The Hometown Huddle - January 14th, 2015 PDF

EDON HILLTOP STRYKER MONTPELIER PETTISVILLE NORTH CENTRAL FAYETTE WAUSEON
THE HOMETOWN
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14TH, 2014
A WEEKLY SPORTS PUBLICATION COURTESY OF "THE VILLAGE REPORTER"
T HREE IS NOT A CROWD
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WILLIAMS
EDON BOMBERS MONTPELIER LOCOS NORTH CENTRAL EAGLES

HILLTOP CADETS STRYKER PANTHERS FAYETTE EAGLES
PETTISVILLE BLACKBIRDS WAUSEON INDIANS
PHOTO BY JAKE WEBER, STAFF

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Varsity Boys Basketball Action

THE HOMETOWN HUDDLE
North Central Eagles Take Fayette Rally Falls Short At Morenci

Tough Loss To Swanton
(December 20th, 2014) PIONEER:
North Central's first home game of the year
was not the sort of homecoming that the
Eagles expected.
North Western Ohio Athletic League foe
Swanton made the trip to Pioneer, and the
Bulldogs proved to be too much for North
Central to handle. The Eagle boys lost the
game 75-35.
The boys of Pioneer were able to stay
reasonably close early into the contest. The
first quarter saw them trail 11-5. Swanton
found their rhythm in the second period,
however, unleashing a 23 point burst of offense against a struggling Eagle defense.
North Central could only manage 9 points
in quarter number two. Facing a 34-14
deficit at halftime, the game was mostly
decided.
North Central kept fighting, though.
They increase their offensive production,
earning 13 points. The Bulldog boys put
up another 19 points to counter. The Eagles were outscored in the fourth quarter
22-8.
Senior Jordan Bailey led the scoring effort for the Eagles. He totaled 9 points, including one of the team's 2 three-pointers.
Fellow senior Josh Sawyer connected on

the other three, as he scored 5 points in
the game. Steven Williams earned 6 points
on the night as well.
The Eagles could not get to the free
throw line against Swanton. The hometown boys took a mere 4 shots from the
charity stripe, though they did make 3 of
them for a 75% average. North Central typically likes to drive the ball inside, despite
their favoring of three-point attempts, so it
is a bit surprising that they couldn't draw
fouls. Swanton's size advantage may have
played a factor in keeping the Eagles outside of the paint.
Turnovers were also a big part of the
North Central defeat. The boys of Pioneer
turned the ball over 17 times. But it was
the number of Swanton turnovers that
really hurt the Eagles. Committing just 6
errors in the contest, the Bulldogs maximized each possession, and severely limited the transition opportunities for North
Central.
A plethora of talented players playing
mistake free basketball is hard for any
team to overcome.
Stryker Struggles Against Archbold

(December 23rd, 2014) STRYKER:
Hosting their North Western Ohio Athletic
League neighbor Archbold, the Panthers
of Stryker knew they had a tough game
ahead of them.
It was tougher then they could handle,
as the Panthers fell to the Blue Streaks 5834.
The Archbold defense was smothering
for the Stryker boys. In the first period, the
Panthers dropped behind 14-8. The second quarter went similarly, with Stryker
being outscored 15-5. Going into the locker room, the boys of Stryker were facing a
29-13 deficit.
It was more of the same in the third
quarter. The Panthers couldn't get going offensively, as they were again bested in the
period by the Blue Streaks, 16-5. Stryker
found its offense in the fourth quarter, but
it was too late to give them a shot at victory. Winning the final period 16-13 was not
enough to get them back into the game.
Parker Ruffer and Tanner Clingaman,
both seniors, led the Panthers in scoring. Each player had 11 points against
the Archbold boys. Ruffer scored all of
his points from inside the arc. Clingaman
also had a strong inside presence, but he

stepped out to hit the team's only three as
well. Colteon Benson added 7 points to the
Stryker total as well.
After taking care of the ball in the first
half, Stryker got a bit careless in the second. The Panthers committed just 3 turnovers within the first two periods. Between
the third and fourth quarters, however,
they added 10 more of the possessioncosting mistakes. Still 13 turnovers isn't a
high number.
The Panthers didn't get to the free throw
line enough to stay in the contest. With
just 12 attempts from the line, the Buckeye Border Conference unit only made 5 of
them, good for a 41% average. In particular, Ruffer, who had 5 inside field goals,
took just a single free throw in the entire
game. Such a strong inside presence needs
to find ways to get fouled while shooting.
The reason Stryker lost this game, however, was their offense's struggles against
an admittedly stingy Archbold defense.
Being held to 5 points for two consecutive
quarters really put a lot of separation between the two teams on the scoreboard.
Hilltop Edges Out Montpelier

(December 30th, 2014) SHERWOOD:
Fairview High School served as the site
for a match-up of epic proportions between the Locomotives of Montpelier and
the Cadets of Hilltop. The North Western
Ohio Athletic League and Buckeye Border
Conference neighbors met in the Sherwood
institution after each squad lost the first
round of a tournament held there. That
didn't stop this game from being incredibly
entertaining and fun, however.
The contest came down to the wire,
with the Cadet boys besting the Locos by
the narrowest of margins, 59-57.
Quinn Smtih made all the difference
for the boys from West Unity. The sophomore had 21 points and 5 steals against
Montpelier. Hilltop was exceptional at taking possessions away from Locomotive ball
handlers, as six players recorded multiple
steals in the game. Kelby Grime, who also
had 4 assists, Ryan Brooker, Erik Stipe,
and Tim Maneval all made 3 steals in the
contest. Jalen Towers chipped in another
2 steals, while Collin Sabins also stole the
ball once. It was this defensive effort on the
Cadets' part that led to the Locos having a
damaging 20 turnovers.
Towers also played a large role in
the Hilltop scoring attack. He put up 15
points, also pulling in 6 rebounds. With
only 16 rebounds in the game, the Cadets
had a difficult time keeping up with Montpelier on the boards. The Locomotive boys
brought down 26 boards, using their size
advantage to control the destiny of missed
shots on both sides of the court.
Maneval added another 14 points to
the Hilltop total, to go along with his 2
rebounds and 1 assist. The sophomore
standout, along with Quinn and Sabins,
was one of three Cadets to knock down a
three pointer against the Locomotive perimeter defense. The team went 3 for 8
from beyond the arc, good for a 38% accuracy rate. Montpelier also made a trio
of three point attempts, though it took
12 shots to do so. That put them at 25%
shooting from three point range.
Scoring for the Locomotives came largely from the duo of Michael Blake and Nate
McCord. Blake, a sohpomore, and McCord,
a senior, each scored 20 points, despite
the tenacity of the Cadet defense. Both
players, even with their radically different
styles of play, made their points in a similar way. Between them, they connected on
14 of Montpelier's 17 successful two point
field goals. Thanks to their efforts, the Locos shot 55% from within the arc, which
put them at 47% shooting overall from the
floor.
But it was shooting from the line that
plagued the boys from Montpelier. While
they made 14 shots from the charity stripe,
which was the same amount made by Hilltop, they had 22 attempts in the game. The
Cadets only had 18 shots to do so, giving
them a percentage of 78% from the line.
The Locomotives were only good on their
extra points 64% of the time.
In the end, Hilltop used aggressive defensive tactics to gain the upper hand on a
larger, more athletic Montpelier unit. While
the Locos didn't help their own cause on
the free throw line, they did have a higher
success rate shooting the ball, and were
able to easily outrebound the Cadets. Yet
that didn't matter as much when the Hilltop boys kept robbing them of possessions,
which is the most valuable thing in basketball.
If a team wants to win, they must hold
on to the basketball.
(January 3rd, 2015) MORENCI: Down

13 points heading into the fourth quarter,
the Eagles knew that they needed to have
a huge final quarter offensively if they had
any hope of getting back into the game.
Fayette made the short trip across the
northern border as they took on Morenci
on the Michigan school's home court. The
contest was expected to be a challenging
one for the Eagles, and it did not disappoint in that regard.
The first quarter saw both teams play
well defensively. When the buzzer ending
the period sounded, Fayette was behind
10-8. Both teams picked up the pace offensively in the quarter number two, putting up 15 points a piece. The Eagles went
into the locker room down a mere 2 points
at 25-23.
Morenci's defense halted the Eagle assault almost entirely in the third quarter.
Fayette scored just 4 points in the period,
giving up 15 to their host along the way.
Suddenly down by 17, the Eagle boys needed to find their offense in the fourth quarter if they were to have a shot at winning
the contest. Fayette responded by scoring
23 points in a furious rally. Morenci had
too much firepower, however, adding 19
more points to their own total. Fayette lost
to the hometown boys of Morenci, 59-50.
Koby Biddix led the Eagles in scoring
with 23 points. The senior connected on

an astounding 7 three-point shots. Fellow Fayette senior Skylar Lantz added 10
points, while Jerad Seiler put up 6 points
by hitting a pair of threes himself. Alec
Bost registered the team's only other threepoint field goal as he totaled 5 points.
Free throws were a concern for the
Eagles against Morenci. Fayette only managed to earn 11 shots from the line. They
were only able to put 3 of those attempts
through the bottom of the net. Morenci
made 10 of their 17 attempts from the
charity stripe, giving them almost as many
makes as Fayette had attempts. It's very
difficult a team to win when they shoots
less than 30% from the line, while their opponent has a success rate over 50%.
Perimeter defense was also a problem
for Fayette. While they made 9 threes as a
unit, they also gave up 9 threes to Morenci.
27 points from beyond the arc is too much
to give up and still expect to win.
Even with all of these problems, it was
just one bad quarter offensively that held
back the Eagles. Their offense is explosive, and can erase a good many mistakes.
Morenci was able to play just enough defense to secure the victory.
Most of the teams on Fayette's schedule
won't be able to do so.
Stryker Beats Pettisville By Nine

