Perkins uses fast start to shoot past Clyde

CLYDE — Set the tone early. From the get-go, Perkins was hot from 3-point land and that made all the difference in Friday's game at Clyde. The Pirates hit six 3-pointers in the first quarter and were never really challenged in a 79-63 Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division win over Clyde. Division IV No. 8 Perkins (16-1, 6-1) keeps pace atop the league standings with Sandusky (11-7, 7-1), which defeated Tiffin Columbian on Friday. "I thought much, much better energy-wise compared to last Friday," Perkins coach Andy Hoying said. "I thought we came out and really brought it from the jump. We started off hot there and I thought that was the biggest catalyst tonight." Kash Koch and Sam Schweinfurth splashed in triples less than a minute in. After Chase Castle scored for the Fliers (8-10, 2-6), another bomb from Koch made it 9-2. Clyde cut within 10-8 on a score from Oscar Webb, but Perkins dominated the final 3:14 of the quarter. Kaden Legando split two free throws before back-to-back triples from Grant Kuhnle made it 17-8. Legando scored and a 3-pointer from Ty Obergefell gave the Pirates a 22-8 edge after eight minutes. "Clyde came out in a zone and I thought we did a nice job dissecting it and finding our shooters," Hoying said. "We knocked them down." The Pirates continued to flex their muscles in the second quarter. Four straight points from Levi Groot extended the lead to 26-10. Kellen Glass then scored and later, a bucket from Legando pushed the advantage to 33-13. "We tried a couple things defensively, but hats off to them," Clyde coach Jared Shetzer said. "They hit some 3s and we knew they were capable. Unfortunately, we gave up too many offensive rebounds. We tried something a little different and it didn't work out for us. It seems like everybody we play shoots it really well." JeCori Roberts answered with a pair of 3-pointers for Clyde, but Bryce Davie and Schweinfurth scored to keep Perkins ahead 37-20. The lead got back up to 18 points after a triple from Schweinfurth and score by Kuhnle, but Karcen Garner hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to bring Clyde within 42-27 at halftime. The Fliers were never able to make a push in the second half due to Perkins' high-octane offense. Clyde sliced within 13 points a couple times, but Groot scored twice and Davie added a bucket to keep Perkins up 50-34. Later, Schweinfurth hit another of his five 3-pointers to make it 60-39. The lethal sharpshooter finished with a game-high 20 points for the Pirates. "He came to play tonight right from the jump," said Hoying of the senior. "He really helped get some other guys open as well. He found Levi down low. They have to stay tight to him, so that'll open some driving lanes." In the long run, the first quarter proved to be the difference. Perkins only outscored Clyde by two points over the final three quarters. "We tried to put an emphasis on going inside," Shetzer said. "We thought we'd have some success. We were able to do that a little bit in the second half. We've really taken care of the ball this year really well. We'll keep leaning on that." Oscar Webb paced Clyde with 16 points. He had the focus of Hoying after the Pirates topped Clyde 73-55 on Jan. 2. "They have a couple nice players," said Hoying of the Fliers. "Webb does a really nice job and he hit some shots late that were tough. We didn't cover it correctly. I thought over the course of 32 minutes, we did a nice job of shutting him down. Him and Roberts are some really nice players." Perkins entered the game after its first loss of the season, a 46-42 setback at Sandusky last Friday. It was a rejuvenated Pirates squad, which had 42 points in the first half against Clyde. "Not fun as a coach to sit there for seven days," Hoying said. "I thought we came and had four good days of practice this week. I thought we got back into shape. We had some days off the week before and it was an odd week. We had four good days of practice and it showed tonight." Roberts added 11 points and nine rebounds while Castle and Max Swander each chipped in 10 points for Clyde. The Fliers travel to Vermilion on Tuesday before finishing the season against Sandusky, Port Clinton and Tiffin Columbian. Perkins has a quick turnaround as it travels to Division III Oregon Clay (13-4) on Saturday. The Eagles topped Fremont Ross on Friday. "They're tough, so we'll get back and watch some tape," Hoying said. "We'll get a good scout walkthrough tomorrow. It's another tough challenge for us on this weekend." PERKINS (16-1, 7-1) Kellen Glass 4 2-4 10, Sam Schweinfurth 7 1-2 20, Kash Koch 4 2-3 12, Bryce Davie 3 2-2 8, Levi Groot 4 4-4 12, Kaden Legando 2 2-4 6, Grant Kuhnle 3 0-0 8, Ty Obergefell 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 28 13-19 79 CLYDE (8-10, 2-6) Oscar Webb 4 6-6 16, Aric Kauble 0 2-2 2, Michael Scruggs 2 1-2 5, JeCori Roberts 4 0-0 11, Chase Castle 5 0-1 10, Jon Lantz 1 0-0 3, Max Swander 4 1-1 10, Karcen Garner 1 2-4 5, Blake Gurney 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 21 13-18 63 Perkins 22 20 18 19 — 79 Clyde 8 19 14 22 — 63 Three-point goals: Perkins 10 (Schweinfurth 5, Koch 2, Kuhnle 2, Obergefell); Clyde 8 (Roberts 3, Webb 2, Swander, Garner, Lantz)