Lancers outlast feisty Miller City Wildcats

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

The Lincolnview Lancers notched an impressive non-conference home win with Saturday’s 55-53 victory over Miller City.

Entering the game, the Lancers (5-7) had dropped four of their last five games, while the Wildcats (7-3) had won six of their last seven, falling only to state-ranked Wayne Trace.

Trailing by one with 30 seconds left in the game, Chayten Overholt’s deep three-pointer from the right wing gave the Lancers a 52-50 lead. But the Wildcats quickly regained the lead with a trey by Mark Kuhlman.

After a timeout with 22 seconds left, the Lancers ran a set play and scored on a short jumper by Ryan Rager to make it 54-53. Kuhlman immediately drove the length of the court, but missed a layup with 1.4 seconds left. Lincolnview’s Ethan Kemler grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and hit the front end of a 1-and-1 to help seal the victory.

“That last play we ran, that’s one we’ve run since I’ve been the varsity coach, and it worked out perfectly for us,” Lincolnview head coach Brett Hammons said. “When you have an athletic guy like Rager who can go up and get the basketball like that, that’s always going to help.”

“I just give credit to them that they were able to execute in that stressful situation down the stretch,” Hammons added.

Rager finished with a game high 22 points. Caden Ringwald added 16, and Overholt scored 9.

Lincolnview and Miller City opened the game by trading baskets, and the Wildcats led 16-14 after the first quarter. Lincolnview drilled four treys in the second quarter — two by Overholt and one each by Rager and Tristin Miller — and the Lancers outscored the Wildcats 18-8 on the way to a 32-24 halftime lead.

Ringwald opened the third quarter by hitting back-to-back triples, and, at one point, the Lancers extended their lead to 11 points, 42-31. But the Wildcats went on a 13-1 run to give them a 44-43 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

Ringwald and Jacob Kuhlman traded buckets to open the final period, then both teams went into a lengthy scoring lull before the frantic finish.

After Friday’s loss to Bluffton, Hammons was pleased with how his team bounced back.

“Rager, Ringwald, and Overholt played well for us in clutch times, and the way our posts (Kemler, Isiac Bowersock and Zane Miller) have played in the last four games, credit those guys for executing down the stretch.”

Hammons also acknowledged it was a physical game.

“I give my kids credit, because we’re not the biggest team out there,” Hammons said. “It was physical throughout the game, and I’m glad our guys were resilient enough to handle the pressure they put on us.”

The Lancers will host Columbus Grove Friday night, and Antwerp Saturday night.

Box score:

Lincolnview    14  18  11  12–-55

Miller City       16    8  20    9–-53

Lincolnview (55) — Caden Ringwald 16, Ryan Rager 22, Ethan Kemler 5, Chayten Overholt 9, Tristin Miller 3.

Miller City (53) — Justin Snyder 2, Mitch Gable 7, Mark Kuhlman 15, Jacob Kuhlman 16, Jacob Schumm 3, Noah Otto 5, Luke Lammers 3.

JV game: Lincolnview won 53-35