Saturday, March 11th, 2023
Hot start, cold finish
Marion Local sees 13-0 lead evaporate as Crestview wins regional
By Tom Haines
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Marion Local's Jack Knapke appeals in vain for a foul on the final play of Marion Local's 41-40 loss to Crestview in the Division IV regional final at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University on Friday.
BOWLING GREEN - With 3:38 left in the first quarter, Marion Local was sitting on a 13-0 lead and seemed poised to cruise to a state tournament berth.
The Flyers spent the rest of the game watching it slip away.
Crestview took its first lead with 99 seconds remaining and hit a game-winning free throw with 0.5 seconds left to send Marion to a 41-40 loss in the Division IV boys basketball regional final at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University on Friday.
"This is a bitter pill to swallow, no question about it," Marion coach Kurt Goettemoeller said. "Come this close to the state tournament, and things didn't go our way at the end. It's a very, very difficult loss. It'll take a long time to get over it, but the kids are pretty resilient."
Crestview (24-3), which overcame a 16-point third quarter deficit for a double-overtime district win over Ottoville a week earlier, moves on to face Berlin Hiland in the state semifinals at the University of Dayton Arena on March 18. Marion ends its season at 22-5.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Marion Local's Luke Pohlman watches Crestview's Mitch Temple bring the ball up the court in the final seconds of the game. For more photos of Friday's regional final game, go to www.dailystandard.com/albums/
The Flyers held a seven-point lead entering the fourth, and Austin Niekamp hit a fadeaway jump shot with 7:27 remaining to make it 36-29 before Marion's offense stalled and the Flyers' defense started getting sloppy. Jack Knapke picked up his fourth foul with 6:22 to play and went to the bench as Carson Hunter hit two free throws, Luke Pohlman committed his third foul 15 seconds later and Wren Sheets hit a free throw, and 56 seconds later, Niekamp committed a foul and Sheets hit another from the line.
After an illegal screen by Jadyn Mescher caused a turnover, Hunter drove the lane for a layup to make it 36-35 and force Goettemoeller to call timeout with 4 1/2 minutes to go.
To that point, Marion had shot 1-for-4, committed two turnovers and grabbed just one rebound in the fourth quarter.
"It's a combination of everything," Gottemoeller said. "We were stagnant offensively, they were very good defensively, they had us scouted well, and we just missed some shots. But when those things happen, you've got to get to the glass, and we just didn't get to the glass enough to get some second and third opportunities."
Hunter had a chance to put the Knights ahead from the line, but missed two free throws. Knapke had a chance to extend the lead, but missed two free throws. Niekamp went to the line for a one-and-one, but missed the first shot.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Marion Local's Mitchell Ranly ducks under Crestview's Jaret Harting in the Division IV regional final at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University on Friday.
Sheets got a bucket to put Crestview ahead 37-36 with 1:39 left, but missed an and-one, and Nate Lichtle missed the front end of a one-and-one 23 seconds later before Knapke tipped back a Niekamp miss to put Marion back in front with 1:04 to go.
Mitch Temple answered but missed the and-one, Tate Hess missed the first shot of another one-and-one, and Hunter hit a free throw to make it 40-38 Knights with 36 seconds left. But he missed his second shot, Knapke grabbed the rebound, and after Pohlman missed a driving shot, Knapke tipped in the rebound to tie the game with 7.9 seconds to go.
As Temple tried to drive around Pohlman on the other end, Pohlman put out a hand and Temple fell to the floor as the buzzer sounded. The officials called a foul and put half a second back on the clock, and Goettemoeller called timeout again after Temple fired the first free throw off the back of the iron.
His second shot rattled home, leaving the Flyers with a fraction of a second to get off a final shot. Brandon Eyink heaved the ball down the court, and Hess and a defender collided in midair as the ball fell harmlessly to the floor and the Knights stormed onto the court to celebrate.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Marion Local's Tate Hess goes up for a driving layup as Crestview's Wren Sheets comes back on defense.
"I know what the right thing to do is, and I know what I want to do," Goettemoeller said. "But I'm just going to do the right thing here and say, we needed to do a better job prior to that to not get into that situation. That's all I can say. We missed free throws, we were tentative on offense, we made some mistakes defensively. We really shouldn't have been in that situation.
"We got the benefit of a no-call against Fort Recovery, and honestly, I think in those situations, you've got to let them play. You've got to let the kids decide the game. And one official decided to and one official decided not to. He saw a foul. … Tate might've gotten shoved in the back, but he decided not to call that one, so we've got to live with it."
Asked whether he felt contact before the ball arrived, Hess said, "Nope. No, it was clean."
Pohlman gave the Flyers an early spark, starting with a contested three from the left corner 33 seconds into the game. Less than two minutes later, he hit a three from the right elbow, and after a turnover out of bounds, Niekamp found him in the right corner for a third three with just 2:34 off the clock.
Hess added a driving layup and two free throws to stake the Flyers to the 13-0 lead. The Knights got a three and a free throw from Temple, but Mitchell Ranly hit a shot and Knapke added two free throws before Lichtle got a pass at the right elbow and drained a three to cut the lead to 10 at the first break.
In the second quarter, the Flyers shot 1-for-8 and scored just three points while the Knights roared back into the game, with Hess whistled for a foul with 1.9 seconds left in the half that allowed Gavin Etzler to shoot three free throws and cut the lead to 20-17.
"We made a defensive mistake, and then it got to 17-7," Goettemoeller said. "Then as they started creeping back into the game, we got tentative, and you just can't do that in a big game. You've just got to let it go.
"But, hey, they're high school kids. Coach G got tentative as well, and we were all feeling the pressure a little bit. That's what happens in a regional final. It's the most pressure-packed game there is, more than a state tournament game - you know what's on the line. And I'll just take the blame for that, because I don't think I did a great job in terms of helping us fight through that."
Pohlman and Temple tied for the game-high with 12 points. Knapke grabbed 11 rebounds.
