(December 1st, 2014): The Buckeye Border Conference’s Lady Blackbirds Junior High girls went up against the Vikings of the North Western Ohio Athletic League in an epic non-conference clash. Both Pettisville’s seventh and eighth graders came out of the clash unscathed, beginning each of their seasons with a victory over Evergreen.
It was the seventh graders who did battle first. And battle they did. The youthful Pettisville girls battled to a tie with their Lady Viking counterparts by the end of the first quarter, with both sides earning 6 points. Though still a tight game, the Blackbirds were able to slip ahead by a single point, taking an 11-10 lead into halftime.
Evergreen would respond, however. Thanks to a 10-6 differential in the third period, the Vikings claimed the lead for themselves. It wouldn’t last, though. Pettisville stepped up defensively, shutting out the Evergreen girls in the final quarter of play. This gave their offense the opportunity to pull ahead, which they did on their way to a 24-20 win.
Mikayla Graber produced a third of the Lady Blackbird points, scoring 8 in the victory. Ryeana Klopfenstein nearly matched that feat, earning 7 points against the Viking defense.
The eighth grade incarnation of the Lady Blackbirds had a bit of an easier time handling Evergreen. After a close first period that saw Pettisville take a 12-11 lead, they increased their defensive intensity. Over the course of the last three quarters in the game, the Lady Vikings were allowed to score just 7 points in total. The final score of the contest was 36-18 in favor of Pettisville.
Morgan Leppelmeier and Anya Kauffman split the role of top scorer for the Blackbirds. Each girl provided their team with 11 points in the victory.
