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Seneca East Sprints Past Crestview

Click here to listen to an interview with coach Anthony Langhurst

Click here to listen to an interview with coach Ben McClay

          If the first half was an ugly duckling, the second half was clearly a beautiful swan for Seneca East on Wednesday night as they rallied to beat Crestview (65-48) in a division VI district semifinal.

          The will play Van Buren for a district title on Friday night at Liberty-Benton High School.

          They used an (18-2) run in the final 6:57 seconds of the third quarter to make a 13-point deficit (37-24) into a (46-39) lead after three.

          They continued that surge in the final quarter as they began the final stanza with a (10-2) run to establish control of the game at (56-42) with 3:32 left after a Landon Hicks basket.

          Coach Anthony Langhurst says they came out the second half and were more aggressive in their zone.  “We made some defensive adjustments.  They were comfortable in the first half.  Their role players play really well.  You have got to worry about Goon and Wells and Spoerr.  Then we turned the page in the second half and then our role players played really well.   We made some adjustments defensively because they were a little too comfortable for my liking the first half,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “We had some defensive adjustments that the kids implemented that really helped out.  Again, I just told our seniors you guys have got two more quarters and this could be the end your season.  Brady Bloom if your open pull it.  Don’t go out and be hesitant.  Him and Landon Hicks stepping up and then obviously Luke (Mason), you never tell him to bring it.  So, I'm just happy for the guys, it’s been a special group.”

          Crestview coach Ben McClay says they were not able to respond to the Tigers run.  “I give Seneca East a lot of credit.  We were up like 12 in the third and looking pretty good and they went on a big run and made some adjustments.  I give those kids a lot of credit they played really hard for 32 minutes.  Unfortunately, we just couldn't withstand that run.  I thought our kids had a nice season.  We gave a really good effort out there,” he said.

          McClay says they were handling the Tigers half court trap and that led to turnovers and many layups for the Tigers.  “I saw a lot of us just struggling against their traps in that zone.  The other thing I saw was we were missing a lot of shots that maybe we were making that first quarter and they were knocking in shots.  The name of the game is basketball and unfortunately we missed the shot that would have put us up 15 and they just came out swinging,” said McClay.

          Feasting on those turnovers, the Tigers (18-6) were able to convert a lot of those turnovers into layups.  “Crestview was taking advantage of our mistakes.  If we get a couple stops, let's get out and run.  So, I think they took that to heart.  We were a little careless with the basketball that led to some easy baskets.  I said that's not what we've been talking about, so the guys took pride in what they were doing in the second half and kind of flipped the script,” he said.

          Seneca East’s all-time leading scorer Luke Mason finished with 15 points, but six of them came on a 6-6 performance from the free throw line as the Tigers were putting the game on ice in the final two minutes.

          Langhurst says his is a leader that always does what is good for the team.  “The same thing against Mansfield Christian.  He scores 15 points in the first half and they go box and one and he doesn't score the second half.  That's been the beautiful thing about this group is whether we're telling a guy this is your role they've been doing that.  They're buying in, but then also they're expanding their role over the season and getting better.  That's what’s the beautiful thing about coaching and seeing these young men kind of blossoming in their roles,” said Langhurst.

          Hicks had 17 to lead the Tigers.  Freshman Jaron Depinet added 16.  Andrew Spoerr led the Cougars (13-11) with 16.

          Crestview’s leading scorer Karter Goon was called for two charging violations with 60 seconds in the late third and early fourth quarter with the game still in question.

          Langhurst says that was big for them.  “That was a big key was Goon getting that foul.  We just know when he gets downhill.  We've been a team that takes charges.  We chart it.  We make sure guys are recognized for that.  That was a big play and making sure he had four fouls.  Then you have got to go to your bench, so that was obviously a turning point for us.  With the defensive adjustments we made it was just enough for us to keep strangling them,” he said.

Published 3/05/26

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Crestview Enters Districts With Confidence

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          Crestview meets Seneca East on Wednesday night in a division VI district semifinal at Willard High School.

          The Cougars (13-10) downed New London (53-41) to earn a sectional title last Friday.

          Coach Ben McClay says they put it away with defense in the second half.  “I didn't think we really played a very good first half, but we went on a big run in the third quarter.  Played really good basketball.  You definitely need to play a lot better than we did in that game if we're going to beat Seneca East.  I'm proud that we came out with the win.  I thought our kids executed pretty well with defensive end for most part.  We held then to 41 points and we held the (Henry) Thomas kid to eight, but we need to just click on all cylinders against the Tigers,” he said.

          Seneca East (17-6) dominated Mansfield Christian (67-32) in their sectional final.

          They are paced by the school’s all time leading scorer in Luke Mason.

          McClay says that Mason makes everyone around him better.  “Luke Mason is really good.  He got first team district six.  He got first team all league.  What makes him special is he's not only just averaging 17, but he averages seven assists.  I think that's what makes him really potent is he is not only a really good scorer, but he’s also a really getting passer.  He's an outstanding player.  We know that everything they do goes through him.  So, we have to be prepared that way.  I think coach (Anthony) Langhurst has done a really good job with this group in general.  (Mason) is really good. he's just really smooth, he has a really smooth dribble, he's got a really nice shot and he's pretty fearless,” said McClay.

          McClay says they have a lot of confidence in themselves going into this game.  “We're just working hard every day.  You know what else we're working on as we're working on? We’re working ourselves getting better because we do a lot of game planning.  This game is our Super Bowl and we worked really hard on the scout, but at the end of the day we have good players too,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We have two first team all league kids, and that is released today, so I can say that, and we had an honorable mention all league kid.  We have a kid averaging 17.5 points and 10 rebounds.  So, they have to stop us and I think we've had a really good season.  I think we've played it extremely tough out of conference schedule and we played it to get us ready for Wednesday night.”

Published 3/04/26

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Crestview Ready for Tournament

Click here to listen to an interview with coach Ben McClay

          Crestview will be up at New London, a Firelands Conference rival, for a division VI sectional final on Friday night.

          Coach Ben McClay says they are peaking at the right time of the year.  “We're definitely playing our best this time of year.  We started 4-7 and we finished 8-3.  We started 0-3 and finished 3-0.  So, we made a lot of progress this season.  We are definitely played our best basketball and we're really excited for (Friday),” he said.

          Crestview (12-10) and New London (13-8) spilt during the regular season with New London winning at home (63-53) on December 12 and the Cougars returning the favor (72-55) on January 17.

          McClay says they have to contain Henry Thomas and run the Wildcats off the three point line.  “I think coach Tom Howell has done an excellent job.  They're very fundamentally sound basketball team.  They have one player, Henry Thomas, who is really good.  He's just a really athletic kid and he has a high motor,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “I think he's going to be just a really special player.  He's only a freshman.  He's definitely their best player.  I think one of the keys is just containing the three-point line.  Not letting them get hot, especially on their home floor and just playing our game.”

          McClay is relying on sound advice and wants to do the things they have good at executing.  “I think a lot of guys in basketball, and sports in general, try to really overcomplicate things x’s and o’s wise and everything that way.  We just want to stick to what we've been good at this year.  I was talking to Joe Balogh, one of my mentors, and he was just kind of saying just stick with what you guys have had success with and go from there.  So, I think that's just going to be a key for us,” said McClay.

          Tournament games between conference rivals usually end up being close games and McClay says they have played a lot of those.  “We've definitely been in a lot of close battles this year.  If you look at our games we've only gotten blown out once and then I think we've had three or four or five blowouts on the season on our end.  So, we've been in a lot of games where we have to make decisions in the fourth quarter, so we're kind of used to being in those games.  With our out of conference schedule, it's really tough, and that's definitely battle tested us for moments like (Friday),” said McClay.

Published 2/27/26

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Crestview Excited Going Forward

          Crestview plays at Madison in a non-conference game on Wednesday and then hosts Norwalk St. Paul in their final Firelands Conference game on Friday night.

          They were eliminated from the conference title chase by losing (64-56) to Western Reserve last Friday.

          Coach Ben McClay says they were very disappointed in the outcome.  “Really, really hard fought game.  Really disappointed in that one.  We had every opportunity to win it.  We're up six with I think 6:00 left and Western made the plays that we didn’t.  I was really disappointed, I'm going to be honest.  Western’s a good team, but we are too.  Those kinds of games are just frustrating as a coach, but then we bounce back Saturday night.  We had a good one against Mansfield Christian.  So, have got to look for positives.  We are playing good ball right now.  I think we're like 6-4 our last 10, one of those losses being to the Colonel Crawford Eagles.  We are really excited for the tournament coming up,” he said.

          Madison (7-13) lost last weekend (69-61) to Mansfield Senior in “OCC” play on Friday and (58-53) to Shelby in non-conference action on Saturday.

          McClay says they will be a tremendous challenge.  “Madison is solid.  I think anytime in boys basketball what do you play a team that is just like significantly bigger than you in student enrollment I don't care what their record is they're going to be competitive on the floor.  That's just kind of how high school basketball works.  You get more kids to choose from.  They’re toward the bottom of their league and we’re toward the top of our league.  Throw the records out the window, they're good ball team.  They have got athletes,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “The McCraney kid is really solid.  I really like his game.  He kind of reminds me of Goon honestly.  They have a really, really lightning quick point guard and other good athletes around him.  So, it's a really good challenge for us headed to the tournament.  I really like the timing that one because it's right before the division VI NW tournament.  That's a team that really prepares you for those games.  So, it should be a fun one and Madison (Wednesday).”

          Crestview (10-10,8-5) plays at home against Norwalk St. Paul (12-9,7-6) on Friday.  The Flyers knocked off Plymouth (62-60) in conference play last Friday.

          The Flyers won the first game (53-44) on February 3.

          McClay says they need a better effort this time.  “We need to actually wake up and play.  I think that the first time we played them our kids were looking ahead to the Plymouth game.  They played terrible in the first quarter.  I think Steve Minor did a heck of a job.  That dude, I mean, he's a great coach and his kids are improving.  They beat every team at the top the second round, so that shows you good coaching right there.  Also, that dude can just manage the clock man.  Like they were up with like six and he just milked the clock.  He is doing a heck of a job over there.  So, it’s senior night and it's our kids last opportunity to play on our home floor.  They're going to be ready to go, so we're excited for this week and then excited for the tournament,” said McClay.

Published 2/18/26

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Crestview Really Improved

          Crestview now trails the Firelands Conference co-leaders by just game with two to play headed into a game Friday night with Western Reserve.

          They beat co-leader Plymouth (47-45) on Saturday night.

          Coach Ben McClay says they made the plays at crunch time.  “It was definitely exciting to get that close win.  We had quite a few games at the beginning of the season where we were in those situations, had opportunities to win, and we did not capitalize.  Highland, we had a one point loss and had an opportunity win at the buzzer.  Monroeville round one kind of the same situation.  So, we were happy to be able to execute and pull off that win, that was a huge conference win.  Plymouth is at the top of the league, they're a nice team, they could go to a district championship in division VII, so it was really good win for our program,” he said.

          McClay says this is a team that has grown a lot since the season started.  “That's kind of like the neat thing to reflect on when you think about a season.  Day one in November and then progressing into your scrimmages and then progressing into each month and just seeing how much this team has grown throughout the season.  Looking at it the other day, we have played extremely competitive out of conference schedule for a school our size,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “We played powerhouse Fredericktown, powerhouse Crawford, and then a couple schools that are significantly bigger.  However, we started the season 3-6 and part of that is our schedule was really tough.  Part of that is we just weren't making those big plays when it mattered.  Over the last nine we’re 6-3.  We've won, I don't know, four out of last five, something like that.  It's just fun to see this team kind of come together and just get better and grow over a week.”

          Crestview (9-9,8-4) plays host to Western Reserve (9-8,7-5) on Friday night.  The Riders lost (50-45) to Norwalk St. Paul on Saturday.

          Crestview won the first game (60-53) on January 9.

          McClay says Western presents a lot of issues and they have to expect they will play better.  “When I think of Firelands Conference basketball I think Western Reserve.  Chris Sheldon is a great coach, he's been there for whatever 20, 25 years, he's probably a future Hall of Famer.  They're very guard oriented.  They run a lot of nice stuff.  The more I studied their film they run a lot of nice plays.  The first time we were blessed and we handled them.  We beat them by seven, but it was really never a close game.  We played really well, but that's the team that can come in and beat us.  They're a good basketball team.  We're ready for another big Firelands Conference match up.  So, it seems it's kind of been a common theme Firelands Conference this year,” said McClay.

Published 2/12/26

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Crestview Faces Tough Week

          Crestview, who now trails by just a game in the Firelands Conference standings, plays three conference games this week with Norwalk St. Paul on Tuesday, South Central on Thursday and conference leader Plymouth on Saturday.

          Things got more interesting after Western Reserve outscored Plymouth (82-72) on Monday night.  Western and Monroeville are also a game back.

          Coach Ben McClay understands what lies ahead.  “It’s a huge week ahead.  We're definitely playing our best basketball at the right time of the year.  We've made a lot of improvements this year and our last three Firelands games we are averaging about 75,” he said.

          They blew out Mapleton (84-45) last Friday.

          Crestview (7-8,6-3) plays at Norwalk St. Paul (8-9,3-6) on Tuesday.  They Flyers are coming off a (63-52) win over New London last Friday.

          McClay says St. Paul kids know how to win.  “I see a really well coached team.  They run a lot of set plays.  They were in a district final last year and they were the conference champs.  They graduated a lot and the (Grant) Kuhnle kid transferred out to Perkins or whatever,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “I see a team that is really well coached.  We need to go in and take care of business.  Obviously, you saw what they did to Monroeville and Monroeville towards the top as well.  So, that guy definitely knows what he's doing.  The (Landon) Fries kid is really good.  So, yeah I think that it's a huge game for us this week as is every other game this week.”

          McClay says they know what they have to do.  “It's probably the biggest week of the season so far,” he said.

Published 2/03/26

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Crestview Thinking Conference Title

          Crestview, in a share of second place in the Firelands Conference, will play at Mapleton in a conference game on Friday night.

          They still trail Plymouth by three games.

          They won their third straight conference game by downing Monroeville (68-57) in conference play last Friday.

          Coach Ben McClay says it was a very good win for them.  “It was a great win.  I talked to the kids (Tuesday) and we just told them they played extremely well.  It was a really good like signature win.  It's definitely one of the best teams we beat all season.  Monroeville is a good team.  They have some really big, strong, athletic kids.  Our kids did a nice job.  I don't think we ever trailed in that game and they did a nice job closing it out.  So, I'm really proud of them and just the progress they're making this season.  We're sitting at 5-3 in the Firelands, so we're still very alive and well in the race,” said McClay.

          They were thrashed (75-43) by unbeaten Colonel Crawford on Saturday night in a non-conference game.

          McClay says they Eagles are just very good.  “I texted coach (David) Sheldon and told him that I will enjoy watching them in Dayton this year.  They're really good.  I think they have a legit shot at regionals, probably state again.  They're well oiled machine.  He's obviously been there for whatever 20, 25 years and they're just so big, strong and physical.  They run their stuff really well and they're super fundamentally sound.  Brayden Holt and Payne DeGray are special players.  So, look for them to make a lot of noise come tournament time in division VI,” he said.

          Crestview (6-8,5-3) makes the short trip to Mapleton (1-12,0-8) on Friday night.  The Cougars won the first matchup of the year (63-38) on December 20.

          McClay says they can’t take a win for granted.  “We told the kids you just have to go in and fight to win that night.  You can't sleep on anyone.  That's the thing about high school basketball is Mapleton's getting better, they’re teenage kids as well that are practicing every day and it’s at their place,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Our kids just need to go in and play their game and things will happen.  I'm really excited for the downhill stretch.  We still have eight games left and six of those are league games.  We know that we're still in the race for that conference championship.  There's a lot of basketball we played in the Firelands Conference still.  So, we're just going to keep continuing to work hard and made the chips fall as they do.”

Published 1/28/26

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Crestview With Big Opportunity

          Crestview is still in a must win situation as they host Monroeville in a Firelands Conference game on Friday night.

          They trail conference leader Plymouth by three games.

          They smoked New London (72-55) in a conference game on Saturday night.

          Coach Ben McClay called it their best performance of the season.  “I thought we played extremely well.  I was looking at our statistics and we shot it really well from three.  We had, I want to say, 30 plus points in the paint.  We got 17 points on the putbacks.  I think we outrebounded them as well.  We just clicked on all cylinders.  The good news of that game is that was our best game of the year, so it means that we're improving.  We're playing our best basketball down the stretch.  So, I couldn't be more proud of the kids from Saturday night,” he said.

          Crestview (5-7,4-3) hosts Monroeville (6-4,5-2) on Friday night.  The Eagles lost (44-38) to Norwalk St. Paul on Saturday night in “FC” action.

          McClay says they feature a big post player in Cole Perry.  “We lost by a point to Monroeville at their place round one.  We had an opportunity to win at the end and we missed the shot.  So, we're excited to play them again.  They are very big and physical.  Their strength is their strength.  They have a very big, traditional back to the basket post player.  You don't really see that super often in today's game.  You see a lot of kids around the perimeter that are shooting threes.  He's all back to the basket.  So, we're definitely preparing for him.  They are just ahead of us in the Firelands standings, so we know that if we want a shot at the piece of the championship that we basically need to probably need to win on Friday,” said McClay.

          Crestview has a tough challenge on Saturday night as thy play at Colonel Crawford (10-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division.

          McClay says they are just very good.  “They're just very athletic and very physical.  They bring back their three best players from a state final four team.  They are exceptionally coached.  They too are very traditional in the sense that they play two true post players.  You really never see that in today's game, especially at the high school level,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Payne DeGray is an absolute monster and John's (DeGray) is really good and Brayden Holt is an exceptional player.  Dave Shelton is just one of the best coaches I think in the State of Ohio.  He has one of the best programs going.  They're very fundamentally sound defensive end.  So, it's going to be a good challenging weekend for us.”

Published 1/21/26

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Crestview Still in it

          Crestview is still alive in the Firelands Conference race, but they probably can’t lose any more “FC” games if they want a piece of that title.

          That assignment begins Thursday night in the final game of the first round at Norwalk St. Paul.

          They kept themselves in the race with a (60-53) win at Western Reserve last Friday night.

          Coach Ben McClay says they really played well, but he knows they have that in them.  “I thought we played our best game of the season Friday night at Western.  I also think that we're capable that every time we step on the floor.  I think we have some really good athletes that are really capable.  We've had a lot of close losses this year.  The second half of the season we're looking to turn those into wins,” said McClay.

          McClay hopes they can use that game as a jumping off spot in the league.  “That's definitely what we're hoping for, especially in the Firelands Conference because right now we're sitting at 3-3 in Firelands, Plymouth is 6-0, Monroeville is 5-1 and Western is 4-2, so we know that we're still right there in the mix,” he said.

          The way it has been in the conference this season any of seven teams are capable of winning on any night.  McClay says they have to be ready to play every time out.  “We prepare our kids for that.  The last few years they've been used to being toward the top. We've kind of sat down with them and just said this year is a very competitive year and we have to be ready to go 1-0 every night.  So, that's what our mantra's been,” said McClay.

          Crestview (4-7,3-3) plays at Norwalk St. Paul (6-7,1-5) on Thursday night.  The Flyers have lost three of their last four, including a (63-52) loss to Plymouth last Friday in the conference.

          McClay says they will see a lot of different stuff.  “When I watched their film I think they're really well coached.  They run a lot of really nice stuff.  They graduated a lot of you know kids from last year and their best player transferred out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “I think that guy is doing a really good job.  They run a mixture of man defense and zone defense, so we're ready for that.  We're ready to just play our game.”

Published 1/14/26

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Crestview Has to Execute

          Crestview takes its act to Western Reserve for a game in the Firelands Conference on Friday night.

          It’s a must win for the Cougars if they are to stay in the title hunt.

          They lost (58-52) to conference leader Plymouth last Saturday.  Highland beat them (55-54) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          Coach Ben McClay says they could not finish out the games.  “They've been kind of the same story honestly.  Plymouth is top team in our league and we had opportunities to tie that game at the end and just couldn't capitalize on those opportunities.  Highland we were down I think 13 at one point in the fourth and then battled back and we lead by one, but then they hit a bucket at the end.  We got an opportunity to win the game and didn't fall in,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We battled hard with two good teams and take it into perspective.  Plymouth is the number one team in your league.  Highland is a division IV basketball team.  At the end of the day when you have got a good group you want to be able to pull through and win those games.  So, definitely not a fun thing to deal with, but we analyzed the film and we just keep moving forward.”

          Crestview (3-6,2-3) plays at Western (6-3,4-1) on Friday night.  The Riders beat Norwalk St. Paul (66-54) on Saturday in “FC” play.

          McClay says they show balance on offense and some tenacity on defense.  “I think they're definitely one of the most balanced teams in the league.  When you look at their statistics, they have one guy that averages double digits and then they have about three or four others that average seven or eight.  They're very fundamentally sound.  When I study their film I just see a lot of really good half court man defense.  They definitely rely on the three-point shot a lot and they have a lot of good shooters.  So, we're going to have to just come in again to another Firelands Conference battle,” said McClay.

          McClay says they are looking forward to the challenge.  “We're just going to play our game and continue to play hard and make progress in the right way.  So, we're excited for (Friday) night,” he said.

Published 1/09/26

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Must Win for Crestview

          Crestview is at home for Firelands Conference leader Plymouth on Saturday night.

          It shapes up as a huge game for the Cougars if they want to stay in the conference race.

          The Cougars (3-4,2-2) downed South Central (62-54) last Saturday in a conference game.

          Coach Ben McClay says they played unselfish basketball.  “I thought Saturday we executed really well.  I was really proud of the boys.  I thought they executed really well on both ends of the floor.  Their pressure defense was really good.  They played really unselfish,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We had three players in double figures.  I thought we moved the ball well.  We really attacked the rim well.  So, I was very pleased with our on performance on Saturday night at South Central.”

          Crestview is at home for Plymouth (5-2,4-0) on Saturday night.  The Big Red beat New London (52-40) on Saturday.

          McClay says the teams have similar personnel.  “They really kind of remind me of us personnel wise.  They have a really good stud bringing it up and then they have got tall shooter, the Reynolds kid, a nice player.  Then they just have some nice athletes around them.  They're going to run a lot of five out motion and they're going to play fast, so we're preparing our kids for that,” said McClay.

          McClay says they can’t allow Plymouth to get on those runs that they have had, especially in the second half of games this season.  “I think anytime you play a team that really just likes to push the pace and just plays open and freely like they do you have to just be ready for that.  You have to prepare your kids for that and we've been talking about that this week of practice,” he said.

          McClay says clearly this is a game they have to win.  “We're excited to go.  Quite frankly I told the kids is the biggest game of the year because right now it's a huge turning point in the Firelands.  Right now, we're 2-2 in the league and they are 4-0 and if we have league aspirations this is like a championship game for us.  So, we're really excited for Saturday night,” he said.

Published 12/30/25

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Crestview Needs a Win

          Crestview entertains Lucas in a non-conference boys’ basketball game on Tuesday night.

          They play Monroeville on Thursday and Mapleton on Saturday in Firelands Conference games.

          The Cougars (0-3,0-1) lost their conference opener to New London (63-53) on Friday night.

          Coach Ben McClay says they didn’t play well.  “It was not our best performance, but we definitely learned some things as a team and what we need to work on.  We are using that game as a way to grow as individuals and teammates and improve ourselves and we're excited for (Tuesday’s) game,” he said.

          Lucas (0-2) is coming off a (53-30) loss to Willard last Wednesday.

          McClay says they have some height they will need to deal with.  “They run a lot of zone.  They have got some size, so we definitely have our kids prepared for that.  We're excited for this one.  Not the start that we wanted, but we just kind of talked to the kids (Monday) about handling adversity and how you respond and how that can kind of translate to life, so we're excited just to get back at it and be playing the game we love (Tuesday) night,” said McClay.

          It’s very early in the season, but McClay says a win is a must.  “(Tuesday) I would say is kind of a must win and I think our kids are excited and ready to go.  The girls actually play before, so that will be really neat really neat environment.  The JV boys play at 4:30 and the girls are playing at 6 and the boys are playing at 7:30,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “It'll be good for the boys to watch the girls and support them, and me as well, because I think our coach Amy Bays works really hard and does a nice job and then we're excited to play the Cubs.”

Published 12/16/25

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Crestview’s Goal is Win Firelands

          Firelands Conference play begins for the Crestview Cougars on Friday night as they make the trip to New London to take on the Wildcats.

          They are (0-2) on the season after a (64-54) loss to Fredericktown in non-league play last week.

