Second half run leads Crestview to win

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

CONVOY — Don’t poke the bear.

That was the message Crestview (7-1) sent during the second half of Friday night’s 52-38 home non-conference win over Kalida.

The visiting Wildcats (5-4) scored the first five points of the third quarter and took a 25-23 lead at the 6:40 mark, but the Knights answered with an 18-5 explosion that spanned the rest of the period until the 3:47 mark of the fourth quarter, a run that gave the Knights a 45-30 advantage.

Kalen Etzler scored all seven of his points in the third quarter portion of the run and Derick Dealey drilled a pair of triples in the fourth quarter. Dealey went on to finish with a game high 16 points.

“We executed very well, especially in the final possessions of the third quarter, executed what we needed to do, got good looks and buckets, and that carried into the fourth quarter,” Crestview head coach Jeremy Best said.

Wade Sheets shook off early foul trouble and scored six points in the final quarter and Brant Richardson provided a spark off the bench, finishing with six points as well.

“Connor Lautzenheiser also came in and gave us a huge lift with his energy, because we were lacking that a little bit at times, and I’m not sure why,” Best said. “Wade was kind of a tough luck guy tonight with some fouls, but when he came back in he gave us a huge lift.”

“We mixed defenses a little bit tonight and probably played more zone than what we normally do, but if we’re active in it I’m okay with it,” Best added. “We have length and height, but we don’t have the overall size that Kalida has, and they put us in some tough situations and that’s why we played a little more zone.”

Crestview led 15-7 after the first quarter, with Javin Etzler hitting a pair of treys and Dealey and Drew Kline scoring five and four points respectively. Led by Owen Recker and Evan Roebke, Kalida, who was operating with leading scorer Trevor Lambert (14 points per game, illness) closed the gap late in the second quarter with a 9-2 run. Recker went on to finish with a team high 13 points.

“Our effort was fine but the game boils down to making shots,” Kalida head coach Ryan Stechschulte said. “When they (Crestview) went on their run they were making their open shots. I’ll have to look at the film but I thought we had really good looks all night and we just didn’t make them.”

Crestview will play at county rival Van Wert tonight. The game was scheduled to be the season opener, but was rescheduled because of the football playoffs.

“It should be a good environment and a good rivalry game, and I think both teams will play with a lot of energy,” Best said.

The Crestview-Van Wert game will air on WERT 1220AM/104.3FM.

Scoring summary

Crestview 15 8 12 17 – 52
Kalida 7 13 8 10 – 38

Crestview: Kalen Etzler 3-1-7; Wade Sheets 2-2-6; Javin Etzler 3-1-9; Drew Kline 2-2-6; Derick Dealey 5-2-16; Brant Richardson 3-0-6; Carson Kreischer 1-0-2

Kalida: Gabe Hovest 2-0-5; Owen Recker 5-2-13; Evan Roebke 4-0-8; Luke Erhart 1-0-3; Grant Laudick 3-0-6; Justin Siebeneck 1-0-3

JV: Kalida won 50-31