BALANCED SCORING … Evergreen’s Kyla Risner (above) was part of a balanced Evergreen attack with eight points in a 43-31 victory over Pettisville.
PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
LOW POST OFFENSE … Pettisville’s Sophia Beltz puts up a shot during a non-league contest at Evergreen High School.
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
METAMORA (January 2, 2026) – Seems like all season long, Josh Williams’ Evergreen Vikings have been patients of the Mayo Clinic for some reason or another.
With four players out for the rest of the season and others dinged up or out sick, the Vikings got out to a 13-point first-half lead but had to hold off a Pettisville rush to defeat the Blackbirds 43-31.
“We have been on the struggle bus lately,” Williams expressed. “We told the girls that getting that win was good news for us because we have been down and out with sicknesses, then all the injuries.”
“We haven’t had a full roster all year, but we got a lot of nice things tonight from a lot of people, so that was really encouraging. The girls really gave a great effort.”
Bailey Lumbrezer got the rim twice in the first quarter to give the Vikings an early lead, and Evergreen added on from then on.
Kyla Risner went coast-to-coast, and Lyla Radel stuck a putback around Ashalyn Rice’s three-ball to make it 8-5 halfway through the first, then Radel’s 35-foot heave at the buzzer rang off glass and in to double up the Blackbirds 14-7.
Lumbrezer’s triple and two Lanae Manz free throws gave Evergreen a double-figure lead at 19-9 at the 5:27 mark of the second.
Bella Henricks’ three-pointer with 52 seconds left pushed the Viking bulge to 24-11 at the break. Pettisville was hampered by 5-18 shooting in the first half, along with 10 turnovers.
However, it was the Vikings who coughed up the ball starting the third. A trio of Evergreen miscues fueled an 8-0 Pettisville run that got the Blackbirds back in the game.
Becca Strauss hit a floater out of the key and a long-range bomb around an Addison Davis bucket to bring the Blackbirds within 24-19 with 4:42 still left in the third.
Lumbrezer found Radel breaking to the rim to break the Pettisville run, then Risner’s steal-and-score, along with an Addy Gleckler putback, regained a 31-23 Evergreen lead after three.
Radel and Manz went 4-4 from the stripe early in the fourth, but Strauss and Rice answered with shots from outside the arc to get Pettisville within 35-29 at the halfway mark.
However, Evergreen used Avah Vaculik’s pull-up jumper and Radel’s sortie to the hoop to get back up to double figures.
“Lyla is really coming into her own,” Williams explained of his sophomore forward. “She brings a lot of effort on the boards, she really had a nice game tonight, getting to the basket and scoring.
“She is doing a lot of great things for us right now, and we are really proud of what she is giving us.” Radel led all scorers with 12. Strauss was the only Blackbird in double figures with 10.
Pettisville (5-7) shot 12-44 from the floor and had 18 turnovers. Evergreen (6-4) was 16-41 but was guilty of just eight turnovers.
PETTISVILLE (31) – Rice 6; Strauss 10; Fox 2; Schwartz 0; Miller 4; Davis 2; Beltz 7; Totals: 8-4-3 – 31
EVERGREEN (43) – Risner 8; Manz 8; Lumbrezer 7; Vaculik 2; Gleckler 2; Radel 12; Eisel 1; Henricks 3; Totals: 12-3-10 – 43
PHS 7 4 12 8 – 31
EHS 14 10 7 12 – 43