PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
DRIBBLE DRIVE … Pettisville’s Madison Miller drives the lane last Thursday in BBC game at Pettisville High School. VIEW 72 PHOTOS OF THIS CONTEST FOR FREE AT WWW.THEVILLAGEREPORTER.COM
CADET LEADING SCORER … Molly Dickinson (above) netted 11 points in a 29-26 loss to Pettisville.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
PETTISVILLE (February 5, 2026) – The Pettisville Blackbirds snatched a last-second 29-26 win over the Hilltop Cadets at home to close out the BBC season on Thursday night.
The opponents went scoreless for the first two minutes of the game before the Cadets struck first with a single free throw from junior Sophia Crossgrove, immediately followed by a basket from Blackbird sophomore Addison Davis.
A trey from Hilltop junior Kelsy Connolly and a pair of free throws from Pettisville senior Becca Strauss tied the game at four.
Another free throw from Crossgrove and a basket from senior Molly Dickinson ended Hilltop scoring for the quarter, with a free throw from Blackbird freshman Evelyn Bieber putting the score at 7-5 to bring up the second quarter.
Pettisville took the lead back immediately with a three-pointer from senior Grace Hastings. The teams traded baskets with a score from Crossgrove and a trey from Blackbird junior Ashalyn Rice before a basket from Pettisville freshman Madison Miller tied it at 11.
Another basket and trey from Miller were met by a pair of free throws from Dickinson and a basket from Crossgrove to cut the Pettisville lead to 16-15 at the half.
After a basket each from Davis and Cadet junior Loren Rodriguez along with a trey from Rice, Hilltop went on a seven-point run courtesy of a basket and free throw from Dickinson and a basket each from Rodriguez and freshman Nayah Rodriguez.
A final free throw from Miller sliced the Hilltop (5-16, 2-5 BBC) lead to 24-22 going to the fourth quarter. An early pair of free throws from Davis tied the game at 24, which lasted until there was less than three minutes left in the game.
Miller sank a basket to put the Blackbirds up by two. A pair of free throws from Dickinson a minute and a half later tied it again at 26 with just over a minute left on the clock.
Pettisville (8-12, 4-3 BBC) brought the clock down to 5.9 seconds, when Strauss buried a buzzer-beating trey to give the Blackbirds a 29-26 win.
Hilltop’s Dickinson had three buckets and five free throws for a game-high 11 points while Miller fronted Pettisville with eight.
HILLTOP (26) – L. Rodriguez 4; Dickinson 11; McCauley 0; Routt 0; N. Rodriguez 2; C. Nofziger 0; Connolly 3; Crossgrove 6; Totals: 8-1-7 – 26
PETTISVILLE (29) – Rice 6; Strauss 5; Fox 0; Boulton 0; Schwartz 0; Miller 8; Davis 6; Bieber 1; Beltz 0; Totals: 4-5-6 – 29
HHS 7 8 9 2 – 26
PHS 5 11 6 7 – 29