The Delphos Herald

DELPHOS— Lincolnview Lancers traveled from Middle Point to face off with the Jefferson Wildcats at The Stage in boys basketball action Friday night.

Jefferson struggled as Lincolnview came out strong to overcome the Wildcats 56-47 in a Northwest Conference encounter. Lincolnview won the tip and never really looked back as the Wildcats never pulled in front of the Lancers. The Lancers almost doubled the Wildcats’ points in the first period. The Lancers put pressure on the Wildcats down the court but that did not cause Jefferson too many turnovers; their turnovers were mostly due to passing. Lincolnview outperformed the Wildcats in every aspect of the game other than turnovers to lead 21-12 after one. The second period appeared to be a little better for the Wildcats as they almost doubled the Lancers’ points in the second period. Jefferson was able to cut back on some of its turnovers and forced a few more on the Lancers. At the break, the Wildcats had 12 turnovers to the Lancers 10 and Lincolnview’s lead was 29-27. “We got the lead right away like in the past; we did let them back in a little but never allowed them to get in front of us. We kept our heads and did what it took. It was good for us to cut down our turnovers in the second half and make some plays,” stated Lancer coach Mike Elston. The Lancers and the Wildcats came out strong defensively the second half, allowing the other team to only score five points in the third. Jefferson would be forced to foul towards the end of the game as they were in striking distance but the Lancers just made too many of their foul shots to allow the Wildcats to take the lead. Jefferson had the game tied for about half of the fourth quarter after a made basket by Mike Rahrig. Jefferson started hitting the offensive boards for second and third shots. The Lancers made 13 of their 17 made free throws in the fourth period; they were in the double bonus nearly the whole quarter. Both teams shot under 50 percent from the field (Jefferson 15-of-43 and Lincolnview 17-of-46); the Wildcats shot 67 percent from the stripe (14-of-21) and the Lancers shot 61 percent from the stripe (17-of-28). The key to this game was the number of fouls and foul shots made along with the team that could control the tempo of the game on the offensive end. “We had too many unforced turnovers and we struggled again offensively. I give them credit for hitting a lot of shots early,” Jefferson coach Marc Smith stated. “We were able to control a little bit with our defense as we put pressure on them and were able to get tied but never could get over that hump. It is always tough when you are forced to foul because of being close but still behind.” The Wildcats fall to 2-3, 0-2 in the league; they host Perry tonight (6:30 p.m.). The Lancers (2-4, 1-1 NWC) host Ottoville tonight. In JV action, the Wildcats prevailed 46-38. The Wildcats were led in scoring by Grant Brand with 16, the Lancers by Tyler Myers with 12.