By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Well-balanced Crestview fought off a game Ada squad to pull out an intense 70-62 Northwest Conference boys basketball road win Friday night.
Five Knights scored in double figures to total all of the Crestview points. Southpaw post Carson Kreischer led the victors with 18 points, while senior guard Kaden Short tallied 16. Ohio State-bound 6-8 recruit Kalen Etzler netted 15 points.
"I thought Kaden played probably his best game," said Crestview first-year head coach Doug Etzler. "Carson was very efficient inside, and Kalen did a good job passing."
Crestview took a seemingly safe 61-49 lead with 3:26 remaining after Short weaved his way through the Ada defense for a driving layup. But the spunky Bulldogs refused to fold.
Ada junior playmaker Brandon Hull stole the ball and made a layup to ignite the final Bulldog charge. Senior wing Phillip Coulson drained a left corner trifecta to cut the deficit to seven at the 2:21 mark.
Hull split two foul shots before Short canned two key charity stripers for a 63-55 margin with 70 seconds to go. The powerful Hull then hit a driving layup to pull within six.
Kreischer converted two free throws with 57.1 seconds left. Yet Hull swished a left corner trey to make it 65-60 at the 45-second mark.
Crestview then missed three free throws, but Ward came up with a key offensive rebound off the last misfire with 32 seconds left. He was fouled and converted both crucial shots to give the Knights some breathing room.
"J.J. came up with a huge rebound, then made two big shots," Etzler observed. "He made some big plays."
Kalen Etzler added a free toss with 24.4 ticks left to extend the lead to 68-60.
After a timeout, Ada then committed a costly five-second violation on a sideline in-bound situation. Hull stole the ball and made a layin with 11.1 to go, and Crestview then turned the ball over on a line violation with the lead still precarious at 68-62.
However Kalen Etzler forced the ensuing inside shot to miss, then rebounded the ball and was fouled. He sank both shots with 6.6 seconds left to clinch the victory.
"Ada really battled and was tough-nosed," Etzler noted.
"We didn't fold; our guys played hard," said Bulldog head coach Dre White. "I was really disappointed we gave up 70 points to a team averaging 47 a game, but Crestview is better than their record.
"It was a great game and the intensity was good all-around on both sides," he added. "The next step for our program is to be mentally engaged for all 32 minutes. We can't afford the little mistakes like the five-second violation and the missed free throw blockout."
Ada fell to 6-10 and 1-3 in NWC play with the tough defeat, while Crestview improved to 6-9 and 2-3 in the league play with the win.
The atmosphere was rowdy as the Bulldogs sought to knock off the defending league and state champions. Despite losing several key players to graduation, Crestview gets every team's best shot and the opposing fans are usually fired up for them as well, as the Ada fans were.
"It was a physical game," said Etzler. "Everyone remembers what Crestview did last year, so teams want to play against us. Coach Best did a tremendous job."
Ada led most of the first period, jumping ahead 8-4 and 13-9 behind Hull's driving shot and corner trey. Meanwhile, Kreischer netted two baskets inside. Coulson banked in a conventional three-point play and later hit a lane shot to keep the Bulldogs ahead, 17-15.
Short sank a 12-foot baseline shot to tie it 17-all after the first period. Coulson then drained a right wing triple to open the second stanza.
Crestview took its first lead at 21-20 when Gavin Etzler banked in a transition pull-up shot and Kalen Etzler sank his first basket. Kalen then buried a right wing triple to provide a four-point lead.
A Gavin Etzler triple was followed by Hull's baseline driving layin. Hustling Ada senior Ty Miller was then tangled up under the hoop with burly Knight Brody Brecht, and fell hard to the floor face-first.
Making matters worse, Brecht fell partly on his head as he stumbled out of bounds, causing a cut on Miller's chin that bloodied his jersey.
Forced to change his uniform, Miller was whistled for a rare technical when he took his top off on the Ada bench instead of in the locker room. Short converted four straight foul shots, and Kalen Etzler flew in for a tip-in.
When Ward sank a fast break layup it capped a 10-0 run after the rare technical. Hull scooped in an up and under move to pull Ada within 37-26 at intermission, but the Bulldogs would spend the rest of the game trying to recover from the post-technical spurt.
Crestview extended its lead to 41-28 early in the third. But the fiery Coulson drained a right wing trey and a one-footed floater to get Ada within eight. Kalen Etzler answered with a left wing triple, but Coulson responded with a right side three of his own.
Ward then buried a triple at the 3:44 mark. "That was a big three Ward made," White said.
Miller scored inside off glass from a nice Coulson driving dish. Hull drove coast to coast for a left-handed three-point play to edge within 47-41.
Kreischer then took over by hitting three straight interior baskets, sandwiched around a left corner trey from Ada junior Micah Cook. Crestview led 53-45 heading to the final period.
Kalen Etzler banked in a runner to offset two Hull free throws. Kreischer canned a short banker, and Ward scored in transition with 4:22 remaining.
Gutty Ada rallied with a 13-5 flurry as Hull scored eight points and Coulson netted five, but the hosts couldn't get closer than five points the rest of the way.
Hull led all scorers with 26 points, while Coulson netted 23. "I was very proud of Phil and Brandon," observed White. "Phil loves the big games and the spotlight, and he stepped up."
Knight J.J. Ward scored 11 points and Gavin Etzler added 10 markers.