          Coach Ben McClay says they gave themselves a chance to win, but couldn’t get over the final hurdles.  “I thought the kids played really hard.  We were down 10 or 11 twice and then came back from both of those deficits and tied it up once I think in the third or fourth.  It was kind of similar situation to Ontario, Fredericktown pulled away at the end,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Fredericktown is an exceptional ball club.  They're going to win a lot of games this year.  Hats off to coach (Derek) Dibling and the job he does.  I told the kids we have really battle tested ourselves in the first two games and came up short.  We know that those battles are going to get us ready for the Firelands Conference.”

          New London (2-0,0-0) beat Buckeye Central (50-32) on Saturday also in non-conference play.

          McClay says the Wildcats get good shots on offense and as always play very good defense. “I think that they are very well coached.  I think that they are playing with a lot of energy right now.  They play the right way.  I went and scouted them both live and on film and you can tell that they have good spacing on offense, they move the ball, they played good man defense.  So, we're ready to go.  We're excited to get to our Firelands Conference play.  Our goal is to win the league, so it starts on Friday,” said McClay.

          Now, if you are going to win the Firelands Conference it’s vital to win that first one and McClay says they understand that.  “This game Friday is extremely important.  We want to win that game and then get some momentum rolling. We play three games the following week, so we look at this huge game for us at the start of Firelands Conference play,” he said.

Published 12/10/25

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Crestview Faces Big Test in Fredericktown

          Crestview entertains the Fredericktown Freddies in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          They lost their opener to Ontario (63-57) last week.

          Coach Ben McClay says they did a lot of good things and he especially liked the effort the kids gave.  “We don't like losing, but we were really happy with the kids effort.  I think Ontario is one of the best teams we're going to see all season.  They're very athletic and they have some kids that are just really good basketball players.  We played really hard for four quarters.  The game came down to the last couple minutes.  We missed some shots and they made some shots, but overall just really pleased with the effort given.  Basketball is a game of runs and unfortunately they went a little run at the end that we just couldn't match, but overall good effort by the kids,” said McClay.

          However, coaches are perfectionist and McClay says there are things to improve.  “I think just some rotations off the ball.  I think taking care of the basketball.  Those are a couple things that we have to be better at.  Overall, I thought that we played a really nice game.  I thought the kids played really hard.  We found a lot of positives from that as well.  So, we kind of put that one in the rearview and we're focused on the Freddies (Tuesday),” he said.

          Fredericktown has had a run of success and McClay knows they are going to be a big test for his team.  “I think they're really good.  I think they are one of the best small school teams in North Central Ohio this season.  Last year, they won 18 games and they bring everybody back.  They graduated one senior and then they did have a starter that is out for the season, but they basically bring five of their top six kids back from last year from an 18 win team.  They have a guy named Gavin Toombs, who has already scored 1000 points he is an exceptional athlete and basketball player.  Then Carson Reinhart is another exceptional player,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “They're going to have athletes all over the floor.  Their coach Derek Dibling does an awesome job.  I think that he's running one of the most successful programs in the area.  He's won four of his last five league championships.  They're going to have their boys ready to go.  So, we look at this as another huge pre conference test and another game that's going to get us ready for the Firelands Conference and for the district tournament because I think if Fredericktown were in division six, I think they would be a regional team, they're really good.”

Published 12/02/25

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Crestview to Face Athletic Ontario

          Crestview will be at home for Ontario in a non-conference game to open the season on Wednesday night.

          Coach Ben McClay, in his first year as the Cougars head coach, says his team is unselfish and they are good on defense.  “I would say togetherness.  They really share the ball well.  I don't think they really care who scores as long as it's a guy in black and red.  I think defense, those are two strengths,” he said.

          McClay says that Ontario will be one of the more athletic teams that they will face all year.  “They're really good.  So, I've been studying up on their film, so I think they are one of the most athletic teams we're going to see all season long.  This is the type of game that will prepare you for your district tournament.  They have six or seven guys that are just really good,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I think their strengths are athleticism.  Cardae Brown and Trinden Flenoury are two of the best players in Richland County.  I think someday they may go and play at the next level and so I think just being able to understand that and stopping them in transition because they can just really run.  So, I'd say that's their biggest strengths.”

         It’s the first game of the season and McClay says this game with Ontario is an excellent way to figure where they stand.  “We look at this as a huge test for us.  We look at this as a big, good, like early season measuring stick.  One that's going to get us ready for the better Firelands Conference teams and in that district tournament, so we're really excited,” said McClay.

Published 11/26/25

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Crestview Eager to Play

          Crestview has been one of the better teams in the Firelands Conference, and in division VI, and this year has the potential of being another pretty good year for the Cougars.

          Coach Ben McClay, in first year with the program, says he likes what he has seen this month in terms of improvement.  “I love the way these kids have improved and played basketball.  We've seen a lot of growth even in three weeks.  They come in every day with their lunch pails ready to work.  They've been buying into what we've been asking them to do.  We had a scrimmage (Tuesday) night at Mt. Gilead and they looked very good and they're just really great kids to work with,” he said.

          Crestview was the runner-up to Norwalk St. Paul in the Firelands Conference last year and lost to Colonel Crawford in the district final.

          McClay says they have some kids back from that team, plus an influx of new talent.  “We bring back three starters from a district final team and we also bring a lot of pieces from a very solid JV team.  So, we're really excited with what we have to work with, but we also know, and we talk about this all the time like, we can have all the pieces, but we still have to play the right way,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “That's what we've been really preaching to the kids is playing hardnosed defense, boxing out and we really talk about how our defense will lead to offense.”

          Crestview opens the season next Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, against Ontario.

          McClay says they are excited to get the season started.  “They're ready to go.  These kids are really excited.  Our two first opponents are very talented opponents and the kids are really excited playing those big games.  We have Ontario coming to town the night before Thanksgiving and then we have Fredericktown coming to town on December 2.  I mean both of those teams have a lot of really good basketball players on the floor, so we're really excited to play those big games,” said McClay.

Published 11/20/25

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Crestview Focus on Mapleton

          Crestview plays its final regular season game at Mapleton on Friday night in Firelands Conference play.

          There is a slim chance that with a win they could get themselves in the division VI playoffs in region 23.

          They lost a tough one last week when conference leader Monroeville edged them (28-26) in what was an excellent high school football game.  The Cougars scored with 5:43 left, but were stopped on a two-point conversion attempt.  A missed extra point after their third TD was a was key.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they gave it all they had.  “I thought our kids played extremely hard for four quarters against a really good football team and we came up you know one play or a few plays short to win a football game, but I thought our kids battled.  They handled adversity,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We got up early, they came back and took the lead, and our kids kept fighting.  It was a great high school football game we just didn't end up on the right side of the win column.”

          Haverdill says they responded well to the (34-0) loss to Western Reserve the week before.  “Our kids battled the whole time, they fought.  I think the impressive thing too is there's a lot of teams that if they went through what we did the week before at Western and would have just caved in and our kids didn't.  They battled back and had a great week of practice, they were focused and then they battled for four quarters against again a really good football team and just came up a little bit short,” said Haverdill.

          Crestview (5-4,4-2) plays at Mapleton (2-7,1-5) on Friday night.  The Mounties lost (50-6) to Norwalk St. Paul last week.

          Haverdill says they run the wing-T and they have to be on their keys.  “They are playing a lot of young guys.  Gaining a lot of experience.  Still running the same offense that they've been doing.  They're just you know learning as they go.  For us, we have to make sure we are focused on the keys.  There is a lot of misdirection stuff and then be able to play again a good four quarters of solid football,” he said.

          Haverdill says it terms of the playoffs all they can do is win.  “We just have to go win and then if they call us on the weekend and say we're in fantastic.  I think there's a lot of things that have got to happen for that to work out.  I think right now our focus is on Mapleton, it’s our rival game.  So, we have got to make sure we just go out and take care of that business and see what happens,” he said,

Published 10/21/25

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Crestview Has to be Better

          A Firelands Conference championship is still in the cards for the Crestview Cougars as they host conference leading Monroeville on Friday night.

          They pretty much laid an egg last week in losing (34-0) at Western Reserve in conference play.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they must get better in all areas.  “Nothing went right last week on all phases.  Offense, defense, special teams, but even deeper with offensive line, defensive line, quarterback, running backs, wide receivers, DB's, linebackers nothing went well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We've got to improve in every area and get back to the basics of what we do well and build that confidence back up.  We’ve had a good week of practice so far this week as we get ready to take on another very good football team in Monroeville.”

          Crestview (5-3,4-1) is at home for Monroeville (6-2,5-0) on Friday night.  The Eagles ruffed up Plymouth (55-0) in an “FC” game last week.

          Haverdill says they aren’t fancy, but they are very good.  “They're big, they're fast, very physical, and they do things the right way.  They're very good at their techniques.  They don't overload you with all kinds of different things.  They do what they do very well.  You have got to make sure that you're up for that challenge and handle that adversity,” said Haverdill.

          Monroeville has shown some balance to their offensive attack.  The Eagles have two players in quarterback Colton Clark and running back Conner Bores in the top five in the conference in rushing.

          Haverdill says they have to win those one on one match ups in the trenches.  “At the point of attack, you have got to win those matches at that point of attack and we didn't do a good job last week and so our hope this week is that we're able to do a better job of handling that on both sides of the ball and be able to play a good four quarter football game,” he said.

          A game behind the Eagles, Haverdill says every goal they have is still attainable. ,“We know we still have things in front of us.  We still have an opportunity to be a part of the conference championship.  We still have an opportunity to get into week 11.  So, there's a lot of things on our plates.  We've told our kids if you can't get ready for this then I don't know you know it's hard not to get up for a game like this.  So, this is what high school football is about,” said Haverdill.

Published 10/16/25

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Crestview Can’t Have Mistakes

          Crestview, the co-leader in the Firelands Conference, will be at Western Reserve for a significant game in the conference on Friday night.

          It’s a big one for the Cougars (5-2,4-0) and likely a must win for Western (5-2,3-1) already a game behind Crestview and Monroeville, a team that’s already beaten them.

          In their first game against a conference contender last week, the Cougars beat Norwalk St. Paul (30-21) last Friday.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they played a complete game and made big plays when they had to.  “We played a strong four quarters against a really good football team.  I was proud of how our kids handled the adversity that we faced throughout that game.  Just the different things with the things going our way something's going their way.  I thought our kids handled everything very good and hopefully we can build on that going into this week,” said Haverdill.

          Quarterback Lium Kuhn threw two TD passes and ran for another.

          Western Reserve punished South Central (39-0) last week.

          Haverdill says this is team that does just about anything you could ask and does it well.  “They're a complete package.  They are very good on offense.  They run the ball, they can pass the ball, their line is very athletic and big up front.  They're well coached.  Defensively, they get after you, they tackle well in space, good speed, especially in the secondary.  We've got to again play a perfect football game to be able to go on the road and be able to win a game like this,” he said.

          Rider running back Landyn Wiegel has rushed for 845 yards and 21 touchdowns this year.  Colton Meagrow, who started the season as the number two signal caller, has thrown for 1,044 yards and none TD’s.

          Haverdill says Meagrow has done an excellent job since stepping in for the injured Hayden Keith on week one.  “He's got plenty of games under his belt, big games under his belt.  He throws the ball well, he's got weapons and they have got the run game that keeps the pressure off him as well.  Their two losses as to a very, very good Margaretta team, that just knocked off a Hopewell-Loudon, and then Monroeville, who's ahead in our conference right now and is a very good football team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We know what's at hand for us this week.  This is a team that beat up St. Paul pretty bad a couple weeks ago at St. Paul.  So, we know that we've got to play a perfect football game, no mistakes, no penalties, things like that if we're going to have a shot to win this game.”

Published 10/06/25

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Crestview Has to be Fundamental

          Crestview will lock horns with Norwalk St. Paul in key game in the Firelands Conference on Friday night.

          Right now, the Cougars (4-2,3-0) share the conference lead with Monroeville.  St. Paul trails by a game.

          Last week, Crestview blew out Plymouth (42-0) for their fourth straight win.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they were more consistent than the previous couple of weeks.  “The kids came out played well.  We were consistent throughout.  We got up early, which was so nice to see.  We've struggled the last couple weeks.  We just kind of put it on cruise control there.  The kids played well and they did what they had to do.  It is a difficult offense if you're not physical up front and holding your gaps it could take its toll and become frustrating.  The clock just keeps running and you’re not getting off the field defensively.  So, the kids handled it well and we were able to get them off the field, force them to punt, and let our offense go to work,” said Haverdill.

          The Cougars held Plymouth to 87 total yards.

          Norwalk St. Paul (3-3,2-1) pounded New London (47-6) to “FC” play last week.  Nick Pocos ran for 154 yards and two scores.  Grant Kuhnle completed nine of 12 passes for 101 yards and a TD.

          Haverdill says the Flyers can both run and pass when they have it.  “A little bit more balanced than they've been in the past.  They can still beat you with their run game.  They're still very solid and they get off the ball very well and block very well, but now they can throw it and get some weapons on the outside,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “A lot more multi dimensional than what they've been in the past. Defensively, it's going to be a big task for us to be able to know what they're getting into and be able to read our keys and be able to play solid defense knowing that it's not just going to be a run game or just a pass game we're going to get a little bit of both there.”

          On defense, the Flyers are again very sold, according to Haverdill.  “Typical, they fly to the football tackle very well.  Disciplined in what they do.  They disguise things well.  So, it's going to be a challenge for our offense.  The offensive lines is going to have to see what they're getting and be able to stay on their blocks.  It's going to be a four quarter battle with two very good football teams that have played a very good non conference schedule leading up to now and that's what's all about,” he said.

Published 9/30/25

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Faster the Better for Crestview

          Crestview will be at home for Plymouth in Firelands Conference football on Friday night.

          The Cougars (3-2,2-0) wrangled South Central (44-7) last week in a conference game.

          Coach Steve Haverdaill says they still weren’t as consistent as he would like.  “It started off a little sluggish and we are trying to get that corrected as we did the week before as well.  Just trying to implement different things in practice as we focus on ourselves.  We want to start fast and we actually started to.  We scored quickly in our first drive, but then we kind of got a little lackadaisical.  So, we have got to understand that we have got to continue to keep their foot on the pedal the entire four quarters and that includes that opening drive and the rest of the first half as well,” said Haverdill.

          Liam Kuhn threw three TD passes last week.

          Haverdill says this week they need to be in control of the game from the outset.  “You don't want them to think that they can play with you and get confidence in themselves.  If you can get out there and get out early and get after it maybe their heads start to hang a little bit.  They don't start believing.  We want to play faster and control the game a little bit better,” he said.

          Plymouth (0-5,0-2) lost a heartbreaker (30-28) to Mapleton last week.

          Haverdill says they must be disciplined against the Plymouth run based offense.  “We've seen it now for a number of years and we've also played Lucas a couple times a few years ago, so we're familiar with the offense.  It’s that tight, double tight, double wing, scrum offense.  You have got to be disciplined and you have got to read your keys and make sure you're filling and scraping and getting to where you have got to get to.  You have got to be able to tackle in the tight area,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “If you sleep on it then they can hit you over top with the pass here or there.  So, just being disciplined.  We've worked extremely hard explaining to the kids to stay on your keys and make sure you do what you need to do.  If we're able to do that and stay in our areas I think we should be okay.  It's going to come down to the line of scrimmage and who can win at that line of scrimmage.  We've emphasized that with our kids on both sides of the ball.”

Published 9/25/25

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Crestview Wants to Play Fast

          Crestview plays at South Central against the Trojans in Firelands Conference play on Friday night.

          They began conference action last week with a (42-0) shutout of the New London Wildcats.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says after a sluggish start to the game, they got things going.  “We started off a little slow.  We had some stupid penalties and couple turnovers and wasn't very thrilled with the way that we started out the game, but all said and done though when you're able to shut out a varsity football team and then look at the stats and the numbers that we were able to put up they were there.  Our kids played four quarters we just didn't get off that start that I would have liked and so hopefully we can get to a better start this week on Friday and eliminate those stupid penalties and turnovers,” said Haverdill.

          Crestview put up 454 total yards last week as six different Cougars scored.  New London could only manage 56 total yards.

          Haverdill says this week they have been focused on being better in practice so they can be better on Friday night.  “The way you practice is how you’re going to play.  I told them, I said I thought practice got a little lackadaisical last week for whatever reason and then that's how it started in the game, so this week we've been more attentive on making sure things are a little bit more crisp and a little bit more active this week and so far the kids have responded,” he said.

          Crestview (2-2,1-0) is at South Central (0-4,0-1) on Friday night.  The Trojans surrendered 53 points in the first half last week and lost (67-0) to Monroeville in a conference game.

          Haverdill says they are going to feature a wide open approach to offensive football.  “They’re going to five wide trying to chuck it all over the place and run a little bit of some zone stuff.  It's very similar to Ashland's offense.  I’m very familiar with that when I was coaching at Madison,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We're just going to read what they give us and then play as fast as we can again focusing on ourselves to play as fast as we possibly can and get started better than last week and continuing on for this week.  Again, to get off to a better start where we can continue on to play fast and get after it.”

Published 9/18/25

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Crestview Focused on Improvement

          Crestview entertains New London in their Firelands Conference opener on Friday night.

          They scored four straight times and beat LaGrange Keystone (28-14) in a non-conference game last week.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they handled the adversity they were facing.  “We played a solid four quarters against a really good football team.  I was very proud of our kids.  We got down early 14-0 in that football game and our kids don't quit.  They handle adversity very well.  They grab their lunch pails and went to work and we clawed our way back into it. We were able to take a 21-14 lead at the half and scored again coming out of the second half and then defense pitched shut off the second half.” He told Swankonsports.com, “Just very proud of the way our kids handled that in beating a really good football team at home.  You can see the improvements and I think the confidence that they're trying to play with even coming off the Kirtland game going into this and now getting ready to go play in our conference.”

          Haverdill says they want to be able to play football without thinking.  “I think you play faster with the confidence.  We're focusing on making sure you know we worry about ourselves and our technique is getting better day in and day out so that way we can continue to get better.  Again, when you're able to do technique the right way and you're able to play with confidence you can play extremely fast and you don't have to think as much and that's where we're getting to.  We're going to spend these next few weeks worrying about ourselves and getting to that point where we going to play extremely fast,” he said.

          New London (2-1) beat Vanlue (49-0) in a non-league game last week.

          Haverdill says their goal this week is to be focused on themselves.  “For us losing two of our first three you know we don't have much wiggle room.  Being in that new region this year we have got to make sure that we're playing good sound football weekend and week out and that we don't beat ourselves.  So, if somebody's going to beat us it's going to be because they outplayed us and that's what we're going to try to eliminate by making sure we're doing everything the right way within our scheme.  So, that's why we're just going to focus on ourselves,” said Haverdill.

Published 9/10/25

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Crestview Learning Lessons

          Crestview is at home Friday night for Keystone in another tough test for the Cougars in non-conference play.

          Last week, they made the long trip to Kirtland to face a state powerhouse losing (42-7) last Friday.

          Coach Steve Haverdill is very happy in the way they played.  “We took a lot from it.  One, the score wasn't indicative of the game.  We actually played against them really well.  Last year, I think we were a little over overwhelmed and didn't know what to expect and this year the kids prepared really well and they knew what to expect that they're going to be big and strong and fast and we played with them really well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We were moving the ball on them.  We were able to stop them a few times.  When you're able to do that it gives a lot of confidence in our kids.  Their quarterback is really, really good and last year we couldn't tackle him.  This year we sacked him four times and had a lot of tackles for loss.  So, we played extremely well.  We were able to throw punches right back at them and didn't back down.  So, I was very pleased with our effort and like I said the score wasn't indicative of how the game really was.”

          Haverdill says they showed the kids the good things they did on film.  “That's what we did showing the kids on film.  You guys can play with these guys and we still make some mistakes and still we're able to get positive plays even with some of the mistakes against a team that's seven time state champs.  So, our kids could see it in their eyes.  Like, okay, we can play with some teams if we do things the right way.  So, hopefully we can continue it on this week,” he said.

          Crestview (0-2) is at LaGrange Keystone (1-1) on Friday night.  The Wildcats fell (22-6) to Cloverleaf last week.

          Haverdill says this is another tough opponent and that’s what they want.  “It’s another big, great challenge for us.  Our non conference is set up to be absolutely brutal and that's what it is.  It's going to prepare us for our conference.  Keystone is big, athletic, very quick, they have got a really good running back and that caused us some problems last year.  They're big upfront, a new quarterback this year, but he's a very similar mold to the Shackleford kids that they had last year.  Defensively, they fly around and play good defense and tackle well in space.  So, it's another big challenge for us.  Hopefully, we can take that next step to building off the Kirtland game and the Seneca East game before that and put four quarters together against another good football team.”

Published 9/05/25

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Crestview Learning Fron Last Week

          Crestview is working on improvement and they will need it to compete with last year’s division VI state runner-up on the road in the Kirtland Hornets.

          In their opener, the Cougars lost (2-0) to Seneca East.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says it was a game dominated by the two defensive lines.  “Well, I think you give credit to the Seneca East front seven.  They controlled the line of scrimmage, similar to how we did as a defense unit with their offense.  They did a nice job of penetrating, getting in and tackling in space and caused us some problems.  So, when you have got both defensive fronts that are playing as well as they are and the linebackers are being able to get through those gaps and make tackles it makes it a long night for an offense and that happened on both sides of the ball,” he said.

          Haverdill says after last week their kids were able to see the mistakes they were making on film.  “Our kids were able to see the mistakes that we made and also the things that we did.  When we were doing things the right way how our technique plays is part of that and when we weren't doing things the right way how our technique wasn't there or our feet were stomping or things like that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “When they're able to get on there and see themselves and see it you know afterwards and be able to see that stuff you know now they can see it and go okay.  They don't realize that sometimes there's games going on in the heat of the moment, but when you're in a relaxed setting.  So, now that's something we're going to continue to work on this week and fix those things and try and get better and ready for Kirkland.”

          Kirtland drilled a team from Pennsylvania (30-7) last week.

          Haverdill says you know what you are getting when you play the Hornets.  “The same thing you've seen for the last 15-17 years.  They are just a well oiled machine.  They're very good at, like we're just talking about, with techniques.  They do things the right way.  They're very sound, well coached.  This is why they're always up for a state title state title every year because they do it the right way.  It was a great lesson for our kids last year and going to be a great opportunity for our kids this year to play in that game and see what we can do to be able to attack them.  We can do our technique the way it needs to be and see where we're at.  It's a great barometer, but again it's something that we're going to face a four quarter battle and it's only going to make us better in the long run,” said Haverdill.

Published 8/26/25

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Crestview Ready to be Tested

          Crestview travels to Seneca East to tangle with the Tigers in a non-conference football game on Friday night.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they have been putting in the work to be ready for the opener.  “I think our kids are working hard and getting better.  We fixed some things from our first scrimmage the second scrimmage and now we're in the process of trying to fix some of the little things that went on in our last scrimmage to continue to get better.  The kids are very attentive and working hard at doing that,” he said.

          Since this is game week there is a different approach to practice.  Haverdill says you can do all you can to prepare players, but they still have to be ready to adapt.  “Yeah, there's a little bit more film watching and more where we're walking through and talking through things and making sure that our mental state and our visuals are right and things like that.  Even though it's week one you never know what you're going to get.  So, we always talk about assume the unexpected.  So, we're trying to implement that throughout the week as well,” said Haverdill.

          Seneca East is expected to be one of the contenders in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this year and Haverdill says they have a lot that you have to prepare for.  “A very good football team, they've beaten us the last two years.  We're going back to their place.  They're big, very big guys, athletic, good speed, a big running back runs hard, quarterback has a very good arm, he beat us on the deep ball a lot last year, good skill guys, so very good offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Defensively, they're running around, attacking, very good tacklers, so our hands are full.  It's a good week one game for us to see where we're at to get us ready for our grueling schedule.”

Published 8/20/25

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Crestview Poised for Good Year

          Crestview expects to challenge for the Firelands Conference title this season as they have most seasons lately.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says he likes the work ethic that he has seen so far this year.  “We have got a group that's working extremely hard.  We have got a nice mix of guys that played last year at the varsity level.  We have got some young guys that are fighting for some spots for this year.  All in all, they've been working extremely hard in the weight room all summer and then through seven on sevens and camp.  You can see the growth that this this ball club has gotten over the summer so far, so it's been pretty good,” said Haverdill.

