By: Nate Calvin
PAULDING – The second game of the night at Paulding High School featured the third meeting of the season between BBC rivals Pettisville and Hilltop.
After dropping the first two matchups, the third time was the charm for the Blackbirds who took advantage of first half foul trouble and a 27% shooting night by Hilltop to get the 57-43 win.
A first quarter triple gave the Birds a brief 3-2 lead before a Mia Hancock trey would put Hilltop back in front at 5-3.
The Hancock triple started an 11-4 run by the Cadets as Hancock nailed another triple and Libbie Baker added five points to give Hilltop a 13-7 after one quarter.
A big second quarter for Pettisville began with treys by Ellie Grieser and Olivia Miller to tie the game at 13-13.
With the Blackbirds holding a slim 16-15 advantage, Baker was whistled for her third foul, sending the Cadets leading scorer to the bench with 3:44 left in the half.
Pettisville immediately began to attack inside with Baker on the bench as Grace Crawford scored twice before going 1/2 at the charity stripe, and Grieser buried her second triple of the quarter to push the lead to 24-19 at halftime.
With Baker back on the floor to start the second half, Hilltop went inside to her on numerous occasions as she would go 4/4 at the foul line and Hancock added a bucket to keep the Cadets within five at 30-25.
The field goal by Hancock would be the only make from the field in the third quarter for Hilltop, who went just 1/16 from the floor to help the Blackbirds pull away.
Crawford would be the catalyst for a 12-3 run by Pettisville to end the quarter with two baskets and two free throws and Miller hit a jumper in the lane in the final seconds for a 42-28 Pettisville advantage.
Two more field goals by Miller early in the final stanza helped Pettisville increase their lead but a three-pointer by Baker cut the lead to 48-37.
Pettisville answered though with six straight points as Crawford scored on an offensive rebound before going 2/2 at the line and Miller hit a pair of free throws to make the score 54-37 with 1:29 left in the game.
Miller and Crawford combined to score 24 of Pettisville’s 33 second half points as Miller finished with 20 on the night, Crawford had 17, and Grieser added 10.
After being held to five points in the first half, Baker tallied 17 in the second half to finish with a game-high 22 points and Hancock was also in double figures for Hilltop with 13.
In the opening game of the night top-seeded Convoy Crestview handled North Central 55-28.
The Lady Knights, who defeated Fayette 57-1 in the semifinals, scored the game’s first ten points before Isabelle Burnett turned in a conventional three-point play to get the Eagles on the board at the 3:44 mark.
The North Central 2-3 zone was effective early in slowing down Crestview and after a three-point play by Makinzy King early in the second quarter the Knights lead was just 14-8.
A 13-3 run by Crestview ended the first half with leading scorer Cali Gregory knocking down a triple from the right wing just before the horn to make it 27-11 at halftime.
Crestview’s lead would grow to 33-17 setting the stage for a 15-0 Knights surge to end the third quarter with several Eagles’ turnovers resulting in layups as the lead ballooned to 48-17.
Gregory was one of three Knights in double digits with 27 on the night and Burnett netted 11 to pace North Central (3-20).
The Division IV district semifinals will be on Thursday, February 23 at Defiance High School with No. 3 Stryker taking on No. 2 Ayersville in game one with No. 1 Crestview (19-4) facing No. 6 Pettisville (14-10) in the nightcap.
NORTH CENTRAL (28) – Meyers 0; Burnett 11; Rayome 2; Cruz 4; Zimmerman 1; Dominguez 2; Frame 0; Crafts 0; King 7; Wright 1; Totals: 10-0-8 – 28
CRESTVIEW (55) – Hoffman 0; Ross 0; Owsley 0; M. Kulwicki 0; Kline 11; C. Gregory 27; L. McCoy 11; Crider 2; Best 0; J. Kulwicki 2; H. McCoy 2; Reinhart 0; Totals: 19-5-2 – 55
GAME STATISTICS – N. Central: FG – 10/20 (50%); FT – 8/13 (61%); Rebounds – 12 (3 offensive); Turnovers – 21; Crestview: FG – 24/48 (50%); FT – 2/4 (50%); Rebounds – 22 (12 offensive); Turnovers – 8
N. CENTRAL 5 6 6 11 – 28
CRESTVIEW 12 15 21 7 – 55
PETTISVILLE (57) – Grieser 10; Klopfenstein 2; Grimm 2; Miller 20; King 2; Beck 4; Crawford 17; Totals: 17-4-11 – 57
HILLTOP (43) – Brown 3; Dickinson 3; Routt 0; Baker 22; Bailey 2; Hancock 13; Totals: 7-5-14 – 43
GAME STATISTICS – PETTISVILLE: FG – 21/41 (51%); FT – 11/22 (50%); Rebounds – 23 (8 offensive); Turnovers – 12; HILLTOP: FG – 12/44 (27%); FT – 14/21 (66%); Rebounds – 25 (15 offensive); Turnovers – 12
PETTISVILLE 7 17 18 15 – 57
HILLTOP 13 6 9 15 – 43
Nate can be reached at sports@thevillagereporter.com