{"id":176852,"date":"2024-03-13T03:38:13","date_gmt":"2024-03-13T08:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=176852"},"modified":"2024-03-13T03:38:14","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T08:38:14","slug":"crestview-fort-loramie-to-meet-in-semis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2024\/03\/13\/crestview-fort-loramie-to-meet-in-semis\/","title":{"rendered":"Crestview, Fort Loramie to meet in semis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Don\u2019t expect a high-flying, high-scoring shootout when No. 4 Crestview and No. 1 Fort Loramie meet in the Division IV state semifinals at UD Arena on Thursday. While both teams are capable of putting up points in bunches, it\u2019s defense that has gotten both teams to Dayton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Redskins are allowing a paltry 27.8 points per game and just 17.5 points per outing in the tournament, while the Knights give up just 30.2 points per game and slightly more, 31.2, points per game through six tournament games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, neither team has lost to a Division IV squad this year. Crestview\u2019s two losses came to Ottawa-Glandorf and Allen East (both Division III), while Fort Loramie\u2019s losses came to Division III poll champion Casstown Miami East (36-33 in the season opener), and 54-42 to Thornville Sheridan (No. 3 in Division II).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Cali Gregory is averaging 20.5 points per game for Crestview. Bob Barnes\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

During a statewide media teleconference held on Tuesday, Crestview head coach Mark Gregory said he\u2019s pleased with his team\u2019s play, especially during the postseason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring the tournament we\u2019ve had a really nice run and I think we\u2019re playing the best basketball we have all year,\u201d Gregory said. \u201cI\u2019m just so proud of my team and encouraged by the way they\u2019ve played for each other and the name across their jerseys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike Crestview, Fort Loramie had one big scare in the tournament. It came in the regional semifinals against Russia, a team the Redskins had beaten handily twice during the regular season. The third matchup wasn\u2019t nearly as easy, as Fort Loramie was forced to rally for a 33-29 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were down most of the game and we had a hard time finding the basket, but what I love about our girls is they didn\u2019t panic, they persevered,\u201d head coach Carla Siegel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fort Loramie went on to win the regional championship with a 44-22 win over Marion Local. After a slow start, the Redskins went on a 31-0 run in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce we hit a couple of baskets we got into passing lanes and used our length to create some situations which allowed us to get some easy baskets,\u201d Siegel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with lockdown defense, Fort Loramie is paced by a deep and balanced offensive attack. Juniors Avery Brandewie, a 5-10 forward, averages 10.9 points per game and Victoria Mescher, a 6-foot forward averages 10 points per outing. Meanwhile, senior guard Skyler Albers puts in just under 10 points per game. Crestview will counter with 5-10 senior guard Cali Gregory, who\u2019s averaging 20.5 points per game, 5-5 junior guard Ellie Kline (10.5 points per game) and freshman guard Kaci Gregory (9.4 points per game).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

A big key to Crestview\u2019s season has been the return of 6-2 senior Myia Etzler, who didn\u2019t play as a junior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat a blessing to have her back with us this year,\u201d Gregory said. \u201cI was so excited when she came back for the first day of practice. That was a big deal for us to get her back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is actually the second time Crestview and Fort Loramie are meeting this season, but the first time didn\u2019t count in the standings \u2013 it was a preseason scrimmage between the two teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re obviously so well coached and coach Siegel does such a great job year in and year out,\u201d Gregory said. \u201cTheir kids are just so athletic, strong, physical and they know the game. We had only had one week of practice and she had some kids who were in Washington DC for a band concert so we had just gotten our kids back (for the scrimmage).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember thinking \u2018I would love to play them again sometime this year\u2019 and here we are,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gregory admitted there\u2019s a long list of things the Lady Knights will need to do if they want to defeat Fort Loramie and advance to Saturday\u2019s state championship games against Loudonville or Waterford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey do so many things well but you have to take care of the basketball,\u201d Gregory stated. \u201cThey do such a good job with deflections, steals, runaway layups in the full court and half court. You have to rebound the basketball \u2013 they do such a great job of crashing the boards at the offensive and defensive end. We have to value every possession, we have to get great shots and we have to limit them on the second, third, fourth or fifth shot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday\u2019s Division IV state semifinal game will air live on 99.7FM WKSD.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor Don\u2019t expect a high-flying, high-scoring shootout when No. 4 Crestview and No. 1 Fort Loramie meet in the Division IV state semifinals at UD Arena on Thursday. While both teams are capable of putting up points in bunches, it\u2019s defense that has gotten both teams to Dayton. The Redskins are allowing a […]<\/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-176852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-11 12:16:04","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\/176852","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=176852"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176855,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176852\/revisions\/176855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}