Perkins girls squeak by Sandusky late

PERKINS TWP. — Jordyn Brunner only scored one point Friday. It just happened to be the biggest one of the game. With 5.3 seconds left, Brunner split two free throws to give Perkins its second lead of the fourth quarter. The Pirates then fended off a shot at the buzzer to secure a 48-47 Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division win over Sandusky. "It's definitely a nerve-wracking situation," Perkins coach Leia Lyden said. "Given that she did struggle a little bit today, I'm proud of her and everybody else for stepping up in moments that counted." Perkins (7-10, 2-5 SBC Lake) trailed by as many as 11 points with under a minute to go in the third quarter, but fought back. First, buckets by Haylie Brunner and Avery Baker cut the Blue Streaks' lead to 37-30 after three quarters. Haylie Bunner opened the fourth quarter with a 3 before two free throws by Mallorie Jones and a bucket by Camryn VanVlerah tied the game at 37. "It was a huge team turnaround because we got that energy and momentum," Lyden said. "I think that really helped get us back in the game. It kept morale up. They fought the entire game." The teams traded buckets before Sandusky (5-10, 1-7) went up 45-41. Perkins scored the next five points to go ahead 46-45. A tally by Khiya Rameau pushed the Blue Streaks ahead 47-46 with 1:09 to go. Jones split two free throws on the other end to even the game at 47. Sandusky then used a timeout with 37.6 seconds to play, but missed a pair of shots out of the break. Jordyn Brunner missed on the other end, but grabbed her own rebound before being fouled. The Blue Streaks had a timeout left after Brunner's free throw, but got the ball up court quickly. Shauntha Wilson had a good look at a 3 at the buzzer to win it, but missed, giving Perkins the win. "I wanted to get the ball closer to half-court, but when I saw that we had somebody open, I trust my girls to make good decisions with the basketball in their hands," Sandusky coach John Winborn said. It was a little different contest than Dec. 13 when the Blue Streaks exploded for an 80-63 home win over Perkins. "We have a really tough team that plays really hard," Lyden said. "That was in the intention — force turnovers and apply pressure. They really did a good job doing that. It was effective." Perkins led 9-4 early, but Sandusky went into halftime up 21-17. Both teams struggled with turnovers. Perkins had 23 while Sandusky finished with 20. "We felt like a broken record with that today specifically," Lyden said. "I think that comes with experience and being able to handle the ball under intense pressure. I think for the most part, we handled it decently well." Half of the Blue Streaks' total came in the fourth quarter. "In our last seven possessions, five of them we turned the ball over," Winborn said. "In my opinion, a lot of them were silly turnovers. We just have to secure the basketball and be confident in ourselves." The game was tied at 24 in the third quarter when Sandusky put a run together. Rameau scored twice before Mae Rameau connected on a 3. Ra'Kiya Collier added a putback bucket and Amari Prentice nailed a 3-pointer to give the Blue Streaks a 37-26 lead with 1:19 left in the third quarter. Mae Rameau paced Sandusky with 14 points while Khiya Rameau added 13 points and eight rebounds. Collier registered eight points and 12 rebounds for the Blue Streaks. "We didn't get back on a couple possessions and that led to some easy transition points for them," Winborn said. "A couple times the ball didn't bounce our way off of rebounds. We were able to fight it off." VanVlerah led all players with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Jones grabbed nine rebounds for Perkins. "Camryn definitely fights every game," Lyden said. "Other teams key on her, but she doesn't let that bother her. I think the rest of the team also understands that if another team tries to take her away, they're also offensive threats as well." SANDUSKY (5-10, 1-7)Mae Rameau 5 2-6 14, Ra'Kiya Collier 4 0-0 8, Khiya Rameau 6 1-1 13, Amari Prentice 2 0-0 6, Cassidy Stovall 2 0-0 6. TOTALS 19 3-7 47 PERKINS (7-10, 2-5)Allie Brunner 1 0-0 2, Jordyn Brunner 0 1-2 1, Haylie Brunner 4 0-0 10, Mallory Jones 2 3-4 7, Camryn VanVlerah 9 3-4 21, Avery Baker 2 0-0 4, Zakiyah Castile 0 1-2 1, Elizabeth Green 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 19 8-12 48 Sandusky 9 12 16 10 — 47Perkins 9 8 13 18 — 48 Three-point goals: Sandusky 6 (M. Rameau 2, Prentice 2, Stovall 2); Perkins 2 (H. Brunner 2)