(January 8th, 2015) STRYKER: After
getting off to a rough start, the Panthers'
season may have just gotten the boost it
needed.
Stryker took down a talented Pettisville
team by the score of 52-43.
The Panther boys took hold of the lead
early on, refusing to relinquish it throughout the contest. In the first quarter, Stryker established a 17-11 advantage. The second period saw them add 2 more points
of separation between themselves and the
Blackbirds, thanks to a 15-13 scoring affair with their visitors from Pettisville. Going into halftime, Stryker maintained a 3224 lead.
Pettisville was able to make up a very
little bit of ground in the third period. Outscoring the Panthers 8-7. they lowered
their deficit to 7 points with only the fourth
quarter to play. Not to be outdone, Stryker
returned the favor in that final period, putting up 13 points to Pettisville's 11. This
sealed the victory for the hometown Panthers.
Parker Ruffer showed off the range of
his game against the Blackbirds. The senior hit on 2 of his 4 three-point attempts,
while he made 6 field goals from within
the arc. He totaled 21 points against the
Blackbird defense. Teammate Tanner Clingaman contributed 13 points in the contest, also connecting on 2 of his 4 threepoint shots.
For the Pettisville boys, Gabe Beck led

the scoring effort with 15 points. Eli King
wasn't too far behind with 10 points. Senior Tate Kauffman added 9 more points
for the Blackbirds.
In terms of rebounding, the Blackbirds
had a slight advantage. They out-rebounded their hosts 28-23. The differential was
mostly due to Pettisville's offensive rebounding, as they pulled down 10 boards
off of missed shots compared to Stryker's
3 offensive rebounds. However, Pettisville
took 20 more shots, at 52 attempts, than
Stryker, who took just 32 attempts. When
considering the Panthers shot 46% from
the floor to Pettisville's 26%, and that offensive rebounding margin doesn't seem
so large.
Both teams shot pretty well from the
free throw line. Connecting on 14 of their
18 attempts from the charity stripe, the
Blackbirds averaged 77% on their extra points. Despite those solid numbers,
Stryker still nearly made more free throws
than Pettisville attempted. The Panthers
went 18 for 25 from the line, good for a
72% average.
Stryker and Pettisville are two of the
Buckeye Border Conference's top teams.
To see the Panthers win by nearly double
digits shows just how overlooked they've
been because of their early season troubles.
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2 - The Hometown Huddle - Edon, Montpelier, North Central, Hilltop, Stryker, Fayette, Pettisville & Wauseon Sports Action
Wednesday, January 14th, 2015
Montpelier Locomotives Struggle

In Loss To Ayersville Pilots
Wauseon Waxes Delta In Road Win
CONTINUATION OF VARSITY BOYS BASKETBALL ACTION
(January 10th, 2015) WAUSEON:

With North Western Ohio Athletic League
(NWOAL) foe Delta coming to town,
Wauseon was well prepared to defend their
home court against the Panthers.
That preparation paid off, as the Indians took down their guests from Delta, 8659.
Both teams had their offenses on display from the beginning of the contest.
Wauseon came out barely atop the Panthers in the first period 18-16. The Indians
upped their production in the following period, putting up 22 points while Delta repeated their 16 point performance. At the
half, Wauseon held a solid 8 point advantage, thanks to a 40-32 margin.
Wauseon continued its offensive barrage in the third quarter. Adding another
23 points to their total, again besting Delta who scored 15 in the period. The final
quarter of play saw Wauseon outscore the
Panthers 23-12, padding their victory with
another 11 points added to the margin.
Carter Bzovi had a monster day scoring
the ball. With 26 points against the Panthers, Bzovi connected on 2 of his 5 threepoint attempts, while he made 9 field goals
from within the arc. Not too far behind,
Jacob Newlove managed 20 points, also
shooting 2 of 5 from beyond the arc. In the

post, senior Zach Johnson dominated the
Panthers, scoring 15 points, while Noah
Castle made another 10 points in the paint
as well.
The Indians had an excellent assist
to turnover ration. Wauseon turned the
ball over just 10 times, working together
to make 22 assists. With a ratio greater
that 2:1, the hometown Indians handled
the ball exceptionally well in the contest.
Mason Creager handed out 6 of the team's
assists, with Newlove close behind with 5
assists of his own.
The boards were dominated by Wauseon
in this game. The Indian boys outrebounded Delta 47-27. Particularly impressive
were the 19 offensive rebounds procured
by Wauseon. Castle earned a double-double with 10 rebounds to compliment his
10 points. Johnson was 1 rebound shy of
claiming that accolade for himself, as he
pulled in 9 boards.
The Indians wore down Delta, getting
better throughout the game as the Panthers steadily declined by the fourth quarter. Wauseon's depth and talent make
them a formidable opponent for anyone
in the area, especially their fellow NWOAL
members.
(January 10th, 2015) MONTPELIER:

It was the turnovers that killed the Locos
chances of winning against Ayersville.
Playing host to the Green Meadows
Conference (GMC) power, Montpelier
found their hands to be full as the Pilots
landed onto the Locomotive court. The Locomotives never found their rhythm, falling to Ayersville 71-34.
Early in the contest, the home team was
able to keep pace with their guests from
Ayersville. Roughly midway through the
first quarter, however, the Pilot boys began to pull away. By the end of the period,
Montpelier was down 17-10. The second
quarter saw Ayersville pick up where they
left off, outscoring the Locos 17-8. This
put the hometown boys behind 34-18 at
the half, putting them in a 16 point deficit.
It was more of the same in the third period. Montpelier lost more ground on the
Pilots as they suffered a 19-11 setback.
Heading into the final period of play, the
Locos were down 53-29. That gap continued to widen in last quarter, with the Locomotives putting up their lowest point total
of any period in the game with 5. Ayersville
didn't slow up their scoring attack, adding
another 18 points to their own points collective.
Pressure from the Pilot defense took a
toll on the Montpelier boys. Though schematically, the Locos seemed to have figured out how to break the full court press
set up by Ayersville, the players themselves were panicked when rushed by defenders. Montpelier routinely had the ball
bounce out of their hands as they went to

receive passes. They made off-target passes to open teammates to get rid of the ball
before the Pilots could execute a trap. It
appeared as though Ayersville had a psychological advantage before the contest
had even begun.
Rebounding was an issue for Montpelier as well. While they did a respectable
job of gathering offensive boards, they
weren't nearly as diligent rebounding on
the defensive side of the court. Ayersville
had a good many second chances at the
basket. The Locomotive defense, while not
perfect, played solidly while the Pilots ran
their offense, but allowing their opponent
so many extra attempts canceled out most
of that effort.
Offensively, Nate McCord led the Locos
with 10 points, which he earned by working within the paint. Sophomore standout
Michael Blake put up 8 points on the evening, finding ways to get to the free throw
line a few times along the way. Connecting
on the only three-point field goal scored by
Montpelier on the evening, Kyrin Schuman
contributed 7 points to the Locomotive effort as well.
Ayersville is a strong opponent, currently holding a 6-2 record while playing
in the very competitive GMC. Still, it was
a lack of fundamentals that caused this
match-up to be so one-sided. Regardless
of talent level, it's difficult to win when a
team struggles with turnovers and gives
the other team multiple attempts at the
basket.
PHOTOS BY JAKE WEBER, STAFF
YOUR MOVE, PAL ... Jacob Flory (44) looks the Panther defending him in the eyes as he
keeps the ball out of reach, reading him to decipher how to proceed.
PHOTOS BY T.J. HUG, STAFF
GETTING IT OFF IN TIME ... Kyrin Schuman (10) releases the ball just before the Pilot
attempting to guard him can get in position to disrupt the shot. This three-point attempt
was the only one to go down for the Locomotives.
ALL TOGETHER NOW ... The entire Wauseon Boys Basketball team gathers at half
court just before their game against Delta.
PENETRATING THE DEFENSE ... Wauseon junior Mason Creager (10) drives the ball
into the heart of the defense, looking to selflessly dispense it to his teammates.
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POWERING THROUGH BLOCKS ... Montpeliers Nate McCord (20) finds a seam between
a pair of Ayersville defenders, getting to the basket quickly. Despite the sea of hands
awaiting his arrival to the rim, McCord was able to put the ball through the hoop for 2
points.
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The Hometown Huddle - Edon, Montpelier, North Central, Hilltop, Stryker, Fayette, Pettisville & Wauseon Sports Action - 3
CONTINUATION OF VARSITY BOYS BASKETBALL ACTION
Fayette Hands Hicksville

Aces First Loss Of Season
(January 10th, 2015) FAYETTE:
Hosting an undefeated Hicksville team on
Saturday, the Eagles of Fayette needed a
complete team effort to pull off a monumental upset.
And that's what they got, as Fayette
gave the Aces their first defeat of the season, 57-43.
The contest began with a tight first
quarter. The hometown Eagles were able
to best their guests from Hicksville in
the period 11-9. In the following quarter,
Fayette was able to put a bit more space
between themselves and the Aces. Outscoring Hicksville 16-9, Fayette carried a
27-18 lead into the locker room at the half.
With the Aces on the ropes, Fayette attempted to deliver the knockout punch in
the third period. Controlling the tempo of
the quarter, the Eagles added to their lead
with a 12-5 showing. With a 39-23 advantage at the start of the fourth quarter,
the boys of Fayette were not going to let
the game slip away. Despite a barrage of
points put up by Hicksville in the final period of play, they weren't able to chip away
at the Fayette lead. This is because the
Eagle offense rose to the occasion, nearly
matching the explosive effort of their opponent. When the dust cleared, Hicksville
had managed to score 20 points to end
the game, while Fayette countered with 18
down the stretch.
Fayette was able to win so convincingly for a number of reasons, but perhaps
the most important of them is that they
shared the basketball extremely well. The
Eagles made 18 assists as a team, led by
the 8 handed out by senior Skylar Lantz.

