Fulton County Ohio Media

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The visiting Stryker Panthers overcame a five-point halftime deficit and outscored the Pettisville Blackbirds 27-9 in the second half to win the opening round of the OHSAA DIV Boys Basketball Sectional Tournament 42-29 on Wednesday night at Pettisville High School.  Tied at 24 all midway through the third quarter, a holding call on the Blackbirds was immediately followed by a technical foul call.  Panther senior Michael Donovan made three of the resulting free throws to put Stryker up 27-24 and Pettisville could not recover and did not score again until late in the fourth quarter.  Meanwhile, the Panthers took a 28-24 lead after three and never looked back, outscoring the Blackbirds 14-5 in the final frame to advance in the tournament.  Daniel Donovan led Stryker with 15 points and Joey Ripke had 10 for Pettisville.

Stryker Panthers:  11-4-13-14 = 42    Daniel Donovan (15), William Donovan (13), Michael Donovan (8), Gavin LaBo (4), Jacob Caldwell (2)

Pettisville Blackbirds:  12-8-4-5 = 29    Joey Ripke (10), Jack Leppelmeier (8), Kaleb Wyse (6), Johnny Fenton (3), Creighton Aeschliman (2)

Click on the link above to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Photo: Blackbird Jack Leppelmeier flies toward the basket.