Lancers, Flyers to meet in semifinals

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

For the fourth time in school history, Lincolnview is in the OHSAA boys basketball state tournament and the number six seems to be a common theme. The Lancers qualified for the state tournament in 1996, 2016, and 2026. Lincolnview won the Division IV state title in 1997.

For head coach Brett Hammons, it’s the second time he’s taken a team to the state tournament. His 2016 team rolled to a 21-1 record season record and won sectional, district and regional titles. The Lancers then defeated Jackson Center 52-39 in the semifinals before falling to Cornerstone Christian Academy 72-54 in the state championship game and finishing the season 27-2.

Coming off a 5-18 season, an outright NWC championship, along with sectional, district and regional titles and 22 wins didn’t seem to be in the cards for the Lancers this season.

Even so, Hammons was asked if he could find any comparisons at all between the two seasons.

“I feel it can go either way,” Hammons said. “Both runs to state have been a joy to be a part of, and were extremely difficult to get through. They were both filled with a lot of tough games where you had to beat really good teams.”

“I think the main difference was that there was could have been more pressure on the 2016 team, he continued. “When you’re eight games into a season, and you get put as the No. 1 team in Division IV, a lot can be expected of you. You’re expected to win every game, and that can be hard to do. Those kids were awesome, welcomed that challenge, and got close to pulling it off.”

“This year’s team has been really good throughout the year, and they just continue to prove people wrong. In some of our games this year, we probably weren’t picked as the favorite to win that game. Let it be in the regular season or in the tournament, but they just continue to win. They are a group that, even though they are undersized, plays so well together and just find ways to get it done.”

Lincolnview’s success this season earned praise from Marion Local head coach Kurt Goettemoeller, who leads his No. 1 ranked Flyers into Friday’s state semifinals against the Lancers.

“In addition to their skill level, Lincolnview plays as hard as any team we’ve seen all year,” Goettemoeller said of the Lancers. “They are fearless and Brett has done a tremendous job with his group. They are sound on both sides of the ball. We expect a great game Friday.”

Random Thoughts: tournament basketball

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

The latest installment of Random Thoughts centers entirely around the basketball state tournament, including expansion, the underdog, a heartbreaking end for one team, the MAC and public vs. private/parochial.

Great showing

Admittedly, I’m still kind of on the fence about the expansion to seven divisions in basketball. As I’ve stated before, it’s probably more the fact that the OHSAA’s Board of Directors went ahead and did it, rather than putting it to a vote of member schools. Who knows, maybe schools would have approved it, but we’ll never know for sure.

What I like about the expansion is it’s give more teams more opportunities to make it to regionals and beyond. This part of northwest Ohio is a prime example. Five teams from the area have made it to the state semifinals – Lima Sr. in Division II, Lincolnview and Marion Local in Division VI and Delphos St. John’s and Kalida in Division VII. There’s no way that would have happened before.

Underdog

Who was the underdog going into Saturday’s Division VI regional championship game between Lincolnview and Colonel Crawford? Well, I suppose it depends on who you ask.

The Lancers and their fans seemed very confident going into the game. It’s probably fair to say Colonel Crawford players and fans felt the same way. Plus, the Eagles were there last year and won it.

I’ll admit, I wasn’t quite sure what to think before the game. It seemed like you could make a case for both teams. Before the first quarter was over, it wasn’t too difficult to tell the Eagles were in trouble. They were already gassed and it showed. I don’t say that to be disrespectful. Obviously, they were one of the best Division VI teams in Ohio. They had great players and a superb coaching staff. But Lincolnview was quick and aggressive and the Lancers didn’t take their foot off the gas.

Congrats to Brett Hammons and the Lancers – Division VI regional champions.

No lead is safe

It was a tough weekend for Margaretta’s boys basketball team.

On the Air: radio stations WKSD/WERT

VW independent sports

Here are this week’s boys basketball state tournament broadcast schedules for radio stations 99.7FM WKSD and WERT 1220AM/104.3FM. All games will air live.

WKSD

Friday, March 20 – Division VI state semifinals: Lincolnview vs. Marion Local, 7:30 p.m. pregame, 8 p.m. tipoff

Saturday, March 2 – if Lincolnview wins, Division VI state championship game vs. Berlin-Hiland/Kirtland, 7 p.m. pregame, 7:30 p.m. tipoff

WERT (games via the OHSAA Radio Network)

Friday, March 20 – Division VII state semifinals: Delphos St. John’s vs. Malvern, 11:45 a.m. pregame, 12 p.m. tipoff

Friday, March 20 – Division VII state semfinals: Kalida vs. Hillsdale, 1:45 p.m. pregame, 2 p.m. tipoff

Saturday, March 21 – Division VII state championship game: Delphos St. John’s/Malvern winner vs. Kalida/Hillsdale winner, 3:55 p.m. pregame, 4:15 p.m. tipoff

Turnaround season continues for Lancers

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

From 5-18 last season to 22-5 this season, outright Northwest Conference champions, Division VI sectional and district champions and now, Bowling Green regional champions and state-semifinalists. That’s the story of the 2025-2026 Lincolnview Lancers in a nutshell.