This selfless attitude gave the Fayette
players better looks at the basket, which
in turn eliminated a lot of shot selection
issues most teams tend to have at the high
school level.
Better shot selection typically leads
to better shooting percentages, and this
game was no exception. The Eagles shot
67.7% from the floor as a team against a
stingy Aces defense. Senior Koby Biddix
connected on all 4 of his shot attempts,
including a three-pointer, on his way to 9
points. Lantz went 3 for 4 shooting, as he
offered 8 points to the Fayette victory effort.
Rebounding was also a strong part of
Fayette's game in the win against Hicksville. Pulling down 21 boards, the Eagle
boys were able to bring in 18 defensive rebounds to ensure the Aces didn't get a lot
of second chances at scoring. While they
only managed 3 offensive rebounds in the
contest, it is important to note that Fayette
only missed 10 shots total on the night.
With just 13 turnovers, the home team
handled the ball with poise. Given how often they were passing the ball, committing
so few mistakes is an especially impressive
number for Fayette.
Alec Bost and Wade Burkholder each
led the Eagle offensive with 11 points
apiece. Bost knocked down his sole threepoint attempt, while Burkholder went 3 for
5 from beyond the arc. Tristen Bates added
10 points with a strong performance from
within the paint. Jared Seiler contributed
7 points in the win as well.
JV Boys Basketball Action

THE HOMETOWN HUDDLE
Strong Second Half Gives Wauseon

Indian JV Win Over Archbold
(December 6th, 2014) ARCHBOLD:
It's one thing to earn a win against a hated
rival. Yet victory tastes so much sweeter
when victory is taken from the hands of
one's most disliked foe.
The Wauseon Junior Varsity boys experienced that very sensation when they
took down their counterparts from Archbold 44-33 on December 6.
The Indians battled hard with the Blue
Steaks early in the game, coming up just
short in the first quarter 11-9. They saw
their deficit expand in the second, going
into halftime down 21-16. Wauseon would
nearly double that score coming out of the

locker room, however, putting up 15 points
in the third period. That performance was
followed up with a 13 point outing in the
final stanza. During this scoring explosion
for the boys from Wauseon, their defense
held Archbold to just 6 points per quarter.
It was Austin Rotroff who led the charge
for the Indians with a double-double, providing 14 points and 10 rebounds to the
victory effort. Chase Brock added 9 points,
8 rebounds, and 6 steals for the boys of
Wauseon. Another 7 points was offered up
by Brendan Britsch.
Montpelier Locomotive JV
Overcomes Hilltop Comeback
(December 30th, 2014) SHERWOOD:
After dominating the first half of play, the
Montpelier Junior Varsity boys almost let
the game slip away.
The Locomotives seemed to overwhelm
their opponent from the Buckeye Border
Conference early in the contest, as the
Hilltop defense couldn't find a way to slow
down the North Western Ohio Athletic
League team's offense. By the end of the
first quarter, the Cadets found themselves
struggling to keep pace, trailing 12-7. A
similar performance in the second period
left them in a 26-15 deficit at the half.
Hilltop stepped up defensively com-
ing out of the locker room. They held the

Montpelier offense to just 4 points in the
third quarter, scoring 8 points themselves
in that time frame. But it was the fourth
quarter when the Cadets made their move.
Outscoring the Locos 15-8, they were able
to force overtime. The Locomotives refused
to allow the boys from West Unity to complete the rally, however. Montpelier went
on an 11-6 in the extra period, winning the
game 49-44.
Steven Riley led the comeback effort for
the Cadets. The freshman had 15 points.
For the Locos, Colin Rockey put up 17
points in the victory.
Fayette JV Takes Down Morenci

(January 3rd, 2015) MORENCI: Casen
Burkholder's 10 points led the way as the
Junior Varsity boys of Fayette won soundly over their Michigan neighbor Morenci.
When the game was over, the scoreboard read 39-28 in Fayette's favor.
The Eagles assumed the early lead,
winning the first period 13-9. Their offense
stumbled in the second quarter, however,
and Morenci narrowed the gap. Going into
the half, Fayette clung to a 16-15 lead. Yet
there was no need to cling by the end of
the third quarter. A 15 point burst of scor-
ing propelled the Eagles well out of their

host's reach. A stunning defensive effort
that only allowed Morenci 3 points in that
same span also helped to put the contest
away. Fayette kept pace with Morenci in
the last period of play, getting outscored
slightly, 10-8.
Aside from Burkholder's standout performance, Garrett Reinking contributed
9 points to the victory. Teammate Austin
Lopez knocked down a pair of three-point
shots for 6 total points, while Tharyn Colegrove earned his 6 points inside the arc.
Defense Key In Wauseon Indian

JV Victory Over Delta Panthers
(January 10th, 2015) WAUSEON: The
Indians shut out the visiting Panthers of
Delta in the first quarter of Saturday's convincing win over the North Western Ohio
PHOTOS BY JAKE WEBER, STAFF Athletic Conference neighbor.
TAKING THE PROPER ANGLE ... Finding a lane in which to drive, Fayette senior Skylar
Wauseon was able to best Delta 35-21
Lantz (23) uses his speed to get around the Hicksville defender in front of him, deter- on the evening.
mined to get to the basket.
Delta was held scoreless in the opening
period of the contest, as the Indians put up
11 points of their own for an early advantage. Though the Panthers found their offense in the second quarter, the Wauseon
boys still added to their lead by winning
the period 8-6. This put the home team up
19-6 heading into halftime.
The Panthers came out of the locker room ready to play, but the Indians
matched their every move. Allowing their
guests from Delta to score 11 points in the
third period, Wauseon managed 11 points
as well during that span. In the final period, the boys of Wauseon outscored the
Panthers 5-4, assuring that they would
never trail in the statement win.
It was Austin Rotroff who paved the
way for the Wauseon victory, producing 10
points in the contest. Chase Brock complimented his Indian teammate with a 6
point showing, while Brooks Gype added 8
points to the Wauseon effort as well.

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WHOS OPEN? ... Grant Schaffner (20) protects the ball by holding it high over his head
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CONTINUATION OF JV BOYS BASKETBALL ACTION
Montpelier JV Blindsided In Second

Quarter In Home Loss To Ayersville
(January 10th, 2015) MONTPELIER:
As they welcomed Green Meadows Conference foe Ayersville onto their court, the Locomotives Junior Varsity squad prepared
to do battle with a dangerous opponent.
They found out just how dangerous in
the second quarter, which played a pivotal
part in Montpelier's 47-24 defeat.
To begin the contest, both sides got off
to a slow start. The Locos struggled a bit
more offensively than their Pilot counterparts. Montpelier's defense kept Ayersville
within arms reach at 9-2 by the end of the
opening period. However, the boys from
Ayersville found their groove in the sec-
Fayette Versus Hicksville

NO STATS RECEIVED BY TIME OF PRESS
ond quarter, ripping off 21 points against

a stunned Locomotive team that managed
just 5 points during the Pilot run. Down 23
points, the Locos went to the locker room
in a 30-7 hole.
Montpelier just couldn't make up the
difference in the second half. Each team
totaled 12 points in the third quarter. The
fourth quarter went very much the same,
as the two teams battled to a 5-5 tie in the
fourth quarter.
While playing at the same level as Ayersville for most of the game, an explosive
second period for the Pilots put this game
well out of reach for Montpelier.
FINDING OPEN SPACE ... Austin Lopez (3), a sophomore for the Eagles, breaks past the
Hicksville defenses as he finds his way to the basket.
PHOTOS BY T.J. HUG, STAFF
RISE ABOVE IT ... Montpeliers Evan Friend (42) jumps high into the air as he catches
the Pilot defender beneath him moving his feet, earning a trip to the free throw line.
INSIDE SCORING ... Fayettes Daniel Double (52) puts up a shot inside the paint without a defender in front of him to produce 2 more points for the Eagle offense in their
match-up with the Aces.
Freshmen Boys Ba ske tball Acti on

A CLEAN LOOK ... Alec Waterston (34) takes an open three-point shot after finding a
hole in the Ayersville defense in Montpeliers loss to the Green Meadows Conference
team on Saturday night.
THE HOMETOWN HUDDLE
North Central Freshman Best

Hilltop Cadets In West Unity
(December 8th, 2014) WEST UNITY:
Traveling to the home court of hated rival
Hilltop, the North Central Freshman boys
set out to upset the home crowd and earn
a road victory.
They were able to do just that, as the
Eagles took the contest 40-26.
It was an uphill battle for the Eagles,
however, as the Cadet boys stood ready
to defend their posts. Hilltop held their
visitors from Pioneer scoreless in the first
quarter, producing 6 points of their own.
An 11 point second quarter allowed the
Eagles to go into the locker room tied with
the Cadets, 11-11.
Both sides experienced an offensive renaissance in the third quarter. The home-
town Cadets ballooned their total to 23

points, thanks to a 12 point effort coming
out of halftime. However, North Central
was able to surpass that mark, adding 16
points to bring their cumulative score to
27. The fourth period saw the Eagles outscore Hilltop 13-3, putting the game out of
the reach of the Cadets.
Keean Livensparger played a pivotal
role in the Eagle win, putting up 10 points.
Teammate Zachary Turner added 9 points.
Evan Munger contributed 7 points to the
North Central effort as well.
Hilltop's Blaisdell led all scorers with
11 points on the evening. A pair of threes
helped propel Maddox to 8 points.
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Varsity Girls Basketball Action

THE HOMETOWN HUDDLE
Fayette Lady Eagles Control Montpelier Locos Pound Paulding

Pace, Handle Fairview
(December 20th, 2014) FAYETTE:
Playing host to the Lady Apaches of Fairview, Fayette served as a less than gracious host.
Unless one considers beating their
guests by 25 points to be gracious.
The Lady Eagles never let this game
be put into doubt, winning the contest
57-32. Neither the Apache offense or defense could handle the Fayette attack, and
it became clear early on who was going to
emerge as the victor.
In the first period, the Eagles experienced an offensive flurry. Or rather, Taylor
Griffiths did. Out of her 27 points against
the Fairview girls, 15 of them came in that
opening quarter, including all 3 of her
three-point connections. At the end of the
period, Fayette held a 24-4 advantage.
As the second stanza played out, the
Eagles offense cooled off a bit, following up
that strong first quarter with just 8 points.
Fairview couldn't capitalize on this lull by
the girls of Fayette, though, for they too
managed 8 points in that time frame. At
the half, Fayette still enjoyed a 20 point
lead, 32-12.
Fayette was able to tack on another 5

points of separation in the third quarter.
The Lady Eagles outscored Fairview 1611. The hometown Eagles kept up with the
Apaches' scoring in the fourth period, as
each team totaled 9 points.
Kaela Seiler earned a double-double
against Fairview, totaling 11 points and 11
assists. Griffiths was close to one herself,
as she pulled down 8 rebounds to compliment those 27 points. Alexis Fruchey added another 9 points to the Fayette total.
Both teams were sloppy in their ball
handling, with each one committing over
20 turnovers. Fayette made 21 such mistakes, while the Apaches had 23 possession-costing errors. The Lady Eagles were
able to make up for their large number of
turnovers with rebounding, however. Fayette won the battle of the boards 35-21.
Despite their turnovers, Fayette shared
the ball quite well. They made 22 assists
in the game. Fairview only managed 9 assists.
Fayette controlled this game from start
to finish, as the Apaches were simply over
matched by the Fayette offense.
Edon Wins Wild Rivalry Against

