AVOIDING THE UPSET … Montpelier’s Hayden Sharps put up a floater in the lane. Sharps led the Locos with 25 points as they rallied in the second half to beat Stryker.

PHOTOS BY REBEKAH DELL / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
BBC CLASH … Stryker’s Eli Capps attempts a shot in the fourth quarter at Montpelier High School.

Montpelier 61, Stryker 53

MONTPELIER – State ranked Montpelier fell behind at halftime in its Buckeye Border Conference matchup with Stryker as the Locos prevailed with a 61-53 victory.

The Locos (10-1, 2-0 BBC), who are ranked third in the latest Division 7 Max Preps State Poll, had trailed 28-19 at intermission, but then rebounded and outscored the Panthers 38-25 over the final two quarters.

Hayden Sharps led the Locos with 25 points and CJ Fidler added 18 points.

Bradley Williams poured in 27 points to lead Stryker (6-6, 0-2 BBC), including seven three-pointers, five of them coming in the second half while William Donovan added 20 points, with 12 coming in the first half.

STRYKER (53) – Donovan 20; Williams 27; Juillard 0; Capps 2; Rivas 0; An. Batterson 2; Stewart 2; Totals 12-9-2 – 53
MONTPELIER (61) – Stahler 0; Stewart 3, Sharps 25, Fidler 18, M. Smeltzer 5; Hartsock 1; Bass 5; K. Smeltzer 4; Totals 19-6-5 – 61

SHS 19 9 15 10 – 53
MHS 14 5 20 18 – 61