(January 22nd, 2015) – PIONEER: Since losing their first game of the season, by a single point at Archbold in overtime no less, the Lady Blackbirds have been playing their best basketball of the season. In fact, the Pettisville girls were riding a 5 game win streak heading into their excursion into Pioneer to take on North Central on Thursday.
They were able to tack on their sixth straight win, beating their Eagle hosts 44-14.
Starting off the contest with a stifling defensive performance, the Blackbird girls never let North Central get comfortable with the ball in their hands. By the end of the opening period, Pettisville held a 12-1 lead. They followed that up with a 12-3 effort in the second quarter. This gave the visitors from Pettisville a 24-4 advantage going into the locker room.
The Lady Eagles continued to struggle scoring the ball in the second half. They were outscored in the third quarter 9-4, putting them in a 25 point hole heading into the fourth and final stanza. Despite their best offensive output of the evening, North Central still couldn’t stay with Pettisville. The hometown Eagles fell behind the Lady Blackbirds 11-6 down the stretch.
Turnovers were a massive factor in this contest. Pettisville was able to limit their possession-costing mistakes to 6, an impressive number to say the least. The Lady Eagles had a much tougher time against a stout Blackbird defense. They turned the ball over 20 times, creating a turnover differential of 14.
The difference in rebounding also factored into the Eagle defeat. North Central found themselves heavily outrebounded, with Pettisville bringing in 28 rebounds to the Lady Eagles’ 15. Those 13 extra rebounds greatly impacted how the game played out.
Dana Fricke, a Pettisville senior, led all scorers with 16 points. Classmate Mikala Avina also reached double-digit scoring, producing 11 points. A third senior, Jordyn Pursel, added 7 points to the Pettisville victory as well.
North Central looked to Sabrina Pickford to carry their offense, and the senior offered 8 points to the Eagle cause. Fellow senior Julie Rhinard contributed 3 points in the loss as well.