(March 7th, 2015) – ARCHBOLD: It was a grind, but the Lady Blackbirds punched their ticket to Elida on Saturday, March 7. The Buckeye Border Conference power dueled with Green Meadows Conference opponent Hogate for the right to play in Regional competition.
The Pettisville girls were able to defeat the Lady Tigers in the District final 39-29.
Right out of the gate, Pettisville took charge of the contest. They jumped to a 10-2 advantage by the final ticks of the opening frame of play. The girls from Henry County weren’t about to go gently into that good night, however, countering the Blackbirds with a 10-2 run of their own in the second period. That left both squads deadlocked at 12 at the half.
Much like the beginning of the game, the Lady Blackbirds stormed out of the locker room, assaulting the Holgate girls with a barrage of offense. By the time the third quarter dust cleared, the girls from Fulton County had reestablished control over their opponent, thanks to an 18-8 showing in the period. Leading Holgate 30-20 going into the fourth and final stanza, Pettisville needed only to keep pace with the Tigers down the stretch.
And that’s exactly what they did.
Putting up 9 points of their own, the Blackbird defense did its part as well. Holgate could only match the Pettisville output in the contest’s waning moment, scoring 9 points as well. Not allowing Holgate to gain any ground, the girls from Pettisville successfully assured themselves the 10 point victory.
While the win was certainly a team effort, Lady Blackbird Coach Waldvogel did single out a lone player as the biggest factor in Pettisville’s late game resurgence.
“Mikala Avina controlled the entire second half for us!”
The senior guard did indeed have a strong performance against the Tigers. She managed a game high 16 points, including 8 successful free throw attempts, to lock down the win for her team.
Despite Avina’s amazing efforts, this game was about the entire unit.
“I am extremely proud of our ladies tonight.” Waldvogel praised. “I don’t think I can ask them to play any harder than they did.”
Another Pettisville girl to have a great game in the District final was senior Dana Fricke. A strong presence in the paint, the 1,000 point club member also stepped back to knock down a triple to compliment her 4 interior field goals. She scored 11 points in the game.
Sophomore Blackbird Alexa Leppelmeier had a solid outing as well. The guard mixed up her game, scoring on both sides of the arc on her way to 6 points.