(February 6th, 2015) – WEST UNITY: An immense fourth quarter performance allowed Hilltop to shock Pettisville, and clean up the Buckeye Border Conference standings, incidentally.
The Cadets defeated their visitors from Pettisville 58-51 on Friday, February 6.
Establishing control of the contest early, the Blackbirds got off to an early 12-6 advantage. Hilltop was able to close that gap a bit in the second quarter with a 12-9 scoring effort. However, this was not enough to overtake their guests from Fulton County, and Hilltop jogged to the locker room behind 21-18.
Pettisville refused to let them make up any more ground in the third quarter. In fact, they put more separation between themselves and the Cadets thanks to a 15-11 scoring margin during the period. Down by 7 heading into the fourth period, Hilltop knew they had to put a run together if they had any hope of winning this game.
And that’s what they did. And then some.
Hilltop played a fast and furious last stanza, doubling their scoring output from the previous three quarters combined. Not even a solid 15 point period from Pettisville could deny the Cadets their victory. The Hilltop boys put up 29 points to end the game, giving themselves a 7 point win.
Cadet sophomore Tim Maneval was pivotal to the offensive success of Hilltop, scoring 14 points off of three-pointers. Kelby Grime, a senior for Hilltop, knocked down a pair of threes himself, as he put up 13 points. His classmate, Jalen Towers had a 10 point evening, doing most of his damage from the interior of the Pettisville defense.
Josh Liechty led all scorers with 16 points, including a couple of triples. Gabe Beck, a Blackbird sophomore, hit a three as well, helping him to reach 11 points in the contest. Eli King added 10 points in the loss.
The loss to Hilltop puts Pettisville behind Stryker, who now controls their own destiny in terms of winning a league championship.