{"id":163215,"date":"2023-02-20T04:39:40","date_gmt":"2023-02-20T09:39:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=163215"},"modified":"2023-02-20T04:39:40","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T09:39:40","slug":"pratt-hits-1000-vw-downs-crestview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2023\/02\/20\/pratt-hits-1000-vw-downs-crestview\/","title":{"rendered":"Pratt hits 1,000, VW downs Crestview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Entering Saturday\u2019s home and regular season finale against No. 4 Crestview, Van Wert senior forward Aidan Pratt needed 19 points to reach 1,000 in his basketball career and entering the fourth quarter, it didn\u2019t look like he was going to make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pratt, who\u2019s averaging 20.6 points per game for the Cougars this season, was held to just four points in the first half. He added five more points in the third quarter, then began powering toward the milestone in fourth quarter, which played a big part of Van Wert\u2019s 66-47 win over the Knights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Aidan Pratt (15) hit 1,000 career points late in the fourth quarter against Crestview. Bob Barnes\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With Van Wert (15-7) leading 48-37 entering the final period, Pratt scored two quick buckets, then later added three more plus a foul shot. He came with two points of the mark when he grabbed a missed free throw by Luke Wessell and put it in, then hit the milestone with 26 seconds left, when he hit a short jumper in the lane after a steal and assist by Wessell. Pratt, who was fouled on the shot, hit the free throw and finished the game with 20 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a great feeling, especially with it being my last game at home in \u2018The Den,\u2019\u201d Pratt said. \u201cI was glad I got to spend the moment with my brothers who\u2019ve we been fighting all season with and all the loyal fans. I think the win is also a good confidence booster for us going into the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a great kid, he\u2019s a great teammate and obviously everyone knows his accolades in football and basketball and it\u2019s just been a great honor to coach him,\u201d Van Wert head coach Ben Laudick said. \u201cI\u2019m glad we still get to be around each other hopefully for a while (in the tournament).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the rest of the game, it was a tight one until midway through the third quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind seven points by Nate Lichtle, Crestview (19-3) led 14-13 at the end of the first quarter and the Knights slapped a box-and-one on Pratt for the entire first half. An early second quarter jumper by Gavin Etzler gave the Knights their biggest lead of the game, 16-13, but a basket and foul shot by Garett Gunter tied the game the Cougars went on to enjoy a 30-25 halftime lead. AJ Proffitt added a pair of treys and Garett Gunter put in a basket and two foul shots, while Etzler scored six of his eight points in the quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Pratt opened the third quarter with a pair of foul shots and a basket that gave the Cougars a 35-27 lead, but the Knights ran off eight unanswered points, including a steal and layup by Carson Hunter that tied the game. However, leading 38-37, Gunter scored seven consecutive points in the span of two minutes, giving Van Wert a 45-37 lead, then Kaden Shaffer beat the buzzer with a trey, giving the hosts a double digit lead entering the fourth. Gunter went on to finish with 16 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGarett\u2019s a three-year starter and we ask him to do a lot of different things and I\u2019m real pleased he was able to shift the momentum and put us on his back,\u201d Laudick said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe tied the game 35-35 and we had a couple of loose ball possessions that we should have fallen on and called time out or get a loose ball tie-up but we tried to kick it back out and they got another possession out of that,\u201d Etzler said. \u201cIt came down to their guards\u2019 toughness \u2013 I thought their guards did a great job of attacking the basket and we didn\u2019t do a very good job of keeping them from getting to the basket.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Nate Lichtle (25) led Crestview with 12 points. Bob Barnes photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The coaches agreed Saturday\u2019s game provided a tournament-style atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we had to change the game from early in the season, I told Trent (athletic director Trent Temple) I want to finish against a really good opponent in a tournament atmosphere so our guys can experience that,\u201d Laudick said. \u201cI\u2019m glad our guys handled it\u2026we told them there would be highs and lows today. Crestview is a really good basketball team and they\u2019ve won 19 games for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think getting on their court was good for us,\u201d Etzler said. \u201cThey\u2019re a handful of points away from a 20-win season so we knew we were going to be in for a ballgame, but to get ready for a tournament game, these are the types of teams we\u2019re going to have to play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both teams have a bye in their respective sectional tournaments. Crestview will face Miller City or Leipsic in the Division IV sectional finals at 6 p.m. Friday at Van Wert, and the Cougars will play Elida or Upper Sandusky in the Division II sectional championship game at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Lima Sr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Box score<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert 13 17 18 18 \u2013 66
Crestview 14 11 12 10 \u2013 47<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert: Nate Phillips 3-1-9; Kaden Shaffer 1-0-3; AJ Proffitt 2-0-6; Luke Wessell 0-5-5; Carson Smith 3-0-7; Garett Gunter 6-3-16; Aidan Pratt 9-2-20<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crestview: Gavin Etzler 3-2-8; Mitch Temple 1-1-3; Carson Hunter 3-2-8; Jaret Harting 4-0-8; Nate Lichtle 5-0-12; Wren Sheets 2-0-4; Connor Sheets 1-0-2; Nasir Easterling 1-0-2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JV: 39-34<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor Entering Saturday\u2019s home and regular season finale against No. 4 Crestview, Van Wert senior forward Aidan Pratt needed 19 points to reach 1,000 in his basketball career and entering the fourth quarter, it didn\u2019t look like he was going to make it. Pratt, who\u2019s averaging 20.6 points per game for the Cougars […]<\/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-163215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 22:43:32","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\/163215","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=163215"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163243,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163215\/revisions\/163243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}