walker about midway through the first quarter, and an offensive rebound and return shot by Kiera Breese late in the period.

Just over a minute into the second quarter, a steal and layup by Walker pulled Lincolnview (11-11, 2-6 NWC) to within six, 14-8, but the Lancers wouldn’t score again for nearly six minutes. During that span, McCoy converted a layup and whistled in a left wing trey, and Gregory added a layup that made it 21-8. Just before the buzzer, Gregory added a triple from the right corner that made it 26-11 at halftime.

“I think it the first half we struggled with 26 (points allowed) and the second half defensively was better but offensively we got pushed around,” Lincolnview head coach Kyle Williams said. “They get after it defensively…they knock down cutters and they stay in front of the ball and they hurt us offensively.”

Gregory scored six of Crestview’s 10 third quarter points and the Knights carried a 36-17 lead into the fourth quarter. The 5-10 junior went on to finish with a game high 23 points, while McCoy added 11 points and seven rebounds. Walker led Lincolnview with nine points while Makayla Jackman finished with six. Carsyn Looser had a game high 10 rebounds. Jackman and Looser are the only two seniors on the team.

“They’ve always battled for me,” Williams said of the duo. “This is my fourth year as head coach so this is my first group and I’m super proud of my seniors and hopefully we can do what we did last year and make a run and see these guys again.”

Crestview, the No. 1 seed at the Defiance district, will play No. 13 seed Fayette in the sectional semifinals at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Paulding High School.

“I think we’re doing a lot of good things and we have a lot of girls stepping up right now,” Gregory said. “All year long I think we’ve done a pretty good job of rebounding…we really aren’t the biggest team on the court but we need to continue to do that. We’ve really stressed being patient on offense and I think you saw that tonight and we’re going to continue to put a huge emphasis on defensive stops and being patient on offense.”

After an opening round bye, No. 5 seed Lincolnview will face either No. 10 seed Edgerton or No. 3 seed Stryker in the Division IV sectional finals at 6 p.m. Saturday, February 18, at Bryan High School.

“Some of the top seeds in our district didn’t take the bye so we have have a bye opportunity, which is great,” Williams said. “We have some time to rest and we have some time to talk about about who we’re going to play, Edgerton or Stryker. Our priority is to win sectionals, win district semis then see Crestview in the finals again.”

Box score

Crestview 12 14 10 9 – 45
Lincolnview 4 7 6 8 – 25

Crestview: Ellie Kline 2-0-5; Cali Gregory 11-0-23; Laci McCoy 5-0-11; Kennedy Crider 2-0-4; Josie Kulwicki 0-2-2

Lincolnview: Makayla Jackman 2-2-6; Kiera Breese 2-0-4; Emerson Walker 4-0-9; Addysen Stevens 1-0-2; Carsyn Looser 2-0-4

JV: Crestview 13-9 (two quarters)

POSTED: 02/10/23 at 4:39 am. FILED UNDER: Sports