VW independent boys, girls hoops recap

VW independent sports

Boys basketball

Spencerville 50 Van Wert 49

Van Wert led 35-26 in the third quarter but Spencerville was able to rally for a 50-49 win over the Cougars on Saturday. It was Van Wert’s third consecutive loss and for the second straight night, the difference was the foul line, as Spencerville connected on 14-of-16 attempts, while Van Wert was 5-of-7.

A trey by Spencerville’s Grady Smith with just under five minutes left in the game gave the Bearcats a 46-44 lead, which they would not relinquish. Four consecutive free throws by Owen Sensabaugh and Will Sensabaugh with under a minute left gave Spencerville a 50-46 lead. Van Wert’s Griffin McCracken hit a trey with about five seconds left but the Cougars were out of timeouts and could not stop the clock.

With Keaten Welch scoring six of his 12 points in the period, Van Wert led 15-14 at the end of the first quarter, with Will Sensabaugh drilling a triple to end the period. A layup by Zach Crummey at the halftime buzzer gave the hosts a 27-23 lead. In the third quarter Xavier Kelly repeatedly slashed to the basket for eight of his 12 points

Will Sensabaugh led all scorers with 21 points and Grady Smith added 14 for the Bearcats.

The Cougars will finish their regular season at Kenton on Friday. The game will be played in the old Kenton gymnasium, due to other event taking place in the new high school gym. Spencerville will be at Delphos Jefferson.

Delphos St. John’s 75 Crestview 64

CONVOY — The second quarter was the difference during Saturday night’s game between Crestview and Division VII No. 1 ranked Delphos St. John’s.

Leading 20-15 at the end of the first quarter, the Blue Jays outscored the Knights 18-7 in the second quarter to take a 38-22 lead into halftime. Crestview tried to chip away in the second half but fell 75-64. In the second quarter, Cam Elwer and Easton Elwer each hit two treys.

Brayden Klaus led Delphos St. John’s with 22 points, including nine in the first quarter, while Cam Elwer and Easton Elwer added 17 and 15 points respectively. Andrew Elwer also hit double digits with 11 points. Will Sheets led Crestview with 20 points, including 14 in the second half, while Hayden Perrott scored 14 of his 19 points after halftime. Cash Hammons added 11 points for the Knights (13-8).

Crestview will host Lima Central Catholic in the regular season finale on Friday, while Delphos St. John’s (21-0) will entertain Parkway the same night.

Arlington 54 Lincolnview 36

Arlington (No. 4, Division VII) held Lincolnview (No. 6, Division VI) to single digits in three of four quarters and the Red Devils won their 14th consecutive game by defeating the Lancers 54-36 on Saturday.

Arlington led 16-6 after the first quarter but Lincolnview fought back and trimmed the deficit to just five, 28-23 at halftime. From there, the Red Devils outscored the Lancers 17-9 in the third quarter and 9-4 in the final period. Aydin Cavinee led all scorers with 22 points, Calvin Willow added 15 points, and Hunter Rausch finished with 15 points. Marshall Hammons was Lincolnview’s lone double digit scorer, finishing with 17 points.

The game was Lincolnview’s regular season finale. The Lancers will ***.

Girls basketball

Coldwater 64 Van Wert 41

COLDWATER — In the regular season finale for Van Wert, Coldwater raced out to a 20-10 first quarter lead , then increased it to 39-18 at halftime and went on to defeat the Cougars 64-41 on Saturday.

Coldwater’s Mia Knapke led all scorers with 18 points, Brylee Knapke added 13 points and Ava Smith chipped in with 11 points. Jazz Florence led Van Wert with 12 points and Katie DeAmicis and Amaya Dowdy each added eight points.

Van Wert (1-21) will open sectional play at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Rossford.