          Haverdill says their goal is about improvement.  “We talk about it every day.  It's doing enough today to get better for the next day.  Then if we can get better every day that's just going to stay right in line with what we're trying to do throughout the season.  You want to play good football at the beginning, but continue to get better and by the time you get the post season you will be playing your best and continuing to get better.  We do we preach that all the time,” he said.

          Crestview will scrimmage Dalton of the Wayne County Athletic League on Friday night.  They open the campaign on August 22 at Seneca East.  Their first Firelands Conference game is against New London on September 12.

          Haverdill thinks they have the personnel to compete in the Firelands Conference this fall.  “With the experienced guys that we have back at some of those skilled positions and even up front on the line there's a there's a good mix there. We know our conferences is very challenging with the likes of Western and Monroeville, both ranked preseason in the state and then St. Paul's always going to be very good and they are this year with what they got coming back,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We know that it's going to be challenging, but we feel that if we play to our capabilities that we can be right there.  Then you have got to go out and play four quarters against those teams and see how it goes.”

Published 8/12/25

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Big Inning Leads to Crawford Win

          A six spot in the sixth inning propelled Colonel Crawford to a (10-5) win over Crestview in a division VI district semifinal Wednesday evening at Shelby High School.

          They will meet Western Reserve for a district title on Friday at Shelby.

          It was a seesaw game up that point with Crawford holding a (4-3) lead.

          With one out in the top of the sixth freshman Gabe Stratton laced a ball up the left center field ally and it looked like coach Jordan Oliver had the stop sign up at third, but Statton ran through it and scored for an inside the park home run.

          Then Carson Rader and Parker Weithman dropped in singles and with two out there was a walk, two Eagles reached on errors and Grady Riddle tripled to drive in the final run of the inning.

          Colonel Crawford (12-13) stole four bases on the day and picked up a lot of extra bases.

          Oliver says they want to be aggressive.  “We've got a team with a with a lot of speed, so that's something we've emphasized all year.  We want to be aggressive on the base paths and sometimes it doesn't always work out for us,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We want if we get a couple guys thrown out to continue to be aggressive.  You have got to throw it, you have got to catch it, you have got to complete the tag and sometimes that's difficult at any level of baseball.  So, trying to use our team speed to our advantage.”

          When it comes to Stratton’s homer, Oliver confirmed he gave that stop sign.  “It got us excited.  Our freshman hit the ball in the gap.  It was a legit triple and then he kind of just went right through the stop sign at third base and we were fortunate that they didn't complete the tag at home.  Again, he was aggressive and he's got good speed and that worked out for us,” said Oliver.

          Crestview coach Don Keener says that sixth inning kind of snowballed on them.  “It did seem to spark them a little bit.  It's one of those bang-bang things at the end.  It’s damned if you do and damned if you don't.  You almost have him and he ends up scoring and they got a little energized.  They got a couple bloopers here and there and then it just kind of snowballed a little bit there in that inning.  It's tough to come back from that but the guys kept fighting.  All you can tell them is you have got to chip away and stay focused.  Our guys fought and that's what I’m proud of the most is they don't give up.  I told those guys the last month, month and half, of the season, you guys turned into a ball team.”

          Crestview (12-14) got on the scoreboard first on a ground ball by Tyson Ringler in the bottom of the first.  Crawford tied it (1-1) Evan Metzger’s run scoring single in the top of the second.  Crestview went up (2-1) in their half of the second on an RBI hit by Landon Fulk.  Crawford got two in the top of the third on Nate McCartney’s two run double making it (3-2) Eagles.  Again, it was tied in the bottom of the third on a ground ball by Kayn Patton.  This time Crawford responded with a run to make it (4-3) in the top of the fourth.

          The final runs came in the seventh on a two run homer over the leftfield fence by the Cougars Gavin Barker.

          Van Wintersteller went the distance for Eagles and he stranded 10 Cougar runners.

          Oliver says he was ready for the opportunity.  “He is a kid that loves baseball.  It's his only sport.  He plays elite level travel ball in the summer.  I know he was really excited to have an opportunity to pitch us for a chance to play in the district championship game,” he said.

          When it comes to Western, Oliver says they will have to play well.  “I know it’s going to be a challenge.  Just like Crestview was.  Crestview has got some really nice seniors.  Ringler and Barker, he hit a home run there at the end.  We're going to have to scout up Western and learn some more about them but that's going to be a challenge.  It won't be easy I know that,” said Oliver.

Published 5/29/25

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Crestview Takes Out Edison

          Crestview edged Edison (3-1) in a division VI district semifinal on a blustery evening in late May at Clyde High School.

          They will play Oak Harbor, a (5-4) winner over Galion on Thursday, on Friday afternoon again at Clyde for the district title.

          They was no scoring in the game until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Lady Cougars ninth place hitter Bella Hillman came through with a two out, two run single to give Crestview the lead.

          Coach Scott Durbin says they preached patience in the dugout.  “I don't know if I showed patience or not I was getting a little tight.  Their pitcher was outstanding.  We just couldn't get anything going.  We got a runner on early and she got called for leaving early on a stolen base.  We just couldn't get anything going offensively.  I just kept telling the girls you have got to keep grinding.  You have got to flush those at bats and keep grinding and hit every good pitch, attack every good pitch.  Eventually the bottom of our order strung some hits together.  We had a great sacrifice bunt by Maddie Grant and then we come up with a big two run single from our nine hitter Bella.  It was pretty exciting,” said Durbin.

          Durbin says the bottom part of the Lady Cougars lineup came up big on Thursday.  “It was huge.  Our run production really two of our three runs came from seven, eight, nine.  We got that insurance run on a SAC fly after a triple from PJ (Endicott) and then Kalee Hamman hits a SAC fly to give us give us a little bit of room going into the seventh.  The bottom of the lineup came up big really big,” he said.

          Durbin says they got great pitching from and their defense was really outstanding against Edison.  “Chesnie (Patton) was outstanding.  The change up was really working and she was throwing hard,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Not only that, but you throw three girls out at third base in one game that's huge… huge.  We have one in the first inning with PJ throwing behind the runner and we got her.  They tried to squeeze PJ comes up with a fake throw and gets the girl hung up.  They hit a shot to the gap that we chased down and hit the relay and throw the girl out trying to get a triple.  You get three girls out at third base that's pretty good defense behind your pitching for sure.”

Published 5/23/25

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Crestview Takes Down St. Paul

          Crestview smoked Norwalk St. Paul (11-3) in a Firelands Conference game on Thursday evening.

          Crestview rapped out 15 hits and coach Don Keener says they had a good approach at the plate.  “It was definitely a good win.  We kind of struggled the other night hitting the ball.  They had a really good pitcher, but our guys responded and had some really good at bats (Thursday).  Every kid in the lineup got to hit, so that was pretty good to see,” said Keener.

          St. Paul win (3-0) on Tuesday.

          Gavin Barker hit two home runs for the Cougars.  Drew Spoerr also had two hits.

          Keener says it’s better baseball when everybody gets into the act.  “It makes life a lot easier when everybody's contributing at some point in the game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Especially when you get those clutch hits.  Everybody played well and it was a good team effort.”

          The tournament starts next week and Crestview is in division VI and they will open against Bucyrus.  If they win, they will play either Colonel Crawford or Mansfield Christian.

          Keener says the win Thursday was good prep.  “It’s a great win.  St. Paul's a very good team.  We'll see some teams similar to them in our district.  So, it was a good win all around,” he said.

Published 5/16/25

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Crestview Smokes Willard

          Crestview earned a division V sectional title on Wednesday as the Lady Cougars destroyed Willard (21-0) to advance.

          It was a game that was supposed to be finished on Tuesday, but due to weather was not, but coach Scott Durbin says they were able to keep their heads in the right place.  “We were able to keep focus.  From the coaching side of things, you worry about that stuff and then the thunder rumbles and you start worrying about whether we can refocus.  We talk all the time about that.  We've got to worry about us.  We can't worry about who's in the other dugout.  I thought the girls did a real good job of staying focused and playing our game,” said Durbin.

          The Lady Cougars (19-2,12-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com softball coaches poll in the small school division, can claim an outright title in the Firelands Conference by beating Norwalk St. Paul Friday or Saturday.

          Durbin says that’s a big goal for them.  “It's really important to us.  We talk all the time.  I joke with the girls that you know my mom always said that Scott doesn't share, so that's kind of the joke with the girls right now.  It's a pride thing.  We're obviously really happy that we were able to clinch the share of it already.  You don't want to share at this point, that's for sure so.  We're in the driver seat for that and we have to take care of business,” he said.

          As far as the tournament goes, Durbin knows its going to a whole tougher when they play Edison next week in the district semis.  “They added the divisions, but I’ll tell you our district didn't get easier that's for sure.  There's less teams in it, but the teams that are in it are all quality.  Galion beats Huron the other night and Oak Harbor is what Oak Harbor is and then you have got Edison,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We were able to see them earlier in the year and get a win, but all Edison has done since then is win.  So, next Wednesday it's going to be far from a laugher that's for sure.  Edison is a quality team with a lot of good players and a solid pitcher.  They just battle you at the plate.  I remember joking at the time there had to be 200 foul balls that night.  They just take their hacks and they're good team.”

Published 5/15/25

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Crestview Stays in Front

          Crestview remains on top in the Firelands Conference softball standings after edging Mapleton (5-3) in a conference game on Wednesday evening.

          After taking command in the conference after beating Monroeville twice last week they have continued to play well.

          They also beat Mapleton (15-7) on Tuesday and coach Scott Durbin says they have done a good job playing from in front.  “We have so far.  We had a rain out at the end of last week and we didn't play on Monday.  It seemed like forever to get back on the field and to Mapleton's credit they gave us two really good ball games.  (Tuesday) night's score wasn't necessarily indicative of that, but it was close up until the fifth inning.  (Wednesday) was a one run game going into the fifth inning.  They're playing good ball and Mapleton's always a tough place for us to play, but we were able to get out of there,” said Durbin.

          Durbin says Wednesday they played sound, fundamental softball.  “You have got to be focused enough to make plays and we were able to do that.  Then offensively a big point (Wednesday) was we get a lead off hit and Kalee Hamman bunts a girl over and we score on a hit.  If she doesn’t get that bunt down, we're not scoring on that hit.  That was a huge run in a 5-3 game.  You definitely have to be ready to do the little things at all times so far we've done a good job of that,” he said.

          Crestview (15-2,9-0), #3 in the Swakonsports.com softball coaches poll in the small school division, plays Plymouth and Norwalk St. Paul in “FC” play and they also have a makeup with New London.

          Durbin says they have been stressing those fundamentals on offense.  “I've been guilty of getting caught up and waiting on the big hit and a lot of times it just doesn't show up.  So, I’ve made more of an effort to be aware of those situations,” he told Swankonsports.com onednesday night, “You have got to get one down.  You're looking at your order and this is a good time for it.  We have got girls on and then we've got big bats coming up behind them.  You have got to be able to take advantage of those situations and make the defenses make plays and that's kind of what our thinking is right now.”

Published 5/01/25

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Crestview Hammers Mapleton

          Crestview kept itself right in the Firelands Conference race by belting Mapleton (13-3) on Tuesday evening in conference play.

          They trail South Central and Plymouth by a game.

          Coach Don Keener says they really had their hitting shoes on Tuesday.  “Against a pretty good pitcher we started off first couple of innings slow it kind of takes a little bit going, but the guys really got going.  I don't know how many hits we had.  I want to say we had like 14 or 15 hits.  So, a lot of guys throughout the lineup got multiple hits.  So, they had a good night,” said Keener.

          Keener adds that one a couple guys get hits, it’s like everybody is hitting.  “Once one guy gets going the next guy starts going and it builds up, so yeah it's definitely contagious,” he said.

          Crestview (5-10,4-4) in right in the middle of the race and Keener says they have take care of their own business.  “We have six games left and we we're looking the other day we we're like two games back.  I don't know what everybody else did (Tuesday) night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “If we just take care of ourselves and things fall into place I think we still have a really good shot at it.”

          South Central beat Monroeville (5-3) and Plymouth downed Norwalk St. Paul (6-1) in other conference games played on Tuesday.

          The Cougars play Mapleton again Wednesday.  They face Plymouth next week and Norwalk St. Paul the next, plus a couple some makeup games mixed in there.

          Keener says he likes their chances.  “The bottom line is you have got to take care of yourself.  It's going to be interesting.  I think that any team can beat each other any given night,” he said.

Published 4/30/25

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Crestview Belts New London

          Crestview remains unbeaten in the Firelands Conference after a (9-1) win over New London on Thursday evening.

          Coach Scott Durbin says their pitching and defense was outstanding on Thursday.  “They've just put up a ton of runs, I mean a ton of runs this year.  We threw Chesnie (Patton) (Thursday) night and she started off just a little bit shaky, but then locked in really quick after the second inning and was outstanding.  I think she gave up three hits and struck out 10 and to do that with that lineup, that's really saying something,” he said.

          Durbin says they took a little bit to get in the groove with the bats, but once they did they hit some balls hard.  “It took us a little while.  We got two right off the bat and then they held us down for a couple innings.  We got a couple solo home runs and then finally in the top of the seventh we broke through for five or six runs.  It was a solid game up until that point when we finally broke it loose.  I think overall they played well.  It took us just a minute to get going and we finally did.  Once we finally started squaring the ball up, we had three leave the yard tonight.  Our young freshman Bria White hit her first home run ever and we knew it was a matter of time.  The girl swings the bat like she means it and it was exciting to see for her,” said Durbin.

          Crestview (13-2,7-0) plays New London (10-4,4-3) again Friday, this time at Crestview.

          On Monday and Tuesday, the Lady Cougars beat Monroeville twice (3-1) and (9-3) and Durbin says those were huge wins.  “I'm extremely happy with where we're at.  We knew at the beginning of the year that this league was going to run through Monroeville, a state runner up.  We catch them on a 13 game-winning streak this year and go up to their place and get a tough 3-1 win.  Then Tuesday we're 0-0 in the fifth and we get two squeeze bunts to drive home runs and we just broke the game open,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Anytime you can beat Monroeville it is a good thing obviously and when you can do it back-to-back and that's what we had to do.  We knew we had to go through them in order to get where we want to be.  Then you follow it up with New London who came into the night I think 10-3.  So, nothing easy there.  We knew it was a big week and the girls have looked forward to it for a long time and so far so good

Crestview Gets By New London

          Crestview finally had the baseball gods smile on them Thursday as they beat New London (6-5) in a Firelands Conference game.

          The Cougars had lost five games by two runs or less.

          Coach Don Keener says Thursday night felt really good.  “It was a relief, it really was.  I mean it's been tough with three or four games that we were right there every time and just came up one run short.  It was kind of nice to hold on to one definitely,” said Keener.

          Keener says it’s about confidence for his kids.  “I mean the kids have just got to start believing in themselves and believing in each other and hopefully that carries on into the game,” he said.

          Crestview (4-9,3-4) plays at home against New London (3-8,3-4) on Friday afternoon.

          Both trail league leading Norwalk St. Paul by two games.

          Keener says really it’s anybody’s title to win.  “Any given night any one of these teams can beat each other.  It’s probably the most balanced one through eight I've ever seen since I've been coaching,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “You have got to be ready to go.  There's no gimmies, everybody's pretty balanced, everybody's pretty equal, or close to equal.  Give or take a few players here or there, but it's tough.  I mean you have got to be ready to play every night.”

Published 4/25/25

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Crestview Takes First Place

          Crestview scored in three of the first four innings and they hung on to beat Monroeville (3-1) on Monday evening at Clark Park.

          The Lady Cougars (11-2,5-0) lead Monroeville (13-3,4-1) by a game in the conference standings.

          Coach Scott Durbin was really excited by his team’s performance.  “It was fantastic.  I think we started the game, the lead off hitter, she reached on an error, which makes you kind of cringe, but the beauty of it was our girls, it didn’t rattled them.  We came back I think the next batter, we turn a double play off a line drive.  It was really solid defense after that.  Chesnie (Patton) was outstanding in the circle again with 10 strikeouts.  The defense behind her (Monday) was fantastic.  A lot of plays to be made because Monroeville is just not a team that, they just don't usually strike out much,” said Durbin.

          Durbin says you really have to execute well against Monroeville, who went to a state final in the small school division last year, and he says they were able to do some good things with the bats.  “I say it all the time when you play Monroeville nothing's going to come easy.  They play the game the right way,  They don't make mistakes, so you earn everything you get and we earned them (Monday) night,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Carlee Crider, our leadoff hitter, she goes three for four and actually reached on an error the other time. So, you get your lead off on four times, that's a big deal.  P.J. (Endicott) comes up with an RBI double and a sac fly to drive her in.  Kalee Hamman starts an inning with a double and we're able to sac her over and score her on a ground ball.  It's never going to be easy and we know that going in.  I loved the focus from our girls (Monday) to know that it wasn't going to be easy and to get after it.”

          The two teams will play against Tuesday at Crestview and Durbin says they understand the assignment.  “There is and it starts (Tuesday) night.  It's half the battle with Monroeville and we have got the other half (Tuesday) night and then you have got a long string of Firelands Conference games left that that we have to stay focused.  I really think that we're in a situation where we're getting better every game.  We're starting to believe a little more every game and it's going a long way towards the confidence we step on the field with,” he said.

Published 4/22/25

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Crestview Crushes South Central

          Crestview stayed unbeaten in the Firelands Conference on Monday as they hammered South Central (12-1) in a conference game.

          Coach Scott Durbin says it was a solid overall performance by the Lady Cougars.  “Kalee Hammond stepped into the circle and she threw a two hitter.  They end up getting a run in the top of the fifth, but Kaylee was good.  She spins it well.  We came out and I think we got three right off the bat then just kept adding do it,” he said.

          Crestview has hit the ball pretty well lately and Durbin says they are going to the plate a little more relaxed.  “The bats are coming to life.  I think we had a couple of seniors that were just pressing a little bit.  Feeling that senior year and they're starting to relax and find the gaps.  P.J. Endicott hit one out (Monday) night.  That was her first one.  So, that's a monkey off her back.  It was just a good win,” said Durbin.

          The Lady Cougars (8-2,3-0) have scored 54 runs over the last four games.  They play South Central again on Tuesday and state final four qualifier Monroeville next week.

          Durbin says with eight wins in their first 10 games they have started the season playing well.  “Our two losses are both by a run.  One to a really good hitting Fredericktown team that just hits top to bottom and you have got to be on your toes defensively.  We did a good job, but we came up around short then came back and got them in the second game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Anytime you play Hillsdale you know you're in for a game.  You've got to be at your best.  Honestly, we played really well, but we weren't at our best.  We made a couple mistakes and to Hillsdale’s credit they didn't.  They end up pulling it out by a run.  Overall, we're real happy with where we're at.  We've got to continue to focus on us and that's not always easy to do, but that's what you have to do.  We've got some really big games coming up and we've got to focus on us.”

Published 4/15/25

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Crestview Hammers Western

          Crestview went to Western Reserve and smoked the Roughriders (15-3) in a Firelands Conference game on Monday evening.

          The return engagement is Tuesday in northern Richland County.

          Coach Don Keener says the Cougars (2-2,1-0) played pretty well in the blustery conditions.  “It was a great one.  It felt good for the kids.  They went out and played really well in the conditions we were playing in.  We got some timely hits and they had a real good game,” he said.

          Keener says from a hitting perspective they had a better approach Monday than they have had earlier in the season.  “The first few games we played some pretty good, we had a good pitchers too, but we've seen some really good pitching and been struggling a little bit,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “I think they were a little bit more patient at the plate and they were waiting on their pitch.  They got some good swings in.  It was tough, it was challenging.  I think we ended up with 11 hits.  They did a nice job of putting the ball in play.”

          Keener says this key for this group is to show patience at the plate.  “Early in the year these guys are still trying to figure it out sometimes.  Just getting their timing, they're anxious, everybody wants to hit the ball, but sometimes they have got to be just a little bit more selective,” said Keener.

Published 4/08/25

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Crestview Whips Loudonville

          Crestview opened the season on Tuesday by hammering Loudonville (15-1) in a non-conference game.

          Coach Scott Durbin says they were ready to go and came out with energy in the first game.  “We've talked about the disappointments of last year all offseason and when we put the work in and we were itching to get back out there and get this year started.  I thought the girls when they stepped on the field, they were ready to go.  When you bring back a lot of experience that's what you expect.  So, we came right out and got on it and played good ball,” said Durbin.

          Durbin says they were disciplined at the plate and really good pitching from two kids.  “We didn’t just hit the ball.  I was just going through stats and we had only have one strikeout the entire night and we got things done up and down the lineup.  We got some blunts down and moved runners and made things happen offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Chesnie (Patton) was just fantastic through four innings and the Kalee (Hamman) came on and just slammed with the door in the fifth facing three batters and got them all.  So, we were solid on both sides defensively and at the plate.”

          The Lady Cougars play at Edison on Thursday and host Fredericktown in a doubleheader on Saturday in more non conference action.  Their first Firelands Conference games are April 7 and 8 against Western Reserve.

          Durbin says with their schedule they have to be ready to play every time they are on the field.  “We've got a lot of tough teams on our schedule.  We feel like we started really fast last year and then faded.  So, our goal, and it's a lot of coach talk, but it's one game at a time and we want to make sure we're ready to go out take care of our business every time we step on the field,” he said.

Published 3/26/25

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Crestview Looking to Be Good Again

          Crestview figures to be a factor in the Firelands Conference softball race again this spring.

          Coach Scott Durbin says they have a big a hole to fill, but other than that they have everyone back from last year.  “We lost a four year starter Sophia (Durbin) at shortstop and leadoff hitter and it's a hole, but we have everybody else back.  So, you have got to move on.  I think we've got a young shortstop that's going to be fine.  There might be some growing pains there, but Bella’s an athletic kid and she's going to be just fine,” said Durbin.

          When it some to offense the Lady Cougars have some veterans back and Durbin says they have the potential to turn it up a little more.  “I've talked about that with my assistant coaches, especially offensively.  We've got four seniors that will be starting for four years now.  We've got to expect if those girls can all get their batting averages up you know maybe 5-10 points, drive in a few more runs then we make up for what we lost,” he said.

          Crestview opens the season on March 29 in a doubleheader with Fredericktown.  Their first Firelands Conference games are April 7 and 8 versus Western Reserve.

          They just scrimmaged Medina Buckeye on Tuesday and Durbin says they want to be tested in these games leading up to the start of the season.  “We've been really lucky weather wise.  We try to go out and schedule really good teams because yeah you can find teams and you can go out and beat up on, but we want to find really good teams to test us and put us in situations to learn from them and see where we're at,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “It doesn't do us any good to go out and win 15-0 or 20-0.  We scrimmaged Clear Fork and Medina Buckeye and Huron and we feel like we've scrimmaged some really good teams and we've learned a lot already.”

Published 3/19/25

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Crestview Wants to Limit Holt

          Crestview tangles with Colonel Crawford on Friday night at Ontario High School in a district final in division VII.

          On Wednesday night, the Cougars (17-6) dispatched Seneca East (52-40) on a night when leading scored Justice Thompson scored only four points.

          Coch John Kurtz they got big games from a lot of kids.  “We went through a game with “JT” in some foul trouble and I think we've at least learned how to play over the year without him.  A lot of times teams work hard to take him away, so we had a lot of guys step up (Wednesday) night and make plays and make buckets and just do different things that made it able for us to win the game.  I kind of credit “JT” because he didn't have a great game offensively, but (Wednesday) night he made some great passes at the end of the game found couple of guys.  So, he did his part in the end there. but we had guys step up throughout the game when he was in foul trouble,”

          Colonel Crawford (22-1) edged Western Reserve (51-45) in the first game on Wednesday.

          The Cougars are the only team to have beaten Colonel Crawford this year (56-38) on November 30, but Kurtz says the Eagles have proven to be a lot better shooting team than they were that night.  “We played them early in the year and they've come in with I think a couple weeks at practice and we were able to get the best of them in that game, but they are different team now.  I think the thing that I see that's most impressive is the primer shooting is way better than it was against us the first time around,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “It starts with the (Brayden) Holt kid, he's really good and he not only can score, but he runs their offense he does a fantastic job.  Then the DeGray kids just clean the glass and score inside.  So, you have to be careful which one you choose to really focus on because they can beat you in multiple ways.  Now, I think the third facet of their game has gotten a lot better is their shooting.”

