Friday Flashback: Lancers top Knights

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

Note: The latest installment of the Friday Flashback takes us back to March of 2016, when the Lincolnview Lancers met up with Van Wert County foe Crestview in a Division IV district finals thriller at the Elida Fieldhouse. Below is the game story as it appeared on the VW independent Sports page.

ELIDA — The Lincolnview Lancers overcame a 36-point offensive performance by Crestview’s Connor Lautzenheiser to eke out a 1-point win, 52-51, and advance to the Division IV regional tournament at Bowling Green State University this coming week.

It’s been nearly two decades since the Lancers have won a district championship, going back to Lincolnview’s undefeated 1997 state championship team.

The Lancers (24-1) are now headed to Bowling Green State University for the Division IV regional semifinals, where they will play Fayette (22-3), which downed Ayersville in a 37-36 thriller in the Napoleon district title game.

Friday’s game was a battle from beginning to end, even more so than the two teams’ Northwest Conference game back in January. The Lancers got off to a three-point lead, 12-9, after the first eight minutes of play, but Crestview claimed a four-point lead, 24-20, at halftime with a 15-8 run in the second quarter. Lincolnview shaved a point off that lead in the third quarter and both teams battled back and forth in the final stanza, with the Knights having several chances to tie or win the game in the final seconds.

In fact, Lautzenheiser, a senior who was playing his final game for Crestview and scored all but two of the Knights’ 27 second-half points, had a chance to tie the game at 52-all in the final minute, but missed his only free throw after making 10 in a row. A mid-court buzzer-beater by Knight Javin Etzler banged off the backboard and the game was over.

Lincolnview was led by Chandler Adams’ 13 points, while Austin Leeth added 12 points — including what would prove to be the winning shot with 22 seconds left — and Hayden Ludwig scored 8 points for the Lancers.

Both teams played tough, physical defense throughout the game, like two heavyweight fighters going at it, which also kept the score under both teams’ offensive average.

The Lancers were 21 of 46 from field goal range (45.7 percent), including 3 of 10 three-point attempts (30 percent). Crestview made 16 of 38 field goal attempts (42.1 percent), including 6 of 14 from behind the arc (42.9 percent).