The Van Wert County Courthouse

Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025

Lancer girls pull away from Van Wert

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

A fourth quarter run by Lincolnview allowed the Lancers to pull away from Van Wert on the way to a 55-44 girls basketball win on Saturday. The game between the two neighboring teams was the opening part of a girls/boys varsity doubleheader at Lincolnview High School, dubbed as the “Human Trafficking Awareness Game,” an annual event that supports the YWCA of Van Wert County.

Both games were well attended and players and fans enjoyed a “blackout” theme.

Kiera Breese (12) eyes the basket before attempting a three point attempt. Photo courtesy of Hanna Young

Lincolnview (6-5) shot out to a 10-2 first quarter lead, only to see Van Wert (2-8) score the final 11 points of the period and take a 13-10 lead into the second stanza. Emerson Walker scored five points during Lincolnview’s opening run and Ashlyn Price tossed in a trey. Kendra Deehring had back-to-back buckets during Van Wert’s response and Katie DeAmicis splashed in a triple at the buzzer.

The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair. Lincolnview’s biggest lead was four points, 24-20. After a scoreless first quarter, Keira Breese scored seven points on three successive baskets and Kassidy Hammons hit back-to-back treys to close out the quarter, giving the Lancers a 27-26 halftime lead. Deehring added five more points and DeAmicis and Amaya Dowdy each drilled a triple, the latter with 10 seconds left before the break.

“Kassidy did a good job for us,” Williams said. “This is her second game back from a broken foot earlier in the year. She is getting some confidence back.”

Breese picked up where she left off in the third quarter by scoring eight points, but six straight points by Jazzlyn Florence and a trey by DeAmicis gave Van Wert a 35-34 lead with about 2:30 left to go in the third period. From there, the Lancers responded with eight unanswered points, including a pair of baskets by Ella Elling and a steal and layup plus a pair of free throws by Breese.

Trailing 42-35, Van Wert opened the fourth quarter with seven straight points, including a trey and foul shot by Dowdy and three points by Deehring. However, the Lancers went on a 9-0 run, including a basket by Walker, a steal and trey by Breese and buckets by Price and Quinlyn Walker. Lincolnview later sealed the win with four straight foul shots by Breese, who finished with a game high 20 points. Emerson Walker added nine points in the win.

“Keira and Emerson did a good job for us,” Williams said. “They are two good guards who can get downhill for us. We didn’t play our best but we battled. Kudos to Van Wert as they had a great game plan and got after us.”

“I am super proud of our girls,” he added. “We are starting to get healthy and put things together.”

“I thought we battled as well,” Phlipot said. “Credit their good shooting but it felt like a lot of our wounds were self-inflicted today – rebounds and turnovers. I’m sure they out-rebounded us.”

Lincolnview finished with a 31-16 rebounding advantage, while shooting 19-of-50 from the floor and 10-of-18 from the foul line. Van Wert was 17-of-36 shooting and 5-of-11 from the free throw line. The Cougars committed 20 turnovers, compared to 13 by Llincolnview.

Deehring led Van Wert with 14 points, Florence added 10 and DeAmicis and Dowdy each added nine points.

“Kendra had a very nice game,” Phlipot said. “She is most definitely our motor and gets us going.”

Lincolnview will travel to Kalida on Tuesday, while Van Wert will host Bryan.

Box score

Lancers  10  17  15  13 – 55

Cougars 13  13    9    9 – 44

Lincolnview: Ashlyn Price 2-2-7; Kassidy Hammons 2-0-6; Keira Breese 6-7-20; Emerson Walker 4-0-9; Quinlyn Walker 1-1-3; Brooklyn Byrne 1-0-2; Ella Elling 3-0-6

Van Wert: Katie DeAmicis 3-0-9;  Bella Behm 1-0-2; Kendra Deehring 6-2-14; Jazzlyn Florence 4-2-10; Amaya Dowdy 3-1-9

POSTED: 01/05/25 at 9:31 pm. FILED UNDER: Sports