Edgerton In Double Overtime
(December 22nd, 2014) ANTWERP:
Going head to head in the Route Classic,
old foes Edon and Edgerton once again
battled against one another. As usual,
the game went down to the wire, and then
some.
It took two overtimes to decide the winner of this contest. In the end, it was Edon
who squeaked by with a hard fought 58-55
victory over the Lady Bulldogs.
Neither team could pull too far ahead
of the other at any point in the game. Edgerton took hold of the lead early in the
game and held on for as tightly as they
could. At the end of the first quarter, the
Lady Bombers faced a 5 point deficit, 1510. They were able to narrow that gap to
2 points, as they outscored the Edgerton
girls 13-10 in the second period. At the
half, Edon was behind 25-23.
Both squads continued to match one
another in the third quarter. Each of them
put up 11 points in the frame. Still down
by just a pair, the Bomber girls needed
a bit more offensive output in the fourth
quarter. They delivered just that, totaling
16 points in what would usually be the
game's final period. The Bulldogs managed
to earn 14 points, however, forcing an ex-
(December 23rd, 2014) MONTPELIER:

The Montpelier girls improved their record
to 4-4 with a big win over Paulding.
The Locomotives bested the Panthers
49-21.
Hannah Blake led all scorers with her
balanced attack, making 3 two-point field
goals to compliment her trio of threes. The
junior standout produced 16 points for
the Lady Locos. Montpelier senior Baylee
Hageman hit 6 close-ranged shots on her
way to a 15 point evening.
Breanna Stein, another Locomotive senior, and junior teammate McKenna Quaderer each knocked down a three-point
shot as they put up 5 points apiece. Haley
Stryker Lady Panthers Defeat

Fairview By Nineteen
(December 27th, 2014) BRYAN: After
a slow start to their season, the Lady Panthers of Stryker have built some serious
momentum heading into the bulk of their
season.
The Stryker girls took down Fairview
47-28 in their second win in a holiday
tournament held in Bryan, and their third
victory in a row overall. Freshman Haley
Doehrmann and sophomore Taylor Haines
were both named to the All-Tournament
team on Stryker's behalf, as both players
have been key components to the recent
success enjoyed by the Panthers.
Doehrmann hit 5 shots from close
range on her way to 13 points in the win
against the Apaches. She also connected
on 3 of her 4 free throw attempts. Haines
hit 4 two-point field goals, also knocking
down a three as she put up 11 points in
the contest.
The game itself was more or less decided by the conclusion of the third quarter.
After building a solid 15-7 lead in the first
period, a lackluster offense in the second
quarter by the Lady Panthers allowed Fairview back into the contest. However, going
into the half, Stryker still enjoyed an 18-13
advantage.
Coming out of the locker room, the girls
from Stryker played with fire and tenacity.
They took control of the game, dominating
tra period.
Edon again found themselves in a deadlock with their enemies to the south. Each
unit could only muster 4 points in the first
overtime, which made a second one necessary. The Bomber defense came through
for the Edon girls, as they were able to hold
the Bulldogs to a single point. Offensively,
they produced another 4 points, securing
an epic victory against a hated foe.
Both Alex Kiess and Kaitlin Chrisman played a large role in the Bomber
win. Kiess had 18 points in the contest,
9 of which came from 3 triples. The other
9 points came from the free throw line,
where the senior leader only missed 2 of
her 11 attempts.
Chrisman also found her way to the
free throw line often, connecting on 12 of
her 16 extra points. The senior standout
also hit a three-pointer, along with a twopoint field goal to total 17 points. Junior
Kaitlyn Sonneberger added 8 points in the
victory as well.
As of late, a lot of these close games
have been going against the Bombers. As
(December 27th, 2014) ARCHBOLD:
heartbreaking as those losses may have
For
the first time in 8 games, the Lady
been to the Edon girls, those games helped
Blackbirds tasted defeat.
to prepare them for a contest like this.
After winning their first 7 games of the
season, including 3 against North Western
Ohio Athletic League (NWOAL) competition,
the girls of Pettisville fell to the Lady Blue
Streaks of Archbold. That's not to say they
went down without a fight, however. In fact,
it took overtime for the traditional NWOAL
junior connected on 4 of her three point power to slip past Pettisville by a score of
attempts, also registering a basket from 38-37.
within the arc. Senior teammate Sabrina
Early on, the contest was a defensive
Pickford totaled 12 points in the game. struggle. By the end of the first quarter,
Aside from her 5 two-point field goals, Pettisville trailed 6-4. The second period
Pickford also went a perfect 2 for 2 from was also a low scoring affair, with the Lady
the free throw line. Fellow senior Rachel Blackbirds outscoring the Blue Streaks
Oxender scored 10 points in the losing ef- 5-4. This put the visiting Blackbirds down
fort as well, which included her making just 10-9 at halftime.
all 4 of her free throw attempts.
Both teams were able to expand upon
North Central shot an impressive their offense in the second half. The Arch87.5% from the charity stripe. However, bold girls expanded their lead to 4 points
that number becomes less of a factor in as Pettisville found themselves in a 20-16
the game when one realizes that they only deficit. The Blackbird girls were able to
had 8 attempts, even though they made 7 make up the difference in the game's fourth
of them. The Lady Eagles needed to be a period, though, winning the quarter 14-10.
bit more aggressive attacking the basket, In the extra time, the two teams battled feparticularly when they were shooting so rociously. But the Blue Streaks were able to
well from the line.
hold on to a 1 point lead to take the contest.
Turnovers played a role in the Eagle
Pettisville Head Coach Jason Waldvogel
loss as well. North Central turned the ball
over 17 times against the Apache defense.
Fairview, on the other hand, committed
just 13 turnovers, allowing them to do
more with their possessions.
But it was that defensive lapse in the
third quarter that did in North Central.
(December 30th, 2014) AYERSVILLE:
Other than that period, the Lady Eagles
were competitive with their Green Mead- Making it to the Consolation game of the
Ayersville Holiday Tournament, the Lady
ows Conference foe.
Cadets of Hilltop found themselves in a
battle with the girls from Continental. The
two teams went at each other in full force in
a seesaw affair, with each of them making
strong runs as the contest progressed.
In the end, Hilltop got the better of their
FERTILIZER,
opponent, taking down Continental 44-35.
CHEMICALS & GRAIN
It was the Cadets who hit their stride
first. They grabbed an early advantage, leadMark Nofziger - Manager ing 12-6 by the end of the first period. Not
to be outdone so easily, Continental found
419-335-9136
their offense in the second quarter and out16134 Co. Rd. B
scoring Hilltop 15-7. That put the girls from
Wauseon, OH 43567
West Unity down 21-19 at the half.
Hilltop responded to the deficit by going
on a 15-4 run that took up the entirety of
the third quarter. Up 34-25 to begin the final
quarter of play, the Lady Cadets only needed
to keep pace with Continental to win. And
that's exactly what they did. Both squads totaled 10 points during that span, allowing
Hilltop to maintain their 9 point lead to end
the game.
The Lady Cadets shot the ball quite well,
which played a major role in their victory.
Shooting 33% from beyond the arc, they
made 5 of their 15 three point attempts.
Their inside shooting was solid as well, with
both sides of the court. At the end of the

third quarter of play, the Panthers had expanded their lead to 15 points, 36-21. They
didn't let up in the fourth and final stanza
either. Outscoring the Lady Apaches 11-7,
Stryker finished the game up by 19 points.
It was the perimeter defense of the Lady
Panthers that stifled the Fairview offense
so severely. The Apache girls were not allowed a single make from the three-point
line. In fact, Stryker only gave up 9 field
goals overall. If the Apaches wouldn't have
been able to get to the free throw line, it's
hard to tell if they could have stayed within
20 points of the Panthers.
Free throws were the one glaring negative for Stryker in this game. Taking only
13 attempts in the contest demonstrates
how the young Panther squad couldn't
find ways to get to the charity stripe. The
fact that they only made 7 of those extra
points puts them at a 53% success rate.
Normally, that percentage combined with
so few attempts would make it hard to beat
nearly any opponent, but good defense
and high percentage shots helped negate
that disadvantage.
It seems the youthful Stryker squad
is beginning to shape itself into a formidable team. They have a tough test ahead
of them, however, as they take on Archbold
next.
Pettisville Loses First Game

Of Season Against Archbold
Disastrous Quarter Seals

North Central's Fate vs Fairview
(December 22nd, 2014) PIONEER:
With Fairview stepping into their nest, the
Lady Eagles of North Central stood ready
to fend off the Apache invaders. Despite a
resilient effort, the Pioneer girls were unable to do so, however.
A scoring surge in the third quarter by
Fairview doomed the Eagles, as they fell
63-46.
The first period was also a rough one
for North Central. They were outscored
by the Lady Apaches 15-6. Not deterred
in the least, the Lady Eagles battled back
in the second quarter, winning the period
17-12. This put the girls of North Central
down just 4 points heading into halftime,
27-23.
Fairview would double their score in
the third quarter, though. Putting up another 27 points coming out of the locker
room, the Apaches only gave up 12 to the
North Central offense. Heading into the
fourth quarter at a 54-35 disadvantage,
the Eagles struggled to make up the difference. While they produced more points
than Fairview in the final period 11-9,
they couldn't work their way back into the
contest.
Eagle Cady VanDeVoorde led all scorers with 15 points. The North Central
Suffel connected on a three point shot as

she also scored 5 points. Audrey Pirtle
made a shot from inside the paint for 2
points as well.
Montpelier did a solid job of valuing the
basketball. The experience laden team limited their turnovers against the Lady Panthers of Paulding, committing just 11 of
the errors through the course of the game.
The Lady Locos are improving as the
season progresses. Aside from Blake and
Hageman, several different players have
stepped up at times. This victory was a
true team effort offensively, and it bodes
well for how Montpelier will fare heading
into the bulk of the season.
was pleased with his team's defensive effort.

