Pettisville 2/15/14—The Pettisville Blackbirds and Wauseon Indian’s went to battle in their annual matchup. The schools are separated by a mere five miles, which has only added to the rivalry between the two schools throughout the years. This years renewal of that rivalry was won by the Indians, as the Tribe rolled to a 55-27 victory over the Blackbirds.
Both squads were evenly matched through for the first half of the opening quarter, as at the 5:30 mark of the first quarter, Pettisville and Wauseon were tied at four points a piece. The Indians soon created a bit of separation, scoring seven straight points to go on top 13-6. It looked as if the Indians were going to stop Pettisville from scoring for the remainder of the first period, that was until Pettisville senior Austin Dykstra nailed a 15 footer with only five seconds remaining in the opening quarter to end the Blackbird scoring drought, and make the score 13-8 in favor of the Tribe at the end of the first stanza.
The spark at the end of the first quarter gave Pettisville some momentum as the second period of play began. At the 6:26 mark of the second quarter, Blackbird junior Tate Kauffman drained a three point shot to bring Pettisville within two of the Tribe, 15-13. However, that Blackbird momentum would not last for very long, as in the final six minutes of the first half, Noah Castle and Kris Boysel would take over the contest, leading the Indians on a 15-2 run to end the first half of the contest. Castle racked up 14 points to lead all scorers in the first half. The Wauseon run put the Tribe quickly in control of the contest, leading 30-15 at the intermission.
The Blackbirds looked to get themselves back in to contention as the second half opened up, but the vaunted Indian defense came alive in the third quarter, holding Pettisville to only four points in the third period. Boysel continued his hot streak, and was assisted by junior teammate Jacob Newlove who hit a three late in the quarter, helping the Indians grow their lead to 42-19 as the third quarter buzzer sounded.
As the fourth quarter began, the Tribe was firmly in control. Pettisville’s Jacob Reyes was not going to go out without a fight, as the senior made sure to score his final points on the court he called home for four years. However it was not enough to chip away at the Wauseon lead, as the Tribe would go on to win by a score of 55-27.
With the win, Wauseon moves to 15-5 on the season, and is 6-1 in NWOAL play. Pettisville falls to 11-10 on the year, and 7-2 in the BBC.
For the Blackbirds, Dykstra led the way with ten points. Noah Miller and Eli King both scored four, Tate Kauffman put down three, Jeremy Mann, Jacob Reyes, and Korben Rychener all finished with two points.
Castle set the pace for Wauseon with 14 points. Newlove contributed 11, Boysel scored 10, Zach Johnson tallied up six, Dillon Schantz and Zac Robinson both put up four, and Caleb Andrews and Corry Byers rounded out the night with three points a piece.
SCORING BY QUARTER:
Pettisville: 8, 7, 4, 8 for 27
Wauseon: 13, 17, 12 13 for 55
-Mitchell Peebles
