Both those teams did their best to make it happen Wednesday night at “The Palace” in their respective contests.
Ottoville was first in eliminating a game but worn-down Antwerp 61-34, while the Knights, fresh off a 73-26 drubbing of Jefferson Thursday, dismantled the Lady Wildcats 65-22 this time around.
“Too bad this will be a sectional final with two very good teams. We played the second game of the season but both teams are much better now than then; it’s going to be a great game,” Crestview coach Greg Rickard observed.
His Lady Knights (18-2) unleashed full-court pressure on the young Wildcats (6-15) in forcing nine turnovers (32 for the game) while building a 19-0 advantage by the 3-minute mark. Melissa Eickholt (16 markers, 4 steals) and Kelsey Nedderman (11 counters, 9 boards) scored six each in the barrage. Sophomore Jenna Miller (4 points) finally got Jefferson on the board with two free throws at 2:31 and classmate Stacey Blockberger (4 markers) scored the last four of the quarter to get the ’Cats within 21-6.
“Crestview is just the opposite of us: good height and experience. They are an excellent team,” Jefferson coach Dave Hoffman began. “They shoot the ball well. They just came out and took us out of the game right away.”
Jefferson, with no seniors and only one junior, Ashley Watkins (4 markers, 5 boards), on its roster, continued to struggle with miscues in the second canto (9) despite Crestview pulling off its full-court pressure. Sami Hartman helped keep the offense going for the Lady Knights with three bombs off the bench as their lead reached 29 before a single by freshman Taylor VanGrootheest with 1:07 left made the halftime score 42-14.
“Having just played them six days ago, you’re always afraid. Dave’s too good of a coach not to make adjustments and you never know how a young team like that is going to come out off a loss like that,” Rickard added. “I think it was important for us to get out that quickly and not give them a chance to be in it. If we didn’t, I think we’d have been in for a battle.”
The pace clearly slowed in the third period but Jefferson (6-of-24 shooting overall, 1-of-9 downtown, for 25%) just could not get anything going. Junior Ashley Watkins (4 points, 5 boards) scored on a putback with under six minutes left to put the Jeffcats within 46-16 and that was it for the quarter. Jo Thompson put the Knights up 49-16 halfway through and it stayed that way entering the fourth.
Both coaches saw to it that their second-teamers and deep reserves got plenty of playing time in the finale.
“What is the most disappointing about this year is I didn’t feel we improved in certain areas the last few weeks of the season. I understand we are young and had some injuries,” Hoffman added. “We just never really adjusted to this level. I’ve told people all season that this was a learning time for us from the start and that we’d have to make progress all season long. There’s no doubt we have a lot to work on in the off-season.”
Jefferson finished 9-of-12 at the line (75%); nabbed 22 boards (5 offensive); and amassed 18 fouls.
Crestview downed 23-of-49 from the field (4-of-11 triples) for 46.9 percent and 15-of-24 singles (62.5%). They took down 29 off the glass (15 offensive) as Carly Lichtensteiger added six. They totaled 13 errors and 15 fouls.
Earlier, the Lady Green exploded for 26 points in the third canto — to 5 for the Lady Archers — to turn a close game into a rout.
“Antwerp had nothing to lose — they played like it — and we had everything to lose. We were a bit sluggish to begin the game,” Ottoville coach Dave Kleman began. “It’s all about survival at this time of year; about advancing on in the tournament. It may not be pretty but it’s effective.”
it was pretty for Ottoville (19-2) in the third period. They were the owners of a 27-23 halftime lead and needed to quicken the pace. That they did with their full-court pressure — be it man, 2-2-1 or 1-2-1-1. After a 3-ball by Antwerp’s Megan Koppenhofer with over six minutes showing reduced the deficit to 29-28, the Big Green got rolling. They shut out their foe the remainder of the period, aided by eight Antwerp turnovers (25 overall). On the other end, senior Brittany Pohlman (15 markers — three 3s — 7 steals, 6 assists) led the tear with nine markers (2 bombs). They either hit from the floor (6-of-10; 19-of-41 total, 5-of-15 downtown, for 46.3%) or the line (12-of-15; 18-of-24 overall for 75%). By the time senior Gina Beining (16 markers, 8 caroms) laid in a basket to beat the horn, the lead had mushroomed to 51-28.
The closest the Archers (8-13) could get in the finale was 22 as both teams emptied their benches. Freshman Tasha Kaufman scored six of her 10 markers in the period for the Green and Gold.
The Archers owned the pace in the first period, not letting Ottoville get into the running game. With Bryn Schlatter scoring six of her eight points in the canto, the Archers shot 7-of-8 (15-of-32 for the game, hitting both 3-pointers, for 46.9%). Beining scored eight and junior Tricia Honigford (12 markers) two triples for the Lady Green. When Schlatter hit a 15-footer from the left wing with 10 ticks showing, it reduced Ottoville’s lead to 18-15.
There were two exchanges of the lead in the second canto. Ottoville got the lead for good at 3:03 when Pohlman dropped a trifecta at the 3:03 mark. Beining’s free throw with 40.3 seconds showing put Ottoville up 27-23.
Antwerp committed nine errors in the period.
“I felt we could wear them down in the second half. They seemed pretty gassed by halftime but they played a great first half,” Kleman added. “We had four girls in double figures, which is always a good stat. There’s always first-game jitters in the tournament and we got them out of the way, plus we got our young players some tournament exposure early. That’s always a positive.”
Antwerp canned 2-of-7 free throws (28.7%); owned 20 caroms (7 offensive); and had 15 fouls.
Ottoville nabbed 25 off the glass (11 offensive); and compiled 13 miscues and 12 fouls.
Ottoville/Crestview will be the nightcap (approximately 8 p.m.) Saturday. St. John’s and Lincolnview tip off at 6:15 p.m