HEAVY TRAFFIC … Pettisville center Cayden Jacoby goes up strong while being surrounded by Loco defenders. Jacoby had 20 points, 17 rebounds to pace the Blackbirds. (PHOTO BY RICH HARDING, STAFF)
By: Nate Calvin
MONTPELIER, OHIO-Trailing 21-20 at halftime, Pettisville turned to their defense as they held the Locos to just four second half field goals to pull away for the 43-32 win.
Pettisville started fast as Max Leppelmeier had seven of the Blackbirds first nine points to help them grab an early 9-2 lead.
Montpelier responded with seven unanswered points, including a three ball from Garrett Walz, to tie the game a 9-9.
Montpelier turned up the defensive pressure in the second quarter by forcing five turnovers in the quarter by Pettisville which resulted in only six shot attempts for the Blackbirds.
A steal and breakaway layup by Tylor Yahraus cut the Pettisville lead to 18-17 at the 2:27 mark of the second quarter. The Locos would score the final four points of the half and when Gavin Stratton hit a shot off glass at the buzzer, the Locos had a 21-20 lead at halftime.
Pettisville began to take control in the third as Leppelmeier hit a triple and the Blackbirds were 5/5 at the foul line to give Pettisville a 30-25 lead going to the fourth quarter.
The shooting struggles for Montpelier started in the third as they were just 1/10 from the floor and finished 4/22 for 18% in the second half.
Pettsville big man Cayden Jacoby took over in the early moments of the final stanza with two buckets and a traditional three-point play to stretch the Pettisville lead to 39-30 before they closed out the game at the foul line.
For the game, Pettisville was 13/28 (46%) shooting and 14/21 at the free throw line while Montpelier went 13/46 (28%) and 5/7 at the charity stripe.
Jacoby posted a double-double for Pettisville (8-2, 6-0 in BBC) with 20 points, 17 rebounds, eight blocks and Leppelmeier tallied 19.
Walz led Montpelier (6-4, 4-2), who as now lost three straight games, with 10 points on the night.
With the win, Pettisville now has a two-game lead in the BBC standings over North Central, Edon, and Montpelier as they are the only remaining undefeated team in BBC play.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Pettisville 12 8 10 13 43
Montpelier 9 12 4 7 32
Nate can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com