DISTRICT FINAL … Pettisville’s Alex Galvin handles the ball against the Cardinal Stritch pressure defense.
PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
SURVEYING THE FLOOR … Pettisville guard Creighton Aeschliman looks down the floor while handling the ball. VIEW PHOTOS OF THIS CONTEST FOR FREE AT WWW.THEVILLAGEREPORTER.COM
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
OREGON (March 7, 2026) – A wise old basketball guru once said, “Beware of big-city schools that have ‘Cardinal,’ ‘Saint,’ ‘Academy,’ and the like in their names and play in small-enrollment divisions. They don’t play by the same rules off the court as you do on the floor.”
Pettisville supposedly had that concern, taking on a school from Toledo’s east side – Cardinal Stritch in a Division VII district final at Oregon Clay.
That aforementioned worry turned out to be no worry at all. As Blackbird coach Brian Leppelmeier described it, son Jack simply did “Jack things,” and the Blackbirds shot a smoking 84 percent in the second half and 73 percent for the game to oust Cardinal Stritch 66-34.
According to Leppelmeier, the triumph was the first district title win for the Blackbirds since 1998.
“They came out in the first quarter and hit three threes. I thought our guys were there,” Leppelmeier said of his team’s dominant performance.
“We made the adjustment there, and it started on the defensive end getting stops.
“Then Jack kind of showed up and did some Jack things. I’ve had other players like that. Detric Yoder had a great tournament run, and Jack is on one of those. You give him a little space and let him get going.”
Leppelmeier the player got the Blackbirds going early. After an alley-oop dunk by King Wilson Jr. and a score off a turnover by Xavier Blackman gave the Cardinals an early lead, Leppelmeier had a hand in all 12 points for the ‘Birds in the next five minutes, giving Pettisville a three-point lead.
The senior guard hit from the middle of the key, then went 2-for-2 from the foul line to tie the game.
Then, after Rasean Gordon’s deep triple gave Stritch a lead, Leppelmeier dumped passes to Ryan Bishop twice for layups and canned a pair of fadeaway jumpers to put the Blackbirds on top 12-9 with 1:46 left.
Gordon and Dennis Clark III hit from outside to regain a Stritch 17-12 margin, but that would be about it for Cardinal Stritch for the next two quarters.
Leppelmeier’s no-look pass to Bishop opened the second quarter.
“We had timely plays. We talk about not having live-ball turnovers, and I thought our guys did a great job of that,” Leppelmeier explained of the Blackbirds’ offensive efficiency.
Then the high-scoring Blackbird tallied the next 10 points on his own – six from a pair of deep triples – to boost Pettisville ahead 24-17.
The Blackbirds never looked back. Two more Leppelmeier assists led to another Bishop layup and Alex Galvin’s three-ball that increased the Blackbird gap to 29-20 at the break.
While Pettisville shot 11-for-18 in the first half, Cardinal Stritch was mired in a 1-for-9 second quarter.
If anyone thought the Blackbirds were on a roll to end the first half, it was nothing compared to what happened in the second.
With Pettisville up 31-23, Leppelmeier led a burst of 17 straight to blow the game wide open. A dish to Graycen Osterday for a three-ball started the run.
Another assist to Creighton Aeschliman followed, then Leppelmeier scored off an inbounds play along with a three-point play to open a 41-23 lead.
After accounting for every Pettisville score to that point by either his own shot or an assist, Leppelmeier deferred to Aeschliman.
The 5-foot-9 senior went solo to the rim for one score and took a feed from Galvin for another before Osterday tripled to end the third with the Blackbirds comfortably ahead 48-23.
“If they were going to come out and pressure, we were going to get guys in the middle of the floor, which is where we want to operate,” Leppelmeier said.
“As long as we could hang on to it and keep them extended, that’s a benefit for us. Ryan Bishop knows exactly where to go on a dump, and he did a great job.”
After shooting 8-for-10 in the third quarter, the Blackbirds went one better, hitting 8-for-9 in the fourth.
Leppelmeier scored the last of his 30 points on the night with 6:18 to go. Aeschliman got two more field goals and fed Galvin for another before leaving the game late.
The Blackbirds took their largest lead with 1:56 left when Aiden Crawford hit from outside the arc for a 66-31 advantage that triggered the running clock rule.
Bishop (12 points) and Aeschliman (10) also hit double figures for the Blackbirds, who went 27-for-37 from the floor. Leppelmeier added eight assists to his 30-point night.
Cardinal Stritch was just 12-for-42 for the game.
CARDINAL STRITCH (34) – Wilson Jr. 6; Blackman 4; Evans 3; Clark 6; Ross 2; Gordon 13; Graham 0; Bennett 0; Rogers 0; Young 0; Totals: 6-6-4 – 34
PETTISVILLE (66) – C. Hogrefe 0; Leppelmeier 30; Galvin 5; C. Aeschliman 10; Osterday 6; Hoylman 0; Hastings 0; Z. Hogrefe 0; Crawford 3; Bishop 12; Totals: 21-6-6 – 66
CSHS 17 3 3 11 – 34
PHS 12 17 19 18 – 66