Knights hang on against Columbus Grove

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

ELIDA — No. 1 seed Crestview led No. 4 seed Columbus Grove from start to finish, but that doesn’t mean it was easy.

After leading by as many as 10 in the second half, the Knights (20-4) needed four straight free throws by Hayden Perrott and Tommy Heffner late in the fourth quarter to secure a 42-37 Division VI district semifinal win at the Elida Fieldhouse on Wednesday.

Columbus Grove (13-8) had chances in the fourth quarter but scored just four points, all by Trevor Baxter, and misfired on six three point attempts and three layups in the final period. Some of those misses came when the Bulldogs trailed 38-37.

“We did a good job defensively keeping us in the game,” Crestview head coach Doug Etzler said. “We did a good job of making them shoot jump shots, which was our game plan going in and we did a great job rebounding the basketball out of their zone.”

“We were forced to take some outside shots tonight and unfortunately for us they didn’t fall,” Columbus Grove head coach Connor Kohls lamented. “We got a lot of good looks…we had some boneheaded mistakes – we had some easy transition points that turned into turnovers for us because we couldn’t finish or we made a bad pass. It was a lot of little things that were uncharacteristic for us and we just kind of shot ourselves in the foot.”

“Crestview’s really good,” Kohls added. “They’re really physical and athletic and they do a great job. It’s not like we lost to a bad team, they’re a really good team.”

While Columbus Grove struggled to score in the fourth quarter, the Knights had trouble at the offensive end as well. After a Wren Sheets layup just over two minutes into the fourth quarter, the Knights didn’t score again until Perrott and Heffner hit their foul shots with 35 and 22 seconds left.

“When Tommy made his two free throws, I felt a lot more comfortable,” Etzler quipped.

Crestview finished with three double digit scorers. Sheets finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, Heffner had 11 points and Liam Putman chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds.

“Liam did a great job,” Etzler said. “He scored some buckets for us and rebounded the heck out of the basketball for us. He was one of our stars tonight and was one of the guys that got it done for us.”

While the Knights connected on 50 percent of their shots (19-of-38) and won the rebounding battle 29-22, they were plagued by 21 turnovers, compared to 13 by Columbus Grove. Two Bulldogs finished in double figures – Brady Basinger had 11 points, including five in the third quarter and Trevon Baxter finished with 10. Columbus Grove converted just 16-of-47 shots (34 percent) and 3-of-7 foul shots.

The Knights bolted out to a 7-0 first quarter lead and led 11-6 at the end of the period. The Bulldogs staged a rally in the second quarter and at one point scored six straight points and trailed 18-17 before Crestview countered with six consecutive points of their own. A slam dunk by Basinger with 25 second left before halftime pulled Columbus Grove to within five, 24-19, but Heffner zipped in a trey from the top of the key on the following possession and Crestview carried a 27-19 lead into halftime. Thanks to late buckets by Basinger and Baxter, Columbus Grove trailed by just three, 36-33 entering the fourth quarter.

Crestview will face No. 2 seed Lima Central Catholic in the district finals at 7 p.m. Friday at Elida. The Thunderbirds defeated No. 3 seed Bluffton 70-56 in the second game Wednesday night. Crestview and Lima Central Catholic met during the regular season February 7 and the Thunderbirds claimed a 53-50 win.

“I think this is going to be a really good basketball game,” Etzler said. “The athleticism that LCC brings to the table will present some challenges.”

Box score

Knights    11  16   9   6 – 42

Bulldogs    4  13 14   4 – 37

Crestview: Hayden Perrott 1-3-5; Braxton Leeth 1-0-2; Liam Putman 5-0-10; Tommy Heffner 3-3-11; Will Sheets 1-0-2; Wren Sheets 5-2-12

Columbus Grove: Brady Basinger 5-1-11; Trenton Barraza 3-0-6; Trevon Baxter 4-2-10; Landon Best 1-0-3; Kyle Hopkins 3-0-7