SCOOP AND SCORE … Chris Shrader (pictured) netted 13 points as the Vikings grabbed a 68-46 win at Edon.
PHOTOSBY REBEKAH DELL / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
NON-LEAGUE HOOPS … Edon’s Rafael Gonzalez-Ariza goes up for a bucket in a non-league contest versus Edon.
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
EDON (February 3, 2026) – After missing the last 12 games due to a lower extremity injury, Evergreen’s star point guard Troy Manz is scheduled to return in the next 10 days.
Badly in need of a win at Edon to maintain home court advantage for the upcoming tournament draw, the Vikings played with the energy and confidence as if Manz was already back on the floor.
Evergreen scored 20 points off 23 turnovers and raced past the Bombers 68-46 to raise their record to 10-7. The Vikings are holding the No. 4 seed in the MaxPreps RPI rankings for their district.
“This was a very important game for us,” Viking coach Kyle Bostater stated. “Edon is one of the top teams in the area. They are a tough matchup, Briggs Gallehue is very good. They have shooters in (Kadin) Stantz and (Corbin) Christman who can flat out light it up. They are very balanced and have four guys who can play and score.”
“There’s no secret that we haven’t played well the last three weeks, so this was kind of a good opportunity to get a bounce back game and get right by us on the road.”
Evergreen broke away from a 3-2 lead with eight points in 90 seconds early in the first. Quinn Eisel’s drive was followed by a George Allendorf putback after a turnover.
A Will Ruetz steal led to an Eisel hoop, then Ruetz dished to Allendorf for a wide-open jumper, pushing the Vikings to an 11-2 lead with 5:31 left in the quarter.
Two Kadin Stantz three-pointers, along with a three-point play by Briggs Gallehue closed Edon’s deficit to 19-14 at the quarter but the Vikings hit the Bombers with another scoring burst to open the second.
Chris Shrader nailed a pair of long-range three-pointers, with a strong drive to the rim by Ruetz in between. Bryce Bolger followed with a steal-and-score to vault Evergreen into a 29-16 lead.
The Vikings kept a double-figure margin at 36-25 at half, then blew the game open in the third. Gallehue and Stantz hit buckets to start the third, bringing Edon back to 36-29, however Evergreen answered back with a 17-3 salvo fueled by 11 points off Edon turnovers.
Shrader found Bolger for a three-point play. Eisel followed with a putback after another Edon turnover. Then, Ruetz made three consecutive steals, leading to two breakaway layups and a pass to Allendorf for another score, making it 53-32 with 1:50 left.
“We have been very indecisive lately,” Bostater said. “We talked all week that whatever it is that you are going to do, be decisive. On defense that’s knowing what your assignment is. We had to have a couple of assignments identifying shooters and flying out to the shooter, contesting, getting into the passing lanes, all those things.”
“Our press and pressure helped us and we were able to get out in transition and get some easy buckets. Our defense led to our offense.” Shrader fed Alex Mossing for a score, and a three-pointer by Blake Fisher gave Evergreen their largest lead at 66-42 with 2:47 remaining.
Gallehue led all scorers on the night with 20 while Stantz had 11 for Edon. The Bombers (11-7) shot just under 50 percent from the floor but managed only 33 attempts due to their high number of turnovers.
Evergreen had three players in double figures, and three more with seven or more in a very balanced attack. Shrader and Eisel scored 13 and Ruetz added 11. The Vikings shot 28-for-57 from the field and committed just nine turnovers.
EVERGREEN (68) – Ruetz 11; Farley 3; Q. Eisel 13; Allendorf 9; Bolger 8; Fisher 7; Mossing 4; Raftery 0; Gillen 0; Shrader 13; Schwartz 0; Totals: 22-6-6 – 68
EDON (46) – Stantz 11; Chrisman 4; Kiess 2; Brigle 4; Gonzalez-Ariza 2; Trausch 0; Snyder 0; Gallehue 18; Grove 0; Kessler 3; Reed 2; Totals: 12-4-10 – 46
EVG 19 17 20 12 – 68
EDON 14 11 13 8 – 46