          Crawford point guard Brayden Holt was the district 6 division VI player of the year and Northern 10 Athletic Conference “MVP” this year and Kurtz says they cannot let him beat them.  “It's a little bit like Justice with us is that you have to deal with that in the night in the night out situation and they do get somewhat accustomed to that.  We definitely want to limit his touches, and I think Western, I think Chris (Sheldon), did a great job of trying to take the ball out of his hands (Wednesday) night.  I thought Western played a great game against them and they did a good job of doing that.  Making him earn everything that he got and then making other people beat them.  I think that's what you have to do and you just have to hope that in the last couple of minutes you get a shot at it,” said Kurtz.

Published 2/28/25

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Crestview Must Defend

          Crestview meets Seneca East on Wednesday night at Ontario High School in a division VI district semifinal.

          The winner faces either Western Reserve or Colonel Crawford in the district final on Friday night at Ontario.

          The Cougars (16-6) had lost four of their five regular season games, but they beat Bucyrus (66-44) last Friday.

          Coach John Kurtz says they finally made some shots.  “Well, we finally executed a little better.  We were a little more healthy and I think it helped our shooting.  We shot the three pretty well and we haven't done that for weeks.  So, it was a pretty good start for us and I think a lot of that had to do with our improved health,” he said.

          Seneca East (15-8) downed Monroeville (41-31) in their sectional final last week.

          Kurtz says their guards make plays.  “I think they're very well coached.  Their guards are quick.  They're very intelligent.  We were just kind of getting a good feel for them at practice in the last couple days.  I think you have to really keep their guards in front of you and if you don't they do create a lot of problems for you.  At least two of their guards shoot the ball really well and they do present problems with their quickness.  So, that's something that we spent a lot of time on,” said Kurtz.

          In order to be successful against Seneca East, Kurtz says his guys are going to need to play solid team defense.  “We spend a lot of time talking about making sure that we don't get in these situations where it's just one-on-one at the rim.  So, we have to really be in a good help position on those players and try our best to take the ball out of their hands,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I've noticed in multiple films other coaches have tried to do that and some successful and some not, but they play in a tough league.  They're challenged every night, so there's not a lot of stuff that they probably haven't seen so far this year in the “N10”.

Published 2/26/25

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Crestview Must Shoot Better

          Crestview, the Firelands Conference runner-up, plays at home against Bucyrus, of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, on Friday night in a division VI sectional final.

          The Cougars were just severely hampered by sickness last week when they lost three conference games to Plymouth (52-49), Western Reserve (57-49) and conference champion Norwalk St. Paul (51-42).

          Coach John Kurtz says it appears they are over that sickness.  “We've gotten better over the last couple days, that's been the nice thing.  It's just nice to have everybody back at practice and not as much coughing going on and all that good stuff, but yeah we seem to be better right now,” he said.

          Not sure how much of a factor the sickness was, but Kurtz says the thing that killed them was they couldn’t make shots.  “I don't know if it was the sickness or what, but we just did not shoot the ball very well.  It's kind of been a thing all year.  We've shot over 30% from three and we just had some just awful nights shooting.  One of the nights, I think we're 1-18.  Those kind of numbers just really hurt if you've been used to shoot the three.  So, we're hoping that we've got that corrected, but if we’re going to have to change the percentages of what we do.  We have shot the ball better the last couple of days of practice,” said Kurtz.

          Crestview (15-6) hosts Bucyrus (1-21) finished at the bottom of the standings in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

          Still, Kurtz says they do have guys that can make some plays.  “Well, I think they're better than their record.  I know probably every coach is going to say that, but they play in a tough league.  They have to face some really good teams.  Every couple games you're facing really good teams.  I think that’s probably hurt them record wise,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “I think their guards are good.  I think they're good at taking the ball to the rim and they've got one that's really a nice shooter.  I think they have some pieces there that could give you problems, especially if you're not shooting ball very well like we've done.  So, we're giving them the utmost respect and we expect a really tough game because when the tournament starts all the records kind of go out the window.”

Published 2/20/25

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Crestview the Chaser

          Crestview, now a game behind Norwalk St. Paul in the Firelands Conference, plays two crucial games this weekend against Western Reserve and St. Paul.

          If they win them both they will be no less than co-champion.

          They fell out of a share of first place in the conference when they lost (52-49) to Plymouth on Monday night.

          Coach John Kurtz says they were more than a little shorthanded.  “That was a tough loss for us.  Since the Bellevue game we’ve kind of gone through a pretty rough patch of sickness.  We haven't had our complete team since then.  Then Monday night we had to go to Plymouth and we took nine JV and varsity players and had to go down to get some freshman to make it a complete enough team to play two games.  It was rough. our kids battled.  We had trouble making shots.  We not only had some kids that were missing from the team that were valuable, but we also had some sickness in our first group that was playing.  So, not making excuses it was just a rough night.  Our kids battled, but we just didn't get the job done,” said Kurtz.

          Crestview (15-4,10-2) is at Western Reserve (7-11,6-7) on Friday night.  They lost (61-40) to St. Paul on Monday in a conference game.

          Kurtz says they can’t let them find their confidence shooting.  “I think the key with them is just they're shooting.  They have been in some games where they shot the ball really well.  Chris (Sheldon) does a great job with them.  He's brought up a couple younger kids and they've shot the ball really well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “I think when those guys are shooting the ball well it frees up the older kids.  So, the game is about making shots and especially with them I think it's a big key we got to make sure that we're defending especially the three-point line.”

          St. Paul (15-5,11-1) edged Crestview (57-54) last Wednesday in a game played at Crestview.

          Kurtz says this time they must do a better job controlling Nolan McCall.  “The last time we played them McCall got loose for 25.  They're going to be a really hard team for us to beat when he scores like that.  So, that's definitely a focus.  I felt like we did a pretty good job on everybody else, but I just felt like he got going and I think he ended up with four threes in that game.  When your 6’7” kid is making four threes there's going to be a lot of other problems for you and that's pretty much the case in that game.  He pretty much carried him most of the night,” said Kurtz.

          Crestview has spent much of the last two seasons being the possible prey.  Kurtz says now they are the hunter.  “We told our kids (Monday) night that now we have got to get back in this.  The first thing is you got to beat Western.  Then you have got to go to (St. Paul’s) place and you have got to play one of your best games.  So, that's been the challenge.  I think we can play better.  Just hoping that we're back totally healthy for this weekend.  That would be great for us,” he said.

Published 2/13/25

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Crestview Tries to Protect First Place

          Crestview leads Norwalk St. Paul by a game in the Firelands Conference and they host the Flyers on Wednesday night with sole possession of first place in the conference at stake.

          This game was supposed to be played on January 16, but was postponed due to the weather.  The teams play again on February15 at St. Paul.  That game was originally on the schedule for February 21, but was moved up to comply with the expanded OHSAA postseason tournament.

          Crestview (14-2,9-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, beat Mapleton (59-56) on Friday night in league action.

          Coach John Kurtz says they were kind of fortunate to win.  “You have got to give them a lot of credit.  They shot the ball really well and we did not shoot the ball very well.  A little hangover from maybe the Bellevue game, I don't know, but it was a tight one.  We had to pull it out the end and we're kind of just happy to get out of there with a win,” he said.

          Norwalk St. Paul (12-5,8-1) beat New London (62-30) in their last league game on Friday.

          Kurtz says they ahve experience and better depth.  “They return just about every player from last year's team.  We lost to them away last year.  They're big and they're guards do a good job shooting the basketball.  You have to be careful with that.  I think if you get in situations inside where you're putting up shots that are highly contested and (Nolan) McCall is in there he's going to be a problem for you,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Those are things that right away stick out on film.  They have good depth also and they're getting contributions from multiple guys.  I think last year they didn't quite get those contributions from other players like they do this year.  So, I guess those are the things that I think would be the first and the second I find standing out on film.”

          St. Paul beat Crestview on a last second shot at St. Paul last year to share the conference title with the Cougars.

          Kurtz says a key for them Wednesday is to get the ball into the right players hands.  “I think you have to be careful.  A lot of their games are in the 50s and 60s.  So, if you're taking bad shots you’re giving them opportunities to either get run outs or you know get shots that maybe make it hard for you to come back on.  So, we've talked to our kids this week about getting the right people getting the ball in the right spots and trying to make sure that we're careful about that.  But they are high school kids and sometimes that doesn't always work out,” said Kurtz.

Published 2/05/25

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Crestview Takes on Another Big School

          Crestview plays host to the Bellevue Redmen out of the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division on Wednesday and travel to Mapleton to face the Mounties in a Firelands Conference game on Friday.

          The Cougars (12-2,8-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, leads the “FC” standings by a game over Norwalk St. Paul.

          They kind of gave one away on Saturday in losing (61-59) to Ontario form the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.  The Warriors tied the game with a three, stole the inbounds pass and then scored at the horn.

          Coach John Kurtz says his team did not execute.  “The last things we worked on in practice on Thursday was the pressure and how we're going to handle the late game situations.  In both areas we just didn't do a good job.  In those games against a bigger school, you have to execute.  I think we had maybe like a five or six point lead with like 30 seconds to go.  Those 30 seconds can seem like an eternity, especially if you don't execute and do what you're supposed to do.  We just didn't do a good job of it.  It can be a real learning experience if we take it the right way and try to work on the things we need to in those situations and do a better job,” said Kurtz.

          Bellevue (10-5) comes calling on Wednesday night.

          Kurtz says Bellevue will be another big challenge for them.  “They're going to create a different set of problems.  They're big and Ed (Rich) does a great job with those kids.  The program has had a lot of success.  I think they present more problems with their size and their guards can shoot the ball.  It's a jump for us again.  It's a D4 school and they're really doing well this year.  So, we're going to have to make sure that we don't have a lot of turnovers because I think if you dig yourself a hole against them it's really hard to get out of,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “I think the other thing is in games like that rebounding ends up being really a key to whether you can stay in that game or not.  So, we started working on them (Monday).  We have one more day, but they're going to be challenging and we've talked to our kids about looking at this game as a game that is going to present challenges that you may see down the road in the tournament if you're lucky enough to get that far.”

          Mapleton (9-5,4-4) has lost its last three.  Crestview won the first meeting (63-55) on December 21.

          Kurtz says the Mounties are explosive.  “They just have the ability to score.  I think their guards are really good.  Hickey is really good.  He’s better now beating you off the dribble than he was I think in his previous years.  He still really carries them and he makes a lot of shots.  They've got other kids that can make threes that you just have got to be careful not spending too much time and you just let those guys go.  So, that's the problem there that you have to be careful with,” he said.

Published 1/28/25

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Crestview to Play Dangerous Monroeville

          Crestview, the Firelands Conference leader, takes the bus to Monroeville to challenge the Eagles in a conference game on Friday night.

          Last week, they hammered New London (74-50) in conference action on Saturday night.

          Coach John Kurtz says New London gave them some problems.  “I thought New London is really improved.  The kids seem a little bit more confident.  They made shots and it was a better game than it was the first time.  I credit Tom (Howell) for the job he's done there.  We were able to I think kind of wear them down in the second half and able to pull out that game,” he said.

          Crestview (11-1,7-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Monroeville (7-5,6-3) on Friday night.  The Eagles beat South Central (62-40) last Thursday in “FC” play.

          The Cougars won at home versus Monroeville (66-48) on December 27.

          Kurtz says Monroeville has been a tough place for them to play over the years.  “The films we watched with them they are really good at hanging around in games and then try to win them late.  I think they've shown great improvement even from the first time we played them, which in that game, in the second half we were probably only up 10,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “They are a lot better at home and to me they're a scarry team in the league.  They have got a lot of size.  To be honest with you, we haven't played really that well in their gym for years.  So, it'll be quite a challenge going there.  They’re still kind of in the hunt in the league.  We've been working pretty hard on Monroeville and then obviously we have a tough one on Saturday.”

          On Saturday afternoon, the Cougars play at division III Ontario (4-9) out of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.

          Kurtz says that will be a challenge in many ways.  “They are young and talented.  It seems like you'll see them one night show their youth in in a game, but then other nights you'll see them really be able to take you off the dribble and shoot the ball really well.  They press quite a bit.  So, those are all things that you have to be aware of.  I think especially in their gym where the building is bigger, the gym, the court is bigger it makes it tougher to stay in front of them.  So, that's a game that for us being a D6 and going to play somebody that size, it's challenging all the way around,” said Kurtz.

Published 1/24/25

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Crestview has to be on Game

          Crestview, the Firelands Conference leader, plays at home against second place Norwalk St. Paul in a crucial game in the conference on Thursday night.

          The Flyers trail by just a game.

          After their first loss of season to Highland (54-50) last Tuesday, the Cougars buried Western Reserve (75-50) in a conference game on Thursday and Mansfield Christian (83-56) on Saturday.

          Coach John Kurtz says they responded well.  “Looking back on the Highland game, looking at the stats and I got a chance to look everything over, watch the film a little bit more closely.  It's kind of like the intensity was there and the preparation was there, but we had a very off night shooting the ball.  We shoot in the 50s from two and that night we shot 18 percent.  It's just going to really be hard to win games when you do that.  So, I didn't fault the kids for the effort, but we just felt like we didn't shoot the ball very well.  We came out with a real intensity in the next two games and that really propelled us to two pretty good wins,” he said.

          Crestview (10-1,6-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays host to Norwalk St. Paul (8-5,6-1) on Thursday.  The Flyers swept a pair of conference games last week in beating Plymouth (47-46) on Friday and Monroeville (51-38) on Saturday.

          Kurtz says St. Paul has experience playing this kind of game.  “At the beginning of the year and when you looked at the league you had to say you know they have just everybody, about everybody, back from last year.  So, these kids have a lot of experience and they've played together for a while.  So, I think that's an advantage for them wherein like our team we lost five seniors from last year's team.  I think that's part of it, the experience and the fact that they've been in some league games and some non league games that have been very tough,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We expect it to be a really good game.  We hope that we play well throughout the game.  There's a lot of different things that we're going to have to work on and work to be better at to compete in that game so we're just kind of spending the next three days doing that.”

          Kurtz says St. Paul does good things on both ends.  “They have some kids that can take the ball to the rim and I think they do it better than they did last year.  Then you have got (Nolan) McCall, which is in there changing shots.  You have to be careful when you're in there if you’re just going straight up you're probably going to get your shot blocked.  You have to show them the ball a little bit.  We’ve got to make him play in space some.  So, those are things.  I think our kids have played them enough to know that.  It’s just about executing.  I feel like at this stage in the game as the year goes on you have got to be prepared for these kinds of games.  I think our kids have been very tested to this point,” said Kurtz.

Published 1/14/25

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Crestview Takes Lead to Western

          Crestview, the Firelands Conference leader, will be at Western Reserve to tangle with the Riders on Thursday night.

          The game was originally set for Friday, but was moved because… well you know why.  If you think Friday nights should be for high school sports, call ESPN, they no longer take my calls.

          Crestview lost for the first time Tuesday night (54-50) to Highland in non-league play.

          Coach John Kurtz says the Fighting Scots made shots and they didn’t.  “I knew Highland coming in had had some ups and downs this year, but when they were playing really well they have beaten some good teams.  We got them on one of those up nights and they shot the ball well.  We didn't handle the end of the game situations very well and we didn’t shoot the ball very well.  I think we end up shooting about 3-21 from three in that game and that didn't help us in that game.  Our kids didn’t rebound the ball well.  We did play well, we just had trouble making shots and they were playing pretty well in the game and it just made for a tough game.  It was a game where our kids got tested and I'm pretty happy about that,” said Kurtz.

          Kurtz says Tuesday night was a learning experience.  “That's the way we took it and our kids handled it pretty well.  We were disappointed in the loss.  I think we were getting maybe close to 30 straight home wins or something like that.  My kids were disappointed, but I think our leadership the first thing they said was we had to make shots (Tuesday) night and we didn’t.  It’s a non-league game and we talked about last year playing people that were better than us, bigger than us, and helping us get ready for the tournament.  We hope that's what that kind of game does for us,” he said.

          Crestview (8-1,5-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Western Reserve (2-6,2-3) on Thursday night.  The Riders lost (49-41) to Norwalk St. Paul on Friday night in conference play.

          Kurtz says they have to be prepared for this being the night that Western makes some shots.  “They have a lot of kids back from last year.  They were young last year and they were getting a lot of experience.  Just the films that I've watched, the times that Chris (Sheldon) and I've talked, it's kind of like a lot of shots that look good, just haven't gone in,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “We tell our kids that this year it seems like if the other team needs to get going shooting they'll play against us because it seems like we've been getting some teams on some hot nights.  We fully expect that when we go to Western.  I think it’s a team that will find their way.  Chris does a great job with them.  I think they'll find their way as soon as they start to see shots go in.”

Published 1/09/25

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Crestview Will Need to Rebound

          Crestview, the Firelands Conference leader, will be at home for the Plymouth Big Red in a conference game on Friday night.

          Plymouth trails by two games.

          The Cougars won two “FC” games last weekend beating Monroeville (66-48) on Friday and South Central (80-49) on Saturday.

          Coach John Kurtz says they did a very good job in the second half of both games.  “I felt like in both games we didn't start very well, but we did end up playing really well in the third and fourth quarter in both games.  Monroeville presented a challenge with their size and I thought they played really well in that game against us.  Then South Central shot the ball really well in the first couple quarters.  In the end we were able to get both those games.  We kind of did in different ways, but we were just happy to get out of that weekend with the two wins,” said Kurtz.

          Crestview (7-0,4-0), #2 in the Swanknsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays host Plymouth (4-4,2-2) on Friday night.  The Big Red is coming off a (73-53) win over New London last week.

          Kurtz says Plymouth is a team that’s pretty disciplined.  “They're an interesting team because they don't have one guy that's their leading scorer every night.  They do it with a lot of different guys.  Their size is impressive.  In the games that I've either watched on film or watched in person they don't make a lot of mistakes and they're in almost every game.  Those are things that I think can be challenging for you.  I think their size and they’re really good on the offensive glass.  Those are things that we would be concerned with going into that game,” he said.

          Kurtz calls rebounding a big factor in this game.  “That’s kind of a thing that we're really focused a lot on.  I think maybe one time this year we've been outrebounded.  So, I think it's a very integral part of the game is how well you rebound the ball, especially on the offensive end,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We make that a big focus.  I feel like they will make that challenging because they really do have size and those kids that are inside are also physical.  One of their guards is also very big.  So, it's kind of a combination of a lot of things, but I do think that's going to be critical in that game.”

Published 1/01/25

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Crestview Faces Double Weekend

          Firelands Conference co-leader Crestview will be at home for a pair of conference games on Friday against Monroeville and Saturday versus South Central.

          Last Saturday, the held off Mapleton (63-55) in a conference game.
          Coach John Kurtz says the must be better at defending the perimeter.  “It was a good game with Mapleton.  They shot the ball probably the best I've seen them shoot the three in the games that we scouted and that's a credit to them and it kept them in the game.  That’s something that we need to continue to work on is defending the three.  We usually do a really good job of that, but they were hot that night and played a really good game.  Luckily, we were able to come out of that with a win,” he said.

          Crestview (5-0,2-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at home for Monroeville (2-3,1-1) on Friday night.  The Eagles belted Danbury-Lakeside (86-55) in their last game on December 17.

          Kurtz says they have great size.  “They're really big and they're physical.  I'm impressed by their ability to get on the glass and I'm really impressed by kind of the discipline that they have on offense.  It looks like they kind of would like to play in that 40-50 point game and they've been doing a good job of that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We just watched the film of them playing St. Paul and they gave St. Paul a good game at St. Paul.  So, I think it's going to be a challenge.  They'll be bigger than us.  When teams are good at rebounding the ball that's always got to be a concern for you.”

          South Central (2-4,0-3) will be at Crestview on Saturday.  They had a fourth quarter lead, but lost (57-52) to Western Reserve last Saturday.

          Kurtz says they must defend their shooters.  “We have a couple of films on them that we've looked at.  It looks like they shoot the ball really well.  They're not very big, but they do shoot the ball well.  I think our conversation with our kids is just not to let them go on a run of making two or three threes in a few possessions.  So, that's our biggest concern going in and obviously when Mapleton made some threes obviously that makes defending the three against South Central even more important.  So, that's kind of the thought going into that game,” said Kutz.

Published 12/27/24

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Crestview Expects Challenge From Mapleton

          Defending Firelands Conference co-champion Crestview will be on the road on Saturday to face the Mapleton Mounties in a conference game.

          They beat New London (72-35) in the conference opener last Friday.

          Coach John Kurtz says their offensive execution was improved.  “We shot 40 percent from three.  It's our first double digit in threes night, we had 10.  We've spent a lot of time shooting and talking about getting all the right people in the right spots and we did a much better job of that.  I think we had some extra time to work on it because it seemed like we had a long span there with practices between games.  So, I think it was productive that we got that time and we did look a lot better,” he said.

          Crestview (4-0,1-0), #2 in the first Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Mapleton (5-1,1-0) on Saturday.  The Mounties beat Western Reserve (48-31) in their league game last Friday.

          Kurtz says Ryan Hickey is a very good player that certainly has their attention.  “The (Ryan) Hickey kid has been there.  I think he’s a four year starter now as a senior.  The Donovan (Mills) kid, the big kid in the middle is back.  I think he's like a second or third year starter.  So, they present some challenges.  The Hickey kid is a really good player.  He can get to his spots.  I think he drives the ball more now than he has in the past,” he told Swankonports.com on Tuesday evening, “Those are all things that you have got to pay attention to.  The night we saw him he had 30, so I think when you have got to somebody that’s going to get 30 points in high school then you got to pay attention to him.”

          Kurtz says they have to be on point on Saturday against Mapleton.  “We've told our kids that it's a hard place to play over there.  Our kids need to be focused.  We have had good practice so far this week.  We think that there's things that we can do.  I think maybe our guard size is something that's going to be part of that game.  You have got to be ready to go.  You have got to know that these guys have been preparing for us for a while.  I think maybe they just lost their first game to Edison, so they've had quite a few good wins and that's going to be a tough game especially in their place,” said Kurtz.

Published 12/18/24

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Crestview Has to be Better on Offense

          Crestview, defending Firelands Conference co-champion, opens up conference play on Friday night at New London against the Wildcats.

          They beat Lucas (66-48) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          Coach John Kurtz was happy to get the win because he feels they didn’t shoot very well.  “I didn't feel like we shot the ball particularly well at Lucas and that's kind of been a theme in the last few years and we've been there. I think in the first half we were 1-10 from three, which is a little disappointing.  We missed quite a few kind of shorter layup type shots.  In the second half, I guess middle of the third, the middle of the fourth, is when we started shooting better and making better decisions with the ball and able to pull off that win.  I'm just happy to get out of Lucas with a win I guess is the way we were looking at it,” said Kurtz.

          Kurtz says they need to get better in specific areas, like offensive execution.  “It's easy to say that and just be kind of across the board we need to get better, but there are certain things that we definitely need to work on as a team.  We've been trying to get to that point where we feel like we're working hard on certain areas that we need to.  Like for us we have some inexperienced guys, especially on the offensive end, it just feels like our continuity on the offensive end is not quite there yet,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We spent a lot of time with that and it looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel kind of thing with our team.  Then (Tuesday) night I didn't think we did it very well.  We've had quite a few slow starts and that's something that we really need to be better at.”

          Crestview (3-0,0-0) is at New London (0-2,0-0) on Friday night.  The Wildcats lost (46-34) to Buckeye Central in a non-league game last Saturday.

          Kurtz says New London’s guards are better than when they played them last year.  “I knew last year when we played them in their gym, they were young.  Their guards were very young and so those kids are back and I'm expecting that guard play to be a lot better.  I think in the previous years we had turned them over a lot.  Our thought going in there it just looks like from the outside looking in that they don't score typically a lot of points.  So, we want to continue to be a good defensive team, but we want to also be better on offense and that's kind of where we've really spent a lot of time lately,” he said.

Published 12/12/24

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Crestview off to Good Start

          Crestview rallied to down Fredericktown (76-60) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          Justice Thompson had 29 points for the Cougars.

          Coach John Kurtz says they were able to put it away in the fourth quarter Tuesday night.  “We started out kind of slow and Fredericktown was hot early on and we got ourselves a little bit of a hole, but I think by halftime we dug out of that.  It was pretty even I think through three and then the fourth I think we kind of wore them down on the glass.  We got quite a few transition buckets and I think they're at one time maybe went on 20-0 run or 22-0 run, something like that,” he said.

          Thompson scored his 1000 career point in the win Tuesday.

          Kurtz says this is a team capable of putting runs together.  “We've been like that the last two years, maybe two and half years or so.  We kind of got this theory where when we get stops and run outs it seems like that kind of snowballs and we talk a lot about that.  That was the case (Tuesday) night.  We got at least six or eight run outs and we were able to on a lot of those get to the rim and finish and get to the rim sometimes and finish with a foul,” said Kurtz.

