Perkins moves to 8-0 with win at Ross

FREMONT — Just keep shooting. It wasn't the strongest shooting night for Sam Schweinfurth, but when Perkins needed a big shot the senior was there. Schweinfurth's corner 3-pointer pushed the Pirates back up by nine points. That helped Division IV No. 2 Perkins escape with a 65-50 non-league win over Fremont Ross on Tuesday. "That was huge," Pirates coach Andy Hoying said. "Every time he touches it, I think it's going in. I tell him to shoot it every time. Whatever happens, happens. We are happy with the shots he takes. He's been a crucial part for us on both sides." Perkins (8-0) came out strong in the second half and appeared to be on its way to a comfortable win. The Pirates led 46-30 after three quarters and went up 53-36 with 5:50 to play after a bucket from Levi Groot. But the Little Giants (0-6) didn't go quietly. Ross got four straight points from Dylan McDonald before freshman Jake Cahill scored. After a Perkins timeout, Tallon Brown scored and Cahill tallied a three-point play to cut the Pirates' lead to 53-47. Schweinfurth's corner bomb calmed things for Perkins. "They have seven or eight guys that can put the ball in the hole," Hoying said. "They can shoot it a little bit. We really needed a team effort across the board. (Cahill) is going to be a really nice player. He can do some things, so we keyed in on him. We were able to stay out on their shooters for the most part." Brown scored for the Little Giants, but consecutive tallies from Schweinfurth gave the Pirates a 60-49 lead. Kellen Glass added a bucket for Perkins for an 11-point advantage with 1:10 remaining. "I think we came back alive there the last two or three minutes," Hoying said. "I think we got into a lull defensively and stopped doing the things we were doing the first three quarters. We bounced back the last couple minutes and got the job done." The Pirates led 14-12 after a back-and-forth opening eight minutes. Perkins pushed the lead to 21-12 after a 3 from Kash Koch and tally from Glass. Ross fought back, drawing within 22-20 on a 3 from Brown, but Koch and Groot responded with triples for the Pirates. Perkins led 30-22 at halftime and played clean basketball in the third quarter. Glass scored on a putback before consecutive scores from Groot made it 36-24. Glass hit a 3 to make it 42-26 and Perkins opened an 18-point lead on a score from Grant Kuhnle. Perkins had no turnovers in the third quarter and just six for the game. "Throughout the year, we've done a great job of taking care of the ball," Hoying said. "I think that's why we get a lot of good open looks. I think that's why we have a lot of success offensively. We're taking good shots and not giving it up in transition going the other way." Brown led the Little Giants with 13 points while McDonald had 11. Cahill added nine points and nine rebounds. "That's a very good team," Hoying said. "They're well-coached and they have a lot of nice players. That's not an easy win for anybody. I thought we did a good job. We didn't buy into the hype of us coming in undefeated and them having not won yet. We came out and played hard." Glass topped Perkins with 18 points while Groot added 17. "We have to stay humble and stay on our grind," Hoying said. "It feels good being 8-0 going into the new year. That's awesome. We have to keep coming to work. We have a lot of areas we can get better at." Perkins, which is 2-0 in Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division action, hosts Clyde (4-3, 1-1) on Friday and Bellevue (7-2, 2-0) on Jan. 8. "There's going to be tough ones ahead," Hoying said. "The road is long. We have to stay in the moment and come ready in each practice. We'll watch film and get after each other a little bit." PERKINS (8-0) Kellen Glass 7 3-4 18, Sam Schweinfurth 3 0-0 7, Kash Koch 3 0-0 9, Bryce Davie 2 0-0 4, Levi Groot 7 1-6 16, Ty Obergefell 1 0-0 3, Grant Kuhnle 1 2-2 4, Kaden Legando 1 1-3 3. TOTALS 25 7-15 65 FREMONT ROSS (0-6) Braylon Jordan 2 1-2 5, Dylan McDonald 4 2-2 11, Mason Englund 2 0-0 4, Quinn Wolf 0 0-0 0, Jake Cahill 4 1-1 9, Tallon Brown 6 0-0 13, Cayden Rodriguez 3 0-0 8. TOTALS 21 4-5 50 Perkins 14 16 16 19 — 65 Fremont Ross 12 10 8 20 — 50 Three-point goals: Perkins 8 (Koch 3, Groot 2, Glass, Schweinfurth, Obergefell); Fremont Ross 4 (Rodriguez 2, McDonald, Brown)