BOMBS AWAY … Dana Fricke of Pettisville launches a three attempt.
By Timothy Kays
THE REPORTER
WEST UNITY: February 6, 2014 – The Hilltop Lady Cadets were looking for a win to bring them into a tie at the top of the BBC heap with Pettisville. The visiting Lady Blackbirds were looking for a win to clench a share of the BBC Title, and knock the Lady Cadets out of the running.
In the early going, it looked like the Ladybirds were going to skate away with an easy win, but after being down by eight, the hometown girls got their motors running and made it a game. It was Pettisville that had the final word though, as after coming back to tie the game, they won it on a Lauren Hostetler three with 0.3 seconds remaining to grab a share of the BBC Crown to give the Lady Cadets a 60-57 heartbreaker.
Hilltop was able to right the ship and head into the second period down by only four. When Pettisville point guard Mikala Avina went to the bench with foul trouble, the Lady Cadets went to town, posting a 20-6 second period run to take a ten-point lead into the half.
With Avina back for the second half, the Ladybirds went back to work, chipping away at the deficit. They cut the Hilltop lead to eight going into the fourth, and then did what they are famous for…create turnovers and quickly convert them to points. The Hilltop lead vanished, and on the final possession of the game, the Ladybirds went for the dagger. With the score tied at 57-57, Avina brought the ball downcourt. As Hilltop prepared for the last shot, they collapsed on Avina, who quickly got the ball off to Hostetler. The Hilltop defense sprang to the threat, but Hostetler had enough of a look to rattle home the game winning trifecta.
“It was a nice win for us,” said Jason Waldvogel, the Pettisville Head Coach. “We didn’t defend very well in the first half and put them at the foul line; Hilltop converted there all night long. We defended much better in the second half and stayed out of foul trouble. We were able to pressure them in the fourth quarter with Dana Fricke and Lauren Hostetler stepping up offensively during that time. Lauren hit the big shot for us then at the end of the game.”
Fricke put away 24 points to lead all scorers, while Hostetler finished with 15 and Avina 8. Jordyn Pursel hit for 7 points, Audra Klopfenstein had 4 and Kate Kauffman 2 for the 17-2 / 8-1 Lady Blackbirds.
Emily Armbruster led the 12-6 / 6-3 Lady Cadets with 17 points, with LeAnn Joost hitting for 12 points, and Hannah Bleikamp being limited to 10 points by the defense of Klopfenstein and Pursel. Cierra Grant had 8 points, Destiny Denton 6, and Kailey Creamer 4.
SCORING BY QUARTER:
Pettisville 20 6 9 25 – 60
Hilltop 16 20 11 10 – 57
Timothy Kays can be reached at tim@villagereporter.com