The stunning turnaround is believed to be the biggest one in all of Ohio this season.

Lincolnview’s remarkable season continued with Saturday’s dominating 58-45 Division VI regional championship victory over defending regional champion Colonel Crawford at the Stroh Center. The Lancers trailed just twice, early in the first quarter and literally ran by the Eagles. Zander Coil provided a spark off the bench in the first quarter, scoring eight points while providing to be too quick for Colonel Crawford. Unfortunately, Coil, a high-flying 5-10 junior guard, broke his collarbone late in the third quarter, ending his season.

Gavin Evans and Max Hammons supplied all of Lincolnview’s second quarter points and defensively, the Lancers managed to keep the Eagles off-balance and uncomfortable offensively. By the fourth quarter, the Lincolnview led by as many as 17 points. Anytime Colonel Crawford scored, it seemed as though Lincolnview had an answer and every single Lancer player that entered the game provided a meaningful contribution. After the game, Eagles had coach Dave Sheldon admitted Lincolnview was too quick for his team and he offered nothing but praise for the Lancers during his postgame press conference.

Brett Hammons and two of his players, Max Hammons and Gavin Evans, also spoke with the media and the elder Hammons was asked if, in his wildest dreams, when the season started if he believed this team would earn the title of regional champions.

“No,” Hammons said. “I’m not going to sit here and say coming in I thought we’d be there. I’m just running through my head our senior class – a couple of them played some for me their freshman year, Gavin (Evans) came in his sophomore year at the varsity level toward the end of that season. They went from two wins to six wins to five wins. Now we’re sitting here with 22 wins.”

“It’s a credit to these guys and the effort they put in and I don’t think anyone would have imagined that a team that was 5-18 would turn it around the way we have,” he continued. “They bought into it and they gained a lot of confidence and they had a lot of belief in themselves. We’re a team that’s playing with a lot of confidence.”

Five NW Ohio teams at state tournament

VW independent sports/submitted information

COLUMBUS — The 104th annual Ohio High School Athletic Association boys basketball state tournament tips off Thursday at the Nutter Center at Wright State University and the University of Dayton Arena.

Northwest Ohio is well represented at the state tournament, with Lima Sr. (Division II), Lincolnview and Marion Local (both Division VI), Delphos St. John’s and Kalida (both Division VII) advancing to the semifinals. Lima Sr. (22-4) will face Massillon Washington at the Ervin J. Nutter Center at Wright State University at 1 p.m. Saturday. Lincolnview (22-5) and Marion Local (26-1) will play at 8 p.m. Friday at the Nutter Center. Delphos St. John’s (27-0) will play Malvern (19-9) at 12 p.m. Friday at the Nutter Center, followed by Kalida (16-11) and Hillsdale (20-7) at 2 p.m. Friday.

Division I

Cincinnati Princeton (23-3) vs. Lakewood St. Edward (22-4), Saturday, March 21 at Nutter Center at 5:30 p.m.

Hilliard Bradley (24-2) vs. Pickerington Central (18-8), Saturday, March 21 at Nutter Center at 7:30 p.m.

State Championship: Sunday, March 22 at UD Arena at 3:15 p.m.

Division II

Westerville North (25-1) vs. North Royalton (21-5), Saturday, March 21 at Nutter Center at 11 a.m.

Lima Senior (22-4) vs. Massillon Washington (25-1), Saturday, March 21 at Nutter Center at 1 p.m.

State Championship: Sunday, March 22 at UD Arena at noon

Division III

Toledo Central Catholic (23-3) vs. Trotwood-Madison (21-4), Thursday, March 19 at UD Arena at 6 p.m.

Steubenville (25-1) vs. Akron Archbishop Hoban (20-7), Thursday, March 19 at UD Arena at 8 p.m.

State Championship: Friday, March 20 at UD Arena at 7:30 p.m.

Lancers win again, clinch state berth

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

BOWLING GREEN — Quickness outdid strength.

Those were words uttered by Colonel Crawford head coach Dave Sheldon after his defending Division VI regional champion Eagles lost to Lincolnview 58-45 in the regional finals at Bowling Green State University Saturday night.

“Defensively their quickness really hurt us and the Evans kid (Gavin Evans) was just a blur at the high post for them and Max Hammons was really outstanding as well. That’s a good basketball team.”

