Perkins rolls past Shelby, 87-55

PERKINS TWP. — Perkins manufactured its own energy Tuesday. The Pirates blitzed Shelby 87-55 in front of a small crowd — three days after knocking off Sandusky in the same gym. There was no letdown against the Whippets as Perkins scored a season-high in points while surpassing 80 for the fourth time this season. "Our biggest concern coming out here on a Tuesday night in a non-conference game was making sure we carried over the energy from the Sandusky game," Perkins coach Eric Kochendoerfer said. "I think our kids did a great job. We had great effort and teamwork all around. "The biggest thing I've noticed over the last couple of games is our kids are playing for each other and cheering for each other. When that happens, good things will happen for our team." The Pirates shot 52 percent from the field and were 9 for 21 from 3-point range. Levi Groot, a 6-foot-4 junior, led Perkins with 18 points (which tied his career high) and seven rebounds. "We knew a lot of people thought we would come out flat," Groot said. "We knew after the Sandusky game the energy would be down so we had to bring it ourselves. Our main thing was sharing the ball and being an energy giver, not an energy taker. "We always try to make the extra pass when we can. The games we win is when we make the extra pass." Perkins led 43-24 at halftime and Groot made sure there would be no slip-ups. He scored seven of his points in the third quarter. Groot also finished with seven rebounds. "He does a little bit of everything," Kochendoerfer said. "His length gives opposing teams problems. The kids are starting to believe in him more and he's starting to believe in himself. We're starting to see that show." Groot scored off a Tim Boals added and hit a 3-pointer off a Joey Diederich assist to give Perkins a 46-26 lead one minute into the second half. The lead only got bigger from there. Sam Schweinfurth finished with 15 points and made 4 of 6 3-point attempts. Even when he missed, good things happened. Schweinfurth launched a long 3 midway through the third quarter that didn't draw iron. But Groot was right under the basket. Two points and a 53-32 lead. Diederich finished with 14 points — 12 in the first quarter — and six assists. Tim Boals added 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Diederich scored 11 straight points for Perkins late in the first quarter as the Pirates broke a 14-14 tie with an 8-0 run that ended on Schweinfurth's long 3 in the final seconds of the opening period. Another Schweinfurth 3 off an assist from Vinny Strohl capped a 14-3 run and gave Perkins a 28-17 lead with 6:05 left in the second quarter. Shelby star Brayden DeVito was limited to nine points on 3-for-16 shooting. The Pirates switched on defense and face-guarded DeVito. "He's scored about 30 points a game in the last five games. That team goes as he goes," Kochendoerfer said. "Kash Koch did an awesome job and our guards up top in the zone did a good job matching him up. He had to work for every point he got." The lone bright spot for the Whippets was Braxton Dawson, who had 17 points and 13 rebounds. Shelby, which had won four of five entering the game, fell to 11-8. Perkins will travel to Clyde on Friday. The Fliers have won five straight to improve to 10-8. "We have a big game in Clyde for the 3 seed in the district," Kochendoerfer said. "That's something we really want to get. Then we have a couple games next week and it's tournament time. "February is here. We're getting our legs in. We're seeing smiles in the locker room and great energy in practice and that is contagious. We're feeling pretty good. "The last two games have been our most consistent of the year." SHELBY (11-8) Brayden DeVito 3 0-2 9, Michael Shepherd 3 1-3 7, Avery Lambert 1 0-0 3, Anderson Brubaker 1 2-3 4, Braxton Dawson 7 3-3 17, Nic Eyster 1 2-2 4, Karsen Homan 1 2-4 4, Gavin Miller 1 2-2 4, Conner Hartz 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 19 12-19 55 PERKINS (12-7) Sam Schweinfurth 5 1-2 15, Kash Koch 0 1-2 1, Joey Diederich 3 6-9 14, Tim Boas 6 0-0 12, Levi Groot 8 1-1 18, Kaden Legando 2 0-0 4, Kellen Glass 3 2-2 8, Bryce Davie 4 1-2 9, Vinny Strohl 1 0-0 3, Ashton Wadsworth 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 33 12-18 87 Shelby 14 10 17 14 — 55Perkins 22 19 23 23 — 87 Three-point goals: Shelby 5 (DeVito 3, Lambert, Hertz); Perkins 9 (Schweinfurth 4, Diederich 2, Groot, Strohl, Wadsworth)