Perkins' starters go the distance in win at Huron

HURON — Perkins' starters are in great shape. They have no choice. The Pirates have only 13 girls in their basketball program — freshmen through seniors — which means there is not much depth and the varsity starters rarely come off the court. "During practice, we condition a lot because we know we're not gonna get a lot of subs," Perkins junior Mallorie Jones said. "For this year, that's our mindset. We get breaks when we have foul shots; that's the only breaks we get. We just gotta play smart." The Pirates played smart Tuesday, forcing 47 turnovers in a 52-48 win over Huron in a Sandusky Bay Conference crossover matchup. All of Perkins' starters played a role in helping the Pirates improve to 1-2. Jones led all scorers with 15 points. Center Hannah Koelsch added 12 with nine coming in the first quarter. Allie Brunner added 12 points and Jordyn Brunner scored 11. Isa Ramirez, a junior soccer star who came out for basketball this year, started a decisive 17-2 run in the third quarter with a jump shot after Huron took a 30-24 lead on an Adelyn Van Sickle 3-pointer. "Everybody needs to contribute for us to do well and that's what happened tonight," Perkins coach Leia Lyden said. "We're proud of everybody being able to hold their own." Jones hit two free throws with 3:14 left in the third quarter to give Perkins the lead for good at 34-32. She added a 3-pointer 30 seconds later and Allie Brunner's steal and layup capped the five-minute run and gave the Pirates a 41-32 lead. Huron (1-2) fought back and got within 47-45 when Lauren LaCivita scored in traffic with 2:26 to play. Jordyn Brunner answered with a clutch 3 to put Perkins up by five. She scored seven of Perkins' 11 points in the fourth quarter, including a steal and layup to give Perkins a 43-34 lead. "Our offense plays off our defense. If we keep doing that, we score points," Jones said. "All of our girls play really good together. The five that we play, we are really close together. We hang out after school. Once we all score, we feed off each other." Huron led by six points in the second quarter at 23-17 on a 3-pointer by Jenna Cox, who led the Tigers with 10 points. Lauren LaCivita and Addie LaCivita each scored nine points for Huron. Turnovers, though, limited the Tigers' looks on offense. Perkins attempted 22 more shots from the field. "We pride ourselves in our defensive pressure," Lyden said. "That helped us stay in the game when some of our shots didn't go in. "We missed some bunnies and there were things we could've done better, but you can't teach effort and they really gave it their all." Just like they do at practice. "We really make sure we run in practice, not for punishment but to stay in shape," Lyden said. "That helps with stamina and forces them to move their feet. We stress to the girls that we want to apply pressure, but we want to be smart about it. We try to practice pressure but not fouling. "The girls are smart enough to know when it's a good time to apply extra pressure and when to keep them in front of them." The Pirates had only five healthy JV players Tuesday, so the preliminary game lasted only two quarters. Two subs played limited minutes in the varsity game. "We have to be positive coaches and coach them hard," Lyden said. "We need to keep encouraging them. We can't drag people out to play, as much as we want to. It doesn't matter who we have on the team — we're going to coach them to the best of our ability." Perkins opens SBC Lake Division play at home Saturday against Tiffin Columbian. Huron opens SBC Bay play Friday at Willard. PERKINS (1-2) Mallorie Jones 5 4-5 15, Jordyn Brunner 5 0-0 11, Isabella Ramirez 1 0-0 2, Allie Brunner 5 2-4 12, Hannah Koelsch 4 4-7 12. TOTALS 20 10-16 52 HURON (1-2) Adelyn Van Sickle 2 0-0 5, Lauren LaCivita 3 2-4 9, Addie LaCivita 2 4-4 9, Mya Smith 2 0-0 4, Reece Hotz 3 1-2 7, Jenna Cox 3 2-2 10, Alayna Sullivan 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 17 9-12 48 Perkins 15 8 18 11 — 52 Huron 12 11 11 14 — 48 Three-point goals: Perkins 2 (Jones, J. Brunner); Huron 5 (Cox 2, Van Sickle, L. LaCivita, A. LaCivita)