(January 13th, 2015) – PETTISVILLE: The Lady Blackbirds almost let it slip away.
Hosting Green Meadows Conference power Hicksville, the Pettisville girls got off to a fantastic start. They built a lead that should have had staying power. Yet simple mistakes let the Lady Aces back into the game.
“We started fast, but then didn’t play smart.” Pettisville Coach Jason Waldvogel.
Indeed, the Blackbird girls quite hastily took the lead, ending the first quarter up 15-5. They would be unable to repeat that defensive performance in any of the other three periods of play. The second quarter, for example, saw the Aces rack up 14 points to Pettisville’s 13. Still, the Lady Blackbirds carried a 28-19 lead with them into the locker room.
However, Hicksville was able to shave that advantage all the way down to 2 points in the third period, thanks to a 16-9 edge gained in the period. The Lady Blackbirds would not be denied the victory, though. They outscored the Lady Aces 16-12 down the homestretch. This allowed them to claim a 53-47 victory.
Though he proclaimed that his team didn’t play very smart, he’s certainly not taking anything away from how well Hicksville played.
“Coach Adams (Hicksville Coach) and her team are to be given credit for how hard they played tonight.”
Pettisville relied upon their senior leadership to win this game, which turned out to be a wise decision. Dana Fricke totaled 20 points to lead all scorers in the contest. Fellow senior Mikala Avina knocked down 3 triples as she tallied up 17 points overall. A third senior, Jordyn Pursel, added 6 points to the victory effort as well.