DRIVE THRU TRAFFIC … Bradley Williams drives to the hoop for Stryker with a pair of Montpelier defenders nearby.
PHOTOS BY REBEKAH DELL / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
DISTRICT SEMIFINAL … Montpelier’s Malachi Smeltzer gets loose inside for a layup in last week’s district semifinal at Bryan High School. VIEW 136 PHOTOS OF THIS CONTEST FOR FREE AT WWW.THEVILLAGEREPORTER.COM
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
BRYAN (March 5, 2026) – In the end, it was Montpelier celebrating a 20-point come-from-behind win to advance to a Division VII district final.
Also in the end, it was Stryker left to wonder what could’ve been. Star guard William Donovan suffered a lower-limb injury with the Panthers ahead 28-17 halfway through the second quarter.
Donovan returned, but was obviously hampered movement-wise the rest of the night, and Montpelier outscored the Panthers 43-12 post-injury to claim a 60-40 win before a full house at Bryan.
Montpelier coach Nick Ramos was excited after the victory, and also very honest in his comments.
“Obviously the devastating injury to Will Donovan – I mean, who knows what would’ve happened. I just hate for that to happen to that kid and his family,” Ramos said.
CJ Fidler scored six points in the opening quarter and hit Kenneth Smeltzer for a layup to put the Locos ahead 13-9 with 1:22 to go.
However, Donovan capped a personal flurry of 13 straight Panther points with six in the last 54 seconds to give Stryker the lead.
Donovan scored on a sweet spin move, a fast-break hoop, and a second-chance bucket to push Stryker from four down to a 15-13 lead at the first-quarter horn.
Malachi Smeltzer’s transition hoop to begin the second tied it, but Donovan answered with a corner triple that began a run of 10 straight Panther points.
Bradley Williams hit a three-pointer, Eli Capps canned a foul-line jumper and dished to Cody Stewart for a layup and a 25-15 lead.
Seconds later, Williams’ second three-ball gave Stryker its biggest gap at 28-17, but it came with a hefty price.
Donovan, who slashed the key and dished on the play, crumpled to the floor clutching his knee and, after being attended to, left the game.
That moment proved to be the beginning of the end for the Panthers. As previously stated, Donovan did return to the floor but was visibly limited in his movements. The Panthers scored just 12 points the rest of the game.
Meanwhile, Montpelier went on an extended run of its own – 15-0 to be exact – that lasted into the first four minutes of the third quarter.
Fidler’s offensive rebound basket started the burst that closed the deficit to 28-21 at the half. Hayden Sharps’ turnaround jumper opened the third, and Fidler took over from that point.
The high-scoring sophomore banged a triple and scored off a turnover during the burst to push the Locos on top 32-28.
Fidler then hit another triple along with a layup – his 1,000th career point – to make it 37-29 with 3:01 on the clock.
Fidler’s drive and pass to Kenneth Smeltzer for an easy one finished a 23-5 third quarter and gave the Locos a 44-33 lead. Montpelier shot 71 percent from the floor in the quarter.
“We told them at halftime that we are doing what they want us to do instead of doing what we want to do offensively, so we tried to slow things down a little bit – maybe looking to get more paint touches before we start shooting threes,” explained Ramos of his team’s 10-for-14 shooting from the floor in the period.
“Sometimes our guys think they are the best shooters in the world and start falling in love with shooting the three. We’ve got to break that off.
“So we talked about controlling our offensive touches and getting paint touches and kick-outs and go from there.”
Andrew Batterson canned a three-pointer to bring Stryker within 44-36 to start the fourth, but Montpelier countered with 12 straight to put the game away.
Wesley Hartsock’s half-turnaround initiated the run. Fidler was in the middle of it with a score off a loose ball and a pass to Sharps for another basket.
“CJ is a great player,” Ramos stated. “He does a lot of good stuff for us. He’s a great teammate. More than anything else CJ does for us, he has a great basketball IQ.
“He is really a coach on the floor, and things really flow through him for us.”
Hartsock finished the rally with a layup to make it a 20-point game at 56-36 with 3:23 left. Fidler’s 24 led everyone. Sharps added 11 and Kenneth Smeltzer 10 for Montpelier (22-2).
Donovan had 18 for Stryker (12-12). The Locos shot 17-for-27 in the second half compared to 5-for-19 for the Panthers.
STRYKER (40) – Donovan 18; Ab. Batterson 0; Williams 8; Juillard 0; Gonzalez 0; Capps 5; Emmons 0; Rivas 0; An. Batterson 3; Stewart 6; Lloyd 0; Totals: 12-4-4 – 40
MONTPELIER (60) – Stahler 0; Stewart 3; Sharps 11; Fidler 24; M. Smeltzer 6; Hartsock 6; Richmond 0; Sommer 0; Bass 0; K. Smeltzer 10; Riggenbach 0; Totals: 22-3-7 – 60
SHS 15 13 5 7 – 40
MHS 13 8 23 16 – 60
