OLIVESBURG — Crestview coach John Kurtz was in no mood for excuses, even if the circumstances allowed for one.
St. Paul senior Nolan McCall scored eight of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and the Flyers erased a 12-point second-half deficit in a come-from-behind, 57-54 Firelands Conference win at Crestview on Wednesday.
The Cougars (14-3, 9-1) and Flyers (13-5, 9-1) are tied atop the FC standings with four conference games remaining.
The loss also snapped Crestview’s 20-game Firelands Conference home winning streak. Crestview’s last home conference loss came during the 2021-22 season.
The Cougars were without varsity regulars Carter and Cole Bowman, who were sidelined by illness. The flu bug hit Crestview especially hard as four players were out of practice earlier in the week.
“We were pretty short on the bench tonight, but I’m not here to make excuses,” Kurtz said. “We had every chance to win the game. We just didn’t get the job done.”
A rangy 6-foot-7 swingman, McCall was a big reason why. His 3-pointer with 2:34 remaining cut Crestview’s lead to 52-50.
Justice Thompson pushed the Cougars’ advantage to 54-50 with a layup before McCall converted a conventional three-point play to make it 54-53. On St. Paul’s next possession, McCall found a streaking Brady Fritz for a layup and a 55-54 Flyers’ lead with 1:26 to play.
“I’ve got to do whatever I can to get us back into it, to get my team going,” McCall said. “I knew my team had my back and if we got the energy up we could stay right with them.”
On Crestview’s next trip down the floor, McCall came up with one of his five blocks. The Flyers converted it into a Korey Frazee layup and a 57-54 lead with 37 seconds showing.
Crestview had a chance to tie but Thompson’s 3-pointer was off the mark and McCall grabbed his 14th and final rebound with 11 seconds remaining. St. Paul pushed the ball quickly into the frontcourt and spread the floor before Crestview could foul to stop the clock.
“We knew that we could hang with them,” said St. Paul assistant coach Justin Wilde, who was filling in for head coach Steve Minor — Minor was also battling the flu. “It’s just amazing to be able to get that win without our coach here.”
Wilde didn’t find out until early Wednesday afternoon that Minor wouldn’t make the trip to Crestview.
“He missed practice (Tuesday), but I didn’t think he would miss a game. He must be very under the weather,” Wilde said. “We were talking all day today and it was about mid-day when he made the call that he would stay away because he didn’t want to get anyone sick.”
St. Paul spent much of the evening playing catch-up as Crestview built a 17-6 lead midway through the first quarter. The Flyers responded with a 9-1 run to close out the period and trailed 18-15 after one. St. Paul took its first lead of the night at 20-18 on a pair of Landon Fries free throws early in the second quarter, but trailed 29-26 at the break.
Crestview opened a 43-31 lead on Thompson’s 3-pointer with 1:16 remaining in the third, its biggest advantage of the night. The Flyers answered with four points to close the quarter and trailed 43-35 going to the fourth.
“We told them (Crestview) would go on runs,” Wilde said. “We would have to be ready to combat that and just stay patient and stay calm.
“It was the players tonight. They stepped up and made some great plays.”
Grant Kuhnle backed McCall with 11 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth frame.
Thompson led Crestview with 24 points. Tyson Ringler added a dozen, while Karter Goon chipped in with 10.