          Crestview hits the floor again next Tuesday against Lucas.  Their first Firelands Conference game is December 13 against New London.

          Kurtz says their early season schedule is a little different, but he likes the challenge it has given his kids.  “It is kind of different.  I know we got them all bunched up here at the end of December, quite a few of them.  It's kind of unique that we don't have at least one in there.  I think typically we usually have one in there somewhere.  We didn't have our Ontario game, which would have been the first game of the year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We really started out with two really good teams and it's I think it's been good for us.  We scrimmage some really tough teams and I think our kids are just used to playing those schools.  I think we've been able to match the intensity of other schools and because of the people that we scrimmaged early on.”

Published 12/05/24

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Crestview Wants to Run the Floor

          Crestview entertains Colonel Crawford in what should be one of the best boys’ basketball games on the opening week on Saturday night in non-conference play.

          Coach John Kurtz says they are ready to be tested.  “It's a long November even with scrimmages and so kind of excited about having a game.  I think everybody in the area knows that this is a pretty good match up.  Crawford is a really good team, so we're excited, but we know that we are going to be facing a really tough opponent,” he said.

          Kurtz says Crawford has a lot of talent, they’re deep, and they have quite a bit of experience.  “The (Bryaden) Holt kid that came in is a really good scorer, a good three-point shooter, he's a big guard and he presents challenges.  Then of course the big kid inside was good last year.  I think that the fact that they have got so many kids back.  They have a kid that I think was their point guard on JV last year that's moved up and shoots the ball really well.  We faced them couple times in the summer and I think they're probably going to be a deeper team than they've been in the past, so I think that's a strength.  Just overall I think they're going to be physical and it'll be a pretty challenging matchup,” said Kurtz.

          Kurtz says tempo of play will be important and he adds they will have to rebound the ball.  “We have some kids that are in that 6’3” range that are pretty athletic.  I don't think it's any secret we like to get up down court.  So, I think it might be a little bit of both teams trying to establish a pace in the game, so I think that's going to be something that's going to be key,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Always with Crawford one of the biggest things is the glass, making sure that you clean up glass and don't give them a lot of second chances.  So, that's been a big focus for us in the offseason here and in the preseason just making sure that we're physical enough and ready to take care of the glass.”

Published 11/28/24

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Crestview Finding New Players

          Crestview, the defending Firelands Conference co-champion, has some returning players and they are filling the gaps with talented younger guys.

          Coach John Kurtz says they have three guys they can build around.  “We have two starters back in Tyson Ringler and Justice Thompson and then our six man, which basically was one of our starters at the end of the year, in Carter Goon.  We have three kids back.  We've got some young kids with not a lot of experience, but a little, trying to fill in those roles.  We have a strong sophomore class and a pretty decent junior class.  Those guys are finding their way into varsity level and scrimmages and sometimes that can be challenging, but I felt like the last couple of scrimmages there really starting to find their confident area playing and finding their roles,” said Kurtz.

          Kurtz has always built his teams around defense and he believes this team can be really good on defense.  “We were just saying the other night that we felt like our defense is so much further ahead than our offense.  Our defense has been really good at scrimmages.  It's just the kids that are filling some of those roles now are maybe a little quicker or better defenders and that's been a real plus for us,” he told Swankonsports.com om Wednesday afternoon, “We still will be relying on the main three guys for a lot of scoring.  We've picked up some help from some of these younger guys.  I think our depth is what's kind of interesting to me this year.  We have got a lot of kids that we feel like could spot in and play meaningful minutes and continue the level of defense that we want to play over a longer extended period of time.”

          Crestview opens its season a week from Saturday against Colonel Crawford.

          Kurtz says they can’t wait to get started.  “Especially in our program where kids are in the building a lot and it's time for games.  It's been a kind of a roller coaster scrimmage session for us because we had quite a few teams that we were going to play that ended up making really decent runs in football.  We've been kind of scrambling here at the end to get our scrimmages in.  So, we’ve had a lot of days of practice and I think kids are ready to play games.  When your kids are at practice that many hours, I think sometimes the attention span can be fairly short,” he said.

Published 11/21/24

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Crestview to Face Explosive Ottawa Hills

          Crestview travels to Ottawa Hills to take on the Green Bears in a first round playoff game in division VI on Friday night.

          The Cougars (5-5) reached the postseason by beating Western Reserve (28-8) and Mapleton (40-14) in their final two Firelands Conference games of the season.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they played well under the gun.  “Our backs have been against the wall last two weeks and we've responded very well.  You add that with the strength of schedule that we've had this year I think that we're tested.  It's another week in our schedule that's the most important,” he said.

          In fact, the Cougars have only one loss, (16-15) to conference co-champion Norwalk St. Paul, since mid-September.

          Haverdill says they have not been hurting themselves on offense and playing sound defense.  He says they have to continue that on Friday.  “We realize in that game if you take those 20 seconds away we're 20 seconds away from being conference champs with St. Paul beating Monroeville.  Our kids feel really good about how we're playing right now.  We limit the mistakes, we haven't turned the ball over probably at all, which has been fantastic.  So, if we continue to do that and the defense keeps playing the way it's been doing, it's going to keep us in ball games,” said Haverdill.

          Ottawa Hills (8-1) won the Toledo Area Athletic Conference this year.  Their only loss coming (26-7) to Gibsonburg, the runner-up in the River Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, in their opener.

          Haverdill says they have a lot of experience and they have a number of big play makers.  “They're very explosive on offense.  They're very fast.  They've got a lot of multi year starters.  We played them three years ago when New London first went down and didn't have a team and they came down and we actually played at Ashland High School because our turf wasn't ready and they have a handful of guys that started as freshmen in that game that are now seniors,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They're very experienced and they're explosive and fast.  On defense they attack very well out of a 3-3 stack look.  On the offensive side, it's a unique situation.  They are zone concept with some buck sweep action stuff in too.  So, they present a lot of problems.  We have got to be very disciplined and see what we're getting and we have got to be able to tackle in space.”

Published 10/29/24

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Assignment the Same for Crestview

          Last week, Crestview took care of step one of a two step process to make they playoffs and they must win again as they host Mapleton in a Firelands Conference game.

          The top 16 teams make the playoffs in each region and right now Crestview is 15^th in their division VI region, but if they lose they won’t stay there.

          They earned their best win of the season in downing Western Reserve (28-8) in a conference game last week.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they played good complementary football.  “I thought we played very well offensively, defensively and special teams.  When you can put all three phases together and consistent for four quarters you're going to have a good shot to win the football game.  We were able to do that as well as create five turnovers and that put us in good position to score.  So, it was a great night for our kids,” said Haverdill.

          Haverdill adds turnovers give you momentum. “We didn't capitalize on one of them, but helped the field position and helped the confidence.  Our kids started to fly around a little bit more.  We had a great week of practice.  Our kids were on top of it. They knew what they were going to get.  We schemed some things that take some things away from them.  So, our kids were able to play fast and we were able to do that against a really good football team,” he said.

          Crestview (4-5,4-2) is at home for Mapleton (4-5,3-3) on Friday night.  The Mounties beat New London (47-13) on Friday night.

          Haverdill says to beat Mapleton you have to stop the wing-T.  “They're running similar concepts with that wing-T.  If you're not disciplined they can gash in that run game.  Then if you fall asleep in the secondary, they'll pass it on you.  Defensively, we have got to make sure that we're focused on our eyes around our keys,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “Offensively, I think we have got to continue to do what we're doing.  Run the football, set up the passing game.  Again, we have got to put another four quarters with all three phases together.”

          Haverdill says this is another must win for them.  “It's week two of the playoffs for us and we know that.  I thought our kids handled that very well last week and hopefully we have another good week of practice and get the same execution this week,” he said.

Published 10/22/24

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Playoffs Start This Week for Crestview

          Crestview must win its last two games to secure a berth in the postseason playoffs and that begins with a tough assignment at home on Friday night against Western Reserve in Firelands Conference play.

          They lost a heartbreaker last week when Norwalk St. Paul scored with 26 seconds left to beat them (16-15) last Saturday night.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they didn’t make enough plays.  “Definitely that's one that stings, but I give a lot of credit to our kids.  They battled and fought the entire game.  We did some really good things to get the ball back and put our offensive in position to score late and they were able to do that. Tip your cap to St. Paul.  They came back at us and we just didn't make the plays at the end, but their effort was there.  It was just a great high school football game and but it was tough, no doubt about that,” said Haverdill.

          Crestview (3-5,3-2) hosts Western Reserve (6-2,4-1) on Friday night.  The Riders are coming off a (41-15) win over South Central last week.

          Haverdill says it will be a tough task.  “They're just solid all the way around.  They're well coached, they have got athletes everywhere, and they're playing really good football.  So, we've got our hands full, there's no doubt about it at home.  We have got to make sure we don't make any mistakes.  It’s the same thing every week, especially when you're playing teams that are really good.  You can't make those mistakes, penalties, you can't have turnovers.  We have just got to go out and battle and hope we can make a few more plays than they can,” he said.

          Haverdill says they have a simple, yet very difficult task.  “We told our kids already, we are in the playoffs right now.  We have to win our next two games in order to get there.  So, our playoffs have started week nine.  We have got week nine, week 10, and hopefully we can get week 11, but if we don't take care of business on Friday it doesn't extend past week 10,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We want to try and do everything you can to be able to do that.  The good thing is that if we are able to do that we've been put under that spotlight of the single elimination already and hopefully if we can get there we will get a little head start on things and maybe get a good role going into it.”

Published 10/18/24

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Crestview to be Tested

          Crestview enters this weekend just a game behind Firelands Conference leader Monroeville and will play at defending champion Norwalk St. Paul on Saturday night.

          After a (34-0) win over Plymouth last Friday, the Cougars have put together a three game winning streak after losing to Monroeville in their conference opener.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they did what they had to do.  “I think so, I think we've taken care of teams that we should take care of and that's always a plus because sometimes that doesn't always happen, you can ask Alabama about that one.  We were able to take care of the teams that we did.  We've been working on our technique and working on things and now the next week here coming up here with St. Paul will allow us to show what we've gotten better at and against an opponent that's equal or better than us,” said Haverdill.

          Crestview (3-4,3-1) plays at St. Paul (3-4,3-1) on Saturday night.  The Flyers blanked New London (55-0) last week.

          Haverdill says the Flyers are giving them a few more things to defend this year.  “It's the same St. Paul.  I mean coach (Chris) Doughty, he's doing a great job of still implementing stuff that coach (John) Livengood did and yet has his little twist on things.  They’re a little bit more balanced than they've been in the past.  They will throw it, so you've got to be ready to go.  You’ve got to read your keys.  You're not just going to get run right at you, you're going to get a whole bunch of different things,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Inside off tackle, outside, short intermediate routes and deep balls, so we have got to be ready on that end.  Defensively, they're still flying around doing a great job of tackling in open space.  So, we've got our work cut out for us there's no doubt.”

          Haverdill says they know it’s a must win in terms of the conference, but they are treating it the same way they did the previous games.  “It's the biggest game on our schedule.  We treat them all the same.  We needed the ones before last three weeks as well to stay where we're at, so this is no different than what we've been dealing with the last three weeks and we're approaching it the same way,” he said.

Published 10/09/24

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Crestview Has to Read Keys

          Crestview wants to continue its good play as they are over at Plymouth to meet the Big Red in a Firelands Conference game on Friday night.

          Right now, they trail Monroeville and Western Reserve by a game in the conference standings.

          They whipped South Central (47-6) in a conference game last week.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they played pretty well.  “I think that we played very well.  We still had a miscue on special teams with the kickoff unit, but we're working on getting that fixed.  The kids are understanding and using proper technique now not doing their own thing, so when you start doing that you start playing as a team and that's what we're starting to do and it's starting to come together.  I think the product of our first four games is you're starting to see the wealth of that right now,” said Haverdill.

          Haverdill says they have improved the technique as the season has gone on and it’s paying off.  “We showed that early on in the year on film and the games that we played against the juggernauts that we had early in the year.  When you try to overcompensate for somebody else that leaves gaps open and cutback lanes open and everything like that.  So, we've done a lot of film work with these guys showing them and showing that look if you just do your job and you trust the guy that he's doing his job if all 11 guys do their job then we'll be okay that's what's starting to happen,” he said.

          Crestview (2-4,2-1) plays at Plymouth (1-5,0-3) on Friday.  The Big Red was edged (20-13) by Mapleton last week.

          Haverdill says they must be fundamental in their run defense.  “It’s 180 degree different from what we saw South Central with their spread back and an empty look.  Now, we're going to get in the double tight, double wing and coming after just with the run,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “So, again it's being physical, it's controlling the line of scrimmage.  They've got some good athletes back there that you can't fall asleep on and they'll throw the ball a little bit more than what they've done in the past too.  So, we have got to watch the keys and do what we need to do.  Then on offense again got control the line of scrimmage like we've done in the last two weeks, continue to run the football and set up our passing game.”

Published 10/02/24

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Crestview Wants to Take Another Step

          Crestview returns home for the first time since August to entertain the South Central Trojans in a Firelands Conference game on Friday night.

          Last week, the Cougars (1-4,1-1) hammered New London (67-0) in a conference game.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they saw the results of their hard work in practice.  “Anytime you can get a win it makes you feel better.  I thought our kids came out and they were focused on what was at hand.  We've worked extremely hard over the last four weeks in using proper technique and not just doing stuff just to do on your own.  Our kids did that and the results were there.  I think our varsity only ran 19 offensive plays total in the game.  It was a great overall effort.  We scored on offense and special teams and our defense pitched a shutout.  So, all three phases came together.  So. it's nice to get that off the back and now we can move forward,” said Haverdill.

          He says they were able to get varsity for a lot of kids than wouldn’t normally get it.  “Anytime you can get the young guys in and get them some varsity reps under the lights it's good for them.  We were able to get everybody on our roster in the game and be able to play.  So, it was a bonus across the board for us,” he said.

          South Central (1-4,1-1) got smoked (41-0) by unbeaten Monroeville in a conference game last Friday.

          Haverdill says they are going to see the Trojans run a lot of spread formations to try to get their athletes the ball.  “They’re spread you out to run the ball and also throw it with some bubbles and some slants and RPO's.  They some good athletes.  The line looks to be pretty decent size.  The defense, they fly around pretty well.” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “It's another week for us to continue to work on the things that we're working on for us to continue to get better and implement that in this game Friday.  If we're able to do things that we need to do I always feel good about things.  I think that being back at home is a plus.  We haven't been there since week two.  So, I think that's all good and like I said we have got to make sure we're not making mistakes against another good football team.”

Published 9/24/24

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Crestview Looking for First

          It’s the midpoint of high school football season and the Crestview Cougars are still looking for their first win of the year.

          They play at New London in a Firelands Conference game on Friday night.

          Last week, they lost (31-16) to Monroeville in a conference game.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says he really thought they were right there.  “I thought our kids played extremely hard.  That's the team that's projected to win our conference and you know we got them in the first week of the league and coming off of three tough games.  I thought they prepared us for that game.  We moved the ball very well.  Defense I thought played well.  Just had a couple breakdowns on drives that would stall it out.  Then on defense with some assignments and then where they need to be and Monroeville was able to capitalize on it.  So, it's a testament to our kids.  We gave up two scores technically, basically, on special teams.  So, you take those away, and you shore up special teams, it's a different ball game.  Our kids realize that and we're excited to get ahead to now week five,” said Haverdill.

          Crestview (0-4,0-1) plays at New London (2-2,0-1) in a conference game on Friday.  The Wildcats lost (33-12) to South Central last week in Firelands Conference action.

          Haverdill says New London will be hungry.  “They're an improved football team.  So, we are an 0-4 team going into their place and they're 2-2.  Like we told our kids this is where you're going to see that our schedule has helped us.  If we're able to go in there and get a win over a team that's got two wins then our schedule was pretty tough.  The pressure is on them.  I know they're excited to be back and things like that.  We're going in their place and they want to get that first Firelands Conference win under their belt and they want to do it on their own field.  We're excited to go there and play some football,” he said.

          Haverdill says it’s time for them to win.  “Every week you want to get that win, but more so now you want to get off that that snide and play good a football game and get our first win and get rolling for the rest of the Firelands Conference,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Then hopefully into week 11 and now we're starting to play our best football.  That's what it's about, playing your best football at that end of year going into week 11 and see how far you can go.”

Published 9/18/24

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Defense a Big Key for Crestview

          Can Crestview be competitive in the Firelands Conference.  We may find that out on Friday night when visit Monroeville to take on the Eagles.

          It’s a pretty big early season match-up.

          Crestview (0-3) lost (34-0) at LaGrange Keystone last week.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says really they didn’t play well at all.  “We just we didn't handle the environment very well.  I thought our tackling wasn't very good.  We had a lot of missed assignments on the front line offensively.  So, when you're doing that against a good football team it's hard to win games and win those games on the road.  Everything that we saw on film is correctable,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Like we talked to the kids.  Coaches have got to make better decisions.  Players have got to make better decisions on what's in front of them and what they're seeing.  Then when we are able to do those things that are correctable.  It's just got to be a team effort.”

          Monroeville (3-0) smoked Seneca East (36-13) in a non-league game last Friday.

          Haverdill says they are experienced and they are talented.  “They're just good, they're very disciplined, and hardnosed.  They're going to run the ball at you and set up the pass.  Defensively, they play a 3-4 defense and they fly around and are very good tacklers.  Their experience, these guys have played varsity for a couple of years.  Playing back when they were freshmen and sophomores.  So, they play well together and they know the system well and they're very confident at that point when they get to Friday night,” he said.

          Last season, Monroeville outscored the Cougars (46-34) in game played at Crestview.

          The Eagles have a talented quarterback-running back combo in Evan Benfer and Landen Roeder.

          Haverdill says they have to find a way to get off the field.  “(Benfer) hurt us last year.  Last year, we just couldn't get them off the field.  I thought last year offensively we were doing a nice job against their defense and being able to go down and make drives and score, but defensively we couldn't get them off the field.  The quarterback was a big reason why and obviously their running back is very good as well, but they have a good line too.  So, we definitely have to get stops if we have any shot at pulling the game out on the road,” said Haverdill.

Published 9/13/24

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Crestview Believes

          Crestview, looking for its first win, travels to Keystone to face the Wildcats in a non-conference game coming up on Friday night.

          Defending Division VI state champion Kirtland buried the Cougars (42-6) last week.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says it was a learning experience for them.  “They're very disciplined.  There are no selfish individuals on their football team.  Everybody's doing their job for the purpose of the team.  Their physical and fast.  You can tell that they live in the weight room.  That’s where every small school wants to be able to get to that pedigree.  Being able to see it in person and being in a game like that I think is a good step forward,” he said.

          Crestview (0-2) visits Keystone (1-1) on Friday.  The Wildcats lost (21-14) to Cloverleaf last week.

          Haverdill says this is another traditional power that can do a lot of things they will have to defend.  “They are a very good football team.  That's why we put them on the schedule.  Again, we want our non conference games to get us ready to compete in our conference.  Keystone is another addition to that to go along with Seneca East and Kirtland.  Their quarterback and running back are very good.  They spread you out and they want to run the ball with RPOs and things like.  They will throw if you fall asleep and they have the athletes to be able to do it.  Very aggressive and big.  Defensively, they attack at the point of attack very quickly.  So, it's another huge test for us to see if we can get better in week three and then getting ready for our conference,” said Haverdill.

          Crestview opens Firelands Conference portion of their season with talented Monroeville next week.

          Of course, the goal each week is to win the football game, but Haverdill says if they don’t win Friday, it’s not the end of the world.  “I think it's always important to get that win, but we also know that we're going out there and battling and if for some reason we don't, we're going to get better, we're going to learn from those mistakes on film,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Our goal of winning the Firelands Conference is still at stake.  St. Paul started the year last year 0-3 and won the league.  Obviously, we'd like to be 1-1 right now and possibly 2-1 going into Monroeville, but that's not the case right now.  We could be 1-2 and that would be fantastic getting a good step forward going in the conference.”

Published 9/05/24

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Crestview With an Exam

          After a disappointing effort last week, the Crestview Cougars have a tremendous challenge this week as they host Kirtland on Thursday night in a non-conference game.

          They lost their opener (35-20) to Seneca East.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they let the Tigers get the momentum.  “We had a mental lapse in that second quarter.  It started at the end of the first quarter, we gave up that touchdown with about 10 seconds left and just kind of carried and snowballed in that second quarter.  In high school football, you have got to be focused and can't let things get away from you and it did to us.  We came back and had a turnover, they scored on the first play, came out after that and they forced us to punt and they scored again and then next thing you know it’s 28-7.  We dug ourselves a huge hole that we couldn't get out of with the amount of time that was left in the game.  So, those are learning curves.  You don't want that right away in a game like that, but we have got to learn from that and move on,” said Haverdill.

          Haverdill says they must have their noses to the grindstone this week.  “Our goal is always get better every day we step on the field and it's no different this week.  We went over it and talked about the mistakes that occurred on the field on Friday.  Then we were trying to work on those to get better so that way we're ready to go for Thursday,” he said.

          Kirtland has made the playoffs 19 times and won seven state titles, including last year.  They smoked Dalton, of the Wayne County Athletic League, (55-34) last week.

          Haverdill says they will learn what it takes on Thursday.  “For small school football they are the idea that is the prototype of what a dynasty is.  They've been to 12 of the last 13 state championship games and they won seven of them.  We've always talked about that with our program.  We have goals every year and every year it seems like it's that one is at the end.  We want to play week 16 and be a state champ.  In order to do that, it's that wrestling mentality I have, you want to be the best let's go play the best and we have a great opportunity to do that on Thursday night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “It's a great honor that coach (Tiger) LaVerde and Kirtland was willing to come travel to us and play us because they're trying to get better just as we are.  They feel that we're good enough opponent for them to get better and we feel like we're good enough to play with them and get us better and see what it takes to be at that level.”

Published 8/28/24

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Crestview Must be Ready to Adjust

          Can it be a bounce back season for the Crestview Cougars?  We will begin to find out on Friday night they host the Seneca East Tigers in a non-conference game.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they have put in the work and now it’s time to get going.  “We spent a lot of time in the offseason working on things and now we're just trying to fine tune and game planning for Seneca East come Friday.  We had a nice walk through (Monday) and hopefully this week will have good, focused practices and be ready to go come Friday night,” he said.

          Opening nights can have a lot of trepidation because of the unknown and Haverdill says they have to work through that.  “You have to let the adrenaline settle down a little bit.  Week one is the most unknown.  You’re basing somebody off two scrimmages when most of the time you’re not showing anything in a scrimmage.  We've really got to be focused.  We talked to the kids (Monday) about being very coachable because on Friday night we're going to make a lot of adjustments because you're going to get some things that you haven't seen.  We have just got to be able to fight through those and handle that adversity and stay calm and collected and just be ready to play.  If you get too hyped up sometimes you're playing too fast and they overrun things or see things that you're not really seeing.  So, we just want to slow down, just play high school football the way it’s supposed to be and have some fun and just be focused on top of it,” said Haverdill.

          Crestview was (4-7) last year, but a regional panel media that covers high school football predicts them to finish second behind Norwalk St. Paul in the Firelands Conference this fall.

          Last year, Seneca East edged the Cougars (21-12) and Haverdill says the Tigers will be a challenge again.  “They have a really good quarterback and he is about the opposite.  He throws the ball very well.  Were last year the guy wanted to run the ball a lot.  This year, he throws it in and can hurt you with his feet as well.  They’re skill is very good.  Their lineman are physical and big.  They're more balanced this year than they were last year.  They're going to run the ball and still be able to throw down field,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Defensively, they attack you and they tackle very well and they're very athletic.  So, it's a very tough week one game.  It's a team that's traditionally always in the playoffs.  They're playing in that tough “N10” conference.  So, it's allows us to see where we're at and those are the teams that we want on our schedule if we want to get to the highest level of all.”

Published 8/21/24

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Crestview is Maturing

          Crestview wants to return to its winning ways this season and it looks like they might have the players to do that.

          The Cougars were an un-Crestview like (4-7) last season, but coach Steve Haverdill says they have kids back that have a year’s more experience.  “We've got a lot of guys back, but we're still young.  We played 11 sophomores last year.  We're getting better, but we're still young, so we're in that process of being like in between.  We've got some really good senior leadership to go along with those kids that are now juniors, those seniors that played last year too as juniors.  So, we got a good mix, it's just putting it all together and playing together as a team and having no distractions and working to get better every time you step on the field,” he said.