We played very well defensively tonight.
Despite shooting 41% from the floor,
Waldvogel was a bit frustrated with the
Blackbird girls missing some open shots.
We had several good looks at the basket, especially in the first half and just
didnt convert them. Waldvogel stated.
Most of the scoring for Pettisville was
done by the senior duo of Dana Fricke and
Mikala Avina. Fricke put up a strong 20
points, making 6 two-point field goals and
8 free throws. Avina contributed 11 points
to the Blackbird effort, hitting a three along
the way.
Even though they managed to pull in
30 rebounds against Archbold, the Lady
Blackbirds still lost the battle of the boards
by 7. Pettisville also lost the turnover battle, as they committed 15 to the Lady Blue
Streaks' 10. Both of these issues played a
role in the loss, according to Waldvogel.
We need to rebound better and not turn
the ball over like we did tonight, especially
against a good team like Archbold.
While these deficiencies may have held
back Pettisville from meeting their full potential, this game still could have gone either way. The Lady Blackbirds certainly
played well enough to win.
Hilltop Defeats Continental In

Holiday Tournament Consolation
Nofziger Farm
Service & Trucking
the Cadet girls putting 35% of their attempts

through the bottom of the net. Overall, Hilltop shot 34% from the floor.
Allie Schmitt led all scorers with 12
points, also pulling in 5 rebounds. Fellow
junior Cadet Karissa Crisenbery wasn't far
behind with 9 points. Meanwhile, 2 successful three point shots helped sophomore Felicity Jackson to 8 points. The lone senior on
the team, Destiny Denton, aside from her 4
assists, managed 7 points on the day, 4 of
which came from the free throw line.
The charity stripe was kind to the Cadets in this game. With a 73% success rate,
the Hilltop girls connected on 11 of their 15
extra point attempts. Continental was only
able to make 47% of their free throws.
Though it was by a small margin, the Cadets out-rebounded Continental. They were
able to bring in 26 boards, while Continental
grabbed 25 of their own.
This game came down to shooting. Hilltop shot the ball well from all over the court.
Continental struggled from three point
range, thanks in large part to a strong defensive effort around the perimeter by the Lady
Cadets. Making a large percentage of shots,
while preventing one's opponent from doing
the same is difficult to accomplish, though
Hilltop made it look easy in this game.
CONTINUATION OF GIRLS BASKETBALL ACTION
Wauseon Versus Liberty Center

NO STATS RECEIVED BY TIME OF PRESS
Montpelier Defeated By Delta Duo

(January 9th, 2015) DELTA: In North
Western Ohio Athletic League (NWOAL) action, Montpelier traveled to Delta to challenge the Lady Panthers on their home
court.
It wasn't meant to be, however, as the
Lady Locos fell on the road 57-46.
Delta assumed a narrow lead in the
first quarter, putting Montpelier behind
15-10. The Locomotive girls fought back in
the second period, putting up 15 points of
their own. Delta fell just short of matching
that total, scoring 13 points of their own.
Because of this, Montpelier found themselves down a mere 3 points heading into
the locker room.
The Panther defense was ready for the
Locos in the third period. The girls from
Montpelier were limited to just 8 points
in the quarter, while Delta remained consistent with 15 points in that same span.
Suddenly in a 10 point deficit, Montpelier
needed to find a way to shut down the potent Delta offense if they were to get back
into the game. They couldn't, however, and
despite a strong quarter offensively for the
Lady Locos, they still fell behind by another point as Delta took the period 14-13.
Hannah Blake was remarkable against
the Lady Panthers. The junior star hit 3
shots from three-point range as she totaled
21 points for the travelers from Montpelier.

Baylee Hageman, in her last year at Montpelier, produced a double-double in the
contest with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
The rest of the Locomotives struggled to
score, though, as senior Breanna Stein
was the next highest contributor with 5
points. Haley Suffel added 3 points to the
Montpelier collective score, while Maddie
Richmond and Rebekah Carr each put up
2 points.
The hometown Panthers also saw most
of their scoring done by just two players. Yet the combination of Brigan Wymer
and Morgan Mattimore proved to be even
more lethal than Montpelier's Blake and
Hageman attack. Wymer scored 30 points
against a solid Montpelier defense. Mattimore complimented her teammate with 21
more points, leaving the rest of the Delta
squad with only 6 points in the contest.
The Locomotives played well defensively
from the perimeter. A squad known for its
long range shooting, Delta connected on
just 3 shots from beyond the arc.
While Montpelier may have lost this
game, they were competitive in their effort
against a quality opponent. With an 0-3 record in the conference, the Locos still have
plenty of team to earn a few NWOAL victories this season.
Pettisville Defeats Stryker Soundly
WHO WANTS IT? ... Anna Marshall (23) looks to pass the ball to an open teammate during the Wauseon girls game agains the Lady Tigers of Liberty Center.
(January 9th, 2015) PETTISVILLE: After suffering their first loss of the season to
Archbold, some may have wondered how
the Lady Blackbirds would respond. The
answer turned out to be incredibly well,
as the Pettisville girls took down the Lady
Panthers of Stryker 39-20.
The Panther's began the game by keeping pace with their hosts. They trailed Pettisville 9-5 by the end of the first stanza.
The Lady Blackbirds started to pull away
in the second quarter, however. Winning
the period 10-3, Pettisville enjoyed a 19-8
advantage at the half.
Coming out of the locker room, Pettisville was ready for action. Holding the Panthers to 4 points, the Blackbirds posted
15 points of their own in the third quarter. Down 22 points, the girls of Stryker
found themselves in a difficult situation
as the fourth and final quarter began. The
Lady Panthers outscored Pettisville 8-5 in
the period, but that didn't make up near
enough ground to get them back into the
game.
Jason Waldvogel, Head Coach of the
Pettisville girls, was happy with the victory.
It was a nice win over a well-coached
team.
The winning formula for Pettisville still
begins with defense. The Blackbird girls allowed Stryker to make just 5 field goals in
the contest. With 17 attempts on the evening, that put the Lady Panthers at 29%
shooting from the floor. It was this level of
defensive intensity that held the Stryker
girls to single digit scoring in each of the
game's four periods.
Scoring was balanced for Pettisville.
In fact, seven players contributed to the

Blackbird point total. Neither this, nor the
team's defensive efforts, were lost on Waldvogel.
I thought we had several different people step up on both ends of the floor.
Jordyn Pursel was one of those people
to step up. Normally a defensive specialist, Pursel led the Blackbird squad with 10
points, most of which came from within
the paint. Teammate Mikala Avina offered
9 more points to the victory effort, while
both Dana Fricke and Alexa Leppelmeier
added 6 more points apiece.
For Stryker, Taylor Haines put up a
team-leading 7 points in the loss. Fellow
Panther Haley Doehrmann contributed 5
more points to the Stryker cause as well.
Paige Speelman knocked down the team's
only three-point shot for her only scoring
of the contest.
The rebounding margin was a close
battle. Pettisville edged out the Panthers,
gathering 32 boards to Stryker's 28. With
Stryker's inexperience, this statistic was a
bit of a surprise.
What wasn't surprising however, were
the amount of turnovers each unit committed in the game. A veteran squad, Pettisville limited their turnovers to 12. The
young girls of Stryker were a little more
careless with the ball, though. They turned
the ball over 23 times.
Even with the wide margin of defeat,
there was a lot of things Stryker did well
in this game. The Lady Panthers will continue to grow throughout the season, and
contests like this one become less and less
frequent.
JV Girls Basketball Action

THE HOMETOWN HUDDLE
Fayette JV Wins Against Fairview

CONCENTRATE ... Lady Indian senior Maddie Richer focuses on her teammates as they
execute an offensive play, completely ignoring the Liberty Center defender attempting
to distract her by yelling and moving frantically.
(December 20th, 2014) FAYETTE: As

the Apaches of Fairview came into town,
the Lady Eagles of Fayette prepared for a
dogfight.
The two teams were evenly matched,
with the Green Meadows Conference opponent being at a slight disadvantage in
Buckeye Border Conference territory. Still,

the contest was a competitive one.
Fayette was able to pull away late to
earn a solid victory over the Fairview girls.
The final score showed a 33-26 win for the
Lady Eagles.
North Central JV Loses To Fairview

(December 22nd, 2014) PIONEER:
The Junior Varsity girls of North Central
hosted Green Meadows Conference opponent Fairview in a non-conference matchup. While valiantly trying to defend the
honor of the Buckeye Border Conference,
the Lady Eagles found themselves over
matched by their Apache visitors.
Fighting throughout the contest, the

girls of Pioneer struggled to keep pace
with their counterparts from Fairview.
While they were able to score more points
than in previous games, the young Eagles
couldn't stop the offensive assault of the
Lady Apaches. North Central dropped the
contest 42-17.
Montpelier JV Falls To Delta

(January 9th, 2015) DELTA: Traveling
eastward to Delta, the Junior Varsity Lady
Locos hit the road to challenge their fellow
North Western Ohio Athletic League member. The Lady Panthers were ready for the
invasion, however, and were able to fend
off the Montpelier assault.
Despite giving a great effort, the Locomotives were unable to keep pace with
the hometown Panthers. Delta was able to
build a big lead early in the contest, and
held on to for the victory. Montpelier lost
the game 43-15.

GETTING PHYSICAL ... Sariah Yackee (15) uses her forearm to secure an open path the
rim as a Lady Tiger defender attempts to get in her way.

13abc All Stars vs.

Edon Northwest School Staff
Basketball Game
Saturday, January 17, 2015 2:00 p.m.
COME JOIN THE
EXCITEMENT & FUN!!
Admission: $2.00/person
50/50 Drawing
Half-Time 3 Point Shoot
All proceeds will go toward the cost of the updated speaker system.
High School Bowling Action

