Knights earn outright league crown

Crestview girls’ basketball news

BLUFFTON — Championship teams find a way to win when things aren’t going their way, and that’s exactly what happened Thursday night for the Crestview Lady Knights.

It wasn’t a pretty start for the Knights as they found themselves down 16-3 after a first quarter that saw Bluffton on fire offensively, missing only one shot in the period.

Crestview woke up in the second stanza, though, and narrowed the deficit to four points, 20-16, at the halfway mark. Then, after trailing by seven to start the final stanza, the Lady Knights exploded in the fourth quarter, putting together a half-court 1-2-2 trap and suffocating man-to-man defense that allowed them to outscore Bluffton 24-7 and win 47-37.  With the victory, Crestview also earned an outright Northwest Conference championship. The Lady Knights move to 18-2 on the season and a perfect 8-0 in the NWC.

Crestview was led offensively by sophomore guard Mackenzie Riggenbach and freshman center Emily Bauer, who each scored 15 points. Sophomore forward Lindsey Motycka was close behind with 14 markers.

Crestview will be in action again Monday when the Knights host rival Wayne Trace at Ray Etzler Gymnasium. The Knights’ final regular-season game will be next Thursday as they host Columbus Grove in a NWC match-up.

Crestview’s junior varsity team also remained unbeaten in conference play as the JVs defeated Bluffton 38-28.