St. John’s ends Lancer girls’ season

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

The Lincolnview Lady Lancers’ offense sputtered, and the result was a 47-36 loss to Delphos St. John’s in the opening round of the Division IV sectional tournament played Tuesday at Van Wert High School.

The Lancers led by a point, 7-6, at the end of the first quarter, but St. John’s came back strong in the second and third quarters, outscoring Lincolnview 26-13 to lead by 12, 32-20, at the end of three quarters of play.

The Lancers outscored Delphos in the final quarter, 16-15, but it was a matter of too little, too late by then.

Hannah McCleery led the Lancers with 11 points – the only Lincolnview player in double figures, although Julia Thatcher had 8 points for the Lancers.

St. John’s was led by Sydney Fischbach’s 15 points, while Jessica Geise added 8 points for the Lady Blue Jays.

Lincolnview was 13 of 37 from the field (35.1 percent), including going 0 for 11 from three-point range. The Blue Jays were 15 of 31 (48.4 percent) from the field, including an 0-for-8 performance from beyond the arc.

The Lancers made 10 of 16 free throws (62.5 percent), while St. John’s was 15 of 22 from the line (68.2 percent).

The Blue Jays had the edge in rebounding with 24 boards, while Lincolnview brought down 21 caroms. The Lancers had fewer turnovers, 10-11, than did St. John’s.

The loss ends Lincolnview’s season at 10-13, while the 7-16 Blue Jays will play the No. 1 seed Crestview Lady Knights (20-1) on Saturday in the sectional finals in the Cougar’s Den.