No. 4 Perkins beats Lexington to stay perfect

PERKINS TWP. — Perkins' challenge from Lexington seemed deceiving. Lexington had lost five straight games and no longer have three-year letterwinner Seven Allen on its team. The Pirates still had to dig deep to keep their undefeated record without a blemish. Perkins got 20 points and 12 rebounds from Sam Schweinfurth and 16 points apiece from Levi Groot and Kellen Glass, topping the Minutemen 79-67 in non-league action Saturday. "They definitely hit some shots and we lacked some effort defensively," Groot said. "We were letting them get to their shots. We really had to keep the pressure on offensively and keep the pressure on defense. We needed to find ways to slow them down." Schweinfurth, Groot and Glass are three of the four senior starters for the Division IV No. 4 Pirates (11-0). Kash Koch, who hit a monster 3-pointer in double overtime Thursday to win at Bellevue, is the other. "Those three are playing really well right now," Perkins coach Andy Hoying said. "Kash had a great game the other night against Bellevue. It's great to see those three seniors step up and have big games. Each one can have a big game on any night." The Pirates never trailed, but found the night not as smooth as they hoped against Lexington (4-7). Glass had the hot hand early, scoring Perkins' first eight points in just 81 seconds. The Minutemen were up to the task, though. After the Pirates jumped out to an 8-2 lead behind Glass, Lexington got within 22-18 after one quarter following buckets from Ethan Bianchi and Azzi Roper. Kaden Legando scored twice early in the second quarter for Perkins. A 3-pointer from Grant Kuhnle pushed the Perkins lead to 31-20. Both teams played well offensively in the first half. Consecutive tallies from Jace Dawson brought Lexington with 31-24, but Koch scored, Groot tallied a three-point play and Groot picked a steal and scored. That gave Perkins a 38-24 edge with 3:20 to go until halftime. "We had a great effort on offense," Groot said. "Night in and night out, we're going to bring it offensively. We're going to try to score as many points as we can. We had some turnovers, but we got some stops that led to some good offensive buckets." The Pirates led 45-34 at halftime and the Pirates were finally able to put some distance between the teams late in the third quarter. Ahead by just six points, Schweinfurth made two free throws before a bucket from Bryce Davie. Legando added two free throws and Schweinfurth canned a triple to extend the lead to 62-47. "They obviously came to play," said Hoying of Lexington. "They knocked down a ton of shots on us. I don't think we brought our best defensive effort. They took it right down our throats at times. We have to respond better in the future. Give 100 percent credit to them." Perkins got a scare in the fourth quarter when Davie went to cut through two defenders and landed awkwardly on his left leg. He was helped from the court to the locker room and didn't return. "I thought offensively we did a lot of things we've been doing all year," Hoying said. "We're still sharing the ball really well. I thought we knocked down shots, too. It has to be both ends of the floor from here on out. This is when the games get tough." Perkins outrebounded Lexington behind Schweinfurth's big night on the glass. Davie added six rebounds while Groot had four. "Those guys were hitting the glass hard," Hoying said. "Sam has been hitting the glass hard all season long. Bryce has been hitting the offensive glass all season long. That takes the pressure off of Kellen and Levi some nights." The win came just 48 hours removed from the double overtime marathon win over Bellevue on the road. Perkins was able to rest up a little Friday while the Minutemen played at home. "It was good to have a day off in between," Hoying said. "I thought we came out with a little energy, but on the defensive end we have to play a little tougher and harder. I get it. After a big win in double overtime, maybe you don't have your legs as much. We still have to come ready to play every night if we want to be where we want to be." The Pirates are at the midway point of the season, but know there's room for improvement. The second half of the season starts Tuesday at Bay (5-6) before a game at Norwalk (0-10) in Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division action Thursday. "The No. 1 key for us is we're really starting to play as a team," Hoying said. "We share the ball so well offensively. I think that makes us tough to guard. I thought maybe other than tonight, we're coming around on the defensive end. We're making some things happen. "The main thing is we have to keep pushing forward and keep the foot on the gas." LEXINGTON (4-7) Elijah White 2 0-0 5, Dantrell Hughes 5 2-2 15, Jayden Perkins 5 2-3 14, Ethan Bianchi 4 0-0 8, Jace Dawson 9 2-4 21, Azzi Roper 1 0-0 2, Anthony Failor 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 27 6-9 67 PERKINS (11-0) Kellen Glass 6 3-3 16, Sam Schweinfurth 7 2-2 20, Kash Koch 1 0-0 3, Bryce Davie 4 0-2 8, Levi Groot 7 1-1 16, Kaden Legando 4 2-4 10, Grant Kuhnle 2 0-0 5, Ty Obergefell 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 31 9-14 79 Lexington 18 16 15 18 — 67 Perkins 22 23 19 15 — 79 Three-point goals: Lexington 7 (Hughes 3, Perkins 2, White, Dawson); Perkins 8 (Schweinfurth 4, Glass, Koch, Groot, Kuhnle)