{"id":111528,"date":"2019-01-09T04:40:28","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T09:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=111528"},"modified":"2019-01-09T04:40:35","modified_gmt":"2019-01-09T09:40:35","slug":"coaches-corner-hammons-and-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2019\/01\/09\/coaches-corner-hammons-and-best\/","title":{"rendered":"Coaches Corner: Hammons and Best"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a break for the holidays, Coaches Corner is back. This week\u2019s edition features Lincolnview boys\u2019 basketball coach Brett Hammons and Crestview boys\u2019 basketball coach Jeremy Best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brett Hammons<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heading into the halfway point of the schedule, it\u2019s been an up and down season for the 5-5 (1-1 NWC) Lancers. Two losses (Upper Scioto Valley, Fort Recovery) have come by a combined two points, while two wins have come against Van Wert and Kalida. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Brett Hammons<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The results have head coach Brett Hammons looking for more consistency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like the way that we are competing so far,\u201d Hammons said. We are playing hard on both ends of the floor, but we need to figure out how to play four quarters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have five losses and in four of those five games we have had a quarter where we were outscored by double figures. If we want to have a successful season that can\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through 10 games, Zane Miller and Ethan Kemler are the team\u2019s leading scorers, averaging 11 and 10.3 points per game respectively, followed by Alek Bowersock (7.2 ppg), Kyle Wallis (6.7 ppg), Jorge Salinas (4.2 ppg) and Logan Williams (3.3 ppg). Miller and Kemler are the top two rebounders (5.5 and 3.9 per game).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lincolnview will return to NWC competition Friday at Bluffon (8-1, 2-0 NWC), and a win would keep the Lancers in the conference title race. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey are very well coached,\u201d Hammons said of the Pirates. \u201cThey are sound on both ends of the floor. They do a good job of making things difficult on the offensive end for teams because of the multiple defenses they play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheir backcourt is one of the best that we will see this season,\u201d Hammons added. \u201cIt will be a good challenge for us going over there to play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It should be noted that Bluffton\u2019s only loss came last Saturday at the hands Ottawa-Glandorf (No. 6 in Division III). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Friday\u2019s road game, the Lancers will play three straight at home \u2013 Saturday vs. Miller City (5-5), then against Allen East and Antwerp next weekend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeremy Best<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Crestview Knights (8-1, 1-1 NWC) are ranked No. 3 in the first Division IV statewide poll of the season, with the only loss coming at Bluffton (43-41).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seven of Crestview\u2019s wins have come by ten or more points, leading head coach Jeremy Best to say he likes what he sees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jeremy Best<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like the way our guys have collectively come together so far and especially over the course of the past two and a half weeks and three games,\u201d Best said. \u201cWe\u2019ve played three very physical games against good basketball teams with two of those being on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve appreciated the way we\u2019ve overcame obstacles in each of those games and competed together for a common purpose. There have been times when the ball hasn\u2019t went in the basket on a regular basis, but we still continue to defend and do the little things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to improve in all areas. I still believe we can be a more productive team on the offensive end and feel we are very close to being much more consistent and efficient in this area. Continuing to build depth is going to be crucial as we move through January and into February.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through nine games, Javin Etzler leads the Knights in scoring and rebounding (14.8 points, 7.1 rebounds per game). Kalen Etzler is averaging 10.9 points and seven rebounds, followed by Wade Sheets (8.3 ppg), Derick Dealey (7.4 ppg) and Drew Kline (6.0 ppg). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While fans may not care for it, Best believes future opponents will continue to play a physical style of play against the Knights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI anticipate that physical play will be a point of emphasis that opponents will view as a key in their scouting reports,\u201d Best explained. \u201cBasketball is a skill based game and it seems that in order to negate a skill disadvantage, an opponent will use resources necessary to take the skill out of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBasketball is a beautiful game to watch when there is flow and continuity to a game. However, it seems that games with flow and continuity are hard to come by on a regular basis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut, rather than make excuses, we will keep searching for solutions and learn to adjust. Teams are going to try to take advantages of their opponents weaknesses and we will continue to try to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crestview will play at Delphos Jefferson (0-9) on Friday, then will travel to Arlington (7-3) on Saturday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor After a break for the holidays, Coaches Corner is back. This week\u2019s edition features Lincolnview boys\u2019 basketball coach Brett Hammons and Crestview boys\u2019 basketball coach Jeremy Best. Brett Hammons Heading into the halfway point of the schedule, it\u2019s been an up and down season for the 5-5 (1-1 NWC) Lancers. Two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-04 17:49:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111528\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}