OLIVESBURG — Boys basketball in Richland County returned in a major way.
The Ontario Warriors visited the Crestview Cougars for a little Thanksgiving Eve high school basketball tipoff and set the tone for the 2025-26 season as Ontario escaped with a narrow 63-57 win.
“I love it,” Ontario coach Jerry Moton said of the return of basketball. “The guys love it. We have had a very long preseason where we put in a lot of work to get to the start of the season. They are tired of beating up on each other and are excited to get to playing games. They are just happy to get back in game mode.”
The contest between two Richland County rivals was the only scheduled game of the evening with the rest of the county getting underway after the holiday break. Ontario sophomore Cardae Brown, who finished with a game-high 26 points with five 3-pointers, was proud to usher in the season with an Ontario victory.
“It feels good to be back,” Brown said. “There is a lot of excitement for this season. This game means a lot to us.”
The Cougars welcomed first-year coach Ben McLay into his varsity coaching debut by playing a bigger team right down to the wire. If every game in Richland County lives up to the first one, it is going to be a fun season.
“It is awesome that basketball is back,” McLay said. “It is a blessing to coach here at Crestview and coach high school basketball; this has been my dream for a while. We just tipped off the season on a huge stage and set the tone for the year in Richland County. We are disappointed in a loss, but we proved to ourselves we can beat teams like these.”
The Cougars and Warriors had tough times separating themselves from one another on the scoreboard. After Crestview went into halftime with a 35-34 lead thanks to a Drew Spoerr bank shot 3-pointer at the buzzer, Ontario (1-0) took the lead to start the second half and never relinquished it, but also never swelled the lead to more than six.
“Crestview is a great team that fought really hard and nothing can be taken away from them,” Moton said. “I am also proud of our guys for the way they took what we have been teaching in practice and implemented it in the game.”
The Cougars (0-1) trailed 57-55 after Daniel Well drained a massive 3-pointer midway through the fourth where the score seemed to get stuck at as both teams picked up the defensive effort. The Cougars had several shots at a tie, but Ontario’s defense came through in the clutch to end any threat.
“Last year, we would have gambled, got out of the play and not got back in the play,” Moton said. “Now, even when we do gamble to get a steal and an easy bucket and don’t get it, they get back into the play and refocus on the team’s defensive concept. That has been a huge difference so far.”
Brown led all scorers while Trindon Flenoury added 14 points and Trey Remy had 10. The Warriors made eight 3-pointers on the night.
“It feels good to start the season with a win because we worked so hard over the summer, playing together and growing so that we can achieve our main goal of doing better than last year,” Brown said. “This is a great start. Last year, we would have given up when games got tough, but we matured over the summer, figured out how to play team defense and are getting stuff done.”
Crestview is entering a year where it graduated the program’s all-time leading scorer and two All-Ohioans from last year’s team and another All-Ohioan in 2023-24. At a small school, a lull is expected, but the Cougars proved they can play with anyone.
“I am not really surprised at the way we competed because these guys come to practice every day and work extremely hard,” McLay said. “They play for each other and have bought into what we are trying to do this season. Even though we lost that game, Ontario is an exceptional team, maybe a Top 3 team we will play this year, with some huge expectations this year. I hate losing and I love my team that is capable of winning, but you take your hat off to Ontario and Coach Moton.”
Spoerr led the Cougars with 22 points while Karter Goon added 12 and Wells had 12. McLay was very happy with his seniors’ performances, especially Spoerr.
“He shows up every day ready to work very hard,” McLay said. “I scouted this job last year and I knew these seniors were going to be really good. They were behind some great All-Ohio players in their careers and now, we are going to see just how good they really are. I am excited for them to lead us this year.”
Ontario returns to action on Dec. 5 at Clear Fork while Crestview hosts Fredericktown on Dec. 2.
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Ontario, Crestview usher in basketball season in thrilling fashion
Reporting by Jake Furr, Mansfield News Journal / Mansfield News Journal
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