The Van Wert County Courthouse

Friday, Mar. 29, 2024

Ottoville ends Crestview’s season 48-33

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

DEFIANCE — No. 2 seed Ottoville was efficient with the basketball and put the clamps on No. 3 seed Crestview in a 48-33 Division III district semifinal win over the Lady Knights at Defiance High School on Thursday.

The loss ended Crestview’s season at 15-10, while Ottoville improved to 15-8 and will face top seeded Wayne Trace for the district title at 7 p.m. Saturday in Defiance.

Crestview’s Bailey Gregory goes up for two of her 14 points during Thursday’s game against Ottoville. Wyatt Richardson/Van Wert independent

The Big Green set the tone early by racing out to a 16-4 lead at the end of the first quarter, with Kylee Hoersten pumping in five points and Jocelyn Geise adding four. Crestview’s four points came on a pair of baskets by Olivia Cunningham, who went on to finish with 12 points in the game.

“They are very scrappy and do a great job of making you work for everything,” Crestview head coach Mark Gregory said of Ottoville.

Cunningham, Bailey Gregory each scored six points in the second quarter and Lexi Gregory added four, but Ottoville countered with six points by Nicole Knippen and five more by Geise to take a 31-20 halftime lead.

The third quarter was a low scoring one, with Knippen accounting for five of Ottoville’s seven points, while Bailey and Lexi Gregory combined to score six of Crestview’s eight points in the period.

Bailey Gregory scored all five of Crestview’s fourth quarter points and finished with 14, while Ottoville’s Tori Thomas scored four of her eight points in the final period.

For the game, Crestview was 11-39 (28 percent) from the floor and 6-8 from the foul line, while Ottoville was 18-33 shooting (55 percent) and 9-12 from the free throw line, and the Big Green finished with a commanding 25-14 rebounding advantage, with Knippen pulling down seven.

“They shot the ball really well tonight,” Gregory said. “Sometimes you have to give credit to the other team.”

It was the final game for three Crestview seniors – Kaylee Wolford, Lexi Gregory and Aleigh Chesbro.

“I am very proud of our team and our seniors and I want to thank them for their leadership,” Gregory said.

Scoring summary

Ottoville 16 15 7 10 – 48
Crestview 4 16 8 5 – 33

Ottoville: Jocelyn Geise 4-3-12; Tori Thomas 3-2-8; Alexa Honingford 0-2-2; Elise Kramer 2-0-5; Nicole Knippen 6-1-13; Kylee Hoersten 3-1-8

Crestview: Bailey Gregory 5-1-14; Lexi Gregory 2-2-7; Olivia Cunningham 4-3-12

POSTED: 02/27/20 at 11:23 pm. FILED UNDER: Sports