          Haverdill says not only football IQ wise, but the Cougars are more mature athletically too.  “As long as I've been doing this, I think that the biggest growth I've seen is when high school students go from their sophomore to their junior year.  I think that's the biggest growth and we've seen that with a lot of our guys.  We've been in the weight room since spring, so we've got some guys working extremely hard in there.  I think sometimes too I think by playing last year even though it didn't go the way that we had anticipated or hoped they still got gained a lot of varsity experience and they've gained some confidence in that aspect as well going into this year,” said Haverdill.

          This summer, Haverdill says they have shown the potential they have and now it’s just a matter of making it happen.  “I do I think we're competing at a very good level.  We got to go up against some very good teams this summer including teams like Mansfield Senior and Glenville and Springfield and Colonel Crawford and Clear Fork and Ontario, so we've seen some really good teams all summer,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday morning, “Obviously it's a passing scrimmage, no lineman in there, but I thought we competed and played extremely hard in those.  Our kids are working extremely hard in practice.  So, every day we've been getting better and we'll see come (Friday) night how our first full go scrimmage goes.”

Published 8/09/24

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Crestview Advances With Win Over Crawford

          Crestview took down Colonel Crawford (7-2) Wednesday evening in a sectional semifinal in division III.

          They will play another Northern 10 Athletic Conference team on Friday as they visit Wynford to take on the Royals in the sectional final.

          Coach Don Keener says they got a fine effort on the mound from junior Tyson Ringler.  “Tyson Ringler pitched for us (Wednesday).   He kept us in the game.  He had six K’s, but at the same time he was mixing it in and keep them off balance and we got a great effort from him,” said Keener.

          The Cougars (12-11) got four runs in the first inning off of Crawford and Keener says they had a good approach at the plate.  “We got some timely hits, I thought.  The kids came out firing that first inning.  We got four early on.  Kind of slowed down a little bit, but they still chipped a few here and there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “I thought they did a nice job taking approaches at the plate.”

          Wynford (17-8) shared second in the “N10”, Crestview was third in the Firelands Conference, and Keener knows they will have to be in top from.  “I mean they're really good, so we're going to have to be at our best and give them all we have.  We'll see how it ends up,” he said.

Published 5/15/24

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Crestview Takes Advantage

          Crestview remains in a three way tie for first place in the Firelands Conference softball standings after they belted Norwalk St. Paul (12-0) on Tuesday evening.

          Monroeville and Mapleton kept their share too.  The Eagles bounced back to down New London (5-2) and Mapleton whipped South Central (14-0) also on Tuesday.

          Coach Scott Durbin says they were given new life this week.  He says they want to get through that open door.  “Our plan is trying to kick it in.  We got a second chance here and we have got to take advantage of it.  We can't overlook anybody we have got to make sure we’re ready to play,” he said.

          Durbin says they have to understand they still have a lot softball to play.  “We've got we got St. Paul again (Wednesday) night and we have got to be ready to go.  Then we have got a sectional game on Friday night.  Then we have got to be ready to go Saturday morning against a really good Mapleton team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “All of our goals are in front of us that we worked hard all winter and in the weight room.  We got a second chance at them.  So, we're happy about that, but we have got to make sure we make the most of it.”

          Crestview edged Mapleton (3-2) back on April 24.

          Durbin says May is definitely championship month for the Lady Cougars.  “We're definitely playing meaningful games.  This week got really, really big with New London knocking off Monroeville (Monday) night.  We're in a three-way tie with conference games left and the tournament mixed in there.  They're meaningful that's for sure,” he said,

Published 5/08/24

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Crestview Knocking on the Door

          Crestview climbed to within a game of Norwalk St. Paul and South Central a top the standings in the Firelands Conference after blanking St. Paul (8-0) on Monday evening.

          South Central (11-8,9-3) lost (8-0) to Mapleton Monday.

          The Cougars now trail the two leaders by just a game.  They play St. Paul again Tuesday, weather permitting.  At the time this story was published there was about an 80% chance of rain on Tuesday afternoon/evening.  Mapleton (10-6,9-4) is also a game back.

          Coach Don Keener understands the significance of the win on Monday.  “It was huge.  I mean the kids came to play.  They were all ready and we got great pitching,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I mean everybody contributed throughout the lineup (Monday) night and hit the ball well.  I mean St. Paul's obviously a great team and we just had a really good night.”

          Putting eight runs up against a solid St. Paul staff was impressive.  The Cougars (11-9,9-4) scored seven times in the first three innings.

          Keener says they have been hitting it well.  “The kids the last few weeks I think we've been hitting the ball a little bit better throughout the lineup, which is what you have to have.  I think (Monday) night we had some good contributions throughout and I mean that helped lead to some extra runs here and there and the kids played well,” said Keener.

          Starter Drew Kunkle allowed eight runs for St. Paul (12-6,10-3) on Monday.

          Meanwhile, Jaret Ringler was tremendous for the Cougars with 12 strikeouts and allowing just two hits.

          Keener says he always gives them a chance.  “Jaret Ringler was outstanding.  He only gave up two hits in a complete game.  I know he had double digit strikeouts.  I don't know of the top of my head, but he was on.  I mean and anytime he's on we're always going to have chance to win I think,” he said.

          Keener says you always want the last week of the regular season to mean something.  “It's fun, that's what you want to have at the end of the season.  You want to have meaningful games with regular season games because I think it gets you even more prepared for the tournament then so hopefully that that'll carry over,” he said.

Published 5/07/24

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Crestview Continues to Play Well

          Crestview blanked Lucas (11-0) in non-conference softball on Thursday evening and they continue to play pretty solid.

          They have won seven their last eight games and coach Scott Durbin says the key is their focus.  “We've talked a lot about we've really got to focus on us.  We can't really pay attention to who we're playing.  We've got to go out and stay focused on what we need to do and focus on the things that we want to accomplish,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “I’ll tell you, we've been playing really, really well here the last several weeks.”

          Last season, the Lady Cougars didn’t end the season the way they wanted, but Durbin says they have showed more maturity this spring.  “I like to think a lot of that's the maturity.  Sophie's (Durbin) our senior and she has been a four year starter and we've got P.J. (Endicott) and Chesnie (Patton) and Kalee (Hamman), some kids that are that are juniors, that are three-year starters.  So, hopefully it's that experience is paying off for us,” said Durbin.

          Right now, the Lady Cougars (15-5,9-2) trail Monroeville and Mapleton by a game in the Firelands Conference standings.  They have lost two to Monroeville, but they have beaten Mapleton and have game May 11 against the Lady Mounties.

          Crestview also plays Norwalk St. Paul next week.

          Durbin says they need some things to fall their way, but most important, they have to win.  “We put ourselves in a position where we're doing a little scoreboard watching, but we need to take care of our business and we'll see what happens.  When you're sitting the game out anything can happen.  There's a big game with Monroeville and Mapleton (Friday) that's going to determine a lot,” he said.

Published 5/03/24

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Crestview Shuts Out Plymouth

          Crestview kept their Firelands Conference title hopes alive as they blanked Plymouth (4-0) on Tuesday evening.

          Conference leader South Central lost (8-5) to New London and they now share first place with Norwalk St. Paul, the Flyers smoked Monroeville (11-0) on Tuesday.  Crestview (9-8,8-4) now trails those two by two games.  South Central plays Mapleton in two games next week.  They also have a makeup with Monroeville.

          Crestview coach Don Keener says starting pitcher Jaret Ringler was terrific on Tuesday.  “It was an outstanding effort from Jaret Ringler, who went the whole game, had 13 strikeouts and only gave up two hits.  We played great defense behind him, didn't have an error,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night.

          Keener says making regular defending players is crucial at this level.  “Especially at the high school level. I mean the teams that commit the least amount of errors or are definitely going to be in the game and then usually a lot of times are going to be the ones on top,” said Kenner.

          Keener says it’s not just errors, but mistakes of any kind.  The teams that makes less almost always wins.  “There are those games where you don't field the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “You make a mistake on the bases and that's the difference in the game.  It's so important to just be fundamentally sound,” he said.

Published 5/01/24

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Crestview Gets Closer

          Crestview won a game they had to have on Wednesday evening as the Lady Cougars trimmed Firelands Conference co-leader Mapleton (3-2) in a conference game.

          They now are a game behind both Mapleton and Monroeville, who beat South Central (7-2) on Wednesday.

          Coach Scott Durbin called it a must win for his team.  “It was a huge win.  It was a must win for us.  I mean Mapleton sitting there on top with no losses, so it was a must win for us.  To give them give them their first loss was big if we want to stay in the race,” he said.

          Crestview (11-5,6-2) will play Western Reserve in a conference game on Thursday.  The Lady Riders lost (3-0) to New London on Wednesday.  The Lady Cougars game at Mapleton, rained out on Tuesday, is now scheduled for the end of the regular season, May 11, and that could end of pretty important.

          Durbin says they have to take care of their own business.  “We've talked about it.  We had our two losses we knew what was ahead of us.  Obviously, the biggest thing ahead of us was Mapleton sitting there at 12-1 overall undefeated in the league,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night after the win, “We were in a hole and you want help, you hope for help, but in the end, we know to stay in it we've got to take care of our own business.  We have no other choice right now so and we'll see what happens.”

          On Wednesday, P.J. Endicott had two RBI against Mapleton and Durbin says Chesnie Patton was tremendous.  “Chesnie Patton was fantastic in the circle.  To be really honest, I'm not sure she had her best stuff, but she's gotten a lot mentally tougher in that circle and she can win without her best stuff.  When I say that, that's saying something against the lineup that Mapleton has.  I mean that's a good lineup, so you go out and win without your best stuff, that's a good night,” said Durbin.

Published 4/25/24

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Crestview Blanks New London

          Crestview got back to their winning ways with a (5-0) shutout of the New London Lady Wildcats in Firelands Conference play on Thursday evening.

          Coach Scott Durbin says they had good focus and played some fundamental softball Thursday.  “We were coming off at two really, really tough losses.  We got back in the gym (Wednesday) night for practice and we talked a little bit and then we really had a great practice and got back to paying attention to little things.  We just came out and had a great team win,” he said.

          Earlier this week, Monroeville beat the Lady Cougars (3-2) and (4-3) in back to back games.

          Durbin says the New London win was huge for them.  “I told the girls (Wednesday) night, we're at a point here where this this thing can go off the rails or we can refocus and start paying attention to the little things and fix our body language and our effort and get the excitement back and honestly that's exactly what happened.  I mean top to bottom the girls were fired up.  They battled, they showed some mental toughness and you could tell they didn't want this thing to go the wrong way and they responded,” said Durbin.

          At (4-2) in conference play, Crestview trails Mapleton by two games, they play them twice next week, and Monroeville by one.  They are tied with South Central, a team they beat twice.

          Durbin says the conference is up for grabs, but you have to come to play every night.  “We have talked about it before.  Mapleton rolling right along, obviously Monroeville’s good and New London they're good, they've got a great pitcher and a great catcher.  There's four teams that can win it.  We were talking (Thursday) night and there's a chance who can win this league with two or three losses or tie for it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “It's good softball and you have got to be ready to play, there's no doubt about it.  I thought we were ready to play against Monroeville too, but they came out on top.  We lost a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh and that's tough to swallow and to bounce back the way we did (Thursday) night, I couldn't be prouder of the girls.”

Published 4/19/24

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Crestview Gets Past South Central

          Crestview downed South Central (3-1) in a Firelands Conference softball game on Tuesday evening.

          They share the conference lead at (2-0) with Mapleton here early in the season.

          In other “FC” results on Tuesday, Mapleton outscored New London (15-9), Monroeville beat Plymouth (10-0) and Western Reserve edged Norwalk St. Paul (5-1).

          Crestview coach Scott Durbin says they didn’t hit the ball very well against South Central, but they found other ways to win.  “South Central I mean it’s just their second loss on season and they're scrappy club with a good pitcher.  I didn't feel like we came out hitting the ball like we had been, but it was kind of nice to see us as manufactured three runs and kind win it the hard way,” said Durbin.

          Durbin says they got very good pitching and solid defense on Tuesday.  “I think we have one error on the night.  Chesnie Patton was outstanding in the circle getting a complete game win, striking out 10.  Sophie Durbin and Maddie Grant turned a double play in a huge part of the game to turn to 4-6-3 double play, which really got momentum going for us and got the girls fired up,” he said.

          On Saturday, Crestview (6-2,2-0) played a couple of really good teams.  They beat Margaretta (3-1) and lost (14-0) and (11-5) to Lexington.

          Durbin says those games are going to make them better and that proved to be the case on Tuesday.  “It directly relates to those games.  We've played some good teams and Lexington, I mean what can you say about them, they're just they're rolling right now.  The Margaretta win was huge for us.  We scored late in that game.  Sophie hit a home run and then we tagged on insurance run on Jillian Weaver’s sac fly to win that one,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday might, “Then we turn around got our teeth kicked in by Lex.  I think overall it was a really a good day for us as far as learning and coming together and getting better as a team and then it showed (Tuesday) night.”

Published 4/10/24

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Crestview Hammers Western

          Crestview, the defending Firelands Conference champion, began that defense on Wednesday night, by crushing Western Reserve (17-2) in a conference game.

          Coach Don Keener says they got off on the right foot.  “You definitely want to get out on top no matter what.  So, I thought the guys came ready to play (Wednesday).  We kind of took a step back the other day and we weren't really ready to go, but the guys came ready to play (Wednesday) and they did a nice job of taking care of business,” said Keener.

          Last week, Willard, of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, smoked Crestview (14-1) in a non-league game.

          Keener says their approach at the plate was much better on Wednesday.  “The guys put the ball in play well.  We made a lot of contact.  I mean we had a lot better approach at the plate.  We weren't swinging at their pitches, we were swinging at our pitches, which is a big difference from the last time we played,” he said.

          Crestview (2-1,1-0) is scheduled to play at Western on Friday.

          The Cougars are the preseason choice to repeat as Firelands Conference champion and Keener says they have to have focus every night.  “I mean I think the kids know that, I hope they know that and understand that.  I mean I think everybody's going to want to play their best,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “We definitely still have to make sure we play our best no matter who we're going against.  So, I think that's the approach you have to take.  Worry about yourselves.  We have got to worry about us and take care of what we need to do and stay focused.”

Published 4/04/24

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Crestview Experienced, Talented

          Crestview is the defending Firelands Conference baseball champion and this year they look very strong again.

          Veteran coach Don Keener says they bring back a lot of kids that have a boatload of varsity experience.  “We have got quite a few veterans coming back, to say the least.  I have got seven guys with quality experience, six full time starters, a seventh guy that played a decent amount.  Three of my guys are four year starters.  The other two or three-year starters, so we have got some pretty good experience,” said Keener.

          That includes Jaret Ringler, who was the Cougars number one pitcher last season.

          Yes, expectations are high, but Keener says it is going to be a tough road this year of they are going to repeat as conference champ.  “I think we all know what we're capable of.  It's just a matter of going out and taking care of business I guess.  I mean everybody's going to be fighting for the same thing.  We do have some good quality players and we keep talking it's not going to be easy.  I mean it may be even harder, so you have got to be ready to go no matter what,” he said.

          Crestview starts the season in non-conference action on Saturday at home against Black River.  Their first Firelands Conference series is April 1 and 2 against Western Reserve.

          Keener says the key to their success is to consistently get good pitching.  “It always boils down to pitching and defense.  I mean how strong are your pitchers that going that day.  How good is your defense behind them when you play that day,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “I mean any little mistake can turn a game just like that no matter who you have on the mound.  You could have the best pitcher in the state, but if you make mistakes behind him, it's not going to matter.”

Published 3/22/24

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Crestview Can be Really Good

          This could be a special year for the Crestview Lady Cougars softball team, but only time will tell.

          That story will begin to be told when they play Black River in a non-conference game on Saturday.  They open Firelands Conference action against Western Reserve on April 1 and 2.

          Coach Scott Durbin says they only have one senior, but they have a lot of experience on the roster.  “It's a younger team with a lot of experience.  We didn't lose anyone last year.  We've got Sophie Durbin coming back and she's our lone senior this year.  With that being said, we've got a wealth of experience of three-year starters at the junior level, we've got some two-year starters at the sophomore level and then we've got some freshmen, two, three freshmen that are coming in and pushing hard for spots,” he said.

          Durbin says having everyone back makes the preseason a lot different.  “Just having everybody back you get to start at a different spot on that first day of practice.  The girls put a ton of work in the offseason in the weight room and the open gyms and live hitting, it's been it's been exciting.  Just being able to start at a higher level than what you normally would do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We went up and scrimmaged a really good Lakewood team with a with some good pitching and looked really good.  Then we played a good Shelby team and honestly we kicked the ball around some and it was a little disappointing.  Then we played a really good Madison team (Wednesday) night and we were back.  I thought we played really well defensively. I thought we definitely got some timely hitting off a really good pitcher.  So, overall I'm excited about where we're at.”

          Durbin feels they have been tested in their scrimmages and that’s what he wants.  “We go out and we look for really good teams, good programs, year in and you out to scrimmage because we want to be ready for the regular season.  Then we try to do the same thing in the regular season and get a really good schedule so that we're ready for tournament play.  We've talked a lot and we won't put limitations on ourselves.  I mean obviously we set goals, but I've told the girls this this is our time and we have got to own that.  Part of that is believing it's our time and the other part is putting the work in to make sure that we're ready when the time comes,” said Durbin.

Published 3/21/24

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Big Fourth Quarter Gives Margaretta the Win

          Margaretta outscored Crestview (26-9) the fourth quarter and rallied to beat the Cougars (60-54) in a division III district semifinal on Wednesday night at Norwalk High School.

          They will face Genoa, a (69-62) overtime winner, in Wednesday’s second game, on Saturday in the district championship game.

          The Polar Bears (22-3) took their first lead of the second half (53-51) when Tate Bailey scored left of the lane with 1:31 left to play.  Crestview’s Tyson Ringler converted a layup with :42 left to cut the Cougars deficit to (55-54), but Gage Bodey’s old fashion three point and Bailey’s two free throws in the final :21 sealed the win for the Bears.

          Margaretta coach Steve Keller says they were more aggressive in the fourth quarter and that was the difference.  “Truthfully, I just told you guys we had played tentative all the way through up to that point.  I said you're down 11, man, just go out swinging, let's see what happen.  We knew we had to come with pressure and we're fortunate to get some scores and turn them over a little bit.  Realistically, we just needed to make a couple shots, which we didn't do really all night.  Kyle Bailey hit that corner three, and that was huge, I guess it was more of a wing three on the left wing, that was huge.  I just saw a guys fight, man, they didn't worry about the outcome, they just wanted to compete and they got it done,” said Keller.

          Crestview coach John Kurtz says were not patient enough offensively in the fourth quarter and that cost them.  “I just felt like we got ratcheted up in the half court, which hurt us and we weren’t getting very, very good looks in the fourth, which made it even worse.  In the third quarter, we held him them to maybe like nine points or something like that and then the fourth we give up 26.  I don't really think our defense was that bad, but we were just not getting good enough shots, taking enough time to get them,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Julian (Washington) changed a few of those shots, but on the other hand, we also had at least two layups that we just missed.  So, in these kinds of games you just can't miss those shots, that's kind of the message to the younger kids.”

          Washington also scored a game high 24 points.  Justice Thompson had 21 for Crestview.

          Likely the key moment in the game came with :03 left in the third quarter when Judah Keller, the son of the coach, was hit in the was inadvertently hit in the area of the left eye while trying to set a pick.  Coach Keller pleaded for a foul to be called, but none was.  Judah returned early in the fourth quarter and played the rest of the of the game.

          Kurtz says you could tell the Polar Bears played with a different kind of intensity after the play.  “I felt like when Judah came back it was a little bit of an emotional rush and then they ranched us up a little bit,” he said.

          Coach Keller says the injury lit a fire in his team.  “I think the to be completely upfront with you.  I think more so than Judah getting that injury was Judah coming back into that game really kind of just galvanized our guys.  I have got to get him get stitches right now.  He galvanized us and our guys made plays.  So, proud to Tate Bailey and Gage Body and some big scores late. So, this was a heck of a win, but credit Crestview, man, they came ready to play and they got after it,” said Keller.

          Kurtz still felt they had some good opportunities to score, but the shots just wouldn’t drop.  “Honestly, we got some good looks, if those go in it might have been a different game, but they didn't go in,” he said.

Published 3/07/24

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Crestview Has to Make Good Decisions

          Crestview locks horns with Margaretta on Wednesday night at Norwalk High School in a division III district semifinal.

          The Cougars (22-1), winners of the Firelands Conference, have qualified for the district tournament in three of the last four years.

          Coach John Kurtz says it is special to be here, but they know they have a tremendous challenge.  “We certainly told our kids you know we want to enjoy the fact that we've made it to the districts.  We've gotten a chance to do that three of the four years that tour coaching staff has been here, but each time you want to remind the kids that it's special.  There's a great challenge out there and I think our district, these final four teams are all very good, Margaretta is especially very good and has been that way all year,” he said.

          Margaretta (21-3), co-champion of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, hammered Cardinal Stritch (74-39) in a sectional final last Friday.

          Kurtz says they will try to make the pace of the game be fast.  “I think they try to speed you up and I think they use a lot of different pressures to speed you up and they want to play that way and so they use those pressures to get you to maybe make some decisions quicker than you want to,” he told Swanknsports.com, “I think that's what makes them good.  Then they also have a couple outstanding players in Judah (Keller) and Julian (Washington), they're both really good players.  Julian is really hard to guard, he's a high level athlete and very, very quick and very smart and he's able to create his own shot just about anytime on the court.”

          Crestview, who has scored more than 75 points eight times this year, doesn’t mind playing fast.  However, Kurtz says they must be able to make quick, sound decisions.  “We like to get up and down, so that's probably not the greatest concern that we have, it would be more of the decision making and knowing when to go and when not to go.  We would prefer the game to be that way.  You never know when you get to the district sometimes most cases since we've been there, the game usually tends to slow down a little bit,” he said.

          Kurtz adds they will do all they can to get the kids prepared and then it will be up to them to make plays.  “I mean as coaches we can do all the prep and we can spend all the time looking at the film and coming up with strategies, but there's points in the game where players have got to make plays.  You just hope that you're putting the kids in the right spots and the right sets or putting them in the right situation where they can succeed.  At the end of the day, they're the ones that have to make the plays and they're the ones that have to make the good decisions,” said Kurtz.

Published 3/06/24

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Top Seed Crestview to Play Bucyrus

          Firelands Conference co-champion Crestview hosts Bucyrus, of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, on Friday night in a sectional final in division III.

          They hammered Western Reserve (73-37) to earn a share of the Firelands Conference title last Friday.

          Coach John Kurtz says he likes having something to play for on the last Friday.  “Well, we kind of like the idea of keeping our kids focused all the way to the end and I felt like we had to win that Western game.  We had to kind of finish the business there of at least tying for the Firelands.  So, it kept our kids motivated.  They've been disappointed since that loss to St. Paul, but we're able to clean up the end there and get a share on the Firelands,” said Kurtz.

          Crestview (21-1), #1 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at home against Bucyrus (7-16) on Friday night.  The Redmen outscored Northwood (73-66) in their tournament opener on Tuesday.

          Kurtz says he likes playing at home.  “We've had great crowds this year.  Chris Sheldon and I were talking about the size of the crowd there for our game the other night.  I told him that we had had some other crowds like that and our kids really liked to play at home, so we've had some very good games at home this year where we played really well.  So, we're happy about that.  I think that's part of the process of having a good record and so we're grateful for that” he said.

          The Redmen have won three of their last five and play in that rugged Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

          Kurtz says they can do some things with the ball in their hands.  “We went and watched them (Tuesday) night playing their first tournament game there at Northwood.  I thought they played really well.  In fact, I think they might be playing their best basketball right now,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon. “They just they played really well on offense.  We felt like they gave Northwood a lot of trouble inside.  I think that's probably a product of the “N10”.  There's a lot of good teams in the “N10”, a lot of bigger guys.  So, I think that might be something that they focused on and they were able to do that because they've had to do it all year.”

Published 2/29/24

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Crestview Gets a Title With a Win

          Crestview gets no less than a share of the title in the Firelands Conference with a win at home against Western Reserve on Friday night.

          Right now, they share the lead with Norwalk St. Paul.  The Flyers play New London.

          Coach John Kurtz says it’s a must win for the Cougars.  “It's an important game.  At the beginning of the year when we looked at our schedule, we knew that the league could come down to this, you just never know.  It's an important game and it just happens to be the last game of the season.  So, there's no chance to redeem yourself if you don't win this one,” he said.

