Early blitz propels Van Wert by Lancers

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

A first quarter run, including a thrilling buzzer-beater, was the catalyst for Van Wert’s 67-51 win over county rival Lincolnview on Saturday. The game was second part of the YWCA’s Human Trafficking Awareness Game varsity doubleheader between the two schools.

As the game tipped off, the gym buzzed with a tournament-type atmosphere.

“Lincolnview is playing well, we’ve played better as of late and with where the game fell in the year, I anticipated there would be a nice crowd and there was,” Van Wert head coach Jeremy Best said. “I thought the game was played hard by both teams and that’s kind of why you do this, to play in front of good crowds, your home crowd and two rival county schools. I know I’ve only been here a couple of years but I’ve been in a lot of Lincolnview games before and I have a lot of respect for them and the community, and Brett (Hammons) is one of my favorite coaches of all time and what he’s doing with that team right now needs to be recognized.”

“There were a lot of people here to watch this game and we appreciate them coming out,” Lincolnview head coach Brett Hammons said. “I thought it was good for our guys because it’s kind of a setup if we get the second game in the tournament. I think it’s going to help us in the long run.”

Back-to-back threes by Lincolnview’s Marshall Hammons gave the Lancers an early 6-2 lead, but the Cougars dominated the remainder of the opening quarter by outscoring the visitors 20-4, including a 12-0 scoring run to close the period. Zach Crummey scored seven of his game high 22 points in the quarter, and Keaten Welch and Caden Collins each added five, including a three-quarter court shot by Collins to beat the buzzer and give the Cougars a 22-10 lead.

“I thought Caden played a really good floor game for us tonight, as well as he’s played all year and that’s the vibe he can give us,” Best said.

The torrid pace continued in the second quarter, as the Cougars built up a 42-25 lead at halftime. Welch added eight more points, including a steal and layup late in the period, and Xavier Kelly put in five points, including an early trey that gave Van Wert a 30-14 advantage.

“They’re a very talented team and obviously very well coached,” Lincolnview head coach Brett Hammons said. “Coach Best does a great job with his group and they’re an experienced team and obviously they’re playing a lot better this year. They do a really good job and they had some tough mismatches for us and they took advantage of that in the first half. We had some turnovers that led to easy buckets for them.”

The scoring pace slowed considerably in the third quarter, with the Lancers holding a 10-6 edge.

“We had a talk with our guys at halftime about toughening up and doing a better job and I thought for the most part in the second half we did,” Hammons said. “We ended up being better on the defensive end and made some shots but we have to learn from this. We had our moments, we just couldn’t put a full 32 minutes together tonight.”

“Good teams don’t teams don’t allow you to continue that kind of momentum and I knew they wouldn’t,” Best said. “I knew they were going to come out and throw some punches and we couldn’t maintain that rythmn we had. You want to but it’s hard to.”

The Lancers trimmed the deficit to 10 in the final stanza but could draw no closer. Max Hammons scored 12 of his 19 points in the period and Gavin Evans added four of his eight points.

“They cut it to 10 but we hit our free throws in the fourth quarter, but that’s what good teams do,” Best said. “Good teams respond and I thought we took a step as a good team tonight, to not crumble and get some free throws and good possessions and got just enough stops. They’re a hard guard – I think they execute their offensive stuff as good as any team we’ve seen all year.”

The Cougars connected on a season-best 17-of-19 free throw attempts, while also shooting 23-of-40 from the floor (57 percent). Lincolnview converted 18-of-42 shot attempts. Van Wert held a slight edge on the boards, 19-16 and the Cougars committed just six turnovers, compared to 11 by the Lancers.

Van Wert will travel to Celina on Friday then will host Marion Local on Saturday. Lincolnview will be home to Spencerville on Friday, then will travel to Miller City on Saturday.

Box score

Cougars 22  20   6  19 – 67

Lancers  10  15 10  16 – 51

Van Wert: Xavier Kelly 4-2-12; Griffin McCracken 1-0-3; Keaten Welch 5-9-19; Caden Collins 3-0-7; Zach Crummey 8-7-22; Cohen Bragg 2-0-4

Lincolnview: Max Hammons 7-2-19; Zander Coil 2-0-5; Gavin Evans 3-2-8; Chayse Overholt 1-1-4; Marshall Hammons 4-0-12; Seth Brant 1-0-3