THE HOMETOWN HUDDLE
Wauseon Boys Take Sixth, Girls

Eighth At Bears Tournament
(December 20th, 2014) BRYAN: Nic
Kearney of Wauseon made the First Team
Boys Tournament team at the Bears Tournament held in Bryan.
Kearney bowled a 640 series, including
248 and 210 games, to earn the distinction. Teammate Bret Wisda had a 190
game in his series of 509. Noah Stickley
added a 478 series, while Peyten Shadbolt
put up a 447 series.
As a unit, the Indians bowled an 883 in
game one of the team matches. They followed that performance up with a 797 in
game two. Game three saw Wauseon bowl
an 814 collectively.
In the baker games, Wauseon scored a
155 in game one. Then they added a 145
in game two. In game 3, they improved to
a 180. For game four, they bowled a 149.
The Indians finished in game five with a
190, their best score in the series. This
put their overall score at 3313, giving the
Wauseon boys a sixth place finish in the

tournament.
The Lady Indians were led by Jenna Simon, who bowled a 393 series. Teammate
Aneesa Volkman added a a 371 series
score. Summer Brown had the highest single game score with her 177 in game three.
Overall, the Wauseon girls bowled a 598
in game one of the team matches. They
stayed consistent in game two, registering
a 591. Game three saw the Indian girls improve to a 635 as a unit.
For their baker games, the Lady Indians put up a 115 in game one. Game two
was the best performance for the squad,
who bowled a 169. They followed that up
with a 146 in game three. For game four,
Wauseon scored a 129. To finish the series, they totaled a 150 in game five. Combined with their team match scores, the
Lady Indians completed the tournament
with a 2533. This put them in eighth place.
(December 22nd, 2014) TINORA: Both

the boys and girls Wauseon Bowling teams
came away with victories after visiting
Tinora.
The boys of Wauseon were led by Nic
Kearney, who bowled a 436 series. Bret
Wisda offered up a series score of 369,
while Desmond Rapp contributed a 351
series total. Coming out of the team match
phase of the contest, the Indians held a
slim lead over the hometown Rams, 18351719.
In the baker games, Wauseon started
strong with a 154 team total in game one.
Game two saw their average stay fairly
consistent, as they put up a 145. It was the
third game that made things interesting,
however. The Indian boys dipped significantly in their score, bowling a 99. This allowed Tinora to gain some ground on their
guests, with the Rams winning the baker
games 469-398.
That margin of victory was not enough
for the Rams to usurp the lead from
Wauseon, though. The Indians won the

match 2233-2188.
The Lady Indians also had a tough
match against their counterparts from
Tinora.
Aneesa Volkman did the heavy lifting
for the team with a 316 series score. Her
sister, Aleea Volkman, bowled a 297 series. Teammate Sarah Mikolajcyk added a
286 series to the team's cumulative score.
Heading into the baker games, Wauseon
held a tight 102 point lead, 1399-1297.
The girls of Wauseon began the baker
games with a 133 score in game one. Game
two went similarly, with the squad totaling a 130. Again, game three caused some
problems for the Indians. The Wauseon
girls bowled a 91, narrowing their lead
over the Lady Rams, who took the baker
games 377-354.
That 23 point victory was a hollow one
for Tinora, however, as Wauseon was still
able to claim victory for the overall match,
1753-1674.
Wrestling Action
THE HOMETOWN HUDDLE
Wauseon Indians Handle

Bryan & Liberty Center
(January 8th, 2015) WAUSEON:
The Wauseon Wrestling team hosted both Bryan and Liberty Center on
Thursday. The Indians had a relatively
easy time against both teams, defeating the Golden Bears 57-0 and Liberty
Center 61-12.
Against Bryan, Hunter Yacke represented the 138 pound weight class,
battling his way to a 7-6 victory score.
The rest of the matches ended with the
Wauseon boys each pinning their opponents, including Wade Hodges, who
wrestled at 152 pounds and pinned his
opponent in 1:52. Alex Sosa manned the
285 pounds weight class, and pinned
his competition in 2:47. At 195 pounds,

Tre Cambell pinned his foe in 1:15.
Four forfeits also didn't help Bryan's
case as Wauseon cruised to a win.
Taking on the Tigers next, Sandro
Ramirez, at 132 pound, pinned his opponent in 2:16. In the 160 pound class,
Dylan Nicely impressed as he pinned
his opponent in just 13 seconds. At 113
pounds, Mauricio Barajas defeated his
opponent 10-4.
A forfeit by Wauseon, as well as a
single loss allowed Liberty Center to get
on the board. However, the match was
never in doubt as the Indians dominated from start to finish.
Wauseon Indian Boys &

Girls Victorious At Tinora
Wauseon Indian Boys &

Girls Defeat Swanton Bulldogs
(January 9th, 2015) SWANTON: Both
the boys and girls Wauseon Bowling teams
found victory in Swanton on Friday.
The boys were led by Noah Stickley, and
his 418 series performance in the team
phase of the match. Nic Kearney kept close
to his teammate, putting up a 395 series
while bowling a team leading 224 single
game along the way. Peyten Shadbolt totaled a 298 series, and Bret Wisda a 290.
Juan Hovis rounded out the Indian scoring
with a 253 series.
Wauseon held a solid lead over the Bulldogs heading into the baker games. Just
shy of a 300 point advantage, the Indian
boys led 1654-1370.
One excellent baker game, with a score
of 206, gave the hometown Bulldogs the
edge in the tandem bowling format. However, Wauseon's scores of 157, 143, and
152 were more than enough to maintain
their lead, despite dropping the baker
games 479-452. Wauseon took the match
2106-1849.
The Lady Indians found a similar path
to winning. Aleea Volkman was the only

bowler on either team to break 300 with
I GOT YOU RIGHT WHERE I WANT YOU ... Wauseons Jastin Gaucin grabs at his optheir series score, as she bowled a 344. Her
ponent from Bryan as the Golden Bear lays helpless on the mat.
sister, Aneesa Volkman, came just shy of
accomplishing the feat herself, putting up
a 296 series, though her 187 single game
score was the best on the evening. Summer Brown added a 287 series score, while
Jenna Simon added a 248. Allie Lovett
completed the Wauseon score with a 227
series.
Their performance in the team bowling
portion of the match gave the Lady Indians
a 1402-1197 lead heading into the baker
games.
The cooperative bowling competition
was tight between the two squads. Bowling
a 111, 142, and 92, the girls of Wauseon
were a mere 6 points away from claiming
victory in the baker games. They fell just
short of the Lady Bulldogs, 350-345. Still,
Wauseon's performance had prevented
Swanton from gaining any ground on their
lead, thus making the Indians the victors
by a margin of 1747-1547.
FIGHTING FOR POSITION ... In an effort to gain leverage on his foe, Sandro Ramirez of
Wauseon, attempts to get lower than the Liberty Center wrestler, looking to take down
the Tiger boy.
ITS OVER ... Indian Tre Campbell holds a Liberty Center wrestlers shoulders to the mat
as he uses his strength to dominate his opponent.
PHOTO BY JAKE WEBER, STAFF
ABOUT TO LET LOOSE ... Jenna Simon winds back as she is about to release the
bowling ball down the lane for Wauseon in the Lady Indians match against the Lady
Bulldogs of Swanton.

Seventh Grade Girls Bas ketball Eighth Grade Girls Bas ketball
THE HOMETOWN HUDDLE
Pettisville Seventh Graders

Victorious Over Liberty Center
(December 2nd, 2014): The Seventh

Grade girls of Pettisville challenged North
Western Ohio Athletic League opponent
Liberty Center on the second of December.
The Lady Blackbirds dominated the second
half of the game, outscoring the Tigers in
three of the four quarters of play.
The final score signified a strong effort
from the Pettisville girls, 16-7.
Both sides got off to a bit of a slow start.
Pettisville managed to score just 2 points
in the opening period. Yet their defense
was stellar, not allowing a single point from
their counterparts from Henry County. The
second stanza saw both teams battle hard,
resulting in the two squads each adding 4
more points to their respective totals. That
left the Blackbirds with a 6-4 advantage going into halftime.
Coming out with renewed vigor, the
girls of Pettisville took control of the game
in the latter half of play. With their best offensive offering of the contest, the Blackbirds of Fulton County scored six points in
the third quarter. During that same span,
their defense gave up but 2 points, leaving
the Lady Tigers down 12-6 heading into the
fourth and final quarter.
Pettisville refused to let the Liberty Center girls connect on a single field goal in the
last period of the game. The Tigers had just
a single point in the entire stanza. Meanwhile, the Lady Blackbirds earned another
4 points, expanding the margin of their victory by 3.
The blackbird girls would have had a
much more difficult time in this game were
it not for Libby Cerda. The seventh grade
Pettisville girl led her team in scoring, producing more than half of her team's offensive total. She finished the game with 10
points.
Hilltop Seventh Grade Lady Cadets

Beat North Central In BBC Opener
(December 6th, 2014) WEST UNITY: Two

Buckeye Border Conference Seventh Grade
girls teams began their seasons with an intense
rivalry game. The Lady Eagles of North Central
traveled to West Unity to do battle with the Hilltop Lady Cadets.
The Eagles stood poised to invade their enemies home turf, however, winning the contest
30-16.
Hilltop got off to a fast start, earning an 8-4
lead by the end of the first quarter. It didn't take
long for the girls from Pioneer to gain the advantage for themselves, carrying a 14-12 lead
into the locker room. The Lady Eagles expanded

upon their lead in the third quarter, ballooning
the North Central point total to 26. They slowed
up on their scoring in the fourth period, finishing the contest with 30 points. Hilltop, meanwhile, was held to 16 points in the game.
A pair of scorers led the way for the Lady Eagle assault. Maci Wilson contributed 10 points
to the victory effort. Her teammate, Ashlynn
Helms, added 6 points to the North Central total.
K. Roth put up 10 points for the Lady Cadets
in the loss.
Seventh Grade Girls From Edon

Win Decisively At North Central
(December 8th, 2014) PIONEER: From
the opening tip-off, the Lady Bombers, in
their seventh grade incarnation, just seemed
to pull further and further away from the
hometown Eagles of North Central. The girls
from Pioneer struggled mightily on offense,
while their defense was overwhelmed by a
potent Edon attack.
At the end of the game, the scoreboard
read 39-13, in favor of the Bombers.
Defensively, the Edon girls played a brilliant first half. They rendered North Central scoreless in the first period of play. The
Bombers put up 13 points themselves in that
quarter. Each team added 4 points to their
totals before the half, placing the Lady Eagles
in a 17-4 deficit. Despite the fact that North

Central was able to double their points in the
third quarter, they still fell further behind.
This was due to a 14 point performance by
the Bomber girls in the period. Edon then
outscored North Central 8-5 in the fourth
stanza, cementing the 26 point victory.
R. Bloir was the spark which ignited the
Edon offense, as she put up an impressive
18 points. Teammate C. Radabaugh added
another 9 points to the Bomber score.
The Lady Eagles were led by Ashlynn
Helms, who managed to score 5 points. Fellow Eagles Kailey Siebeneck and Chelsea
Cheesbro each offered up 4 points in the losing effort.
Assorted Sports Action

THE HOMETOWN HUDDLE
Edon Northwest School Staff

To Take On 13 ABC All Stars
In an effort to help raise funds to update Edon Northwest Schools speaker system,
the Edon Northwest School Staff will be taking on the 13 ABC All Stars in a basketball
game on Saturday, January 17 at 2:00 PM. Admission to the exciting and fun exhibition game is $2.00 per person. A 50/50 drawing and half-time 3 point shoot will also be
included in the festivities. All proceeds will go towards the cost of the speaker system.
THE HOMETOWN HUDDLE
Leppelmeier Outscores Liberty

