{"id":128665,"date":"2020-02-27T00:07:31","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T05:07:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=128665"},"modified":"2020-02-27T05:45:48","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T10:45:48","slug":"etzler-kreischer-lead-knights-over-leipsic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2020\/02\/27\/etzler-kreischer-lead-knights-over-leipsic\/","title":{"rendered":"Etzler, Kreischer lead Knights over Leipsic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

BLUFFTON — After trailing by 10 at halftime, Leipsic made things interesting in the second half, but Crestview was able to convert 10-17 free throws in the fourth quarter, enough to help the Knights to a 64-55 Division IV sectional semifinal win at Bluffton University on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both teams got off to a fast start, with Crestview enjoying a 20-15 lead at the end of the first quarter. Gavin Etzler hit a pair of treys, while Kalen Etzler and JJ Ward each added five points in the period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Carson Kreischer goes up for two of his 18 points during Wednesday night’s game against Leipsic. <\/strong>Wyatt Richardson\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought we got off to a really good start and shot the ball extremely well in the first quarter to build a little lead,\u201d Crestview head coach Doug Etzler said. \u201cKalen Etzler, Carson Kreischer and JJ Ward all had very good games scoring and rebounding for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 6-8 Etzler, who scored a game high 22 points and 10 rebounds, added five more in the second quarter and Carson Kreischer chipped in with four of his 18 points, and Crestview led 31-23 at halftime. Kreischer also finished with 12 rebounds in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the Vikings (11-12) poured in 18 third quarter points, including six by Mason Brandt and four by Drew Liffick, while Kreischer scored six for the Knights and Crestview led 43-41 entering the fourth quarter. Brandt finished with 20 points and Liffick added 11. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe struggled with their pressure tonight and turned it over too much,\u201d Etzler said. \u201cIt was the first tournament experience for most of our guys and I think the nerves showed a little, but credit Leipsic for the pressure they put on us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Vikings hounded the Knights into 16 turnovers during the game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Leipsic trailed by just four late in the fourth quarter, but the Knights were able to use free throws to cement the win. Ward, who tallied 11 points, was 4-6 from the foul line in the fourth quarter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crestview (12-11) will play No. 3 seed Delphos St. John\u2019s in the sectional championship game at 6:15 p.m. on Friday at Bluffton. The two teams met on December 27, and the Blue Jays won 58-37.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will have to play a much cleaner game against St. John\u2019s on Friday,\u201d Etzler said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scoring summary<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crestview 20 11 12 21 \u2013 64
Leipsic 15 8 18 14 \u2013 55<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crestview: Kalen Etzler 8-4-22; Gavin Etzler 2-2-8; Carson Kreischer 9-0-18; JJ Ward 3-4-11; Nathan Lichtle 2-0-5<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leipsic: Mason Brandt 7-2-20; Trey Schroeder 2-0-5; Jaden Siefker 1-1-3; Dillan Niese 1-0-2; Drew Liffick 3-4-11; Lorenzo Walther 2-3-7; Tyler Sickmiller 1-1-4; Mitchell Lammers 1-1-3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor BLUFFTON — After trailing by 10 at halftime, Leipsic made things interesting in the second half, but Crestview was able to convert 10-17 free throws in the fourth quarter, enough to help the Knights to a 64-55 Division IV sectional semifinal win at Bluffton University on Wednesday. Both teams got off […]<\/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-128665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 11:27:48","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\/128665","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=128665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128665\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}