Perkins celebrates seniors, first SBC title in nine years

PERKINS TWP. — Senior Night couldn't have gone any better for the Perkins boys basketball team. The Pirates went through a crisp pregame ceremony Friday then proceeded to run away from Norwalk 69-28 to clinch the program's first conference championship since 2017. Seniors Kellen Glass, Sam Schweinfurth, Kash Koch and Levi Groot took their bows before, during and after the game. "It's a dream come true," Glass said. "It's always been one of our goals to win the SBC and we've never been able to do it." Perkins, ranked No. 9 in the state in Division IV, improved to 20-2 overall and tied Sandusky with a 9-1 record in the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division. The Pirates cut down a net afterward, although it was a bit of a challenge. "The ladder was pretty stable, but the scissors were not sharp," Glass said. "I couldn't cut it. You've gotta work it." First-year head coach Andy Hoying did the honors after his players all took turns snipping the net. Hoying finished the job and waived it in the air before the team dutifully posed for a team photo. "It's been great. This is really exciting," Hoying said. "We obviously haven't cut these down in nine years. There couldn't be a greater set of kids out here playing for me. It's good to get back in that top spot." Perkins' last league title came in the final season of the old eight-team SBC. The new net was cut down in the final year of the current SBC mega-league configuration. "I thought we came out from the jump and took care of business," Hoying said. "A little slow start, but Grant (Kuhnle) really got us going and from there we handled business. When he gets going, he can get red hot. He got us going and the seniors carried us from there. Great atmosphere. We had a great crowd in here. I'm really happy for the guys." Yes, Kuhnle broke the ice. Perkins was leading just 7-4 late in the first quarter when the 6-foot-3 junior came off the bench and let it fly. Kuhnle swished his first 3-pointer with 1:55 left in the first quarter to give Perkins a 10-4 lead. He hit three more quick 3s, the fourth coming from the pirate flag that covers midcourt just seven seconds into the second quarter. It was Kuhnle's fourth 3-pointer in just 2 minutes, 2 seconds. "I wasn't really feeling it in warmups so I knew I was gonna feel it in the game," said Kuhnle, who finished with 12 points. "I saw the first one go in and thought it was gonna be a good game." Kuhnle's barrage was the centerpiece of a 17-0 run that relaxed the Pirates and their fans. "Kuhnle's a special player," Glass said. "When hits the 3-ball everyone gets going." Glass did his part, too. The 6-6 forward finished with 16 points, five rebounds and had two dunks in the third quarter, the first coming after Levi Groot blocked a shot, gathered the ball and passed ahead to an open Glass. "We practice that all the time at practice," Glass said. "Me, Levi Groot and Grant Kuhnle, we always dunk at practice so it's natural when we have a wide-open lane to get one. You get up there and it's like, 'Wow, I really just did that.' " Glass scored right before the second quarter buzzer to give Perkins a 46-11 lead, which ensured that the second half would be played under a running clock. His bucket pushed the Pirates' second quarter point total to 29. The game took only 55 minutes to play. "It went quick in the second half," Hoying said. "I'm glad we could get all those younger guys in; they were all itching to get in there. Glad they got some minutes at the end and we were able to get the seniors a nice ovation." The seniors exited for good early in the fourth quarter. Schweinfurth finished with 11 points and sank three of the Pirates' nine 3-pointers. Groot added nine points and Kaden Legando came off the bench with his usual energy boost and finished with seven points. Perkins shot 50 percent from the field and committed only three turnovers in the game, which came after the junior varsity won 74-30 to finish off a 22-0 season. Kingston Gonzales led the Truckers (1-21, 0-10) with eight points. His second bucket got Norwalk to within 7-4 with 3:05 left in the first quarter. Xavier Saunders added six points. Perkins is off until next Thursday when the Pirates, seeded No. 1 in their Division IV district, host Rossford in a tournament opener. "We gotta clean up some things, put some new stuff in and get ready for Rossford," Hoying said. NORWALK (1-21, 0-10) Kingston Gonzales 3 2-2 8, Xavier Saunders 3 0-0 6, Nolan Jones 2 1-4 5, Brandon Carty 2 0-0 4, Caiden Schmidt 1 0-0 3, Jack Pittenger 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 12 3-6 28 PERKINS (20-2, 9-1) Kellen Glass 7 2-2 16, Sam Schweinfurth 4 0-0 11, Kash Koch 1 0-0 2, Bryce Davie 2 0-2 4, Levi Groot 3 2-4 9, Kaden Legando 2 3-4 7, Grant Kuhnle 4 0-0 12, Ty Obergefell 2 0-0 5, Carter Koch 0 1-2 1, DJ Johnson 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 26 8-14 69 Norwalk 4 7 10 7 — 28 Perkins 17 29 18 5 — 69 Three-point goals: Norwalk 1 (Schmidt); Perkins 9 (Kuhnle 4, Schweinfurth 3, Groot, Obergefell)