By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
METAMORA (December 27, 2025) – By the end of the game, Evergreen was like a vehicle low on fuel searching for a filling station.
Down five starters or first line subs, the Vikings led much of the game against Maumee but couldn’t hold on at the end, and fell to the Panthers, 46-41.
Kyla Risner’s pair of first-quarter shots from long range, along with a short jumper, offset seven Taylor Smith points for the Panthers, as the teams were deadlocked 12-12 late in the stanza.
Lucy Abec hit 2-2 from the line to give Evergreen a 13-12 margin heading into the second. Lanae Manz canned two more Viking triples and scored three more late hops to push the Vikings ahead 27-21 at the break.
Lyla Radel’s 2-2 from the stripe gave the Vikings a 29-21 advantage at the 5:23 mark of the third, but the Vikes went stale offensively for the next five minutes. During that span, Taryn Pyle and Smith each scored twice to draw Maumee even with 1:55 to go.
Manz stuck a deep three-pointer with 35 seconds left to give Evergreen the lead going into the final eight minutes, and Addy Gleckler’s score off a turnover pushed the Vikings back up five at 36-31. Bella Henricks’ triple with 2:50 left made it 39-33.
However, the Vikings’ tired legs, along with Maumee’s pressure on the trap, forced three straight turnovers that turned into buckets from Pyle, Reign Hurt, and Smith to bring Maumee back to a 39-all tie with 2:05 on the clock.
After yet another turnover, Smith split two from the line, giving the Panthers a 40-39 lead with 1:20 left. Risner got two from the foul line 20 seconds later, which regained a Viking lead, but Pyle was fouled 15 ticks later and put the Panthers back ahead, going 2-2.
Smith scored off a fifth Evergreen turnover in the last three minutes at the 30-second mark, and when Henricks misfired from outside the arc with 10 seconds left, Maumee grabbed the rebound, and Myla Jordan iced the game with a tenth of a second to go, hitting two free throws for the final margin.
Smith led all scorers with 19 for the Panthers (4-5) and Pyle added 10.
Manz had 18 for Evergreen, 15 in the first half. The Vikings (5-3) had 24 turnovers in the game, including 10 in the fourth quarter. Maumee had just 13.