BBC BATTLE … Stryker’s William Donovan drives to the hoop while Briggs Gallehue of Edon goes for the block. (PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
By: John Shell
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
STRYKER (January 11, 2024) – In Thursday night’s high school boys hoop action, the Stryker Panthers hosted the Edon Bombers for a Buckeye Border Conference matchup.
The 6-5 Panthers came into the game averaging 43 points per game while the 3-7 Bombers were averaging 42 points per game.
In the first quarter of action, Edon’s senior forward Peyton Trausch scored a quick bucket in the opening seconds of the ballgame.
It wasn’t until nearly two minutes into the game that Panthers got on the board by finding a wide-open senior Michael Donovan in the corner for a deep three-pointer.
A short time later Trausch dropped in a quick layup to put the Bombers up 4-3. This would be the last time Edon would have the lead in the game.
On Stryker’s next two possessions, junior Daniel Donovan put down a pair of three-point shots. Halfway through the quarter, the Panthers applied an effective zone defense that made it difficult for the Bombers to set up anything under the hoop.
This essentially stalled Edon’s scoring until the last seconds of the quarter. Stryker, however, would continue their long game by hitting two more three-point shots by Daniel Donovan and senior Gavin LaBo.
In total, Stryker sank five three-point shots, accounting for 15 of their 18 first quarter points.
Trausch carried the Edon offense by scoring six of the Bombers’ eight points in the quarter. As the buzzer sounded at the close of the quarter, Stryker had an 18-8 lead over the Bombers.
The second quarter saw the most combined points scored. An early Edon technical foul put Stryker’s Daniel Donovan on the free throw line in the opening seconds of the quarter.
Donovan would hit both shots and then score a layup on the next possession thus stretching the Stryker lead to 14.
However, Edon’s junior forward Cohen Hulbert found the hoop for back-to-back layups bringing the Bombers within ten.
Stryker’s Michael Donovan once again got open for a triple from the corner and then a short time later junior Jacob Myers also hit a three-pointer.
In the final minute of the quarter, Myers hit a layup off a rebound and then scored again seconds later in a steal-breakaway combination.
In the closing seconds of the quarter, senior Panther Jacob Cadwell hit a nearly half-court shot as the buzzer ending the quarter went off. Going into halftime, Stryker had increased their lead to 22 points at 39-17.
As the third quarter started, the Panthers’ defense applied strong pressure and produced three steals but failed to score on the resulting possessions.
It was Edon’s junior guard Max Radabaugh who scored the first points of the half with a long three-point shot.
It wasn’t until the five-minute mark that Stryker sophomore William Donovan drove the ball in for an easy layup off a pass from his brother Daniel Donovan.
Edon’s sophomore guard Briggs Gallehue then put up a shot from behind the arc that found its mark for three points.
The Panthers stretched their lead as LaBo scored from the line and the paint and shortly before Myers hustled to the hoop with another steal-breakaway-layup for two.
This brought the Panthers’ lead to 21 with three minutes left in the quarter. However, the Stryker ran into foul trouble and sent the Bombers to the free throw line on several occasions for some easy points.
Yet, the Panthers potent offense was still able to produce enough points to make up the difference and finished the third quarter with a 49-28 lead.
Going to the fourth quarter, it became clear that the efforts both teams had poured into the previous three quarters had caught up with them. The pace of the game slowed with no scoring for the first two minutes of the quarter.
Then each team traded points with layups by Edon’s Hulbert and Stryker’s LaBo. However, on the Bombers next possession, Gallehue added a bucket from the paint and later in the quarter found an opening from the three-point line where he sunk his third triple of the game.
Unwilling to relent despite being down, the Bombers applied a full-court press that temporarily prevented the Panther offense from advancing the ball.
However, Stryker senior Jacob Froelich was able to sneak past the defense for a quick, wide-open layup. William Donovan followed this up with a layup of his own on the Panthers next possession once again making the Stryker lead 21 going into the final two minutes of the game.
Edon’s Owens and Stryker’s Batterson added some points from the bench in the closing minute and a half, but as the final seconds of the clock expired, the Panthers walked off the court victorious with a 58-39 final score.
EDON (39) – Stantz 0; Chrisman 0; Steinke 0; Radabaugh 3; Owens 2; Trausch 10; Gallehue 17; Hulbert 7; Gonzalez Ariza 0; Reed 0; Totals: 10-4-7 – 39
STRYKER (58) – Glenn 0; M. Donovan 6; Myers 9; LaBo 13; Cadwell 3; Capps 0; D. Donovan 17; Froelich 2; W. Donovan 5; Batterson 3; Montague 0; Totals: 12-9-7 – 58
EDON 8 9 11 11 – 39
STRYKER 18 21 10 9 – 58
JUNIOR VARSITY: Stryker, 28-13
