Port Clinton uses fast start to beat Perkins

PORT CLINTON — Port Clinton set the tone early. The Redskins jumped out to a 12-point lead just over six minutes into Monday's game against Perkins. Port Clinton used that advantage to keep the Pirates at bay, topping Perkins 54-40 in Sandusky Bay Conference crossover action. "This time of the year, it's about setting the tone," Redskins coach Kevin Belden said. "We're in the final week, so we're trying to play our best basketball. We're such a young team with no seniors and no varsity experience back from last year. That's not the case in Game 20. We wanted to come out fast in a home game and it was great to see." The Redskins (9-11) were massive on the boards. Port Clinton outrebounded Perkins (5-15) 54-38, led by Anaiya Parriott's 20 rebounds. "That makes a difference," Belden said. "That's big for us because we're not the biggest team. We have to scrap for everything. I talked with the girls yesterday that we're minus-seven rebounding on average every game. To see that number, it's amazing. That's attributed to these girls still playing hard and getting better at it." Alexa Pastor led Port Clinton with 14 points and nine rebounds. She was able to get second-chance opportunities to help the Redskins maintain their lead throughout the contest. "Rebounding was very big because half of my points were from putbacks," Pastor said. "I was able to get it out to people at the 3-point line and I think that helped a lot tonight." Alana Zibert hit a 3 and Pastor tallied a bucket to give PC an early 16-4 lead. "I think it really got us going," said Bubb of the fast start. "We talked about pushing the ball and rebounding throughout. I thought we were able to do that." Shelby Isaac nailed a 3 to push the lead to 19-5 before Hannah Koelsch scored near the buzzer for the Pirates. But, the damage had been done just eight minutes in. "We dug ourselves a hole because we didn't come out as intense as I know that they can," Perkins coach Leia Lyden said. "We came out a little flat and we addressed that. I think it took a while, but they started to pick it up. It was a little too late in the game and not enough time in the game to chip away at it." Port Clinton kept coming in the second quarter. Pastor opened the scoring in the quarter and later, two free throws from Zibert made it 23-8. After Koelsch scored on a putback, a triple from Zibert extended the advantage to 26-10. Despite being overwhelmed in the first 13 minutes of the game, Perkins made a run at it. The Pirates got within 30-17 at halftime and a 3 from Brunner opened the second half. Koelsch then hit a jumper and suddenly Perkins was within eight. Port Clinton answered as Bubb hit two free throws and Pastor scored. A triple from Isaac put the Redskins ahead 41-26 after three quarters. Perkins got within single digits early in the fourth quarter. Buckets from Mallorie Jones, Jalee Lipsey and Brunner cut the deficit to 41-32 with 5:56 to play. But again, the Redskins had the response as Pastor scored and Bubb knocked down two free throws. Later, Pastor put in a score and a 3-pointer from Zibert pushed the PC lead to 50-35 with 2:50 remaining. "For a sophomore, this was her best game of the year," said Belden of Pastor. "She was close to a double-double and that's huge. As this year as progressed and going into next year, we want to get her the ball more on the block. We know what she's capable of." Koelsch topped Perkins with 17 points and 10 rebounds. "She's definitely capable of being a good scorer for us," said Lyden of Koelsch. "She struggled at first, but she was able to push through that and fight through some stuff she was dealing with. She was able help the team out and she did a good job there." Brunner added 12 points while Jones had eight points and eight rebounds. The Pirates host Norwalk in their final SBC Lake Division game of the season Wednesday before welcoming in Shelby on Saturday. "We can't come out flat and we have to play good defense and get good defensive stops," Lyden said. "We have to eliminate the amount of second-chance opportunities the other team has." Bubb finished with 13 points and nine rebounds while Zibert, who was honored before the game for setting the single-game record for 3-pointers and single-season record for 3-pointers at Port Clinton, also scored nine rebounds. Lillian Wagner added nine rebounds for the Redskins, who host Maumee Valley Country Day on Wednesday and Tiffin Columbian on Saturday. "We want to finish strong," Belden said. "We have nine wins now and getting to double-digit wins with this group would be quite an accomplishment considering what most people thought of this group at the beginning of the year. We want to play our best basketball and get one of these next two." PERKINS (5-15) Jalee Lipsey 1 0-0 2, Mallorie Jones 2 3-4 8, Allie Brunner 5 0-0 12, Hannah Koelsch 8 1-6 17, Elizabeth Green 0 0-0 0, Leah Butler 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 16 5-12 50 PORT CLINTON (9-11) Lillian Wagner 1 2-6 4, Elizabeth Bubb 3 7-11 13, Alana Zibert 3 4-6 13, Anaiya Parriott 2 0-2 4, Alexa Pastor 6 2-4 14, Shelby Isaac 2 0-0 6. TOTALS 17 15-28 54 Perkins 7 10 9 14 — 40 Port Clinton 19 11 11 13 — 54 Three-point goals: Perkins 3 (Brunner 2, Jones); Port Clinton 5 (Zibert 3, Isaac 2)