NON-LEAGUE GAME … Evergreen’s Quinten Eisel (above) had a team-high 19 points in the Vikings non-league home win over Pettisville.
PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
AVOIDING PRESSURE … Alex Galvin dribbles away from an Evergreen defender.
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
METAMORA (January 24, 2026) – In a battle of two teams in need of a victory, Evergreen rebounded from a first-half deficit with a stellar effort defensively in the second to chalk up a come-from-behind, 51-44 win over Pettisville.
“We talked a lot today about having a bounce back performance,” Viking coach Kyle Bostater said. “It’s been two Friday nights in league play that we didn’t show up and play to the best of our ability and then play a formidable opponent the next night.
“Pettisville is a very good team and very well coached and we had to make sure our guys were ready to bounce back tonight.”
“We were very proud of their effort, and they were again very mature about bouncing back.” High-scoring Jack Leppelmeier kept the Blackbirds tight with the Vikings almost by himself in the first half.
The senior guard notched nine first quarter points to counter a pair of George Allendorf deep triples and Quinn Eisel’s three-point play to keep Pettisville within 12-11 at the quarter.
Ryan Bishop gave the Blackbirds a 13-12 lead 20 seconds into the second on a dish from Alex Galvin.
Chris Shrader’s deep triple regained a Viking lead a minute later, but Leppelmeier answered with a three-point play off a loose ball to put Pettisville on top in a duel that went back and forth with the Vikes taking a 22-21 advantage on a Will Ruetz lob to Eisel with 2:59 left.
Galvin’s pair at the line regained a Blackbird advantage with 1:33 left, and Leppelmeier pushed the lead to 28-24 at the half with a score off a turnover, then a bucket on another loose ball under the rim just before the buzzer.
Pettisville used 17 points from Leppelmeier to take a lead into the locker room, but that would change in the second half as the Vikings made life tough for the potent Blackbird senior, and Evergreen made a run of their own.
Allendorf found Eisel for a score 13 seconds into the third, then after a turnover, Shrader scored on a putback to tie the game.
Eisel split a pair at the line to give the Vikes a 29-28 lead with 6:18 to go. Creighton Aeschliman got the ‘Birds back on top when he scooped up yet another loose ball, and Leppelmeier hit Bishop for a layup on the next possession to make it 32-29.
Shrader got Eisel an open look for a triple to tie the game, but Leppelmeier got the lead right back with 2-2 from the foul line.
Evergreen got back-to-back buckets off turnovers from Ruetz and Shrader to get the Vikings an advantage at 36-34, a lead they kept when Allendorf went back side for a layup that made it 38-36 going into the fourth.
Galvin’s second chance hoop tied the game with 7:20 to go. Ruetz put Evergreen ahead for good with a left-hand drive at the 6:13 mark, and Shrader’s offensive rebounds and feed to Eisel doubled the gap at 42-38.
Galvin hit Bishop underneath for a score, however one more time Shrader hit Eisel for the same, this one turning into a three-point play with 2:41 left to make it 45-40.
“Chris is our glue guy, he does all the stuff that kind of goes unnoticed sometimes,” said Bostater talking about Shrader. “He is in the right spots defensively, he can handle the ball, he is a good passer and he can shoot it. He did a very good job tonight giving Quinn opportunities and made Quinn look really good tonight.”
Evergreen put the game away in the last 1:50 as Ruetz had a swipe-and-score, Allendorf hit a pair at the line, and Jake Farley’s pick turned into a Ruetz bucket that gave Evergreen their largest lead at 51-41.
Leppelmeier finished with 22, but did not score a field goal in the second half. “We talked before the game as to how to you game plan against him,” Bostater said of Leppelmeier.
“He’s one of the best players in Northwest Ohio, one of the highest scorers in the same region. It doesn’t matter what you do, he is still going to get his because he is that good.”
“The second half, we just had Bryce Bolger stay with him the whole time, and when Bryce wasn’t in we had Jake Farley stay with him. They were just nuisances for him and were able to keep him closed down in the second half.”
Eisel had 19 to lead Evergreen. Allendorf had 13 and Ruetz 10. Evergreen (9-6) held Pettisville to 5-18 from the field in the second half, while going 11-19 in the same span.
Pettisville (8-7) was guilty of only seven second-half turnovers, but the Vikings scored 13 points off of those.
PETTISVILLE (44) – Leppelmeier 22; Galvin 6; Aeschliman 2; Hastings 0; Z. Hogrefe 6; Bishop 8; Totals: 12-3-11 – 44
EVERGREEN (51) – Ruetz 10; Farley 0; Q. Eisel 19; Allendorf 13; Bolger 0; Mossing 0; Shrader 9; Totals: 15-4-9 – 51
PHS 11 17 8 8 – 44
EHS 12 12 14 13 – 51