By: Daniel Cooley
BRYAN – In the opening game, Pettisville found itself behind 12-4 after one quarter and it proved to be too much to overcome.
Antwerp jumped out to a 7-0 lead right out of the gate. After Jack Leppelmeier’s three-pointer cut the Antwerp lead to 7-3, Reid Lichty came right back with a trey and Zaine McMichael’s layup brought Antwerp’s lead back up to 12-3.
Pettisville was able to cut the Antwerp lead down to 12-8 in the second quarter, after a pair of free throws from Sean Adkins and a Cayden Jacoby basket.
Antwerp answered back with a trey from Carson Altimus and a layup from Cam Fuller to push the lead back up to 17-8. That propelled Antwerp to a 21-12 halftime advantage.
“We came out too tentative and Antwerp came out fired up and took it to us,” said Pettisville coach Brian Leppelmeier.
“And we needed to get the ball a lot more to (Cayden) Jacoby. He only had three touches in the first half.”
After another Altimus three-pointer to start the third quarter put Antwerp up, 24-14, two Jacoby baskets and a layup from Adkins brought Pettisville to within four points, at 24-20.
However, Antwerp answered with a 7-0 run to take a 31-20 lead. Trailing, 33-23 after an Altimus two; pointer, a Jaret Beck basket and two Leppelmeier free throws cut Antwerp’s lead to six, 33-27, after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, Pettisville closed to within 40-35 with two minutes left, on a Jacoby basket. However, Altimus then hit four straight free throws to put Antwerp up by nine, 44-35, with 41 seconds left.
Antwerp was able to keep Pettisville at bay, by going a perfect 16-16 at the charity stripe.
“I appreciated the efforts of this team all season long,” coach Leppelmeier said.
“We won 15 games with a very tough schedule, and we were in every game. This group always had a lot of fight. But it was hard to battle back from our rough start (down 12-4 after one quarter).”
Antwerp (19-4) was led by Altimus, who garnered 21 points, while Landon Brewer added 16 markers.
Pettisville (15-9) was led by Jacoby’s 23 points, while Leppelmeier added 10 points.
PETTISVILLE (39): Leppelmeier 10; Ripke 0; Aeschliman 0; Adkins 4; Beck 2; Wyse 0; Jacoby 23; Totals: 14-1-8 – 39
ANTWERP (48): Moore 2; McMichael 2; Altimus 21; Lichty 5; Brewer 16; Savina 0; Fuller 2; Totals: 10-4-16 – 48
THREE-POINT GOALS: Pettisville – Leppelmeier; Antwerp – Atimus 3, Lichty; REBOUNDS: Pettisville – 26 (Jacoby 11); Antwerp – 19 (Altimus, Brewer 4); TURNOVERS: Pettisville – 11; Antwerp – 12
PETTISVILLE 4 8 15 12 – 39
ANTWERP 12 9 12 15 – 48
Dan can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com
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