Free throws lift Knights past Jays

By Brooke Apple, bapple
Published:  Tuesday, February 26, 2008 (9 months ago)
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VAN WERT — In a close-fought battle between the Crestview Lady Knights and the St. John’s Lady Blue Jays in the district final game Saturday night, the Knights were looking for another upset in the hardwood tournament.
The Knights prevailed in the last two seconds to advance to the Vandalia Regional with a 35-33 victory.
The Knights (21-2) held a 31-23 edge to begin the final period. The Jays showed off their defense in the quarter as they only allowed the Knights to tally four points, all on foul shots. Victoria Recker (10 points) came down early on to drain a 3-pointer to put the Jays down 5. Sarah Clark came down with 3:40 remaining and was able to break loose of Jo Thompson (4 points) to get an open three to tie the game at 31. The Knights were unable to score until Thompson got to the line with 2:15 remaining to drain two free throws to put them up 33-31. About 30 seconds later, the Jays once again got the ball to Clark, who drove into the lane for a basket to tie the game back up at 33.
The Knights started holding the ball, looking for the last shot with 30 seconds remaining, wanting to get Melissa Eickholt isolated for that last shot. Eickholt took the shot with three seconds remaining and missed but managed to get her own rebound and then was fouled as she was shooting a second time. She made both free throws to give the Knights their 35-33 advantage. The Jays called a timeout after the second foul shot with 2 seconds to go to set up a play to get a shot off. They attempted to throw it long to Lindsy Reindel but Carly Lichtensteiger intercepted the pass to seal the contest and the district title.
“On the last possession, we wanted to isolate Melissa for the 1-on-1 and give her some room to work. Before her foul shots, we just told her there is no pressure; worst that could happen is overtime. They are good shooters and do good player screens; you can’t lose them for a second,” stated Crestview coach Greg Rickard.
Kelsey Nedderman came up huge on the boards for the Knights to hold the Jays off of what could have been key second shots.
The game started with the Jays getting the tip and going down to score right away but the Knights quickly retaliated with a basket on their first trip down the floor. The Jays once again went down to score two times before the Knights could put another basket on the board; at the end of the first eight minutes, the game was tied at eight apiece.
In the second quarter, the Crestview defense really picked up its tempo and was looking to cause the Jays to have some confusion and get frustrated. The Jays were unable to get a shot off until 5:10 remaining in the half. Melissa Eickholt (14 points) led the Knights into the half with the lead as she tallied seven of their nine points in the second quarter. The Jays took 10 turnovers with them into the break as the Knights’ defense worked hard on forcing the Jays to force passes and cause turnovers. The score at the end of two quarters was 17-13, the Crestview Lady Knights.
“Could not be prouder of the girls as they could have folded when we were down. We got Sarah open some and she was able to score. When they came out with some runs, it was hard but we stayed with them and fought back,” stated St. John’s coach Dan J. Grothouse.
“Thompson did a nice job on Clark as she always has the toughest assignment on defense. Our girls never give up on loose balls until the horn sounds and the worst thing that we told the girls could happen would be to go to overtime,” added Rickard.
After the break, the Jays came out strong with getting Clark (13 points, 5 rebounds) the ball for two open 3-pointers right away — around a Meghan Henry three to make it 20-19. Zefiryn Bryan (8 points) came down with 6:30 remaining in the third quarter to give the Jays a lead of 21-20. They managed to hold on to their lead for 15 seconds; the Knights fed the ball to Lichtensteiger, who then made a basket to give the Knights the 1-point advantage. At the end of three quarters of the play, the score was 31-23, Knights with the advantage.
“We challenged everyone to work to get Sarah the ball and that it would help out if others opened up. Very proud on how we battled back and we had a great season. There were a lot of big possessions with rebounds, turnovers and the shots,” ended Grothouse.
The Jays end their season with a 19-4 record and district runner-ups.
The Knights will head to regionals Thursday for the first time since 1992 and will tangle with Franklin Monroe.
ST. JOHN’S (33)
Brittany Miller 0-0-0, Emily Schwieterman 0-0-0, Stephanie Knippen 0-0-0, Zefiryn Bryan 4-0-8, Sarah Clark 5-0-13, Victoria Recker 4-0-10, Rachel Miller 0-0-0, Lindsy Reindel 1-0-2. Totals 14-0-33.
CRESTVIEW (35)
Jo Thompson 1-2-4, Meghan Henry 1-0-3, Kelsey Nedderman 3-0-6, Brooke Myers 1-0-2, Sami Hartman 0-0-0, Melissa Eickholt 5-3-14, Rachael Hall 2-0-4, Carly Lichtensteiger 2-0-4. Totals 15-5-35.
Score by Quarters:
St. John’s 8 5 10 10 - 33
Crestview 8 9 14 4 - 35
Three-point goals: St. John’s, Clark 3, Recker 2; Crestview, Henry, Eickholt.

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