Crestwood boys lose to Forest City in district final

FOREST CITY - The Forest City Indians built a double-digit halftime lead and held off a late rally by the Crestwood varsity boys’ basketball team en route to a 62-43 win over the Cadets Saturday in the Class 3A District 6 Final.

The loss ended Crestwood’s season with an overall mark of 9-13. Forest City (19-4)  will advance to play Waverly-SR (21-1) in the substate final Feb. 27 at Parkersburg.

Saturday’s district final saw the Indians take a quick 5-0 lead before two three-pointers by Cadet senior Alex Kerian cut Forest City’s lead to 8-6. An 8-4 run by the Indians gave them a 16-10 lead going into the second period.

Forest City pushed its lead to 20-13 early in the second quarter, but Crestwood answered with a 5-0 run to slice the lead to 20-18 at the 4:30 mark. However, the Indians closed the half with an 11-0 run to take a 31-18 halftime advantage.

An 18-8 run by Forest City in the third period gave the Indians a 49-26 lead going into the fourth. Forest City built a 52-29 lead midway through the fourth before an 11-2 run by the Cadets cut the lead to 54-40 with 2:13 remaining. Unfortunately for the Cadets, they couldn’t get any closer as the Indians closed the game on an 8-3 run to win the game.

Crestwood Head Coach Lynn McCormick said the Cadets were unable to bounce back after falling behind in the first half.

“Forest City got off to a good start, and we weren’t able to recover,” the coach said. “For some reason, we came out flat and didn’t push the ball on offense. We practiced cutting to the basket, but during the game, we kind of stood around (on offense). 

“I give Forest City credit because they played hard and made the shots they needed to make. They also forced us to turn the ball over. It was their night, and it wasn’t ours. We were beaten by a better team,” McCormick said.

Despite the final score, the coach said the Cadets gave a good overall effort.

“We played with more intensity in the second half, but we should have had that at the start of the game. This game was kind of the way our season went. Sometimes, we would have good games, and other days, we had games like we did today (against Forest City),” McCormick said.

The coach gave kudos to the Cadet seniors, who included: Spencer Cuvelier, Michael Mashek, Colten Wiley, Alex Kerian, and Jordan Girolamo.

“I’m really happy with our seniors,” McCormick said. “They all showed great leadership and effort. Spencer, Alex, Colten, Michael and Jordan are all great team players. Spencer stepped up and played well. Alex played well at the end of the year. Colten had an injury which sidelined him for a few games. Jordan played steady for us off the bench. Michael was a great team player who stepped up when he got his chances. We’ll miss those guys.”

Alex Kerian led the Cadets in scoring with 11 points, including three three-pointers. Spencer Cuvelier had nine points. Clayton Ollendieck had eight points, including one three-pointer.