(December 2nd, 2014) DELTA: Pettisville is now 2-0 in the North Western Ohio Athletic League (NWOAL), which is quite an accomplishment.
After all, they’re in the Buckeye Border Conference.
The Lady Blackbirds, fresh off their season opening victory against NWOAL power Wauseon, traveled to Delta to take on the Lady Panthers. Pettisville built a lead early in the game and never looked back, claiming a 42-33 win.
Offensively, the Blackbirds were able to outscore Delta due in large part to the versatile scoring options on their roster. Seven of the nine players in Pettisville’s lineup contributed to the team’s point total, including four that put up 5 or more points and two that scored in double figures. In contrast, the hometown Panthers had five of their players register a basket, with three totaling 5 or more points, and just a single player scoring in double figures.
Lady Blackbird Head Coach Jason Waldvogel attributed having a large number of players able to contribute as a reason for their victory.
“We had different players step up at different times tonight.” Waldvogel stated. “A solid team win tonight.”
One player in particular stood out to the veteran Pettisville coach, however.
“Jordyn Pursel did a nice job tonight defending Morgan Mattimore.”
That’s no small feat, either. Mattimore is an elite shooter, able to knock down shots most would find difficult with relative ease. Coming off a 21 point performance in the Panthers previous outing against Edon, Pursel and the Blackbird defense were able to hold the Delta standout to just 14 points, including just 1 make from behind the three-point line.
The Pettisville defensive effort as a whole was no less impressive. Holding the explosive Delta offense to just 12 field goals for the entire game, only two of which were from beyond the arc, the Lady Blackbirds disrupted Panther shooters all night long. The home team failed to score more than 10 points in a quarter.
With 17 field goals on the evening, the visiting Blackbirds shot significantly better from the field. They were led by senior Mikala Avina, who hit the team’s only three-pointer on her way to a 13 point evening. Dana Fricke, another senior, made all 5 of her field goals from inside the arc, attacking the hoop for 12 points. Andi Aeschliman gashed through the Panthers defense with her speed and ball handling skills, earning herself 6 points. Sophomore Alexa Leppelmeier didn’t make a field goal, she did, however, make 2 clutch free throws down the stretch to help secure the win.
Free throws were a bit of an issue with both teams in the game. Pettisville shot 58% from the line, making 7 of their 12 attempts. Delta wasn’t much better, sinking 7 of their 11 of their extra points, good for a 64% success rate.
For the second game in a row, Pettisville won with strong defense and a collective effort on offense. Indeed, this year’s incarnation of the Blackbirds seems to personify the definition of the word team.