Blackbird Girls Leash Bulldogs, Down Bombers
by Greg Waidelich Buckeye Correspondent

Jodi Spotts flies above a Swanton Bulldog, Tuesday, Jan. 8 in the Bird Cage. She scored 10 points in Pettisville's 55-50 comefrom behind win. Along with a league victory over Edon last week, the Birds are 9-4, 5-1 in the BBC.- photo by Scott Schultz

The Pettisville girls basketball team used a 20- 11 fourth quarter to defeat Swanton 55-50, Tuesday, Jan. 8.

The Birds traveled to Edon, Thursday, Jan. 10 and shot 51% from the floor for a 51- 34 Buckeye Border Conference win.

Pettisville upped its record to 9-4, 5-1 BBC.

PHS 55, Swanton 50

Pettisville scored only five points in the first period, but Swanton scored 15 for a 10- point lead. The Birds came back and outscored the Bulldogs 15-7 in the second, for a 22-20 deficit at the half.

"We started very slow tonight, but stayed with our game plan and finished strong," said Jason Waldvogel, PHS coach.

Swanton had a 39-35 lead going into the fourth quarter, but Pettisville's 20 points led it to a 55-50 win.

Erica King led the Birds with 21 points. Jodi Spotts chipped in 10.

Swanton's Paige Onweller, the Northwest Ohio Athletic League's second-leading scorer, led all scorers with 20.

"I thought we defended Paige Onweller pretty well, even though she had 20 points," said Waldvogel. "Brittany Weber had one of her better games of the year."

Pettisville shot 18/46 from the floor and 11/21 from the foul line. Swanton was 19/45 from the floor and 6/8 from the free-throw line.

PHS 51, Edon 34

Pettisville outscored the Bombers 12-9 in the first period and 13-4 in the second for a 25- 13 lead going into the half. The Birds took a 14-point lead, 39- 25, going into the final quarter.

"Once we got past the first three minutes, I thought we settled in and played a very nice game," said Waldvogel. "Our bench contributed, especially defensively, for us tonight."

King again led the Birds, scoring 15 points. Spotts and Brittany Weber scored 12 each.

Pettisville was 21/41 from the floor for 51% and 7/11 from the charity stripe for 64%. Edon shot 14/48 from the field for 29% and 3/5 from the line for 60%.

Pettisville out-rebounded Edon 35-28 and had one more turnover, 11-10.

BOX SCORES

PETTISVILLE (55) - K. Weber 6, Short 3, Spotts 10, Nofziger 6, King 21, B. Weber 9. Totals 18-11-55.

SWANTON (50) - Smith 2, Onweller 20, Taylor 2, Eitniear 3, Childress 4, Polkinghorn 5, Bezeau 10, Kissling 4. Totals 19-6-50.

PHS	5 15 15	20 - 55
SHS	15 7 17	11 - 50

Reserve score: Pettisville won 39- 20.

PETTISVILLE (51) - Weber 3, Short 2, Spotts 12, Nofziger 7, King 15, B. Weber 12. Totals 21-7-51.

EDON (34) - Garza 2, Graves 13, Lord 2, T. Muehlfeld 4, Miller 3, M. Muehlfeld 10. Totals 14-3-34.

PHS	12 13 14	12 - 51
EHS	9 4 12	9 - 34

Reserve score: Pettisville won 28- 15.