'Kendall's our shooter': Zeiher's late 3 pushes Perkins past strong Elyria Catholic

PERKINS TWP. — It had been a frustrating second half for Kendall Zeiher, Perkins' sharpshooter. She picked up her fourth foul 50 seconds into the third quarter. She sat out for more than eight minutes of game clock. And aside from a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter, her blistering first half felt like a distance memory. That is, until there were 10 seconds left in a tie game. That's when Haylie Brunner found Zeiher popping to the left corner on a baseline inbound play. Zeiher took one dribble, then let her potent shot fly from beyond the arc. Money. "It was frustrating to watch and know I couldn't do anything about it," Zeiher said. "I knew my time was coming at the end. I just had to wait it out... I just knew I had to make it. That's all I was thinking about was the ball going through the hoop at that moment." Perkins (8-7) notched one final stop to secure the best win of its season, a 48-45 win over Elyria Catholic (9-2) on Monday night. The Panthers entered the day ranked No. 13 in the state in Division II according to Martin RPI. "We have practiced late-game opportunities a lot, but haven't had them in games a lot," Perkins coach Ryan Orshoski said. "... Tonight was a good opportunity to get our feet wet in that situation. I thought we played well enough to win." Zeiher led the Pirates with 15 points on five 3-pointers. Senior guard Cameron Kaufman had eight points, seven rebounds, seven assists and six steals, and the sophomore Brunner added eight points and three assists. "We needed this win," Kaufman said. "It's a good win to have." Perkins' non-league schedule had already been brutal before Monday. None of the Pirates' six out-of-conference losses had been shameful — Toledo Central Catholic (D-II No. 2), Copley (D-II No. 8), Fremont Ross (D-I No. 12), Magnificat (D-I No. 16), Margaretta (D-III No. 28) and Anthony Wayne (D-I No. 33). Those games have served as potentially good preparation for Perkins, yes, but they also stunted what otherwise could've been winning streaks as the Pirates surged to a tie atop the SBC Lake schedule halfway through league play. "It was great for our girls to finish a close one and beat a good team like this getting late into the season," Orshoski said. Making matters tougher Monday night was the presence of 6-foot-1, Northern Kentucky commit Carter McCray in the post for Elyria Catholic. But Perkins opened in a 2-3 zone with a lot of help and slowed McCray down. Many of the defensive stops came as Kaufman flew over from the weak side for double teams and deflections. Camryn VanVlerah and Maggie Farley did much of the initial positioning work to make McCray's night tougher, and she had five points before halftime. "That (defense) gave us an opportunity to win the game at the end," Orshoski said. "... I don't know that we've played a player as good as (McCray)." It was neck-and-neck from the outset. VanVlerah opened the scoring with a 3, but the lead changed hands often. Brunner hit a 3-pointer for 8-5 Perkins early, but it was 12-10 EC after one. Zeiher's first triple came early in the second quarter from the left wing for a 15-14 lead. Elyria Catholic went up 19-15, then Perkins tied it before Zeiher drained a right-wing 3 to take a 22-19 lead on a 7-0 run. The play for Zeiher's second 3-pointer was the same one, just mirrored, that would be called again with 10 seconds to play. Zeiher hit a ridiculous stepback 3 from the top of the arc for a 25-21 Perkins edge, but the margin was trimmed to 29-28 Pirates at half. McCray scored the first six EC points after the half, and Zeiher picked up her fourth foul on the defensive glass and sat with 7:10 left in the third. The Pirates hung tough, tying it 36-36 on a banked 3 from Brunner. Farley hit a long 2 to tie it at 38 after Isabelle Niederst (16 points) gave EC the lead. Kaufman hit Kate Ulery in transition for a 40-38 lead to start the fourth. EC went up 42-40, but then Zeiher hit her first shot since returning to the game for a 43-42 lead. McCray made a free throw, then got a steal bucket for 45-43 EC. Farley swished two clutch free throws to tie it with 1:10 left, and Kaufman got a steal. Perkins ran down the clock before getting a baseline out of bounds around 11 seconds. Zeiher flashed to the corner, Brunner hit her in stride, and after the one set-up dribble, Zeiher didn't miss. "Kendall's our shooter," Kaufman said. Elyria Catholic missed a difficult 3, and that was that. Perkins had been 1-6 in non-league play against a gauntlet. But that difficulty meant the Pirates were up to the challenge Monday night, and heading into a rematch with Bellevue on Saturday, Perkins had noits best win of the season. "We've played all these crazy good teams," Zeiher said. "It definitely prepares us for teams like these." --- ELYRIA CATHOLIC Navaeh Sawyer 1 0-0 3, Mya Rivera 2 0-0 4, Carter McCray 7 2-4 16, Isabelle Niederst 7 0-0 16, Camara Ogletree 3 0-0 6. TOTALS 20 2-4 45 PERKINS Maggie Farley 1 2-2 4, Cameron Kaufman 3 2-2 8, Haylie Brunner 3 0-0 8, Kate Ulery 2 0-0 4, Camryn VanVlerah 3 0-0 7, McKaylah Hartley 1 0-0 2, Kendall Zeiher 5 0-0 15. TOTALS 18 4-4 48 EC 12 16 10 7 — 45Perkins 10 19 9 10 — 48 Three-point goals — EC 3 (Niederst 2, Sawyer 1); Perkins 8 (Zeiher 5, Brunner 2, VanVlerah 1)