Perkins dominates in tournament opener

PERKINS TWP. — Perkins did what it was supposed to do in its boys basketball tournament opener Thursday. The Pirates hit some early 3-pointers, dominated the glass and handled a young Rossford team 74-45 in a Division IV matchup. The top-seeded Pirates made four 3s in the first quarter — three by senior Sam Schweinfurth — and never trailed against eighth-seeded Rossford, which started four sophomores and a freshman. "It was just my night tonight. It felt good," Schweinfurth said. "You wanna have that quick start and keep it going throughout the game." It hasn't been Schweinfurth's week. He missed school Tuesday due to illness and came in late Thursday. Whatever stomach ailment he was experiencing didn't hurt his shooting. "Sam hits a couple 3s. I was glad to see he came to play," Perkins coach Andy Hoying said. Perkins, which won its fifth straight game to improve to 21-2, will face Vermilion (10-13) in a district semifinal next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Fremont Ross High School. The seventh-seeded Sailors upset fourth-seeded Bellevue on Thursday. "We played Bellevue a couple times, but haven't played Vermilion," Hoying said. "We know they're a tough test. They're well-coached and they have gritty guys over there. We're gonna have to really get prepared over the next three practices." Perkins used a balanced attack to knock out Rossford, which lost 16 of its last 17 games to finish the season with a 4-19 record. Kellen Glass led Perkins with 14 and grabbed six rebounds. Levi Groot added 12 points and seven boards. Schweinfurth finished with 12 points and Kaden Legando added 10. Point guard Bryce Davie added eight points and seven rebounds. Perkins outrebounded Rossford 26-12 in the first half. "I thought we were killing them on the offensive glass, which was great," Hoying said. "We didn't give up any transition stuff early to get them going. We came out ready to play like we were supposed to and handled business." The Pirates used an 11-0 run in the first quarter — jump-started by two Schweinfurth 3s — to build a 20-6 lead. Perkins' lead was 20 at halftime (36-16) when Legando made a nice pass that led to a Grant Kuhnle layup. A minute earlier, Legando assisted on Schweinfurth's final 3. "I thought we got great looks all night," Hoying said. "We were really sharing the ball and even if a couple shots didn't fall I thought they were great shots throughout. Good teams continue to get great shots." Perkins forced nine turnovers in the third quarter to extend its lead to 57-33. "We wanted solid, steady pressure against them, try to turn them over a little bit and we did that across the board," Hoying said. The Pirates committed only four turnovers in the game. Rossford was led by 6-foot-7 sophomore center Jackson Greer, who finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Jackson Drusback added 16 points. "They got a good, young cast," Hoying said. "They'll be primed and ready to go the next couple of years. The big kid did some damage on us." Ten Pirates scored in the game, which was the last at home for their four seniors — Glass, Schweinfurth, Groot and Kash Koch. Perkins finished 11-0 this season on its home court. "We came out and did what we needed to do and we got some of those young guys in and they got a little taste," Hoying said. Perkins moves on to district play against an opponent it hasn't played, but the Pirates will be somewhat familiar with the gym at Ross. Perkins knocked off Fremont Ross 65-50 on the road in late December. "I think we had a decent outing there, so we'll have to continue that," Hoying said. ROSSFORD (4-19) Colton Hoskins 1 0-0 3, Levi Grimm 0 0-0 0, Carter Matthews 0 0-0 0, Jackson Drusback 6 3-5 16, Jackson Greer 9 1-2 19, Landen Scherer 1 1-2 4, Blake Odenweller 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 18 5-9 45 PERKINS (21-2) Kellen Glass 6 2-2 14, Sam Schweinfurth 4 0-0 12, Kash Koch 2 0-0 5, Bryce Davie 3 2-3 8, Levi Groot 4 3-4 12, Kaden Legando 5 0-0 10, Grant Kuhnle 2 0-0 5, Carter Koch 2 0-0 4, DJ Johnson 1 0-0 2, Max Weller 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 30 7-9 74 Rossford 9 7 17 12 — 45 Perkins 20 16 21 17 — 74 Three-point goals: Rossford 4 (Hoskins, Drusback, Scherer, Odenweller); Perkins 7 (Schweinfurth 4, K. Koch, Groot, Kuhnle)