Perkins rallies from 17 down to defeat Bellevue

PERKINS TWP. — Perkins' shot at winning a conference title was slipping away. Fast. The Pirates looked lethargic in the first half Friday and trailed by 17 points early in the third quarter as Bellevue bombed away from 3-point range. The final 14 minutes? All Perkins. The Pirates limited Bellevue to one single point over the last 14 minutes and won going away, 52-40, to keep their Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division championship hopes in play. "That's a crazy stat," said Perkins senior Kellen Glass of limiting the Redmen to one point over the game's last 14:06. "Honestly it was just defensive intensity. We came out in the first half letting them get wide-open shots and layups. They were outplaying us so bad. In the second half we took pride in our defense." The Pirates' full-court pressure wore on the Redmen, who made just 2 of 27 field goals attempts after halftime and an 8-for-12 showing in the second quarter. "We panicked a little bit, kicked the ball around," Bellevue coach Ed Rich said. "Some really uncharacteristic things. It was kinda like we've never seen pressure before in our lives for a little bit. We're trying to run and get some good looks and we're bombing 3s. It was tough to watch." Bellevue scored 24 points in the second quarter — 13 by senior forward Reid Claus — and led 33-20 at the break. Perkins coach Andy Hoying had something to say about that. "We got ripped at halftime by Coach Hoying and we came out and did what we needed to do," Glass said. "We're a way more aggressive team when we feel like it. Sometimes we don't come out like that. Once we turn defense into offense, all of our offense comes right after that. We keep scoring and scoring." Glass finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. His steal, layup and traditional three-point play with 5:52 left in the game cut Bellevue's lead to 39-35. "That was a big momentum shift. Just a tough bucket," Hoying said. "He's a tough player and does a lot of great things for us offensively and defensively. That kind of trickled into the end of the game." Glass scored seven straight Perkins points to get the Pirates within 40-39. Sam Bollinger's free throws with 5:05 to play was Bellevue's only point of the fourth quarter. Perkins took the lead for good when Kaden Legando made a steal, was bumped on his shot and made it falling backward. That made it 41-40 Perkins with four minutes to go. It was a long four minutes for the Redmen, who dropped to 12-8 overall and 5-4 in the SBC Lake. Bellevue has lost four of its last five games. Legando scored in transition to make it 44-40 and made a layup off a Levi Groot assist to give Perkins a 46-40 lead with 1:11 left. It was over. "(Perkins' pressure) was nothing we weren't prepared for, but obviously we didn't prep our guys enough," Rich said. "Then we got tight. You get tight and start questioning your shots. We were up seven or eight and we acted like we were playing from behind. That really hurt. (Perkins) did an excellent job in the full court and half court in the second half." Legando finished with 11 points — nine in the fourth quarter as Perkins finished the game on a 17-0 run. Groot also scored 11 points for the Pirates, who are 18-2 overall and 8-1 in the Lake. Claus finished with 20 for Bellevue. He made four of his five 3-pointers in the second quarter. "He can go on those streaks," Rich said. "We talk to our guys about taking good looks. We knew we were shooting the 3-ball pretty well and we said we don't mind the 3, but let's make sure we get good ones. He hit one early in the third third and after that, oh boy, we couldn't do anything." Claus' 3 a minute into the second half was followed by an Elijah Turinsky 3 with 6:07 left in the third, giving Bellevue a 39-22 lead. Bellevue's 17-3 run in the second quarter erased an early Perkins lead and Claus made two more 3s late in the half. But Perkins got up off the mat. "I didn't think our kids ever wavered. They kept grinding it out," Hoying said. "The pressure really affected (Bellevue) in the second half. The score shows you what you can do if you don't let up and keep going. We had a lot of adversity down 17 in the second half. To fight through that is a really good sign." Bellevue's two leading scorers — Bollinger and Ike Brown — were limited to three points total and the Redmen had as many turnovers (seven) as points in the second half. "(Bellevue) really came out and out-toughed us on the boards (in the first half)," Hoying said. "We made some adjustments and that momentum changed and we were the tougher, more physical team toward the end. "They weren't able to get into their stuff easy. Brown and Bollinger we held in check. That was a big key. Those two didn't get going in the second half like they did the first time scoring 24 on us (in a double-overtime Perkins win)." Perkins is tied with Sandusky atop the Lake and is one win from clinching no worse than a tie for the title. The Pirates can get it done next Friday when they host winless Norwalk, a team they beat by 26 points last month. "I always take it one game at a time. We've got a tough Shelby team Tuesday and we'll start there," Hoying said. "We'll focus on that, then get to Norwalk. They gave us a tough game in the first half at their place. Hopefully on Senior Night we'll bring some momentum with us and get the job done." Glass said the Pirates are excited about the prospect of cutting down nets. They plan to use scissors. "We've been practicing that since the beginning of the season," he said. "One of goals is to win an SBC championships. We have three main goals (SBC, district, regional) and one of them has almost been achieved." BELLEVUE (12-8, 5-4) Sam Bollinger 0 1-2 1, Ike Brown 1 0-0 2, JJ Vogel 0 2-3 2, Reid Claus 7 1-2 20, Elijah Turinsky 3 0-0 8, Caden Cramer 1 0-0 3, Owen Hancock 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 14 4-7 40 PERKINS (18-2, 8-1) Kellen Glass 6 7-7 19, Sam Schweinfurth 1 0-2 3, Kash Koch 1 0-2 3, Bryce Davie 1 0-2 2, Levi Groot 3 5-6 11, Kaden Legando 5 1-4 11, Ty Obergefell 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 18 13-23 52 Bellevue 9 24 6 1 — 40 Perkins 13 7 11 21 — 52 Three-point goals: Bellevue 8 (Claus 5, Turinksky 2, Cramer); Perkins 3 (Schweinfurth, Koch, Obergefell)