By: Nate Calvin
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
WEST UNITY (January 26, 2024) – In a game filled with momentum swings, it was Montpelier with the last one as they outscored Hilltop 24-13 in the final stanza to get a 61-47 win.
Montpelier put together the game’s first run in the opening quarter with a 7-0 run to break a 2-2 tie with Chavez Martin registering a field goal, Drake Sommer hit a three and Hayden Sharps was 2/2 at the line to make it 9-2.
Devin Dempsey stopped the run with a driving layup for the Cadets, but Montpelier was able to take 10-4 lead to the second quarter despite six turnovers.
The Locos extended the lead with seven straight points, five points coming from Grant Girrell, and Kenneth Smeltzer scored off an offensive rebound to make it 17-6.
After a Sommer free throw, it was time for the Cadets’s first scoring run of the night to get back in the game.
Anthony Eckenrode started the surge with back-to-back buckets and then ended it with a triple from the right wing as Hilltop went 3/4 at the charity stripe between the Eckenrode scores to close to within 18-16.
Sharps would respond for the Locos with a three ball from the left corner, but the Cadets finished the half with a 6-1 spurt as Brock Kesler would hit a layup just before the halftime buzzer to tie things up at 22.
Eckenrode went 2/2 at the line to start the third quarter and give Hilltop their first lead since it was 2-0.
Five unanswered points followed for the Locos with a Martin layup and a Smeltzer corner three as the Locos retook the lead 27-24.
A Dempsey stick back and a bucket by Drew Bailey put Hilltop back ahead 28-27 before Girrell’s rebound basket gave the Locos a 29-28 lead.
The lead would change hands four more times in the quarter, the last one coming on a Smeltzer trey that was followed by Brayden Brink’s three-pointer from the left side to make it 37-32.
Montpelier increased their lead back to double digits with a 7-0 run to start the final frame as Smeltzer hit a foul line jumper, Sharps hit a pair of free throws, and Brink buried his second triple of the night to make it 44-34.
The Locos (7-6, 3-1 BBC) continued to take control by engineering a 10-4 run after Martin got an ‘and one’ on a layup, Smeltzer went 2/2 at the line, Sharps added a bucket, and Brink had a conventional three-point play to push the lead to 54-38.
Eckenrode then had his own three-point play for Hilltop (7-5, 2-2 BBC), but the Locos would go 5/6 from the free throw line down the stretch to salt the game away. Montpelier went 11/12 at the line in the quarter and finished 19/30 on the night.
Smeltzer fronted the Loco offense with 15 points, 11 in the second half, and Brink added a dozen.
Dempsey and Eckenrode each had 13 points for the Cadets and Bailey added 10.
MONTPELIER (61) – Saneholtz 0; Sommer 4; Sharps 9; Camper 0; Girrell 7; Martin 9; Cooley 5; Alvira 0; Brink 12; Smeltzer 15; Totals: 12-6-19 – 61
HILLTOP (47) – Haynes 2; Grubbs 0; Schlosser 2; Shimp 4; Kesler 2; Dempsey 13; Eckenrode 13; Rossman 0; Bailey 10; Crossgrove 1; Totals: 16-1-12 – 47
GAME STATISTICS
MONTPELIER: FG – 18/34 (52%); FT – 19/30 (63%); Rebounds – 34 (8 offensive); Turnovers – 21; HILLTOP: FG – 17/50 (34%); FT – 12/19 (63%); Rebounds – 19 (10 offensive); Turnovers – 14
JUNIOR VARSITY: Montpelier 38, Hilltop 36
