Javin Etzler named NWC Player of the Year

Submitted information/Van Wert independent sports

DELPHOS — Crestview 6-7 wing Javin Etzler was chosen as the 2017-18 NWC Player of the Year by Northwest Conference boys’ basketball coaches at the annual selection meeting Monday evening in Delphos. Etzler received 115 total points to finish ahead of Chayten Overholt, a guard from Lincolnview. Etzler averaged 15.2 points per game along with 7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for the Knights and was also a first team selection last year.

Etzler and Overholt were joined on the NWC first team by Derek Stout (Crestview), Caden Ringwald (Lincolnview), Alex Rode (Delphos Jefferson) and Blake Reynolds (Columbus Grove). Overholt, Stout, Ringwald and Rode are seniors while Etzler is a junior and Reynolds is a freshman.

Overall, four players from Crestview and four more from Lincolnview earned All-Conference accolades.

Coach of the Year honors in the NWC go to Jeremy Best of Crestview. He led the Knights to an 8-0 conference mark and a regular season record of 19-3. This year’s conference championship was the 17th NWC title in school history for the Knights and the first since the 2013-14 season.

Team breakdowns are as follows:

First team: Javin Etzler (Crestview, junior); Chayten Overholt (Lincolnview, senior); Derek Stout (Crestview, senior), Caden Ringwald (Lincolnview, senior), Alex Rode (Delphos Jefferson, senior); Blake Reynolds (Columbus Grove, freshman).

Second team: Wade Sheets (Crestview, junior); Drew Kline (Crestview, junior); Kaleb Jefferson (Bluffton, senior); Ethan Rhonehouse (Paulding, senior); Zane Miller (Lincolnview, junior); Fletcher Cook (Paulding, junior).

Honorable mention: Connor Frazier (Ada, junior); Tayt Birnesser (Columbus Grove, freshman); Marcus Miller (Paulding, senior); Jaret Miller (Paulding, junior); Jared Piercefield (Bluffton, sophomore); Tyler Bratton (Delphos Jefferson, senior); Brenen Auer (Delphos Jefferson, senior); Ben Dues (Spencerville, senior); Ethan Kemler (Lincolnview, junior); Mason Soper (Bluffton, sophomore).