Ottoville tops Crestview with late points

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

OTTOVILLE — A short turnaround jumper by Zane Martin with 3.4 seconds left, then two foul shots by Nick Moorman with 1.2 seconds remaining proved to be the difference in Ottoville’s 52-48 boys’ non-conference basketball win over visiting Crestview on Wednesday night.

Ottoville snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 8-2, while Crestview dropped to 4-3.

It appeared the Big Green would pull away early in the fourth quarter. Leading 40-34 to begin the period, Drew Fisher hit a free throw, then Moorman connected on a basket and foul shot to push Ottoville’s lead to 44-34.

But the Knights came storming back and took a brief lead. Schumm started the rally with a triple, then Derek Stout connected from two point range to make it a five point game. Consecutive steals and baskets by Wade Sheets plus a free throw knotted the game at 44, then a bucket by Jace Vining gave Crestview a 46-44 advantage with less than four minutes to go. The two teams found themselves tied at 48 with about a minute left, but Ottoville managed to drain the clock before Martin’s late jumper gave the Big Green the eventual winning points.

Crestview trailed for much of the game. Trailing 6-0 in the first quarter, Javin Etzler got the Knights on the board with a trey at the 3:48 mark in the period. After a pair of foul shots by Ottoville’s Ryan Suever, Grant Schlaughbaum hit a three pointer, then a basket by Trevor Gibson tied the game at eight. Ryan Bendele hit a triple of his own, but consecutive buckets by Wade Sheets gave the Knights a 12-11 advantage at the end of the quarter.

A trey by Etzler and a free throw by Stout gave Crestview a 16-13 lead with just over six minutes left in the second quarter, but the Knights didn’t score again for over four minutes, and the Big Green went on a 9-0 run and enjoyed a 22-16 lead. Etzler ended the drought with a basket, then Stout added two points of his own, but a late trey gave Ottoville a 25-20 halftime lead.

Sheets opened the third period with a basket then Drew Kline hit his first three pointer of the season to tie the game at 25. Logan Kemper scored three of Ottoville’s next four baskets to give the Big Green a 35-28 lead, but Kline drilled a triple and Stout connected on a two point basket to trim the deficit to 35-34. Ottoville scored five consecutive points to end the quarter.

Kemper led Ottoville with 13 points, while Martin and Josh Thorbahn each finished with eight.

Sheets paced Crestview with 13 points while Etzler chipped in with 10.

The Knights will host Delphos St. John’s on Friday night (5:30 p.m. junior varsity start), and Ottoville will travel to Lincolnview on Saturday.

Scoring summary:

Ottoville   11 14 15 12 – 52
Crestview   12 8 14 14 – 48

Ottoville: Ryan Bendele 2-2-7; Logan Kemper 6-0-13; Ryan Suever 2-2-6; Drew Fisher 1-1-3; Nick Moorman 2-3-7; Zane Martin 3-0-8; Josh Thorbahn 3-0-8

Crestview: Wade Sheets 6-1-13; Javin Etzler 4-0-13; Drew Kline 3-0-8; Derek Stout 2-3-7; Brett Schumm 1-0-3; Grant Schlagbaum 1-0-3; Jace Vining 1-0-2; Trevor Gibson 1-0-2

JV: Crestview 45-17