WEST UNITY – The Pettisville Lady Blackbirds held off a furious rally from the Hilltop Lady Cadets in The Bunker on January 4, knocking the Ladies in Red out of sole possession of first place in the BBC by a razor thin 53-52 score.
One point was also the dividing line at the half, but it was Hilltop up by a 28-27 count. A 22-11 run in the third opened up a double-digit lead for the Ladybirds, but the Lady Cadets made them fight to keep the lead in the fourth.
“It was a real nice win for us tonight,” said Pettisville Coach Jason Waldvogel. “I thought it was one of our best efforts by the entire team this year. We had a lot of individuals step up in different situations as the game progressed, and we dealt with foul trouble.”
Dana Fricke hit on a game-high 19 to lead the Ladybirds, who now share first with Hilltop at 3-1 in the BBC. Mikala Avina landed 15 points, Lauren Hostetler and
Jordyn Pursel each had 6 points, Audra Klopfenstein 4, and Amber Loar 3 points.
For the Lady Cadets it was Jackie Smith leading with 14 points, while Emily Armbruster had 12 points and Hannah Bleikamp 11. Cierra Carpenter had 6 points, LeAnn Joost 4 and Kelly Geis and Sam Lillemon 3 points apiece.
SCORING BY QUARTER:
Pettisville 17 10 22 4 – 53
Hilltop 14 14 11 13 – 52