Perkins improves to 13-0 with road win at Norwalk

NORWALK — For Perkins, all eyes are on winning the Sandusky Bay Lake Division and then a deep postseason run come late February and March. Friday was another step in that journey as Perkins — the No. 4 ranked team in Division IV — defeated Norwalk 68-42 in a gritty, grind-it-out performance. "Credit to Norwalk and their head coach," Perkins coach Andy Hoying said. "They came out with a very good game plan and executed it." In a game on paper that featured a struggling Truckers ballclub and a Pirates (13-0, 5-0 SBC Lake) team playing some very good basketball, the opening quarter went against that notion as the Truckers (0-12, 0-5) jumped ahead 5-2 behind an Xavier Saunders triple and Kingston Gonzales layup. After that, Perkins responded with an 8-0 run of their own to take a 10-5 lead. Norwalk answered right back with another 6-0 run to take the lead back at 11-10. Perkins got the first of six triples on the night from Sam Schweinfurth to lead 13-11. After one quarter, the Pirates led 16-13. A key to the game featured big starts to the middle quarters. The second frame saw Perkins use an 8-0 run to take a 24-13 advantage behind six points from Levi Groot. In the frame, Groot had 10 of Perkins' 15 points. "I was just trying to help my team in any way I could," Groot said. "I got to my spots and took what the defense gave me." After seeing the lead bloom to 29-13, Norwalk continued to fight, answering back with an 8-0 run to make the score 29-21. The Pirates entered intermission leading 31-23. "We made adjustments in the second half and that changed the game for us," Hoying said. "Like I said, kudos to Norwalk. They made us uncomfortable at times, but Levi and Sam made big shots all night to keep us going." The third featured Schweinfurth catching fire as he buried four triples in the quarter and helped spark an 11-0 run to start the third that blew the game wide open. "I just feel like we came out slow in that first half," Schweinfurth said. "In the third quarter, those are shots that when I get them I am supposed to make." In the fourth quarter, both teams went back and forth in the scoring column as Perkins won the quarter 16-9. "We know from here on out, we are getting everyone's best shot," Hoying said. "Norwalk showed that playing hard and with nothing to lose. In the victory, the Pirates were paced by Schweinfurth with a game-high 24 points and Levi Groot with 18. Perkins had nine players in the scoring column on the night. For Norwalk, Saunders paced them with 17 points while Gonzales had eight points. For the Truckers, they're on the road Tuesday at Shelby. The Pirates turn their focus to Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day battle against Oregon Clay. Clay entered Friday's contest at Sylvania Northview with a record of 10-1. "This starts a very big week for us," Hoying said. "These guys will rest this weekend before a very challenging three game stretch for us." PERKINS (13-0, 5-0) Kellen Glass 2 0-0 4, Sam Schweinfurth 9 0-0 24, Kash Koch 1 0-0 3, Bryce Davie 3 3-5 9, Grant Kuhnle 1 0-0 3, Ty Obergefell 1 0-0 2, Carter Koch 1 0-0 2, DJ Johnson 1 0-0 3, Levi Groot 7 3-7 18. TOTALS 26 6-12 68 NORWALK (0-12, 0-5) Kingston Gonzales 3 1-2 8, Xavier Saunders 6 1-2 17, Kian Kreischer 1 0-0 3, Nolan Jones 0 0-2 0, Brandon Carty 2 1-3 6, Caiden Schmitt 3 0-0 6, Josh King 1 0-2 2. TOTALS 16 3-11 42. Perkins 16 15 21 16 — 68 Norwalk 13 10 10 9 — 42 Three-point goals: Perkins 10 (Schweinfurth 6, Koch, Kuhnle, Johnson, Groot); Norwalk 7 (Saunders 4, Gonzales, Carty, Kreischer)