SPENCERVILLE-It was a terrific matchup at the Walk-in closet on Friday night as the Spencerville Bearcats hosted the Crestview Knights. Carter Sudhoff was able to send the home crowd into a frenzy with a game-winning layup in the final seconds to pick up the 58-56 victory.
“It is never ideal to open up conference play with the best team in the conference,” said Spencerville head coach Kevin Sensabaugh. “I knew this was going to be a close game as they were too good for us to pull away from. We tried a couple of times but they just kept answering the bell and they shot the ball well.”
It was a chess match from the very beginning as neither team was able to run away with it. The Bearcats were able to build a 7-2 lead on a pair of baskets from Josh Henline and a basket from Sudhoff.
The Knights countered with a three pointer from Gavin Etzler and a basket from Wren Sheets. Spencerville was able to regain the lead at 13-10, but a late three pointer from Mitch Temple tied the game at 13 per side.
“In a big game like this it’s hard to shoot the ball like we did tonight,” said Crestview head coach Doug Etzler. “I thought we had very balanced scoring which makes us pretty hard to guard.”
The Bearcats found their offense in the second quarter and the hosts were able to pull a little bit of a lead. Crestview was able to grab a 17-13 lead before five straight points from Carder Orr gave the hosts a 18-17 advantage. Blake Sommers provided a spark towards the end of the half to give them a 31-26 lead into the halftime intermission.
Crestview found themselves back in the game in the third quarter to continue the seesaw battle. The Knights cut the deficit to two at 33-31 early in the quarter thanks to a basket from Sheets and a big three pointer from Nate Lichtle.
The visitors were able to regain the lead in the middle of the quarter on a three pointer from Gavin Etzler to put the hosts back on their heels. Dylan Smith gave the hosts a lead toward the end of the quarter, but a buzzer-beater from Temple tied the game at 43 to head to the decisive quarter.
The teams traded baskets early in the fourth quarter as the game looked like it was coming down to the final seconds. The Bearcats were able to lead 51-49 before an intentional foul sent Temple to the charity strike and made both free throws to tie at 51. The Knights led 54-51 on a three pointer from Lichtle before an old-fashioned three point play from Henline quickly tied the game at 54. A basket by Sheets and a pair of free throws from Evan Osting set everything up for the final seconds.
“We set a ball screen and rolled as the defense hedged hard on the screen and Dylan [Smith] gave me a good pass for an easy layup for the win,” said junior Carter Sudhoff.
Dylan Smith set Sudhoff up with a layup with 3.5 seconds left to give the Bearcats a 58-56 lead. The Knights were able to get the ball to half court to call timeout to set the final play. The ball went to Lichtle and the shot fell halfway down before it rimmed out as time expired and the Bearcats picked up the 58-56 victory in a thriller.
“We tried to set a back screen for Wren [Sheets] and tried to get Nate’s [Lichtle] guy to help a little bit and set an elevator screen for him,” said Etzler. “He did a great job curling to the basketball and from my vantage point it was right on line and it was–it just rimmed out a little bit to the left.”
The Bearcats improve to 4-0 on the season and will host Ottoville on Saturday.
“Celebrate tonight, get back at it tomorrow,” concluded Sensabaugh. “That’s the nature of high school basketball–you play on Friday night, and on Saturday night you better be ready, and if our guys aren’t ready to play tomorrow they will get beat.”
Crestview drops to 3-1 and will visit Fort Jennings on Tuesday.
Crestview 13 – 13 – 17 – 13 – 56
Spencerville 13 – 18 – 12 – 15 – 58
Crestview (56)
Wren Sheets (18) Gavin Etzler (13) Mitch Temple (13) Nate Lichtle (10) Carson Hunter (1) Jaret Harting (1)
Spencerville (58)
Carter Sudhoff (14) Dylan Smith (12) Josh Henline (10) Evan Osting (7) Blake Sommers (6) Carder Orr (5) Owen Sensabaugh (2) Dylan Cook (2)
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