MADISON TOWNSHIP — Armed with a 23-point lead and just five minutes to play, perhaps Temple Christian thought it was time to relax.
Crestview had other ideas.
The Cougars, using a court full of substitutes, roared back and cut the deficit to just six before the Crusaders connected on four straight foul shots to seal a 70-60 non-league win.
“We got ahead of ourselves,” Temple Christian first-year coach Adam Bowman said. “We didn’t take care of the basketball.
“At the end of a game like that, you obviously want to slow the pace, take care of the basketball and put them in a position where they have to foul and then you take advantage of the free throws.”
Temple Christian built a 21-14 lead after one quarter and then outscored the Cougars 19-10 in the second to open a 40-24 halftime bulge.
“At the beginning of the game, we didn’t turn the ball over. We talked about that in practice this week,” Bowman said. “We knew if we cut down on turnovers, we would be in a great position to win.”
The Crusaders, who turned the ball over five times in the first half, committed nine turnovers in the fourth quarter. That sparked Crestview’s 20-7 run in the final 4:53 of the game. Temple Christian countered by hitting 95 percent at the line (18 of 19) during the game.
The win was Temple Christian’s fourth in its last five games, improving the Crusaders’ record to 5-4. Crestview slipped to 1-6 with the defeat.
SUB POWER: Crestview coach Shawn Spencer literally cleared his bench when his team fell behind by 16 midway through the third quarter. The substitutes, led by 11 fourth-quarter points from junior Jacob Greer, staged the furious fourth-quarter rally.
“I put the guys out there who wanted to go out and play hard do what we ask them to do,” Spencer said.
“The guys who were out there who have started games … they are showing me they are not wanting to play, not willing to do what we ask them, not showing they have the fire to go out there and play hard.
“Jacob is a kid who is hungry. He wants to go out there and play basketball. This is actually his first varsity experience. It call comes down to either you want to go out and play and do what we want you to do or you are not going to play. Right now, we are benching guys who have played for me for two years because we are trying to win.”
CHEMISTRY MATTERS: Bowman said his team’s chemistry has improved dramatically since the start of the season.
“At the beginning of the season, we played a lot of one-on-one basketball. It’s my first year of coaching and the players are getting used to a whole new system. The majority of our improvement is our team chemistry has come a long way. We are also learning the proper positions on the defensive end of the floor,” Bowman said, citing 16 steals against the Cougars.
Junior Levi Simpson scored 15 points for TC, one of four Crusaders to finish in double figures.
“Levi is a very pure shooter,” Bowman said. “He knows he can shoot, and it’s a good thing to have a pure shooter on your team. The one thing we’re trying to teach him is he needs to shoot in rhythm.
“When he catches the ball and shoots in rhythm, it’s better than when he tries to create his own shot. He works hard on his shooting and it shows.”
Senior Abe Kurtz, the only senior starting for TC, led the Crusaders with 19 points. Sophomore Colton Knepshield added 11 and sophomore Logan Simpson had 10. Freshman Hunter Hannan added eight.
Nic Stimpert led Crestview with 16 points. He and Greer, who finished with 13, were the only Cougars in double figures. Brevlin King helped during the rally with seven points in the fourth quarter.
UP NEXT: Crestview hosts South Central on Friday. Temple Christian hosts Calvary Christian that same evening.
