COMEBACK WIN … Edon’s Nevaeh Smith (above) scored 11 of her team-high 17 in the second half as Edon rallied to knock off Fayette, 54-52.
PHOTOS BY REBEKAH DELL / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
BBC SHOWDOWN … Mesa Gorsuch drives the lane in the first half of Fayette’s BBC clash at Edon.
By: Nate Calvin
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
sports@thevillagereporter.com
EDON (January 29, 2026) – The Bombers kept their hopes alive for a BBC title after rallying from a double-digit hole in the first half to slip by Fayette, 54-52.
Addison Schang carried the Eagles early with several steals that resulted in layups as she tallied eight of Fayette’s first ten points to help Fayette grab a 10-7 lead.
Edon’s Genna Ripke splashed a triple from the right wing to tie the score at 10-10 before an Eagle scoring run that carried over into the second quarter would give the Eagles a double-digit lead.
Layups from Shelby Phillips and Monroe Simon opened the scoring spurt and Kelsie Storrs buried a trey from the top of the key at the buzzer to push the Eagles’ lead to 17-10.
It was a Schang bucket with an ‘and one’ off another steal to start the second for Fayette as the lead increased to 20-10.
A pair of free tosses by Edon’s Adison Briner stopped the 10-0 Fayette surge before a basket by Mesa Gorsuch and another steal and layup by Schang gave Fayette a 24-12 lead with 4:46 left in the first half.
A bucket by Phillips later in the quarter gave Fayette their largest lead of the night at 29-16 before Edon would begin chipping away at the Eagles’ lead.
Edon closed the first half with a 6-0 run on two field goals by Nevaeh Smith and a hoop by Briner to cut the Fayette lead to 29-22 at halftime.
A baseline jumper by Briner started the third quarter for Edon. Addi Snyder then went 2-2 at the line followed buy buckets from Briner and Smith to give Edon a 30-29 lead, capping off a 14-0 run by the Bombers.
The back-and-forth quarter continued with the Eagles scoring the next six points, thanks to buckets by Storrs, Willow Mitchell, and Schang to take a 35-30 advantage.
Kennedy Kunkle would get back-to-back field goals; the first off a nice pass from Storrs and the second on a sideline inbounds play; to push the Fayette lead to 41-34.
Edon again responded as Ripke turned in a conventional three-point play after a steal in the backcourt and Smith scored twice inside to cut the Fayette lead to 43-41 entering the final stanza.
A Briner hoop would tie the score at 43-43 and it was Briner again scoring down low after an Eagles free throw to put Edon back in front, 45-44.
A Ripke offensive rebound bucket made it 47-44 before Fayette went 4-6 at the line to take the lead back at 48-47.
Ripke answered with a field goal to give Edon the lead back, but Mitchell was 2-2 at the stripe to put Fayette ahead, 50-49.
Smith continued the Edon dominance inside with two consecutive field goals and after two empty possessions by the Eagles, she would go 1-2 at the line with 12.1 seconds remaining to make it a two-possession game at 54-50.
In the final stanza, Fayette was 0-9 shooting compared to 6-10 (60%) by Edon. For the game, Edon hit at a 43% (22-51) clip from the field and dominated the glass with a 45-27 rebounding advantage.
Smith topped Edon with 17 points while Briner had 14. The duo combined to score 19 of Edon’s 32 points in the second half.
Schang had 19 for Fayette, 13 in the first half. The Eagles were 18/54 (33%) from the field, including 5/23 in the second half.
With the win, Edon (14-5, 5-1 BBC) and Fayette (12-5, 4-1 BBC) now each have one loss in league play with Stryker the lone remaining unbeaten in BBC play.
Fayette and Stryker are scheduled to meet on February 11 at Stryker to close out the BBC schedule.
FAYETTE (52) – Schang 19; Storrs 5; Simon 3; Mitchell 6; Kessler 2; Phillips 4; Gorsuch 6; Kunkle 7; Totals 17-1-15 – 52
EDON (54) – Bartlett 0; Schwartz 0; Ge. Ripke 9; Gr. Ripke 3; Aldrich 2; Briner 14; Snyder 9; Smith 17; Totals: 21-1-9 – 54
FHS 17 12 14 9 – 52
EHS 10 12 19 13 – 54