          Crestview (20-1,12-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, hosts Western Reserve (10-9,7-6), on Friday night.  The Riders have lost their last four, including (56-48) to Mapleton in a Firelands Conference game last Friday.

          Even though their record is mediocre, Kurtz calls them very dangerous.  “I keep on watching film on them and you come back to probably the same thing that he would come up with is that they're very close to getting over the top on some of these games and they just haven't been able to do so in some of them.  I think that's just part of the growing process,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “The (Chase) Hipp kid is a really nice player, scores a lot of points, and they've got some pieces there, some really young pieces that probably just haven't experienced winning enough yet, but they're definitely a threat.  You have to take them seriously and you have to look at them and say once that light comes on and they get it figured out they're going to be a good team and I just don't want it to happen to us.”

          Also, last week Western took St. Paul to the end before losing (46-44) and Kurtz says if they don’t play well this could easily be the same kind of game.  “That's the game that we've been talking to our kids about is that they played them very tough, and had if I understand right, had an opportunity to win it at the end.  So, that just tells you that they're not that far away.  As they get more games under their belt, they're going to get better and have more confidence.  So, we want to try to get the pace of this game going in our direction and kind of take care of business, but you have to know that they're definitely a threat to the league title,” said Kurtz.

Published 2/23/24

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Crestview Refocused

          Crestview, the co-leader in the Firelands Conference, will be at Plymouth to play the Big Red in a conference game on Friday night.

          They share the lead in the conference with Norwalk St. Paul.  They fell back into a share after a (57-56) loss to the Flyers last Saturday.

          They responded to pound South Central (69-30) in a conference game on Tuesday night.

          Coach John Kurtz says they had better focus.  “Well, I felt like Saturday was a very poor performance for us and I don't think it's any secret that the coaching staff was not very happy nor the players.  Monday in film we saw a lot of things that needed to be corrected.  I think we've gotten a little bit careless with some of those details and so we talked through it in prep for South Central.  We went to South Central and played really well.  A lot of it was focus and just attention to detail.  We seemed to really bounce back there at South Central,” said Kurtz.

          Kurtz says the performance against South Central was directly a result of their poor execution, especially on defense, against St. Paul.  “Our defense was outstanding at South Central.  That was the challenge as we felt like we let St. Paul get some really easy looks on us and it's not typical of how we've been playing, but it was that night and so it was just kind of hit the reset button a little bit.  The kids that I have were very I guess the word is embarrassed and disappointed in their performance and so there's some good that came from that as far as getting that corrected before you get to the end of the season,” he said.

          Crestview (19-1,11-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Plymouth (8-11,6-6) on Friday night.  The Big Red is coming off a solid (50-43) win over Western Reserve last Friday.

          Kurtz says again they have to play well to win.  “I think coach (Eric) Picklesimer’s doing a really good job with them and they know what they can do and what they can't.  I think he's been really working hard to get them to you know play towards their strengths.  I think they're a good physical team, they're big and they're really good around the rim, so I think those are things you have to focus on.  Of course, the Bishop kids are good on the perimeter and they beat Western Reserve so that says a lot right there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Our kids are definitely not looking past them after losing to St. Paul.  So, we expect a good game and I think it's probably senior night for them.  So, the expectation for us is to get in there and kind of jump back in there and get back to work and be ready to go for what they're going to bring with just two games left in the season.”

Published 2/16/24

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St. Paul Beats Crestview at the Horn

          Norwalk St. Paul moved into a share of first place in the Firelands Conference when Evan Wangler got an inbound pass and scored at the buzzer lifting the Flyers to a (57-56) win over previously unbeaten Crestview on Saturday night at the Harvey Keller Gym in Norwalk.

          It’s not to suggest that the Flyers were impersonating the 1980 United States Olympic Hockey team and Wangler was Mike Eruzione, but there probably weren’t that many people outside the St. Paul locker room that were giving the Flyers much of a chance, especially considering the Cougars thrashed them (70-33) on January 11.

          Tyson Ringer had put Crestview in position to keep their record clean when he made two free throws with 1:09 left to cut St. Paul’s lead to (55-54) with 1:09 to play and then he stole an inbounds pass and converted a layup with :49 on the clock to put the Cougars up one (56-55) leading to the final play.

          St. Paul dribbled out front and Crestview was content to let them take time off the clock, which they did, until taking timeout with :17 remaining.  The Flyers got the ball inbounds, but could not get a good shot and called another time out with 2.6 seconds left.

          St. Paul coach Steve Minor says Wangler, coming off a pick by Nolan McCall. was able to work himself free for the game winner.  “Well, it's always a crapshoot, is it going to be zone or is going to be man.  So, we had a play called for one or the other.  I said if they come out in this, we’ll switch to that and.  They knew better than I did because I thought it looked like a zone to me.  They were packing it in because they knew we don't need a three, but a lot of kids want to take those these days,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “I called out for our zone set and Evan Wangler, our senior leader, he just smelled the ball and smelled the win because he made a move and got open.  They went with our guards, they went with our big guy, I’d guard the 6’6” guy that close to the basket too.  There was Evan for a big shot, which he passed up with about a minute to go that he could have taken an easy layup to give us a six point lead and you wonder if was going to come back and bite us.  He's the kind of guy that will do his best to atone for it and he did.”

          Crestview coach John Kurtz sats that was not the first time St. Paul has beaten them on just such a play on Saturday night.  “Well, we got beat by that play like two or three times in the game and we thought we had it all taken care of, but we did not.  So, congratulations to them, it is a nice set and they got they got a game-winning bucket out of it,” said Kurtz.

          The game had three lead changes and four ties in the opening two quarters and was tied (26-26) at the intermission.

          In the third quarter, St. Paul (13-5,10-1) took the lead (34-31) on Michael Kirk’s three with 4:13 left in the quarter.  He followed with another three on the next possession and Crestview’s Justice Thompson responded with a three, Kirk added another hoop to make it (39-35) Flyers with 2:26 in the quarter.

          Crestview would retake the lead (40-39) on another Thompson goal with 1:41 to play in the third.  The Cougars this season have been able to produce spurts to put games away and that looked like that was going to happen again Saturday night.

          They went on a (10-2) run, fueled by seven points from Thompson, to take a (50-41) lead with 7:12 to play in the contest, but St. Paul went on their own run (13-0) to take a (55-50) advantage with 3:00 on the clock.  McCall had eight points in that stretch for the Flyers.

          Minor says against Crestview you have to respond and they did that on Saturday night.  “They have a tendency to make those spurts into 17, 16 point spurts.  So, we knew they were going to have their runs and we just talked about countering them and if it got too big this chip away at it.  The biggest thing with them is we know they're going to score, but we have to counter, we have to answer, we have to score back.  The first time we played against them, we were just so overwhelmed that once we missed the rims tightened up and we got very timid.  They have come along way.  They didn't just want a moral victory not losing by 40 points.  They wanted it all (Saturday) night and my gosh they did a great job,” said Minor.

          Crestview (18-1,10-1) has not been slamming the door in recent games and Kurtz says Saturday night that cost them.  “We have been doing that a little bit lately.  Running the score out and then letting teams back into it.  So, you have got to give them credit they played well in that stage of the game and that hurt us,” he said.

          St. Paul made six threes and a number of other outside shots and Minor says they like those rims in the Keller gym.  “It's really nice to have some home cooking,” he said.

          McCall and Korey Frazee both had 11 and Kirk 10 for St. Paul.  Thompson had 22 for Crestview.

          Crestview has three conference games left with South Central (2-17,0-11) Tuesday, Plymouth (8-11,6-6) on Friday and Western Reserve (10-6,7-4) on February 23.

          Kurtz says they understand the assignment.  “All of them are important, that's right, the next two are important and the Western game is important, so we have got to make sure that we finish the deal here.” he said.

          The Flyers play at Western Reserve on Wednesday, at Monroeville (6-13,4-8) on Friday and finish at home with New London (1-17,1-11) the 23^rd.

          Minor knows it won’t be easy.  “It’s fun, but there's a lot of tough games left.  Chris Sheldon (Western Reserve) stands in the way next, just who you wouldn't want to stand in your way anytime.  He's going to give his all against us and he's going to dissect everything we do and it's going to be a battle in Wakeman,” said Minor.

Published 2/10/24

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Crestview Needs That Defensive Intensity

          Unbeaten Crestview leads Norwalk St. Paul by one and Mapleton by three in the standings in the Firelands Conference and the play them both this week on the road.

          They are at Mapleton on Thursday and at St. Paul on Saturday.

          Now, the Cougars (17-0,9-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, really had their way with both opponents earlier in the season, hammering Mapleton (78-39) on December 30 and whipping St. Paul (70-33) on January 11.

          Coach John Kurtz says they sort have to forget about those games.  “We knew this week was going to be challenging when we looked at our schedule early on and I think it is even made a bit tougher by the fact that we beat both teams at home by fairly wide margins.  So, I think that human nature is that you become complacent and that's the big thing we've been talking about, talked about last night, just making sure that our kids are ready to go knowing that both these teams are capable of beating us in their gym.  So, yeah it's a challenging week and it has a lot of implications on a lot of different things as far as tournament and the Firelands conference,” said Kurtz.

          Mapleton (12-5,7-3) handled Plymouth (53-39) in a conference game on Friday night and added a (71-16) win over Mansfield St. Peter’s on Saturday in a non-conference game.

          Kurtz says they have the potential to score a lot of points.  “I just think they shoot the ball really well and they shoot especially well in their gym, that's something that you have to pay attention to.  So, I think they've had some nights where I watched a film where they scored like 89 points, so they can really score the basketball.  You have to be ready to go defensively and not have moments in the game where you have two or three possessions where you're just not locked in defensively,” he said.

          St. Paul (11-5,8-1) kept themselves a game back by belting South Central (64-47) last Friday.

          Kurtz says they have to continue to play the defense they have been.  “Well, I’m sure for them that's a huge game at their building and it is for us also.  It's our chance to make it difficult for anybody to catch us in the Firelands.  So, we're expecting both of these games to be very, very tough.  I expect there to be a great crowd at St. Paul,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “I think for us going to St. Paul on Saturday, it's about our focus.  We're going to have a Thursday game and how we do there and are we focused on Saturday and ready to go.  I think the big key for us in the last two games has just been our level of intensity on defense and it's been pretty good, so we're hoping that carries over to St. Paul on Saturday.”

Published 2/06/2024

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Crestview Has to be Focused

          Unbeaten Crestview, the Firelands Conference leader, will be at home for New London in a conference game on Friday night.

          The Cougars lead Norwalk St. Paul by a game in the conference standings.  They play at St. Paul next Saturday.

          They beat Northwestern (79-61) in a non-league game on Tuesday night.

          Coach John Kurtz says it was not their best effort, but it was good enough.  “Honestly, we didn't play that well, just a little bit sloppy at times in that game.  We had a really big second quarter and we're able to kind of carry that about 20 point margin through the through the rest of the game.  I wasn't really pleased with our play.  We didn't in particular pass the ball well, but we are able to get the job done,” said Kurtz.

          The win over Northwestern was the 400^th in Kurtz’s career as a high school basketball coach.  “Well, I guess it just means I've gotten older, you know what I mean.  So, it was nice to reach that number.  I was telling some other people that it just was a moment that I was very reflective and thankful for the really dedicated players that I've had over the years and coaches.  So, it was a nice moment.  I had a lot of players call me the next day, so it was nice to have happen,” he said.

          Kurtz has had two tours of duty at Crestview, plus time at Mansfield Christian and Mansfield Temple Christian.

          New London (1-14,1-9) has a very young squad this year.  Crestview beat them (85-46) on December 22.

          Kurtz knows that the Wildcats are going to come in on Friday night and play hard.  “I think Tom (Howell) does a good job with them.  I look back at that film and early on in that game they hung right with us that first quarter.  In the end, our talent probably pretty much prevailed there.  I expect them to come in here and give us a real battle,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Even in the games that they've lost, I don't see anytime where their kids really aren't playing hard.  There's things that we have got to work on as well from our standpoint.  So, I think it's kind of a combination of both, but yeah sometimes when your winning games by plus 20 could be a bad thing too.”

Published 2/02/24

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Crestview With A Lot to Play for

          Crestview, the Firelands Conference leader, plays at home against Monroeville in a conference game on Friday night.

          They downed Lucas (72-61) on Monday in a non-league play.

          Coach John Kurtz says they were able to pull away from the Cubs.  “Well, we didn't start off too great in that game.  I think we got down like 6-0 or 8-0 or something like that.  Then went on a couple pretty good runs to push it out.  We missed a lot of shots inside during the course of that game and that was a little bit frustrating.  We were able to get the job done and that's a good win for us.  They’re a good team, Taylor (Iceman) and his staff do a good job.  So, it was a good win for us.  It kind of takes that terrible taste out of your mouth losing them like we did last year,” he said.

          Crestview (14-0,7-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, hosts Monroeville (3-10,3-6) on Friday night. The Eagles lost (41-39) to Plymouth last Saturday in a conference game.  Crestview won at Monroeville (66-49) on December 15.

          Kurtz says they have some size.  “Well, we took a peek at them (Wednesday) and it's been a long time ago since we played them it seems like.  They've played in some much tougher games.  They gave St. Paul a really good run up there, so you know I think they're playing better.  They're big, they can probably get close to matching our size.  So, that's of a concern to us.  It's one of the games where we told our kids you have to be ready to go and you have got to be focused and not let somebody sneak up on you,” he said.

          Norwalk St. Paul is just a game behind the Cougars and Kurtz says they have them in the review mirror.  “I think St. Paul would say that they didn't play very well in our gym and we played very well, so you have to take that into account high school basketball.  There are nights where things don't go great for you and there's nights where things really click.  I think on that given night, we had a lot of things going on that were really good.  So, we expect them to be very motivated when we get to them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We have got games to go before we get to them.  Our kids have been really good we just really don't think very hard far ahead.  So, we have got Monroeville and then we have got games next week and then we have a tough week of away games with St. Paul and Mapleton and those games will probably you know be close maybe to determining the league.  It'll be hard to say, we might have to go all the way to Western, but those games are very important.  When you're still undefeated everybody's got that date schedule circled on their calendar.”

Published 1/24/2024

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Crestview Continuing to do it

          Unbeaten Crestview returns to action in the Firelands Conference on Friday night as they are South Central against the Trojans.

          On Tuesday night, they edged division I Madison (61-56) in a non-conference game.

          Coach John Kurtz says he knew they were in for a game and they came through in the clutch.  “Well, I knew that it was going to be a real battle.  I think Madison has lost some games this year that they've been highly competitive in and I think their record is deceiving.  I think Chris (Armstrong) does a great job with those guys.  It was a real battle the whole game.  We got some timely three point shots made in that fourth quarter.  We struggled making them earlier in the game and it kind of gave us a little cushion.  Then there at the end, we were maybe like 8 for 8 or 10 for 10 from the free throw line,” said Kurtz.

          Crestview (13-0,7-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at South Central (2-10,0-7) on Friday night.  The Trojans lost (67-45) to Plymouth in a conference game last Saturday.

          Crestview destroyed the Trojans (76-28) on December 8.

          Kurtz feels it will be tougher at South Central.  “I think they're much improved.  That was early in the season, seems like a really long time ago.  I think them having a new coach probably played into that a little bit and so we're expecting a battle up there.  They always play really well in their gym,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “I think they're playing better than they were at the beginning of the year.  So, I expect us to have a real battle on their court.  We have talked to our kids already about the fact that we've got a lot of tough games coming up, a lot of tough games coming down the stretch and we just need to be prepared for each one of them.”

          Next Monday, the Cougars host Mid-Buckeye Conference leader Lucas (8-2) at their place.

          Kurtz says they are looking forward to it.  “They've played really well against us since I've been here.  I don't necessarily think that we played that great last year at their school and I certainly give credit to them and for the way they played us, but we didn't play very well.  We're at home and hopefully we can play well and play to our strengths,” he said.

Published 1/18/2024

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Crestview to Tangle with St. Paul

          It’s a battle of Firelands Conference co-leaders on Thursday night as Crestview plays host to Norwalk St. Paul.

          Both are 5-0 in conference play.

          Crestview beat Plymouth (59-39) in a conference game last Friday.  They then went to Highland and downed the Fighting Scots (58-48) in a non-conference game on Saturday.

          Coach John Kurtz says they played some excellent defense against Highland.  “Well, I think Highland has got to be one of the better one win teams that I've seen in a while.  They're big and they were physical and it was a good game throughout.  I felt like defensively in the first half might have been some of the best defense we've played this year.  We held them to 13 points and did a great job.  The fourth quarter they got hot, but we we're able to withstand that.  I think you go in those places like that and other team has nothing to lose and they had a good game plan against us and executed pretty well,” he said.

          Crestview (10-0,5-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, hosts Norwalk St. Paul (7-1,5-0) on Thursday night.  The Flyers got past Monroeville (43-39) in a conference game last Friday.  On Tuesday night, they downed Vermilion (54-47) in a non-conference game.  The Flyers have won their last seven. 

          Kurtz says they have a nice, balanced attack.  “They have a lot of kids back from last season.  The McCall kid, a lot goes through him, the big kid and you have got to be aware where he's at defensively and also work to keep him off the glass.   The Frazee kid is a good shooter and we want to make sure that he doesn't get very many looks,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They have a lot of kids that do a lot of the dirty work, three or four kids, Kirk, another big kid other big kid inside that do the dirty work and clean the glass.  They've gotten better.  I think you know they probably got a little bit late start with football, but I think they've played better as of late and it's going to be a good test.”

          Kurtz says the Cougars have to push the tempo, shoot it well, and get some rebounds.  “Well, I think we got to keep them off the glass and we've done a good job of that all year, but I think that's something that we've been talking about.  Second thing is we have got to shoot the ball well and we didn’t shoot the ball well at Highland the other night.  So, those are things I think will be key.  The other one I think is pace.  We're going to want to get up and down.  A lot of teams are not real happy with that, so they're trying to control those possessions, the number of possessions.  So, I think pace will be important and how well we shoot the ball,” said Kurtz.

Published 1/10/2024

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Crestview Expects Challenge

          Unbeaten Crestview, the Firelands Conference leader, is at home for the Plymouth Big Red in a conference game on Friday night.

          The Cougars share the lead with Norwalk St. Paul and play the Flyers next week.

          Last Saturday, they absolutely dominated a pretty good Mapleton team (78-39) in a conference game.

          Coach John Kurtz attributes that success to defense and rebounding.  “Well, we played really well and maybe they didn't play quite as well as they typically have.  In the second half, we really were working hard on defense and on the glass and I think both those things showed up in that third quarter,” said Kurtz.

          Kurtz has been known as a coach that preaches defense and he says they are getting better in that area.  “Those two weeks around the Christmas, New Year’s time that was our point of emphasis.  We've shown great improvement in that.  Some of that was choosing to play harder and some of that was just making sure we are correct in our positioning,” he said.

          Crestview (8-0,4-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, entertains Plymouth (3-6,2-2) on Friday night.  They lost (62-39) to St. Paul last Friday.

          Kurtz says they have the kind of personnel that can give them problems.  “I think they're physical and I think the Bishop kid is a really good scorer and a good shooter and he's gotten better from last year.  So, they do present different problems for you,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “That's going to be a good game for us.  It’s going to be a tough game.  They usually play us pretty tough.  I just feel like you know that's a battle in the conference right now on those nights where these guys that are maybe in the middle of the league right now, they could still give you a really tough game.”

Published 1/04/2024

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Defense the Key for Crestview

          Crestview, the Firelands Conference co-leader, plays at home against Mapleton in a big game on Saturday night in conference play.

          The Cougars laid waste to New London (85-46) last Friday in “FC” action with a big second half.

          Coach John Kurtz says they know they can be so much better.  “Well, we're happy to be in the position that we are in, but on the other hand you know as coaches go you pretty much have a lot of things that you feel like you need to get better at.  We've had pretty long breaks between our last game getting to New London then this break.  So, we tried to put a few new wrinkles in here and tried to become better at the things we thought we needed to work on,” he said.

          Crestview (7-0,3-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, will entertain Mapleton (5-1,2-1) on Saturday night.  The Mounties beat Plymouth (61-54) in their last conference game.

          Kurtz says there is no question that they have scorers.  “I think this team has the ability to score a lot of points.  They have a number of kids that are back that can really shoot the ball.  We got to see them once in person and a couple times on film, but they're very dangerous team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “I think they're a little bit bigger than they were last year, but the (Ryan) Hickey kid and I think it’s (Kyle) Sloter, those kids are really good offensive players and they also have some other kids that have jumped into roles when they put them in positions to shoot the ball more.  They're handful and it's going to be quite a good game I think.”

          Crestview has some games when they have played pretty well on defense, but they can be a lot more consistent and Kurtz says that needs to be the case on Saturday night.  “It's been really a point of emphasis for us I guess it's going to be probably about the past eight days or so it's just being a little bit more sound on defense.  We have the ability to do that, but I think sometimes our kids feel like you know they can outscore you.  I don't think that's a good mindset to have and so we've really been after them this week about being better in our positioning and a little bit more aggressive.  We sometimes tend to be a little bit laid back in our approach,” said Kurtz.

Published 12/28/23

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Crestview Working on Getting Better

          Crestview, the Firelands Conference leader, plays at New London in a conference game on Friday night.

          Last week, the Cougars (6-0,2-0), #1 in the first Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball poll in the small school division, beat Monroeville (66-49) in a conference game.

          Coach John Kurtz says they benefited from a good start.  “Well, we started off pretty hot and I think we're up maybe 9-0, something like that, and then they tried to slow the game down on us a bit we're somewhat successful with it.  They went into a zone and we didn't shoot the ball particularly well, but we were we able to come out there with a win,” he said.

          Kurtz says they need to a better job of putting the game away when they have the chance.  “Well, I just think we don't consistently put the hammer down, which is sometimes frustrating for me.  I think we get comfortable and we sometimes take our foot off the gas and that's something that I think you have to learn to handle.  I just still think there's room for us defensively.  In the last game, which is not been typical, we didn't shoot the ball particularly well from the three,” he told Swnkonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Those are just the things we look at that we need to get better.  I think our kids knew it after the game that we left a lot of points on the table.  I think we shot like 5-21 or something like that from three and we've been shooting better than that.  It's just a lot of shots there that just rimmed out.  So, that would be something I would think just off the top of my head after watching the film would be things that we want to clean up.”

          New London (0-6,0-3) lost (46-30) to Monroeville on Saturday night in conference play.

          Kurtz says the Cougars need to focus on improving.  “I think personnel we know what they have coming back and know they're kind of rebuilding.  These are games where you really got work to try to improve on these things that we previously talked about and that's kind of how we're looked at this week.  Tom Howell is back there and I have got great respect for him and what he does and it won't be long and they'll be back to the way they were.  I think you tend to look past these teams and we just want to continually get better.  I think they're struggling a little bit and rebuilding, but from our standpoint we want to look at ourselves and try to get better.  It’s a long season and you can fall behind if you don't keep getting better.  I know that sounds cliché, but that's just where we think we're at,” said Kurtz.

Published 12/19/23

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Monroeville Next up for Crestview

          Crestview takes the bus to Monroeville for a Firelands Conference game on Friday night.

          The Cougars have played five games over the first two weeks of the season and won them all and coach John Kurtz says he has been happy with the kids approach to the schedule.  “Yeah, I mean the fact that it's really hard to prep for that many games early in the season.  I think that would be the part that was the most difficult.  We had prepared our kids for that telling them that there was this possibility that it was going to be rough to really scout and know the opponent that well, but our kids responded well.  We had a tight one at Colonel Crawford and I was pleased with our resilience and pleased with how our kids handled that game,” he said.

          Their toughest game so far was a (40-39) win at Colonel Crawford on Saturday.  Kurtz says they handled some end of the game situations pretty well.  “It's a hard place to play, Colonel Crawford, they don't lose very often in that gym.  So, I think that was good.  I think the other thing was good for us too was we made a couple big shots late in that game and the other thing too was we went through adversity with a couple missed layups and a little bit of adversity without having Malachi Spoerr available to us that night.  So, there were some things that we got through that were positive.  The game itself was tough and physical and I think it was what we needed at this time,” said Kurtz.

          Monroeville (0-3,0-1) lost in overtime to Plymouth (61-56) last Friday in conference play.

