{"id":113982,"date":"2019-02-26T23:47:28","date_gmt":"2019-02-27T04:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=113982"},"modified":"2019-02-26T23:47:34","modified_gmt":"2019-02-27T04:47:34","slug":"season-wrap-gregory-dan-w-and-adams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2019\/02\/26\/season-wrap-gregory-dan-w-and-adams\/","title":{"rendered":"Season wrap: Gregory, Dan W. and Adams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

The 2018-2019 girls\u2019 basketball season came to an end for Crestview, Lincolnview and Van Wert on Saturday, as all three teams lost in their respective sectional championship games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three head coaches \u2013 Crestview\u2019s Mark Gregory, Lincolnview\u2019s Dan Williamson, and Van Wert\u2019s Rob Adams took some time to reflect back on the season as well as look ahead to next season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Gregory<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lady Knights enjoyed some notable accomplishments during a 15-7 (6-2 NWC) season, including a nine game winning streak and defeating Spencerville in the regular season finale, a result that prevented the Lady Bearcats from sharing the NWC title with Bluffton and Columbus Grove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mark Gregory<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately for Crestview, the Lady Knights fell to powerful Wayne Trace (20-3) in Saturday\u2019s Division IV sectional title game at Paulding High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite a lack of overall size, Crestview was able to compete with taller teams, losing only to the co-champions in conference play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am really proud of how we rebounded the basketball this year for our size,\u201d Gregory said. \u201cWe struggled with that early on in the season and I thought we really improved our overall toughness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along the way, three Lady Knights earned All-NWC honors, with Lexi Gregory landing on the First Team, and Bailey Gregory and Olivia Cunningham on the Second Team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coach went on to praise the Lady Knights, not just for their basketball accomplishments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a great group of kids on and off the floor,\u201d Gregory said. \u201cOur last tournament game, I had one of the directors tell me how great their manners were. That makes me as a coach very proud.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crestview is losing four seniors \u2013 Haley Speith, Codi Miller, Lizzie Bowen and Emma Bown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t say enough about our seniors,\u201d Gregory said. \u201cThey do things the right way and they will all be very successful in life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crestview should return seven letter winners and substantial experience for the 2019-2020 season. While eyeing next season, Gregory talked about what the Lady Knights need to do to take the next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to continue to work in the offseason on our handles, shooting, and we have to get stronger,\u201d Gregory explained. \u201cI have confidence that we will do all of these and get better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dan Williamson<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lady Lancers finished the season 8-16 (1-7 NWC), then enjoyed a comeback win over Ayersville in the Division IV sectional semifinals before falling to Delphos St. John\u2019s 46-28 in the sectional title game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dan Williamson<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe definitely hoped to win more games than we did but the girls fought through a lot of adversity and became a closer group because of it,\u201d head coach Dan Williamson explained. \u201cWe were excited to get a tournament win and we played well enough to win a sectional championship for almost three quarters but just couldn’t pull it out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe saw improvement in every girl that played for us this year and our younger players learned what it takes to play at the varsity level which will help them in the future,\u201d Williamson added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the adversity was the loss of leading scorer Jordan Decker 10.1 ppg, ACL), in the ninth game against Minster, but Williamson said his team was able to remain upbeat, win or lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis group\u2019s ability to bounce back after a loss is what I appreciate the most about them,\u201d Williamson said. \u201cWe could always count on them to come in to practice the next day and be ready to work. They were positive with each other through the wins and losses, which is not always an easy thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lady Lancers will lose just two seniors, but Lakin Brant and Adia Welch were key components of the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can’t say enough about Lakin and Adia,\u201d Williamson said. \u201cThey were everything and more of what we expected and needed them to be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were outstanding leaders both on and off the floor and they were our best players at the end of the season when we needed them the most. They are two of the smartest players I’ve coached and they will be missed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as the off season, Williamson cited two key things that need to be done for the 2019-2020 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur biggest off season priority is finding replacements for our graduating seniors,\u201d Williamson stated. \u201cThey are leaving two big holes that will need to be filled both offensively and defensively.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will also have to focus on improving our skill level and being able to find more ways to score. We feel like we have some very good players returning for next season so hopefully they are willing to put in the time it takes to be good varsity basketball players.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rob Adams<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lady Cougars finished the season 6-17, which included a sectional semifinal win over Elida and a loss to No. 1 seed Napoleon in the Division II sectional finals at Miller City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rob Adams<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe do not base the success of our season in terms of wins and losses, but rather the experience the team has had and the lessons we can take away,\u201d Adams said. \u201cFirst and foremost life is not fair, everything we work for is earned and not given.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe biggest takeaway from our season is that no matter the odds, no matter the result always do your best. The point of life just like the game of basketball is to give everything you have and to do your best always. If you do that success will follow. We did that on a nightly basis, always gave our best effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adams described the Lady Cougars as a fun and hard working squad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis team was very blue collar, they worked harder than any team I’ve coached,\u201d Adams said. \u201cWe did not have a superstar, but a set of girls willing to do whatever is takes to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love this team and would go on another ride if we could but unfortunately this is life,\u201d Adams added. \u201cIt\u2019s next chapter for everyone involved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lady Cougars will lose four seniors to graduation \u2013 Sierra Shaffer, Alexis Metz, Reagan Priest and Abby Jackson.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur four seniors have worked extremely hard to leave their mark on this program,\u201d Adams explained. \u201cIt has been awhile since we’ve graduated this many, and honestly it feels great as a coach to have watched them go after their goals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is great to see this group hang tough through all the adversity when no one but us believed in them. They will be missed big time, but they have passed on the torch to the younger girls and have laid the path to success for them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor The 2018-2019 girls\u2019 basketball season came to an end for Crestview, Lincolnview and Van Wert on Saturday, as all three teams lost in their respective sectional championship games. The three head coaches \u2013 Crestview\u2019s Mark Gregory, Lincolnview\u2019s Dan Williamson, and Van Wert\u2019s Rob Adams took some time to reflect back on […]<\/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-113982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 00:27:28","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\/113982","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=113982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}