BRYAN SENIOR … Josey Arnold unloads on three-ball in Thursday night’s win over Evergreen.
PHOTOS BY REBEKAH DELL / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
DRAWING A CROWD … Evergreen’s Avery Emmitt puts up a shot while surrounded by three Bryan defenders.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
BRYAN (January 29, 2026) – It took one half for Bryan to get themselves warmed up in their 52-35 Northwest Ohio Athletic League victory over Evergreen.
Having not practiced almost an entire week due to Winter Storm Fern, the Bears overcame a sluggish shooting start with a much-improved second-half effort on Senior Night, honoring four seniors, Josey Arnold, Ava Zimmerman, Miley Vollmer, and Gabby Mossburg.
Bryan (10-9, 2-3 NWOAL) opened the game scoring the first seven points, including a three-pointer by Averyann Fisher, whose trifecta from the top of the key at the 5:45 mark of the first quarter forced Evergreen to call a timeout.
The Vikings (9-8, 1-4 NWOAL) responded with junior Avery Emmitt launching a pair of trifectas to close the gap to 10-9.
Following a three-pointer by Bryan’s Josey Arnold, Emmitt, who led Evergreen with 15 points, drained her third trifecta in the quarter with the Golden Bears leading 13-12 after one quarter.
Evergreen managed to stay within striking distance in the second quarter. A layup by Bailey Lumbrezer and a free throw by Emmitt enabled the Vikings to take a 17-16 lead with 3:23 remaining in the first half.
Neither team shot well in the second quarter. Bryan was a frigid 1 of 10 from the floor, its lone field goal, a short jumper by Arnold with 5.2 seconds left, enabled the Bears to grab an 18-17 halftime lead.
Evergreen managed 2 of 10 field goal attempts with Lyla Radel and Lumbrezer both connecting for the Vikings in the quarter.
A short five-footer by Lanae Manz gave Evergreen its final lead of the game, 19-18, to begin the third quarter.
From there, Bryan, who connected on 3 of 20 trifecta attempts for a chilly 15 percent in the first half, began to warm themselves up from three-point range following Manz’s basket.
After a pair of free throws by Bryan’s Piper Hanna, they would find their offensive groove with Arnold and Fisher hitting back-to-back treys for a seven-point lead, 26-19, before Evergreen called another timeout at the 5:31 mark of the quarter.
“It was about effort,” said Evergreen head coach Josh Williams. “The first half we battled, and in the second half we just came out, and we lost the effort, and that’s what got us. We also didn’t win the rebound battle.”
Evergreen responded with back-to-back baskets by Emmitt and Manz to pull to within three points, 26-23. Fisher then nailed her fourth trifecta, and Amiyah Langham followed with another triple for a 37-27 cushion.
“We made a few (three-pointers) in the second half,” said Bryan head coach Todd Grosjean. “In the first half, we made maybe our first two or three, and we had trouble throwing in the ocean.
“We were settling for three’s where we could have gone to the basket. I told them we got to get to the basket in the second half and get to the free-throw line to see the ball go through.”
Fisher tallied 11 of her game-high 16 points in the quarter, added a bucket and two free throws to close out the third quarter with Bryan leading 39-31 after three quarters of play.
“We didn’t pressure, and we were out of our defensive scheme,” said the Vikings coach. “Credit to them, they were knocking those shots down.
“Normally, we had games like that before where we put the ball pressure on there and getting after it. We just didn’t do that tonight.”
Bryan outscored Evergreen, 13-4, in the final eight minutes. They ended up going 8 of 14 from long distance in the second half for 57 percent, thus finishing the night hitting 11 of 34 for 32 percent on three-pointers.
“Fortunately, they responded, and we made a few shots and played with a little more energy,” said the Golden Bears coach, referring to his team’s second-half performance.
Manz, who was coming off a huge scoring effort the week before, tallying 31 points against Hilltop and 28 points against Archbold, finished with ten points in the loss.
“The (Lanae) Manz girl was coming off 31 and 28 points in her last two games, and for Piper Hanna and Emme Miller to hold her to ten points was huge for us,” said the Bryan coach.
Joining Fisher in double figures for Bryan were Arnold with 14 points, and Langham finished with 13 points.
The Bears were 16 of 55 for 29 percent from the floor and 9 of 10 for 90 percent from the line. They also had 29 rebounds and nine turnovers.
Evergreen was 14 of 39 for 35 percent from the floor, but 4 of 11 for 36 percent from the line. They had 28 rebounds and 17 turnovers.
EVERGREEN (35) – Valentine 0; Manz 10; Hendricks 0; Lumbrezer 2; Vaculik 0; Emmitt 15; Radel 6; Risner 2; Totals: 11-3-4 – 35
BRYAN (52) – Langham 13; Hanna 7; Miller 0; Fisher 16; Arnold 14; Kidston 2; Vollmer 0; Hepker 0; Totals: 5-11-9 – 32
EHS 12 5 14 4 – 35
BHS 13 5 21 13 – 52