          Kurtz says the Eagles are pressing a little more this year than in the past.  “On film I mean they played Wynford really tough and Wynford’s got a lot of talent back and had a good year.  I think Monroeville is maybe a little bit inexperienced overall, but the (Gabe) Howell kid back, which has been one of their better offensive players.  So, I think in their gym, they're very good.  We have a lot of respect for them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We're kind of thinking that going in there they're going to play differently.  It looks like they're pressing more, they're doing some things like that to maybe create tempo and maybe create some open court situations.  We're expecting to see some of the same stuff that Monroeville has done over the years that they've done well, but that would be the things we saw on film that would be a little bit different.”

Published 12/13/23

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Crestview Edges Colonel Crawford

          Jarek Ringler grabbed an offensive rebound and cashed in on a pair of free throws with 34 seconds left to give Crestview a (40-39) win over Colonel Crawford in a physical non-conference basketball game played at Mac Morrison Gym in North Robinson on Saturday night.

          Crawford took its first lead of the game since it was (3-2) when Payne Degray muscled one in with 1:42 left in the game to give the Eagles a (39-38) advantage.  However, they failed to score the next three times they had it.

          They had one final chance taking the ball out under their own basket with :06 left.  They were able get the ball to senior Trevor Vogt, who was able to spilt two defenders and get a good look from in the lane, but the ball rolled off the rim at the horn.

          Crestview coach John Kurtz was holding his breath because Vogt freed himself for a good opportunity.  “He did… we kind of expected the ball being in his hands and yeah just rolled off.   I mean it was a good look and it just didn't go in, sometimes that happens,” he said.

          Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon says they got the shot they wanted.  “We couldn’t ask for a better look.  Trevor 's right in front of the rim.  That's the shot you want.  You want to put your kids in opportunities and our kids had an opportunity.  Even the possession before, we got the lead, we spread the floor.  We had a couple opportunities again, we just didn't capitalize.  Our kids effort for 32 minutes, it was a war, physical and I couldn't be more proud of the way we played,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “That's one of the best teams in this area and just it's a great non-league game.  Those are the kind you want to play to get you ready down the road when you're in wars like this.  We had every opportunity and credit Crestview they got an offensive rebound and got to the foul line and make two free throws basically to win it.”

          It was a game that resembled being stuck in rush hour traffic in New York City moving at a snail’s pace.

          Kurtz says they knew it was going to be that way.   “We told our kids all week, it's not all run up and down, they're not going to press, it's going to be half court, they're going to take 40 seconds to run a set.  I thought our defense was really good (Saturday).   I thought it might be the best defense we've had all year,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “They're really patient and they take a lot of time off the clock.  We just kept building that lead to eight, but couldn't get over it or nine, I think.  Then after that we just had to gut it out.  There were probably three straight stops there, so pretty cool.”

          Crestview scored seven of the final nine points of the first quarter to take (9-4) lead after one.

          Crawford got it down to three (15-12) on Vogt’s two free throws with 2:41 to go in the half, but Crestview went on a (9-4) run, seven of those points coming from junior Justice Thompson to lead (24-16) at the break.

          The Cougars got up as many as eight in the third quarter (28-20) after Tyson Ringler’s basket with 5:11 to play in the third.

          They took their biggest lead of the night at (35-25) when Tyson Ringer scored the first basket of the final quarter with 7:37 left.

          But, the Eagles kept chipping away and they tied it at (35-35) on Vogt’s three with 4:40 to play.  Crestview got back up by three (38-35) when Thompson bagged a three with 3:53 left.  Degray cut to (38-37) a tough basket in the lane, but missed the tying free throw with 3:08 to play.

          Both defenses forced tough shots in the closing possessions and nobody scored until Degray’s basket at the 1:42 mark.

          Sheldon says he was proud of the way his kids kept fighting.  “The team just runs through walls.  They're relentless at the defensive end.  They're playing the way we need to offensively with this group.  There's no back down with this group.  That's a nice thing and why it's just the fun to see this process so early in the season because we’ve got so much to go.  This is a good learning opportunity and like I said we went toe to toe with one best division III teams in this area,” said Sheldon.

          With the patience Crawford showed with the ball, Kurtz says they had to be patient too.  “We used one time out because we thought took two bad shots, but honestly we did also miss like three point blank layups in the fourth quarter that I think we typically make, but credit to them they played really hard, really well, Dave (Sheldon) does an incredible job,” he said.

          Vogt led Colonel Crawford with 16 points.  Degray added 13.

          Thompson led everybody with 20, 15 in the first half.

          Colonel Crawford (3-1) plays Buckeye Central and Bucyrus in Northern 10 Athletic Conference games next week.

          Sheldon says this team is going to get a lot better this year.  “We already have from day one to now how far this team's came and made progress each week.  We just have got to keep progressing, that's the thing.  It's a marathon I've always said this season step by step you lead through the league race and then the tournament.  So, these guys will come back Monday and get back to work,” he said.

          Crestview (5-0) plays at Monroeville in a Firelands Conference game on Friday.

          Kurtz says this kind of game is going to help them the rest of the year.  “That was the first thing we told our kids, it was like a tournament game.  That's why we play these guys because that's what they do.  That's the kind of game they're going to give you every time and that's a testament to their program and how they play,” he said.

Published 12/10/23

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Cougars Have to Get Better on Defense

          Crestview, the defending champion in the Firelands Conference, plays its first conference game on Friday night at home against South Central.

          They play at Colonel Crawford in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

          They beat Fredericktown (79-56) in a non-league game on Tuesday night.

          Coach John Kurtz says he still wants better defense from his players.  “Well, I thought we were still pretty good offensively.  I wasn't entirely pleased with how we played defensively, but we've spent a good bit of time (Wednesday) and will (Thursday) on that.  I see some improvement in practice, but still it was a win and Fredericktown's a good team.  So, you have a lot of ups and downs in the year and we're just happy to get that win,” said Kurtz.

          Crestview (3-0) hosts South Central (1-0) on Friday night.  The Trojans beat Mansfield St. Peter’s (65-36) last week. 

          Kurtz says they want to force tempo.  “Well, I think this weekend will probably be somewhat contrasting styles.  It sounds like South Central likes to get up and down and probably are a smaller lineup.  Crawford's big and going to be very physical in their gym.  So, I think it'll be kind of different each night, so we'll have to adapt to those different styles,” he said.

          Colonel Crawford (2-0) is coming off a (41-34) win over Northmor in non-league play on Saturday night.

          Kurtz says the Eagles are physical and he says they must compete on the boards.  “Well, I mean I've watched their game against Northmor and Dave’s (Sheldon) is doing a great job with those guys.  He's got big kids and multiple times in the game they get two and three shots during a possession,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “I think that's a credit for the way he coaches and the way his kids respond.  They really make it hard on you on the offensive end, their physical, especially at the point of attack and they also they really do a great job on the boards on both ends, so that's something that's for us is a big concern.”

Published 12/8/23

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Crestview Outguns Ontario

          Crestview scored at least 20 points in every quarter as they raced past Ontario (105-94) in a non-conference boys’ basketball game on Saturday night.

          The points scored by the Cougars marked the most ever by a Crestview team in the history of the program.  It also tied a record for the most surrendered by an Ontario team in its history.

          Actually, when I got home my neck was sore.  My first thought was, okay Swank you’re just an old man, but then it came to me it was like I had just watched the Wimbledon final or maybe the surveillance camera showing Madonna’s bedroom door.

          Crestview only trailed once in the game and that was (3-2) after James Mahon’s three pointer with 6:47 left the first quarter.  However, the Warriors never really went away and shot the ball pretty well from the perimeter.

          Crestview coach John Kurtz says they like playing that kind of game and thrived in that atmosphere.  “This was an interesting game.  I don't think we played very well defensively, but in these nights where a lot of shots are being made we like to play that way, so we weren't backing down,” said Kurtz.

          First year Ontario coach Jerry Moton says Crestview gave them what they expected.  He says they gave up too many layups and didn’t compete on the boards like he would liked.  “We knew what they were when we were coming into the game.  They rebound hard, they’re physical in the paint and they love to get out in transition.  We just didn't get the job done defensively and we didn't rebound as a team.” Said Moton.

          With way especially the Warriors like to play it is going to lead to a lot of runs in the game.

          Crestview led (18-9) with 1:46 left in the first quarter after an old fashion three point play by Dylan Bruner, but Ontario got it back to one (20-19) on a goal by Brady Zehe with 7:21 in the half.

          The Warriors cut it to (46-45) with 7:40 to go in the third after a three by Grady Schroeder, but the Cougars got back up 11 at (58-47) with 5:32 left in the quarter when Justice Thompson drove to hole and scored and followed that with a free throw.

          However, Ontario got it back to a two-point game at the 2:45 mark of the third (64-62) on another hoop by Zehe.

          Crestview got up 14 twice in the fourth quarter, last time at (86-72) with 5:47 to play after another Thompson goal.

          Kurtz says he was proud of how they played in the fourth quarter.  “I just felt like that there were just a lot of defensive breakdowns and to their credit they made shots, they made some pretty deep threes,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “You know hats off to them, but in the end, I like we were really tough going down the stretch.”

          Moton was disappointed in the loss, but says this is just a starting point for his team.  “It’s a learning curve when you’re trying to implement a new system into a program.  It’s just going to take some time, but our guys are getting better each and every day and I'm proud of them,” he said.

          Crestview has four players score more than 20 points in the game led by Thompson’s 39, plus Jarek Ringler had 21 and both Bruner and Tyson Ringler had 20.

          Grady Schroeder led Ontario with 27.

          Kurtz smiled when he said how happy he was with their unselfishness.  “What we were really excited about was to how many assists we had (Saturday) night.  We had Jarek for like 11 assists and another player with like eight and  another player with like seven, so obviously there's a lot of baskets, but there's also a really unselfish element to this team,” said Kurtz.

Published 12/03/23

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Crestview Facing Some Unknowns

          Crestview, the defending Firelands Conference, tips off the season this weekend with a pair of non-conference games at home with Mansfield Christian on Friday and Ontario on Saturday.

          Coach John Kurtz says they have become a better team through the preseason.  “It seems like it's been a long November for us, but I think it's been good.  We've scrimmaged a lot of bigger schools and I feel like that's been good for us.  I didn't feel like early in this preseason that we were playing that well, but I think we've worked through a few things and we look like a much better team than we did in the beginning of November,” he said.

          Kurtz says they have a lot of kids back from a team that lost in the division III district semifinal last year, but some of them must play different positions.  “I mean even though we bring a lot of kids back we still have people that are in different positions than they were last year.  So, there's certainly a time of working through that and figuring out roles and trying to figure out where you're supposed to be,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “There's certain things that the preseason I think really does help you get through before you get into the season, but I also feel like when you have a  more experienced team they're quite a bit more excited about getting into the regular season.”

          Mansfield Christian returns Amarr Davis, a four year starter, and Kurtz says they have an influx of talent too.  “They have the three kids that have transferred in and then obviously they bring Amarr (Davis) back and (Davis) Wushinske and some kids like that that have been playing playing for a number of years, probably most of their high school years they have been playing varsity ball.  We saw them this summer and they do have a lot of kids that have played against us multiple times.  So, I think they do they bring back a pretty experienced group,” said Kurtz.

          Kurtz says frankly both Mansfield Christian and Ontario have a sense of mystery to them.  “We played them there last year and they were one of our losses during the regular season, one of the two losses, so our kids are interested in that game.  Overall, this is a tough weekend Mansfield Christian has got kids that have transferred in and Ontario's got a new coaching staff and certain kids that we've seen, but some of them I don't think are playing.  So, the weekend's tough to start out with two tough teams like that, that's a real challenge for us.”

Published 12/01/23

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Crestview Needs to Handle Expectations

          Crestview is likely the favorite to repeat as Firelands Conference champions this season and the Cougars have to be able to handle that pressure.

          Coach John Kurtz says a benefit heading into this year is that his kids where able to get into the gym a lot more in the fall than they have is some previous years.  “Well, we probably didn't have as many football players this year as we have typically, so our kids have been in the gym and got to have open gym and work on some stuff that we typically maybe don't get everybody in during football, but this year it's worked out a little better for us.  So, we've got a little bit more time in than we typically would,” said Kurtz.

          The Cougars begin the season with a double weekend at home with Mansfield Christian and Ontario on December 1 and 2.  Their first Firelands Conference game is December 8 as they host South Central.

          Kurtz says due to the calendar there is a extra week of practice when compared to last season and he says coaches will put that to go use.  “I mean I think it's a good thing other than the fact that you know after so many days of practice your kids are ready to play a game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “It does for the coaches it gives you a little bit more time to maybe work on some things that you feel like are a point of emphasis for you and maybe get some of your younger kids a little bit more on the same page.”

          Now, there has been a lot of talk around the conference about how good Crestview can be this season.  Kurtz says the players have to be able to handle that pressure.  “I mean we've been pretty blunt with our kids about that expectations can be good and bad.  Expectations can put a lot of pressure on you and if you're not ready for that you know it could hurt you.  The expectations to meet you can't factor in injuries and all the different things.  Yeah, that's kind of a tough thing to navigate sometimes with high school kids,” he said.

Published 11/16/23

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Crestview Takes on Carey

          Crestview will be at Carey for a first round playoff game in division VI on Friday night.

          It will be the third meeting between the programs in the playoffs in the last four years.  Carey won in 2021, they won the division VI state championship that year, and 2020 by the same score of (42-14).

          Crestview coach Steve Haverdill says there is no question the programs know each other pretty well.  “I think this is going to be the fifth time we've played since 2018, this will be the third time in the playoffs.  They're a very good football program, very traditional rich, similar to us.  They've had our number for the last couple of years.  This year's team they look very good on all three phases and big and fast and so we've got a great challenge ahead of us,” he said.

          Crestview (4-6) lost (28-18) to Mapleton in Firelands Conference play last week.

          Carey (8-2), #5 in the final Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, ran the table in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, winning the title outright with a (55-6) whipping of Seneca East last week.

          They don’t have any players with outstanding numbers, but have a lot of talented players that handle the ball.

          Haverdill says they want to force you to stop the run.  “They're get in that Maryland “I” and they're going to try and run down your throats and every so often they'll you know try to sprinkle in some stuff to have a little fun.  It's almost like they get bored at times because they're beating teams so bad that they're going to start throwing some stuff around and do some trick plays and things like that.  Theoretically they can just sit back and they're going to try and run it down your throats and set everything else up that way.  So, we have got to be able to stop the run and try to control the up front in the trenches,” said Haverdill.

          Carey has allowed only five scores in the last month, including a (27-7) win over once beaten Colonel Crawford.

          Haverdill says their players are in the right spot.  “They read extremely well and they're very gap sound in their 3-4.  I mean there's times they'll put two lineman up there even and guys are roaming and they get to where they need to get to.  They're very fast, explosive, they tackle very well and they're very physical,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They read well, so when its run they're swarming to the football, when it's pass they're in their areas and their zone areas or if they're playing man they're right on that hip and they got guys rushing and so you don't have much time to throw.  So, they're very, very aggressive and a very good unit.”

Published 10/27/23

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Crestview Focusing on Getting Better

          With wins in three of its last four games, the Crestview Cougars are making a late season run going into their final regular season game at Mapleton in Firelands Conference play on Friday night.

          They rallied to beat Western Reserve (27-26) in conference play last week when Liam Kuhn found Tyson Ringler for a TD pass with less than two minutes to play.  The Cougars preserved the win by intercepting a pass.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says it was a great win for them.  “Our kids played very well.  They battled and they didn’t quit.  We talked about finishing, being able to finish games and that's exactly what they did.  As a coaching staff sitting on the sides, it's really fun watching of this young team grow and that was a huge step in the right direction,” he said.

          Haverdill says the kids are starting to understand what it takes to beat good teams.  “I mean you have got to learn how to do it.  A lot of these guys got to watch last few years, but it's different when all sudden you're the one that's got to produce.  We have been getting better every week and been grinding and working extremely hard,” he told Swankponsports.com on Sunday evening, “That hard work came to fruition the other night against a very good Western team that's well coached.  The kids learned how to finish a game and finish on top and now that confidence sets in, which is always going to help here on out.”
          Crestview (4-5,3-2) visits Mapleton (4-5,2-3) on Friday night.  Indian Creek beat Mapleton (40-12) in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

          Haverdill says the Mounties execute an offense that is hard to stop.  “They run a very good offensive.  Coach (Matt) Stafford runs that misdirection wing-T out of the gun, pistol look and they're very good at running it.  They're lineman are big and they block very well, the quarterback, Cline kid, is very elusive, he runs the ball very well and can throw the ball.  They have weapons on the sides and the outside that you can't overlook either.  So, they do score a lot of points and it's another great test and challenge for our defense,” he said.

          Crestview stands 10^th in their division VI region.  They can get a home playoff game with a win.  “We talked about it Saturday morning.  We're worried about Mapleton and whatever happens, happens, all we can do is do what we can control and obviously we want to go out with the win.  If we're able to do that then you let the chips fall where they may and if we're at home great if we're on the road so be it that doesn't really matter.  It’s just another week to be fortunate to play a game and getting better with our younger kids with another week of practice,” said Haverdill.

Published 10/16/23

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Crestview Has to Play Four Quarters

          Crestview has an important week nine game as they visit Western Reserve to tangle with the Riders in a Firelands Conference football game.

          The Cougars fell out of the conference race last week when they were drilled by Norwalk St. Paul (33-7) on Friday.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they did not play with the intensity required early in the game.  “We did not match their intensity at the start of the game.  We talked all week that playing in a big game like that you have got to match intensity from the get go and we didn't.  When you do that against a good football, they're going to jump on you and St. Paul did that to us.  The second half, I thought we did a really good job coming out and battling and had a 7-6 second half, but that doesn't get you a “W”.  You have got to play the full four quarters with that intensity and that's what our kids are learning,” said Haverdill.

          Crestview (3-5,2-2) plays at Western Reserve (6-2,2-2) on Friday night.  Western pounded South Central (44-22) last week in conference play.

          Haverdill says they have a lot of weapons and on defense they tackle well.  “They're very good.  They're very sound, well coached.  Coach (Ty) Stevenson does a nice job with his game planning.  The (Conner) Dawson kid is maybe one of the best backs we see all year and that's saying something because we've seen the (Dane) Nauman kid over at Highland, but he's very good.  The (Hayden) Keith kid at quarterback is a good facilitator, the (Brexton) Fraelich kid outside, who's very fast and can move to chains with the passing game and then they're tight end that is as big as a house, you can't forget about him about 6’6’, 260 and their line is very good up front with their guards pulling.  So, again its another great challenge, another test for our kids.  Their defense flies to the football very well and they tackle very well.  So, again we have our hands full.”

          Both teams are in position for the playoffs in division VI, region 22.  Crestview is 13^th this week, top 16 qualify for the postseason.  Western Reserve is eighth and the top eight gat a home game.

          Haverdill says they can’t be thinking about any of that.  “Our focus is on Western now.  We can't worry about what can happen with that.  We have got to worry about just doing our own job first.  I mean we have got to play four quarters and put two halves together and play mistake free and not have these penalties.  If we're able to do that then we can think about that afterwards if we can get that “W”, but we have got a lot of work this week to get to that point,” he said.

Published 10/10/23

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It’s a Big One for Crestview

          If Crestview is going to repeat as Firelands Conference champion, they must beat Norwalk St. Paul at home on Friday night.

          They trail St. Paul and Monroeville by a game.

          Last week, they destroyed Plymouth (56-7) in a conference game.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they came out and played a complete game on offense and defense.  “All three phases, special teams did well.  It was a performance that we felt that we had been expecting against a team that had some starters out and struggling a little bit.  So, it was one of those games that we had to have it and we were able to get it,” he said.

          Haverdill added in might have been their best game of the year so far.  “I mean as far as stat wise and performance wise.  I think sometimes even when you look at the film sometimes you still make mistakes, but you get away with them a little bit, especially if they have backups in or things like that because there replaced for injury.  So, we still made some mistakes, but we're still getting better and that's always a positive,” said Haverdill.

          Crestview (3-4,2-1) hosts Norwalk St. Paul (3-4,3-0) on Friday night.  Last week, the Flyers lost a non-conference game (35-28) to Fort Loramie.

          Haverdill says they have all the elements of a traditional St. Paul team.  “They are very good, very consistent, it’s one you get every year with a coach (John) Livengood team.  They are very physical, hardnosed, they are going to run it right down your throat and every so often if you fall asleep, they'll play action, throw downfield and hit some big plays on you,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They play three phases of the game very well because their defense flies to the football and tackles very well and their special teams are always very good.  So, it's just a traditional St. Paul team that you're going to get year in and year out and it's a great challenge for us and it's a great barometer for us to know where we're at.”

          In terms of the conference, Haverdill says this is a must win for them.  “We explained that to our kids that, one, it is St. Paul week, so it’s a different type of the week for us, but on top of that you have an opportunity if you go out and win a football game, you stay alive in that race to “fourpete” and then if for some reason don't, our focus has go to finishing strong through the year and getting ready for week 11,” he said.

Published 10/06/23

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Crestview Wants to Build

          Crestview, the defending champion in the Firelands Conference, is starting to play better football going into their home game with Plymouth in conference play on Friday night.

          Last week, they beat South Central (41-7) for their first conference win of the season.

          Coach Steve Haverdill was pretty pleased.  “We played a good, solid football game.  We had a couple lapses, one on offense and one on defense, but all in all we put a game together.  We put up some points on the board and then were able to keep the points off the board.  So, when you do that you're going to win more games than not and it was a good game for our young kids,” he said.

          Haverdill hopes the win last week can get them on a little roll here in the second half of the season.  “That's what the plan was.  We talked to them at the midway point and told them that we have five more games left and you have got to take one at a time, but we still have an opportunity to reach our goals of what we had for the beginning of the year.  We have to be focused, prepare, and go and play good solid, mistake free football here on out against some good teams.  Obviously, going 1-0 here in the second half is a good start,” said Haverdill.

          Crestview (2-4,1-1) hosts Plymouth (2-4,0-2) on Friday night.  The Big Red lost when Mapleton kind of exploded the second half and beat them (42-12) in “FC” play last week.

          Plymouth runs a lot of the double wing, double tight stuff that Lucas does.  Haverdill says they are going to be more prepared for that offense this time than when they lost (26-6) to Lucas a couple weeks back.  “They're running the same kind of offense we saw a couple of weeks ago with Lucas, so we’re familiar with it.  They're trying to control the ground, run the ball down your throats, and then control the clock.  They're playing some young guys as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “The nice thing is that we had a little test run a couple weeks ago, so we're going to do some things different than what we did before.  We learned from some of our mistakes from that week and we'll implemented it for these guys and go out and try to get out to a quick start and continue to play solid football for four quarters.”

Published 9/26/23

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Crestview Has to Turn the Corner

          Crestview returns to action in the Firelands Conference on Friday night as they are up the road and around the corner at South Central to play the Trojans.

          They lost last week to Lucas (26-6) in non-conference play.

          Coach Steve Haverdill says they didn’t cash in on their chances.  “We lost a little momentum there in the first half.  We're down 7-6 and right before the half and we have an opportunity to score and we didn't convert on a fourth down play in the red zone that would have put us up at halftime.  Then even though they came out scored right away in the second half we went on a nice long drive got down to the nine, but then there's a hold call and that put us back behind the chains and we weren't able to finish that drive either, which would have kept us in the ball game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “The game was a lot closer than what the what the score showed.  I thought our kids played extremely well.  The effort was fantastic.  I thought defensively they were getting around and moving and like I said it's a tough offense to stop.  We didn't really stop it, but we contained it you know they didn't have free lanes, or open lanes, all night like we were worried about.  I thought our kids played very well in that regard.  Offensively, again we were doing what we wanted, we just we shot ourselves in the foot a couple times on drives that didn't allow us to put up points.”

          Crestview (1-4,0-1) is at South Central (1-4,0-1) on Friday night.  The Trojans lost their conference opener (41-6) to Monroeville last week.

          Haverdill says they are going through growing pains, just like the Cougars. “I think they're playing a lot of young guys as we are, so when you're doing that sometimes you're going through growing pains.  The product is you want to try to get better every week and it looks like that they're doing that.  You can see some things on film where they're spreading you out and being able to run the ball and find some lanes here or there, the short passing game.  It's very similar to what we're going through, but like I said the object is to get better and this is another week to get better for us,” said Haverdill.

          Haverdill says they need to start winning football games.  “We reflect on the first half of the year and we realized our schedule was pretty brutal.  The first game really kind of got away from us there, but East Knox is 3-2, and Highland’s 4-1, Monroeville’s 4-1 and Lucas is 3-2, so we've played a pretty brutal schedule and I think that's going to help us now.  We’ve got our feet wet now, we have got to keep turning the corner and keep getting better.  I think playing those games in the beginning year will help us there for the stretch run,” he said.

Published 9/19/23

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