Center In Pettisville Eighth Grade Win
(December 2nd, 2014): In an outstanding performance, Lady Blackbird Morgan
Leppelmeier managed to produce more
points by herself than the entire Liberty
Center Eighth Grade girls team.
Leppelmeier scored 16 points in her
squad's 34-13 win over the Lady Tigers.
The Pettisville girls pulled away in the
second quarter, after taking a 6-3 advantage at the end of the opening period. By
the half, the Blackbirds held a 12-5 lead. It
was the third quarter that saw their offense
explode, however. Generating 13 points in
the period, the Pettisville defense continued
to dominate the contest as well. They allowed the Tigers just 2 points in that time.
In the final stanza, Liberty Center was
a bit more competitive. They had their best
offensive outing in the quarter, putting up
6 points. The Lady Blackbirds still had
too much firepower for them, though. The
unit from the Buckeye Border Conference
scored 9 points to continue pulling away
from their foe from the North Western Ohio
Athletic League.
Another key player for the Pettisville
girls was Elizabeth Beck. The eighth grade
girl added 7 points to the Blackbird total.
(December 6th, 2014): The Eighth Grade

squad of Lady Blackbirds have played exceptionally well this season. They're a very
tough team to beat.
The Lady Bombers of Edon found this
out in the first meeting between the two
teams. In the game, they managed to score
just 4 points in a 41 point defeat. That put
the final score at 45-4, in favor of Pettisville.
From the beginning of the contest, the
Fulton County girls controlled the happenings on both sides of the ball. At the end
of the first period, Edon found themselves
on the wrong side of a 14-2 deficit. They
struggled in the second quarter as well,

falling further behind thanks to a 12-2 run
by Pettisville. This put them at a 26-4 disadvantage at the half.
Pettisville turned up the defensive pressure even more in the second half. The
Lady Blackbirds didn't allow the Bombers
to score a single point after halftime. In
that same span, the Blackbird girls put up
10 points in the third quarter, and 9 more
in the fourth.
Morgan Leppelmeier led the offensive
charge for the Blackbirds with 16 points.
Brandi Schnitkey added 9 points to the
Pettisville total as well.
(December 6th, 2014): In a close junior

high Buckeye Border Conference affair,
the eighth grade girls of Stryker battled
the combined seventh and eighth grade
team from Fayette. The contest was close
throughout, despite the fact that the Lady
Panthers maintained a small lead from its
early moments to its final buzzer.
In the end, the Panthers took down the
Eagles 23-17.
By the end of the opening period, Stryker had earned a 6-3 advantage. The girls
of Fayette refused to fall back any further,
however, and were able to keep pace with
the Panther offense in the second quarter.
At the half, the score was 11-8 in Stryker's
favor. This trend continued out of the locker room, as each squad put up 4 points in
the third period of play. This left the score
at 15-12 heading into the fourth quarter.
An offensive burst by the Panthers

in that final stanza gave them a bit more
breathing room before the game's end.
Outscoring the Lady Eagles 8-5 down the
stretch, the Panther girls enjoyed a 6 point
lead as the contest ended.
Rhys Ruger, of Fayette, led all scorers
with 11 points. Teammates Mataya Rufenacht and Jillian Figgins each contributed
3 points to the losing effort as well. No other Lady Eagles registered a basket, or even
a free throw attempt.
Stryker found that dividing the point
production a bit more to be a better strategy. Haines gave a team-leading 8 point
performance. Fellow Lady Panther Grime
added 6 points to the unit's total. Tingley
put up 5 more points on Stryker's behalf,
while Breier and Stuckey each produced 2
points as well.
(December 8th, 2014): In a tight Buckeye Border Conference clash, the Eighth
Grade Lady Eagles of North Central faced
off against the Bombers from Edon.
The girls from Pioneer were able to pull
away late in the contest, winning the battle
25-19.
From the early moments of the game,
both sides knew they were in for an epic
struggle. When the buzzer sounded to signify the end of the opening quarter, the two
teams found themselves in a 6-6 deadlock.
The second period was intense as well.
Edon managed to gain a slight advantage,
leading 12-11 heading into halftime.
Coming out of the locker room, the Lady
Bombers were able to expand their lead by

another point. At the end of the third period, they led the North Central girls 1816. It was in the fourth quarter that the
Lady Eagles came alive. Scoring 9 points
in the last period, the North Central squad
allowed the Edon girls to score just a single
point.
This herculean effort on North Central's
part was led by Lindsay Brown, who produced 8 points in the game. Fellow Eagel
Maydson Bonney offered 6 points to her
team's cause. Teammate Sidney McKarns
contributed another 5 points, while Payton
Taylor added 4 more. Chloe Baker scored 2
points as well.
Pettisville Eighth Grade

Girls Handle Edon Bombers
Stryker Eighth Grade Girls Pull

Away Late In Win Against Fayette
North Central Eighth Grade Girls

Win Tight Battle With Edon
Wauseons Hodges: From Biddy Wrestling To The Maryland Terrapins

By: BIll Bray
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
Wauseon's Wade Hodges'

wrestling career began as a
4-year-old biddy wrestler.
Lessons came hard as Hodges first experience ended
miserably with two pins. The
small, scrawny kid has come
a long way since that first
experience 14 years ago.
Hodges, well into his senior season, had an impressive second place finish at
the Ironman wrestling tournament. The high finish at
the nationally recognized
tournament landed Hodges
a seventh place standing
in the nation at his 145 lb.
weight class. As a junior,
Hodges was a sixth-place
finisher at the prestigious
event. His only loss this year
came to the top rated wrestler in the nation at the 145
lbs. weight class.
Mentoring and excellent coaching has much to
do with the maturity of a
wrestler as Hodges can attest. "Scotty Burnett and
(Wauseon head coach) Mike
Ritter are the ones who have
molded me into the wrestler
I have become now," Hodges
said. "Their emphasis has
been on life after wrestling
and I appreciate the foundation they have built under
me."
It did not take long for
Hodges to gain a passion
for the sport that remains
strong today. "I am very self

motivated," Hodges said. "I
cut my weight. I push myself. In this grueling sport,
if you do not have a passion
for it, then you should not
be doing it. It is the passion
that I have that keeps me
pushing ahead."
That "pushing ahead"
has made Hodges' high
school credentials impressive to say the least. "Wade
is already a three-time state
placer (7th, 4th and 4th),
which puts him in short
company in WHS wrestling
history" coach Ritter shared.
Hodges is on pace to become
Wauseons first 4-time state
placer, which would be a
great accomplishment, but
Wade has his sights set a
little higher. "He would like
to become Wauseons fourth
State Champion to go along
with the distinction of being
our first 4-time state placer,"
Ritter continued. "Hes currently ranked #1 in the state
for his weight class, and Id
like nothing more than to
see him finish there at this
year's state meet on March
14."
Hodges came storming
into his high school years
during the 2011-12 season. He ended his first high
school season with the most
wins for a Wauseon wrestling freshman. Between
his freshman year and now,
hes continued to get better
and better, his accomplish-
ments keep mounting, and

his placement in Wauseon
wrestlings history keeps
climbing. When its all said
and done at the end of the
season, hes going to sit at
the top of a lot of Wauseon's
historical career leader categories.
Coming into the
season, he had 122 career
wins. After the Brecksville
Tournament over the Christmas holiday (which he is a
3-time placer and 2-time
champion), his win total is
at 143, which is 16 wins shy
of career leader Zane Kralls
159 career wins set just a
couple of years ago. Barring
injury, that record will more
than likely belong to Wade
by seasons end.
Hodges does not put as
much weight on all the accolades. "The pinnacle of
success is not built on your
record, or who views you as
"good"", Hodges stated. "But
it is about being a great person, leading the team, helping mentor, setting an example and exhausting yourself
everyday. That's what has
made me jump a level."
The senior wrestler has
backed up his words over
his illustrious high school
career. Over the three and
a half seasons Hodges has
the following finishes to his
credit along with his state
finishes. In his record setting freshman season Hodges has the following finishes:
Sectionals 1st, Districts
3rd, State 7th, PIT Champion, NWOAL champion. His

sophomore year was equally
as impressive: Sectionals
1st, Districts 3rd, State 4th,
Maumee Bay 2nd NWOAL
Champion and last season
he continued to improve on
his accomplishments: Sectionals 1st, Districts 1st,
State 4th, PIT Champion,
Brecksville Champion, Maumee Bay 3rd, Ironman 6th,
NWOAL Champion.
The question now is,
how does Hodges improve
on what he has already accomplished? Simple. He has
signed with the Maryland
Terrapins, a member of the
Division I Big 10 conference.
"The big three were Maryland, Ohio State, and I really
liked North Carolina State,
but there were about ten
schools I was hearing from,"
Hodges began explaining his
decision for his next step.
"The decision was almost
100% mine. My dad and I
went out my junior year and
absolutely fell in love. The
coaches are amazing and
super nice. The campus is
beautiful and it has a very
comforting feel, the education and academic support
is unbelievable and that
sealed the deal for me."
Not surprisingly Hodges
has already set some lofty
goals for himself at the next
level. "I am going to redshirt
and lift, and train, and train
some more, and my mind
set will not change until I

have reached my pinnacle
of becoming an B1G 10 and
NCAA Champion, so I will do
whatever it takes to be the
best and that is part of the
reason Maryland's coaches
want me, I am a little crazy.
The only way of discovering
the limits of the possible are
by going beyond them into
the impossible. That is how
I will be ready for whatever
college wrestling throws at
me."
From a humble beginning as a four year old, Wade
Hodges' hard work is paying
off by leaps and bounds. The
last leap for Hodges is to
bring home a state title and
go down in WHS wrestling
history as arguably the best
wrestler the program has
ever produced.
Bill may be reached at
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
Seventh Grade Boys Ba s ke tball Eighth Grade Boys Ba s ke tball

