By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
EDON (February 13, 2026) – The last time Montpelier had won an outright boys basketball title was back in the 1955-56 season, when the Locos claimed the Northwest Ohio Athletic League crown.
Seven decades later, the Locos are now the outright Buckeye Border Conference champions after a 53-43 road victory over Edon in the conference regular season finale.
Montpelier capped off a perfect 7-0 conference campaign, improving to 19-2 on the season. They had already broken the school record for most victories in a season against Fairview last Tuesday.
The Locos had shared the previous two BBC titles—first with Pettisville two years ago, and last year with Pettisville and Edon.
“That has been something we have been working for all season,” said Montpelier head coach Nick Ramos. “It was our goal to not share the title this year. I thought the boys did a good job of coming out and finishing it against a good Edon team.”
Both teams battled for much of the first half as Edon was able to keep up with Montpelier, especially from the three-point line.
The two teams combined for six three-pointers in the first quarter as Montpelier claimed a 16-13 lead after the first eight minutes, with Wesley Hartsock draining a trifecta with 35 seconds left to give the Locos the edge.
Kenneth Smeltzer gave Montpelier a 23-18 lead with a layup and later added a free throw, maintaining a five-point lead until Corbin Chrisman sank a three-pointer to close the gap to 26-22 before CJ Fidler hit a rebound shot with 14 seconds remaining, enabling the Locos to take a 26-22 lead at halftime.
Despite hitting 8-of-16 (50%) from the floor in the first half, Edon’s defense put plenty of pressure on Montpelier, forcing the Locos into 8-of-24 shooting for 33% in the half.
“I thought we did a tremendous job defensively in the first half,” said Edon head coach Matt Ripke. “Defensively we were locked in and were able to control the tempo offensively as well. It was in the 20’s going in at halftime and that’s good for the Bombers.”
Edon’s defense did a great job of stifling Fidler, who—despite leading all scorers with 18 points—managed just four free throws and a rebound bucket in the first two quarters.
“We knew he was capable of hitting shots from the perimeter,” said Ripke of Fidler. “He has the ability to get his own, but he also creates to get other guys open looks as well.
“I thought he and Kenneth Smeltzer did a great job of distributing the basketball and getting guys the ball in position where they can score.”
Following a rebound bucket by Edon’s Lincoln Kiess to begin the second half and cut the Locos’ lead to 26-24, Montpelier forced Edon into five turnovers in the third quarter, opening up the offensive end.
A three-pointer by Hartsock at the 6:12 mark of the third quarter gave Montpelier a 30-24 lead, but Kiess answered with a trifecta for the Bombers.
“It seems we’ve been faltering a little bit in the middle quarters,” said Ramos. “We need to do a better job of staying locked in and not settling for more three-pointers. I think we need to become more efficient in our offense. We did a better job in the second half.”
Montpelier closed out the third with Fidler nailing a pair of treys and Gavyn Bass adding his third triple as the Locos went up by ten, 39-29, after three quarters.
“Gavyn Bass is a heck of a shooter for us,” said Ramos. “Until last week, he was shooting 52 percent from behind the arc for the season. He plays a lot of good minutes for us.
“He went cold the last game, so in practice we were kind of working him a little bit and telling him to just relax and stay calm.”
Hayden Sharps scored on a layup as Montpelier grabbed its biggest lead, 41-29, before Edon’s Briggs Gallehue ended the Locos’ 15-7 scoring run with a layup at the 4:52 mark of the fourth.
“We did a decent job of shooting from the perimeter,” said Ripke, whose squad connected on 16-of-36 field goal attempts for 44 percent.
“We wanted to establish Briggs (Gallehue) in the post. Give credit to their defense. They put two big guys down there on him and kind of took him away.”
Fidler then delivered a two-handed slam dunk, and Sharps scored on a spinning move to the basket for a decisive 47-34 lead with just over two minutes remaining.
Gallehue led Edon (13-7, 5-2 BBC) with 17 points, and Chrisman added 14 points. The Bombers were 3-of-11 (27%) from the stripe, with 21 rebounds and 15 turnovers.
Hartsock was the other Montpelier player in double figures with 11 points. The Locos were 18-of-45 (40%) from the floor and 9-of-13 (69%) from the stripe, along with 19 rebounds and six turnovers.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I’m sure it will after a little while,” said Ramos after his Locos won the BBC crown.
“One of the things we’ve preached is that we must play as a team in order for us to be successful. As long as we keep doing that, we’ll be fine.”
MONTPELIER (53) – Stahler 0; Stewart 0; Sharps 9; Fidler 18; M. Smeltzer 0; Hartsock 11; Bass 9; K. Smeltzer 6; Walz 0. Totals: 10-8-9 – 53
EDON (43) – Kiess 5; Stantz 6; Chrisman 14; Gonzalez-Ariza 0; Brigle 1; Trausch 0; Snyder 0; Gallehue 17; Grove 0; Kessler 0; Reed 0. Totals: 8-8-3 – 43
MHS 16 10 13 14 – 53
EHS 13 9 7 14 – 43