SANDUSKY – Cali Gregory lit up the Cedar Point Sports Center on Tuesday evening the way the rides at the nearby amusement park dominate the skyline as she dropped in seven three point goals on the way to a career high tying 27 in her teams 51-45 non-league victory over Ottawa Glandorf.
The first annual Jingle Bell Jam began with a flurry for the 5’9 sophomore as she poured in three triples in the opening quarter from nearly every spot on the floor to help Crestview flip a 4-2 deficit into an 11-8 lead that stretched to 17-10 at the quarter break.
Ottawa Glandorf fought back early in the second quarter with a shot from deep of their own from junior Maggie Verhoff to get within 20-15 and cut the lead even closer on their next possession with a layup from Erin Kaufman at 5:08.
Gregory struck again from deep in the second quarter to keep the Knights offense flowing for the last of her 14 markers and helped teammates Laci McCoy and Myia Etzler notch buckets to give Crestview a 26-21 halftime advantage.
With the Knights unable to dent the scoreboard for nearly the first half of the third quarter the Titans pulled into the lead with a fast break basket from Kaelyn Grothouse and ahead to 27-26 on the second of back to back threes from Verhoff with 6:03 that forced Crestview coach Mark Gregory to take a timeout.
OG continued to add points to the home side of the scoreboard in the stanza on makes by Erin Kaufman, Myka Aldrich, Emma Brinkman, and eventually Kaufman again with under nine seconds to go to cap off an 18-10 quarter and send the game into the fourth 39-36 Titans.
Locked in a defensive battle early in the fourth the Knights were able to turn to Gregory once again to reclaim the lead as she brought her team within 41-39 and ahead 44-41 with 5:56 left on a pair of shots from deep behind the arc that forced Titan boss Troy Yant to take a timeout.
No player other than Gregory scored from the field in the final eight minutes of play for the Knights that saw Ellie Kline and Laci McCoy hit five of eight from the free throw line on Ottawa Glandorf fouls.
Held to just a trio of makes from the field in the fourth the Titans were unable to take the lead and found themselves within a point just once at 3:16 and trailing 44-43 on a Verhoff basket.
Speaking of Gregory, Ottawa Glandorf coach Troy Yant said “#5 brought her “A” game and we didn’t. We were too soft in the paint and didn’t value our possessions”.
Crestview (10-1) is off for the rest of 2021 but resumes play in the 2022 portion of the season on January 3rd as they continue a 6-game road trip that sees them travel to Continental for a non-league skirmish.
Cali Gregory’s 27 point output ties her career high while her seven triples falls just one under the school record held by her older sister Bailey Gregory.
Ottawa Glandorf (6-2) was led in scoring by Erin Kaufman’s fourth straight double figure game and 15 points and was joined Maggie Verhoff’s 12. Next up for the Titans is a Thursday evening non-conference clash with Route 65 rival Columbus Grove.
“I’m very proud of our girls tonight. We had a tremendous effort defensively against a great team. I have so much respect for Coach Yant and his program” said Crestview mentor Mark Gregory.
Speaking on the performance by Cali Gregory the Knights boss remarked “Cali’s effort tonight was great at both ends of the floor. She hit some big shots for us and her teammates did a great job of finding her and doing all the little things”.
Scoring:
Crestview (51):
Ellie Kline 6
Cali Gregory 27
Laci McCoy 14
Myia Etzler 4
FT: 11/17
3PT: 8 (C. Gregory 7, Kline)
TO: 18
OG (45):
Lily Haselman 4
Maggie Verhoff 12
Kaelyn Grothouse 6
Emma Brinkman 3
Myka Aldrich 4
Erin Kaufman 15
Katie Kaufman 1
FT: 9/15
3PT: 4 (Verhoff 3, E. Brinkman)
TO: 13
JV: OG 36-23