Crestview’s Wren Sheets (#33) shoots on Friday night at Columbus Grove.
Jackelyn Johnson I The Lima News
COLUMBUS GROVE – Last season, Crestview made it to the Division IV state championship game in boys basketball, where it lost to perennial power Richmond Heights.
Crestview graduated seven seniors from last year’s 25-4 squad, including four starters.
In Friday’s Northwest Conference matchup against Columbus Grove on the road, Crestview held off the Bulldogs for a 54-43 victory.
With the win, Crestview improved to 8-3 overall and 1-1 in the NWC. Columbus Grove, which had a late start to its basketball season due to the postseason success of the football team, is 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the NWC.
“Last year, I could go 10, 11, 12 (players) deep, and really not lose a whole lot,” Crestview coach Doug Etzler said. “Saturday night games were really good for us because we were a lot fresher than most of the teams we played. This year, going seven deep – it’s going to be a little tougher on Saturday nights.
“Isaac Kline (5-foot-9 senior guard) would have been our starting point guard, but he tore his ACL in the last football game of the year. … Obviously, that was terrible for him. So, it makes our depth a little less than what we want it to be. We have a few JV (junior varsity) guys who are dressing, which you hope they will progress. … You don’t know how that’s going to go. You don’t want to throw them into the fire too early, either. But I feel confident with the seven (players) that we have.”
Wren Sheets, a 6-foot-6 junior post player led Crestview and all scorers Friday with 20 points. Sheets also came away with seven rebounds. Hayden Perrott scored 10 points. Kellin Putnam added eight points, including two 3-pointers. Connor Sheets, a 6-foot-5 post player had eight points and nine boards for the Knights.
Landon Best led Columbus Grove with 13 points. Bo Birnesser, Trenton Barraza, and Kyle Hopkins each scored seven points. Zach Reynolds had six points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
Early on, both teams struggled at the offensive end.
Crestview led 7-4 at the end of the first quarter.
Columbus Grove claimed its first lead of the game, 9-7, less than two minutes into the second quarter on a 3-pointer by Best.
However, Crestview responded with a 17-5 run to take a 24-14 lead into the halftime break. The Knights led 34-24 at the end of the third quarter.
Wren Sheets scored 15 points in the second half to help the Knights keep their lead.
“Teams have done a great job of limiting his (Wren Sheets’) touches,” Etzler said. “I thought we did a pretty good job of getting it to him tonight. He made some good, quick, early moves. It’s going to be tough for teams to guard him. He’s a great player for us. He also guarded Bo Birnesser. He (Birnesser) is a perimeter guy, even though he’s 6-4. I thought with Wren’s length, he did a good job of not letting Bo get by him. We ask a lot of him, but he does a great job for us.”
Crestview shot 53.5 percent from the field, while Columbus Grove connected on 36.2 percent of its field goal attempts.
Crestview controlled the boards, 34-23.
Columbus Grove turned the ball over just six times on the night. Crestview committed 10 turnovers.
“In the fourth quarter, we made a few turnovers, early,” Etzler said. “I knew they were going to come out and pressure us and trap the ball a little bit. But I thought once we called a timeout and talked about it, I thought the last three minutes we handled their pressure really well. We got some easy transition buckets.”
Etzler said he knows what to expect when his team plays Columbus Grove.
“We knew we were going to come in here and it would be a tough, hard-fought game,” Etzler said. “They (Columbus Grove) are going to play really hard. Luckily for us, they didn’t shoot as well as they can. To get out of here with a win was big for us tonight after we lost our first league game against Spencerville a couple of weeks ago.”
Crestview 54, Columbus Grove 43
Score by Quarters
Crestview 7 17 10 20 – 54
Columbus Grove 4 10 10 19 – 43
Crestview
Hayden Perrott 10, Kellin Putnam 8, Tommy Heffner 2, Jaret Harting 6, Wren Sheets 20, Connor Sheets 8. Totals: 23-5-54.
Columbus Grove
Bo Birnesser 7, Zach Reynolds 6, Trenton Barraza 7, Evan Sautter 3, Landon Best 13, Kyle Hopkins 7. Totals: 17-6-43.
3-pointers made: Crestview – Hayden Perrott 1, Kellin Putnam 2; Columbus Grove – Bo Birnesser 1, Trenton Barraza 1, Landon Best 1, Kyle Hopkins 1.
Records: Crestview 8-3, 1-1 NWC; Columbus Grove 4-2, 1-1 NWC