THE HOMETOWN HUDDLE
Edon Seventh Graders Burst

Offensively In Win Over Montpelier
(December 4th, 2014) EDON: The
Bomber Seventh Grade Boys didn't shy
away when hosting North Western Ohio
Athletic League opponent Montpelier. Indeed, they gave their best effort, not the
least bit intimidated.
That effort proved to be too much for
the young Locos to handle, as Edon took
the game 34-8.
Both sides struggled offensively early in
the game, with the Edon boys managing
just 3 points in the first period. Their defense was formidable, however, refusing to
give up a single point to the Locomotives.
A 12-4 second quarter gave the Bombers a
wide cushion going into halftime, as they
enjoyed a 15-4 lead.
The boys of Edon continued their scoring trend in the third stanza, putting up 13
points while holding Montpelier to 2. With
a 22 point advantage heading into the final
quarter, the Bombers slowed down their
attack, totaling just 6 points in the period. The Loco boys were again limited to 2
points in that span.
Edon's Austin Kiess led all scorers with
17 points. Teammate Dylan Mason added
4 points. Five other Bombers also contributed points to the Edon victory.
Montpelier had just two players score
in the game. Rowen Beck produced a team
leading 6 points against the stout Bomber
defense. Braden Saneholtz put up 2 points
for the Locos as well.
THE HOMETOWN HUDDLE
Pettisville Eighth Grade Boys

Handle Liberty Center
(December 2nd, 2014): In their first
game of the season, the Pettisville Eighth
Grade Boys hit the ground running. They
took down North Western Ohio Athletic
League foe Liberty Center by 21 points.
The final score read 40-19, Pettisville.
The Blackbird defense was stout for
most of the game. With just 2 points in
the first quarter, the Tigers only managed
to put up 5 more in the second. Scoring
9 points in the first period, and 14 in the
second, that great defensive outing allowed
Pettisville to enjoy a 23-7 lead at halftime.
Offensively, the Blackbird boys stum-
bled a bit in the the third quarter. They

added a mere 3 points to their total score.
Again, however, their defense picked
up the slack, limited Liberty Center to 2
points in the same span. With the contest
well in hand, the Pettisville boys loosened
up their defense. In the fourth quarter.
Liberty Center took advantage, scoring 10
points in the final stanza. Not to be outdone, though, the Blackbirds found their
offense once again, earning 14 more points
to end the game.
Moyer led the Blackbird effort with 12
points.
(December 4th, 2014) EDON: Pulling

into station at Edon, the eighth grade Locomotives were ready for their confrontation with the Bomber boys.
This was reflected in the final score, as
Montpelier took the game 33-7.
Just two Edon players registered points
against the defensive-minded Locos. Kyle
Apger led the team with 5 points, all of
which came in the first half. Teammate
Evan Gineman chipped in the other 2
points in the fourth quarter.
Apger hit a three-point shot early in the
game, providing the only points of the first
period. That triple was answered by Collin Houk as part the Loco boys 11-3 run
in that span. The second quarter yielded
a similar result, as Montpelier added an-
other 12 points to its total, while limiting

the Bombers to just 2 points. This gave the
visiting Locomotives a 23-5 lead midway
through the contest.
Montpelier put up 6 more points in the
third period. They held Edon scoreless
during that time. The final quarter of play
was an uneventful one. The Bomber boys
managed to score 2 more points. Montpelier slowed down their offense near game's
end, scoring 4 points down the stretch.
Blake Bumb fueled the potent Loco offense, producing 14 points against the
Edon defense. Collin Houk added 7 points
to the Locomotive total. Andrew Frisby and
Dakota Barker each contributed 4 points
in the victory as well.
(December 6th, 2014) PIONEER: Hosting the Cadets of North Central, the eighth
grade boys of North Central stood ready to
defend their home court. However, the Cadets were fully prepared to launch a fullscale invasion on the Pioneer institution.
The result of the conflict was a 41-14
victory for the Hilltop boys.
It was the Cadet defense that led to such
a successful assault. They were disruptive
to the Eagle offense all game long. In fact,
North Central had a difficult time simply

moving the ball beyond the half court line.
Hilltop routinely stole the ball from midcourt, leading to easy layups in transition.
Hilltop's McKinney was the leading
scorer in the game. The Cadet eighth grader put up an impressive 26 points. Cogswell was the primary points producer for
the Eagle boys. He managed 7 points in
the loss.
(December 6th, 2014): When the Bomber boys saw Pettisville on the schedule
early into the season, they knew that they
would face a massive challenge right away.
They may not have realized just how massive at the time, however.
The Blackbirds left no doubt as to who
deserved to win the game, taking down
Edon 69-14.
The boys from Pettisville didn't give up
a single point in the first period, producing 21 of their own within the same time
frame. They added another 22 points in
the second period, allowing the Bombers
just 4 points. This gave the Blackbird boys
a 43-4 advantage midway through the contest.

Tempering their scoring efforts in the
second half, Pettisville put up 12 points
in the third quarter. Edon doubled their
score during that span, scoring another
4 points. The Blackbirds scored 14 more
points in the game's final stanza, while
Edon had their best scoring output with
6 points.
Three players scored in double figures
for the Blackbirds. Yoder led the team with
a 12 point evening. Horning contributed
10 points to the victory. Another 10 points
by Grieser added to the Pettisville cushion.
Montpelier Eighth Grade Boys

North Central Seventh Grade Win Convincingly At Edon
Boys Best Hilltop At Home
(December 6th, 2014) PIONEER: In

the first game of their junior high careers,
the seventh grade boys of North Central
and Hilltop squared off in the Eagles' own
nest. Both teams played hard in what
amounted to a fairly competitive contest.
However, a huge offensive burst in the
second quarter allowed the Eagles to soar
over the Cadets, 28-19.
Each side began the game with nerves
dictating their play, which led to a 5-4
score at the conclusion of the opening period, with Hilltop holding the early lead.
North Central went on to score 11 points
in the second quarter, only allowing the
Hilltop offense 3 points in that same span.
This gave the boys from Pioneer a 15-8 ad-
vantage at the half.

The Cadet boys put out a strong offering in the third stanza to get themselves
back into the game. Earning 7 points in
the period to the Eagles' 3, Hilltop found
themselves down just 20-15 heading into
the fourth and final period of play. North
Central wouldn't give them the chance to
finish the comeback, though, as they outscored the Cadets 8-4 down the stretch.
An 11 point effort by Jack Bailey played
a pivotal role in the Eagle victory. Levi Williams put up 7 points of his own. Five other Eagle players, including Manuel Cruz,
Jay Garrett, Justin Vassar, Landon Patten, and Alex Lehsten each added 2 points
to North Central's total.

"THE HOMETOWN HUDDLE" ~ HAMMER ATHLETICS ~ DIETSCH FURNITURE
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Hilltop Eighth Grade Boys Control

Game Against North Central
Pettisville Eighth Grade

Boys Win Big Against Edon
KOBY BIDDIX
FAYETTE HIGH SCHOOL
KAITLIN CHRISMAN
EDON HIGH SCHOOL
A deadly accurate shooter, Biddix had a

great week making field goals. Hitting
7 threes in the Eagles loss to Morenci
helped propel the senior to 23 points. He
also played a sizable role in the huge
upset over Hicksville, in which he made
all four of his shots for 9 points.
Stepping up in the Bombers big double

overtime victory against Edgerton in the
Route 49 Classic, Chrisman showed the
poise of a senior by making it to the free
throw line early and often. Making 12 of
her 16 attempts from the line, she
totaled 17 points in the win.
Congratulations Athletes!
Serving Northwestern
Ohio for over 80 Years
188 N. Michigan St., Edgerton, OH 443517
419-298-3733
Fax: 419-298-2659 email: dietschfurn@bright.net

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Winter 2014-2015 Sports Schedules

January 16 - JANUARY 22
Basketball Boys
(Jan 15) Pettisville @ Fayette
(Jan 16) Bryan @ Montpelier
(Jan 17) Delta @ North Central
(Jan 17) Edgerton @ Pettisville
(Jan 17) Edon @ Evergreen
(Jan 17) Fayette @ Lenawee Christian
(Jan 17) Hilltop @ Hicksville
(Jan 17) Montpelier @ Stryker
(Jan 17) Wauseon @ Defiance
(Jan 20) Liberty Center @ Stryker
(Jan 20) Montpelier @ Camden-Frontier
Basketball Girls
(Jan 16) Edon @ Hilltop
(Jan 16) Fayette @ Pettisville
(Jan 16) North Central @ Stryker
(Jan 19) Ayersville @ Edon
(Jan 20) Edgerton @ North Central
(Jan 20) Fairview @ Hilltop
(Jan 20) Hicksville @ Fayette
(Jan 20) Pettisville @ Swanton
(Jan 22) Fayette @ Edon
(Jan 22) Hilltop @ Stryker
(Jan 22) Patrick Henry @ Montpelier
(Jan 22) Pettisville @ North Central
(Jan 22) Wauseon @ Archbold
Bowling
(Jan 16) Defiance @ Wauseon
(Jan 19) Pioneer Classic Bowling Tournament @
Wauseon
Swimming & Diving
(Jan 20) Anthony Wayne/Bowling Green/Maumee
@ Wauseon
(Jan 22) Central Catholic/Southview @ Wauseon
Wrestling
(Jan 15) Archbold/Delta/Evergreen @ Montpelier
(Jan 16) Wauseon @ Mike Casey/Maumee Bay Classic
(Jan 17) Wauseon @ Mike Casey/Maumee Bay Classic
(Jan 22) Wauseon/Swanton/Bryan @ Evergreen

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EDON HILLTOP STRYKER MONTPELIER PETTISVILLE NORTH CENTRAL FAYETTE WAUSEON

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14TH, 2014

A WEEKLY SPORTS PUBLICATION COURTESY OF "THE VILLAGE REPORTER"

T HREE IS NOT A CROWD

EDON BOMBERS MONTPELIER LOCOS NORTH CENTRAL EAGLES

PHOTO BY JAKE WEBER, STAFF

DONT MISS OUT ON ALL OF THE LOCAL

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Purchase your subscription online via credit card at www.thevillagereporter.com

Varsity Boys Basketball Action

North Central Eagles Take Fayette Rally Falls Short At Morenci

Fellow senior Josh Sawyer connected on

Stryker Struggles Against Archbold

also had a strong inside presence, but he

Hilltop Edges Out Montpelier

(January 3rd, 2015) MORENCI: Down

with 23 points. The senior connected on

Stryker Beats Pettisville By Nine

For the Pettisville boys, Gabe Beck led

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Wednesday, January 14th, 2015

Montpelier Locomotives Struggle

(January 10th, 2015) WAUSEON:

shooting 2 of 5 from beyond the arc. In the

(January 10th, 2015) MONTPELIER:

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CONTINUATION OF VARSITY BOYS BASKETBALL ACTION

Fayette Hands Hicksville

the 8 handed out by senior Skylar Lantz.

JV Boys Basketball Action

Strong Second Half Gives Wauseon

nearly double that score coming out of the

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Fayette JV Takes Down Morenci

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