The Bulldogs connected on 24 of 45 shots overall from the field (53 percent). Ada made eight of 19 from beyond the arc (42 percent) and hit on 16 of 26 two-pointers (62 percent).
"Teams have shot extremely well against us all year," Etzler observed.
Crestview canned 25 of 41 from the floor overall (61 percent). The Knights sank 20 of 29 two-point tries (69 percent) and connected on five of 12 triple tries (42 percent).
Ada converted six of 11 from the foul line (55 percent), while Crestview sank 15 of 19 charity stripers (79 percent).
The Knights out-rebounded Ada, 30-27. Crestview committed 13 turnovers while Ada was guilty of seven miscues.
"I thought Cayden Murphy did a great job guarding Kaden Etzler, especially for a sophomore," White offered.
Ada rallied late to win the reserve contest, 43-41. Jake Poling stole the ball on a sideline in-bounds pass and raced in for a tie-breaking layin with a second left to provide the margin of victory.
Tristan Conley topped the Bulldog reserves with 20 points as Ada improved to 7-6.
Ada 62 (6-10, 1-3 NWC)
Swaney 1 0-0 3, Hull 10 4-7 26, Coulson 9 1-1 23, Rayl 0 1-2 1, Miller 2 0-1 4, Cook 2 0-0 5, C. Murphy 0.
Totals: 24-45/6-11/62. 3-pointers (8-19): Coulson 4, Hull 2, Cook 1, Swaney 1.
Crestview 70 (6-9, 2-3 NWC)
K. Etzler 5 3-6 15, Short 5 6-6 16, 3 2-3 10, Kreischer 8 2-2 18, Ward 4 2-2 11, Brecht 0.
Totals: 25-41/15-19/70. 3-pointers (5-12): K. Etzler 2, G. Etzler 2, Ward 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 17 9 19 17 62
Cvw 17 20 16 17 70
JV: Ada 43, Crestview 41.
Kenton beats Bulldog boys in 2nd half
KENTON - Host Kenton outscored Hardin County rival Ada 39-18 after intermission to pull away from a close game and win 67-44 in non-conference boys basketball action Saturday night.
Ada trailed just 28-26 at halftime, but the Wildcats outscored them 21-9 in the third period to extend their lead to 49-35. The hosts then out-pointed the Bulldogs 18-9 in the final frame to win going away.
Ada junior playmaker Brandon Hull led the purple and gold with 17 points. Junior guard Micah Cook scored 11, while senior wing Phillip Coulson added nine markers.
Balanced Kenton shot 50 percent from three-point land, making nine treys. Ten Wildcats scored and three hit double figures, led by Jacob Eversole with 14 points.
Wildcat Jayden Cornell tallied 11 points, and Reed Cook contributed 10 markers. Trey Jeffries also canned three trifectas for nine points.
"Their penetration was a factor and hurt us," said Bulldog head coach Dre White. "Cornell did a nice job of getting paint touches off penetration, and getting others involved. Rebounding was a factor late.
"Overall, it was a difficult weekend for us against two great programs," he added. The Bulldogs suffered their third straight tough loss in a five-day span vs. Arlington (12-4), defending state champion Crestview and the Wildcats.
Ada fell to 6-11 after the loss, while Kenton improved to 10-7 with the win.
The Bulldogs canned 15 of 51 shots overall from the field (29 percent). Ada made six of 25 from beyond the arc (24 percent) and hit on nine of 26 two-point attempts (35 percent).
Kenton connected on 25 of 55 field goals overall (45 percent). The Wildcats made 16 of 37 two-point tries (43 percent) and connected on nine of 18 trey tries (50 percent).
Ada converted eight of 15 from the foul line (53 percent), while Kenton sank eight of 12 tries from the charity stripe (67 percent).
The Wildcats out-rebounded Ada, 33-23. Hull topped the Bulldogs with seven caroms. Both teams committed 10 turnovers.
Ada also lost the reserve contest 51-32 to drop to 7-7 this season.
"I am looking forward to a full week of practice with everyone healthy in preparation for Paulding," White noted.
Ada 44 (6-11)
Hull 7-2-17, Coulson 3-2-9, Rayl 0-1-1, Cook 3-3-11, C. Murphy 2-0-6.
Totals: 15/8-15/44. 3-pointers (6-25): Cook 2, C. Murphy 2, Coulson 1, Hull 1.
Kenton 67 (10-7)
Cornell 4-2-11, Ellis 2-0-6, Jeffries 3-0-9, Eversole 6-2-14, Cook 4-2-10, Boling 1-0-2, Bartlett 1-0-2, Huston 2-0-6, James 1-0-3, Fackler 1-2-4.
Totals: 25/8-12/67. 3-pointers (9-18): Jeffries 3, Ellis 2, Huston 2, Cornell 1, James 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ken 17 11 21 18 67
Ada 15 11 9 9 44
JV: Kenton 51, Ada 32.
After playing four contests in eight days, Ada (1-3 NWC) gets a needed five-day game break before they visit NWC foe Paulding (4-11, 2-3 NWC) Friday, January 31.
"Going to Paulding is never easy for us," White said. "It's a tough trip. They will be well-prepared, and it will be a great conference game with both teams playing with a sense of urgency to get a much-needed win."
The Panthers won at Montpelier 59-41 on Saturday night to end a slide where they had lost eight of their previous nine contests.