“We’re 27 games into the season and that’s been our mentality all year long,” Lincolnview head coach Brett Hammons said. “We’re not the biggest team out there – one of our strongest kids is 6-foot, one of our taller, skinnier kids is 6-2 and we don’t have much height after them but we do have speed and that’s what we preach to our kids – we just want to run. We run a lot in practice, we get up and down and I thought we were better conditioned.”

“We wanted to run as much as possible because they don’t go as deep as us and credit our guys – we had guys on our bench step up and give us huge minutes when we needed them.”

While winning the fourth regional championship in school history (1996, 1997, 2016), Lincolnview kept Colonel Crawford off-balance all night. In the first quarter, the Lancers raced up and down the court and refused to allow the Eagles to get into their half-court game. Zander Coil came off the bench and scored eight of his 10 points and Evans added four points to put the Lancers ahead.

In the second quarter, Hammons and Evans accounted for all 13 of Lincolnview’s points and the Lancers led 27-18 at the break.

“They attacked the rim all night long and that hurt us,” Sheldon said. “They are fiesty and they play hard.”

Marshall Hammons, who was tagged with two early fouls, opened the scoring in the third quarter then Chayse Overholt dropped in a trey from the right wing that extended Lincolnview’s lead to 32-18 and prompted a Colonel Crawford time out. The Lancers (22-5) seemingly had an answer every time the Eagles scored and Lincolnview led 41-29 at the end of the third quarter. However, Lincolnview suffered a big blow with 10.1 seconds left in the period when Coil went down after a collision in the lane. Hammons later said Coil suffered a broken collarbone, ending his season.

Evans scored eight of his game high 19 points in the fourth quarter, including a 6-for-6 display from the foul line. Evans converted 9-of-10 free throws in the game and battled 6-5 senior Payne DeGray all night.

Bollenbacher at state…

Van Wert’s Breese Bollenbacher has River Valley’s Drew Goldberg (above) on the mat during Friday’s opening round of the state wrestling tournament, while below, Bollenbacher is locked up with Jackson’s Grant Kennedy. Unfortunately, Goldberg came back to pin Bollenbacher in 5:32 in the first round of their Division II 285 pound match, then Kennedy won 4-1 in the consolation round, ending Bollenbacher’s season at 27-10. Photos courtesy of Chad Hirschy

Tale of the Tape: Lancers vs. Eagles

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

The stage is set for Saturday’s 6 p.m. Division VI regional championship game at Bowling Green State University, as the Lincolnview Lancers will continue their dream season against Colonel Crawford, a well established basketball power from north central Ohio. The winner will move on to next Friday’s state semifinals at Wright State University’s Ervin J. Nutter Center. The winner of that game, which will tip off at 6 p.m. will then play for the Division VI state championship at 7:30 p.m. the following night, March 21, at UD Arena in Dayton.

Much has been said about Lincolnview’s remarkable turnaround this season. The Lancers were 5-18 (0-7 NWC) during the 2024-2025 season but now stand at 22-4 and one win away from a regional championship and a spot at next week’s state tournament.

Lincolnview opened some eyes early in the season with a 61-45 road win over Lima Central Catholic and then again in January with back-to-back wins over Spencerville and Miller City. A win over nemesis Crestview in the conference finale clinched an outright Northwest Conference championship and the Lancers topped the Knights again in the regional semifinals 53-46 on Thursday night. Junior guard Max Hammons is the leader in the scoring column (17.6 points per game) but the Lancers have had many others make notable contributions throughout the season, including freshman Marshall Hammons and senior Gavin Evans.

A win by Lincolnview would put the Lancers in the state tournament for the fourth time in school history. The Lancers won the Division IV state chamionship in 1997 and finished as the runner-up the previous season under then-head coach Dave Evans. Lincolnview also finished as the Division IV runner-up under Hammons in 2016.

The Colonel Crawford Eagles, from Crawford County, have met all expectations this season, winning 23 of 25 games. The only losses came to Canton Central Catholic (62-55) and Fredricktown (57-53), a pair of Division V teams. Canton Central Catholic will play powerhouse Lutheran East for a regional title on Saturday and Fredricktown went 23-1 this season.

It is fair to note that expectations were high for Colonel Crawford. The Eagles are defending regional champions and advanced to the state tournament for the first time in school history last season, but fell to Marion Local 52-38 in the semifinals.

Lancers top Knights, off to regional final

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

BOWLING GREEN — In the end, the long ball was the difference during Thursday night’s Division VI regional semifinal game between Van Wert County rivals Lincolnview and Crestview at Bowling Green State University.

Lincolnview connected on 9-of-23 three point attempts during the game, including five by junior guard Max Hammons, while Crestview struggled from beyond the arc, hitting just 3-of-21 long distance attempts. In front of a sizable crowd at the Stroh Center, the Lancers (22-5) posted a 53-46 win, putting them in the regional finals for the first time since the 2015-2016 season.

