(PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THEVILLAGE REPORTER)
MET BY THE DEFENSE … Cohen Hulbert (#23) of Edon is cutoff trying to drive baseline in the second half.
DRAWING A CROWD … Pettisville’s Jack Leppelmeier works his way through three Bombers on Thursday night in the Division VII district semifinal at Bryan High School.
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
BRYAN (February 27, 2025) – Sometimes basketball is as simple as who executes their game plan and who disrupts the opponent.
Edon did both, shooting 62 percent in the second half, and holding Pettisville to a 27 percent clip for the game in a 39-29 win that propelled the Bombers into the Division VII district final.
“We wanted to get good possessions and good quality shots,” Edon coach Matt Ripke stressed after. “We were looking for the matchups that we wanted.”
“We did get a couple of transition buckets, but those opportunities didn’t present themselves as often as we liked, but again we were looking more for matchups that we liked.”
The Bombers used three Briggs Gallehue buckets inside to take an 8-5 lead in a slow paced first quarter.
Jack Leppelmeier’s triple and foul line jumper were the only Pettisville buckets as Edon harassed the Blackbirds into 2/10 shooting in the quarter.
The Bombers went without a field goal in the second, but maintained a 12-10 halftime lead as again, they held Pettisville to a 2/10 mark from the floor in the quarter.
“We did a good job keeping (Jack Leppelmeier) out of the paint,” Ripke said of Edon’s defensive effort.
“Forced him to take some tough contested shots. We didn’t get the rebound the first time on all of them, but we got a lot of them.”
“We stayed in front outside, used a little bit of our length, we switched really well, and Cohen Hulbert and Kyler Sapp did a really good job on him when we were in man.”
After Kyler Sapp’s putback doubled the Bomber lead to 14-10, 45 seconds into the third, Josh Morris hit back-to-back shots to bring Pettisville even with 5:56 left.
Hulbert, who was a thorn in the side of the Blackbirds defensively all night, put Edon back on top with a muscle drive, then a three-point play that started a 10-2 burst.
Gallehue’s reverse layup and a Corbin Chrisman three-ball boosted the Bombers ahead 24-16 by the end of the third.
That margin ballooned to 31-18 with 5:23 to go in the game as Chrisman hit again from outside the arc, Hulbert found Sapp with an angle skip pass for a layup, and Gallehue got inside again for a layup to give Edon their biggest lead.
Pettisville made a run of their own as the Blackbirds forced a pair of turnovers and converted a pair of Edon misfires into 10 straight points to get within a possession with 2:30 left.
Leppelmeier’s hanging jumper, a Alex Galvin triple and a Galvin score off a Bomber turnover, then Morris’ three-ball brought the Birds back to 31-28.
But Gallehue came up with a huge play, scoring on a third chance rebound that turned into an ‘and-1’ and Sapp followed with another three-point play at the 1:15 mark of the fourth to basically close the door.
“The big thing we talked about in the fourth quarter was taking care of the ball,” Ripke explained. “We knew they were going to trap us, and we told them that when that comes, somebody has to be open.”
“Punch that pass through and reverse the basketball, and we’ll get easy looks.”
Gallehue’s 14 led all scorers in Edon (15-8) balanced attack scoring. Leppelmeier had 11 for Pettisville (18-5).
EDON (39) – Steinke 0; Chrisman 7; Radabaugh 2; Sapp 8; Hulbert 8; Gallehue 14; Totals: 12-2-9 – 39
PETTISVILLE (29) – Leppelmeier 11; Galvin 7; Aeschliman 0; Morris 9; Wyse 2; C. Bishop 0; Totals: 9-3-2 – 29
EHS 8 4 12 15 – 39
PHS 5 5 6 13 – 29
GAME STATISTICS
EDON: FG – 11/24 (42%); FT – 9/13 (69%); Rebounds – 29; Turnovers – 10; PETTISVILLE: FG – 12/44 (27%); FT – 2/6 (33%); Rebounds – 22; Turnovers – 6