Lancers’ unbeaten streak ends; VW loses

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

The Lincolnview Lancers had an off night at the wrong time Friday as Lima Central Catholic ended the Lancers’ unbeaten streak at 19 with a 62-44 non-conference win at Lincolnview. Fittingly, though, Lincolnview lost to LCC Coach Frank Kill, a member of Lincolnview’s 1997 state championship team.

With the loss, Lincolnview is now 19-1, while the Thunderbirds up their record to 18-1 on the year.

The Lancers took a six-point lead in the first quarter, 15-9, but Lincolnview battled back in the second quarter to lead by a point, 18-17, before the T-Birds went on a 12-1 run to go up by 10, 29-19, at the half.

LCC’s defensive pressure increased in the second half as the T-Birds outscored Lincolnview 33-25 in the half for the 18-point win. The Lancers did get within 12 points in the second half, but just couldn’t make it over the hump against the talented T-Birds.

Senior sensation Tre Cobbs was LCC’s main offensive weapon, scoring 26 points in the game, while Dantez Wilson added 13 points and Josh Dixon 10 points for the T-Birds.

The Lancers were led by Chandler Adams’ 13 points, while Trevor Neate added 10 points and Hayden Ludwig 9 points for Lincolnview.

The Lancers shot just a little bit better from the field, hitting 16 of 37 (43.2 percent), while LCC was 22 of 51 from the field (43.1 percent), but the T-Birds had more points in transition than Lincolnview and more putbacks on the offensive boards.

LCC was deadly at the free throw line, knocking down 12 of 13 (92.3 percent) from the line, while the Lancers made 9 of 15 free throws (60 percent).

The Van Wert Cougars had to play the first quarter Friday night without starter Jacoby Kelly because of a discipline matter (he was late for the team bus), and it may have cost them the game, as Celina outscored the Cougars by 10 points, 19-9, in the quarter and only won by nine, 64-55, in the two teams’ Western Buckeye League contest.

While the Bulldogs took a 14-point lead, 37-23, into the locker room at halftime, the second half belonged to Van Wert, which outscored Celina 32-27 in the half to make it a contest.

Both teams had four players in double figures. The Cougars were led by Colin Smith’s 14 points, while Josh Braun and Ryan McCracken each added 11 points, and Kelly scored 10 for Van Wert. The Bulldogs were led by Caleb Hoyng’s 16 points, while Kole Murlin scored 15 points, Christian Berry added 12 points and Jacob Stolley knocked down 10 points for Celina.

Both teams shot well during the game. The Cougars were 21 of 37 from the field (56.8 percent), including 8 of 20 three-point attempts (40 percent). Celina was 23 of 46 from the field (50 percent) and made 7 of 19 three-pointers (36.8 percent).

Van Wert was 5 of 8 from the line (62.5 percent), while the Bulldogs made 11 of 17 free throw attempts (64.7 percent).

Celina dominated on the boards, bringing down 22 rebounds to 12 for the Cougars, while also having four fewer turnovers, 8-12.

Van Wert’s junior varsity team won 51-43, with Blake Henry and Nate Place each scoring 14 points for the Cougar JVs. Jimi Brian had 11 points and Nick Laffin 10 points for Celina.