“What a fun game and awesome atmosphere for our guys and our fans,” Lincolnview head coach Brett Hammons said after the game.

Lincolnview’s Holden Price opened the game with a triple then later in the first quarter, Max Hammons hit a pair of treys, including one that gave the Lancers a 14-8 lead, a score that stood at the end of the period. Crestview’s big man, Will Sheets, scored six straight points in the quarter.

A bucket by Hammons gave Lincolnview a 16-8 lead very early in the second quarter and it looked like the Lancers were primed to pull away. However, the Knights put in nine unanswered points, including a trey by Owen Heckler and back-to-back baskets by Sheets, giving Crestview a 17-16 lead about halfway through the second period. After the Lancers were held scoreless for just over four minutes, Chayse Overholt drilled a three pointer to put Lincolnview back on top, only to see Liam Putman tie the game 19-19 with a pair of foul shots. Two more free throws, this time by Hayden Perrott put Crestview ahead 21-19, but a bucket and free throw by Hammons with a minute left gave Lincolnview a 22-21 lead, which was the halftime score. 

Putman and Perrott scored back-to-back baskets early in the third to give Crestview a 25-22 lead and after Hammons popped in another three pointer, a bucket by Sheets put the Knights ahead 27-26. However, it was the final time Crestview would enjoy a lead in the game. Jackson Ingledue zipped in a trey with roughly 90 seconds left in the third quarter, then another triple by Hammons with three seconds remaining gave Lincolnview a 35-31 lead to start the fourth quarter. Putman scored twice before the end of the period and went on to finish with 10 points. Sheets finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds.

Hammons first team All-NW district

VW independent sports/submitted information

FINDLAY — Lincolnview guard Max Hammons has been named first team All-Northwest District in Division VI by a panel of media members for the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Media Association. Delphos St. John’s guard Cameron Elwer, a finalist for Ohio Mr. Basketball, was named first team All-Northwest District and Player of the Year in Division VII. Younger brother Andrew Elwer was also named first team All-Northwest District and their father, Aaron Elwer, was named Division VII Coach of the Year.

In Division IV, Van Wert guard Xavier Kelly has been named second team All-Northwest District, while teammates Cohen Bragg and Zach Crummey were named honorable mention All-Northwest District.

Crestview guard Hayden Perrott was named third team All-Northwest District in Division VI and Will Sheets received honorable mention accolades. In addition to Hammons, Lincolnview teammate Gavin Evans was named honorable mention All-Northwest District.

DIVISION I

FIRST TEAM: Ben Pamer, Perrysburg, 5-11, jr., 15.0; Marcus Bishop, Findlay, 6-1, fr., 11.0; Braylon Foster, Perrysburg, 6-4, jr., 10.5; Andre Young III, Toledo Whitmer, 6-3, sr., 14.5.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Ben Pamer, Perrysburg.

COACHES OF THE YEAR: Chris Stein, Perrysburg; Ryan Grose, Findlay.

SECOND TEAM: Adam Gray, Perrysburg, 6-0, jr., 8.0; Jack Rhoades, Findlay, 6-5, sr., 9.8; Tyson Bower, Perrysburg, 6-0, jr., 12.1.

DIVISION II

FIRST TEAM: Willie Foster, Lima Senior, 6-2, sr., 15.5; Race Kowalczyk, Toledo St. John’s 6-6, sr., 19.3; Paxon Ediger, Ashland, 6-0, sr., 23.6; Alan Horton, Toledo St. Francis de Sales, 6-9, sr., 14.7; Shawn Foster, Lima Senior, 6-2, jr., 21.1; Ethan James, Toledo St. John’s, 6-1, jr., 13.1.

PLAYERS OF THE YEAR: Willie Foster, Lima Senior; Race Kowalczyk, Toledo St. John’s.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Mike Schoen, Toledo St. John’s.

SECOND TEAM: Gabe Baith, Ashland, 5-8, sr., 15.8; Noah Simpson, Lima Senior, 6-2, jr., 13.3; Amari Addy, Lima Senior, 6-0, sr., 10.5; Chris Poellnitz III, Toledo St. Francis de Sales, 6-3, so., 15.5; Jacob Rowland, Sylvania Northview, 6-2, so., 12.9; Cole Gast, Whitehouse Anthony Wayne, 6-5, jr., 14.0; J’Khai Jefferson, Toledo Start, 6-0, sr., 16.9.

HONORABLE MENTION: Reed Emmons, Ashland; Carson Holmes, Sylvania Northview; Coy Hamic, Toledo St. John’s; Parker Theobalds, Toledo St. John’s; Cedric Hester, Toledo St. Francis; TreSean Chenault, Toledo St. Francis; Anthony Trombley, Whitehouse Anthony Wayne; Cailan Hornbeak, Toledo Start.