Glass helps lead Perkins into Div. IV state semifinals

PERKINS TWP. — Kellen Glass checks in at 6 feet, 6 inches. The Perkins senior has as much personality as height. It's for a simple reason. "I'm just a chill dude, honestly," Glass said. "I'm just me. I love the game. I love basketball a lot." Glass' love of the game has helped the No. 4-ranked Pirates to a 25-2 record this season. Perkins will face No. 6 Cleveland Glenville (18-9) in a Division IV state semifinal at noon Thursday at Wright State University's Nutter Center. "When I arrived in the spring time, I thought he could become a really nice player for us," first-year coach Andy Hoying said. "He had a really good offseason from the spring to the summer to the fall. He really got better on both sides of the ball. He can score down low and play a little bit offensively on the perimeter. Defensively, he's really taken a big step up. "Both sides of the ball, he's been phenomenal for us all year long." Glass' personality is infectious. During pregame introductions, Glass usually makes a trip to the student section to get the crowd roaring. "Those are my boys," Glass said. "I have to go make sure they're ready for the game and hyping us up." While the 25 wins are a program record, it is the two losses that eat at Glass. Perkins defeated Sandusky 75-59 in the teams' first meeting Dec. 19. When they rematched a month later, the Pirates came up short, 46-42. Just eight nights later, Perkins was on the wrong end of a road overtime contest against Oregon Clay, 53-50. The Pirates have won their last nine games since the Feb. 7 loss to Clay. "There's been a couple ups and downs," Glass said. "Oregon Clay was a really tough loss on us because we felt like we should have won that game. Where we are now is because of that game. That game brought our momentum down, but we built it right back up. "Losing to Sandusky was a tough loss because that's such a rivalry game. We beat them by 16 the first time, so that was a tough loss. We felt like we came into that game sluggish. Now we know how to play those games to win instead of playing not to lose." Glass came up big for the Pirates in the first game of the season, a 57-40 road win over Huron on Nov. 26. In Hoying's first game as coach after taking over for Eric Kochendoerfer, Glass had a team-high 23 points, which is the most he's scored in a game this season. "I was nervous going into that first game because we had not had those guys for a long time, especially the football guys," Hoying said. "He stepped up big for us. Early in the year, him, Levi (Groot) and Kash (Koch) were playing great basketball while the football guys got their legs. "That got us off on the right track. I feel like we never looked back from there." Glass has been pretty consistent offensively for the Pirates this year. Of Perkins' 27 games, Glass has scored in double digits 22 times. He has led the Pirates in scoring 10 times this season. Glass averages 13.4 points and 5.9 rebounds a night for Perkins. "We have a great group of seniors, but I'd say he's been that vocal leader," Hoying said. "A couple of the other guys are a little soft-spoken. He's been great being the vocal leader who gets after it in practice. That senior group leads us with their mentality of coming every day and getting to work." Glass said the transition from Kochendoerfer, who was head coach for the first three years of Glass' high school career, to Hoying was easy. "Eric was more of a skill guy while Hoying is more of a use-your-skill guy," Glass said. "Eric really taught me how to be a player while Hoying lets me be my player on the court." Glass is a lefty, something you don't see often in high school basketball. Glass broke his left arm in middle school, but he only uses his left hand or arm to shoot a basketball and throw a baseball. "I played baseball growing up," Glass said. "When I broke my arm, I didn't come back to it until high school. When I came back to it, I was never the same. I played football in middle school, but gave that up for basketball." Glass hasn't decided where he will attend college, but intends to major in marketing. He has been a big piece of why the Pirates won the first-ever regional title in program history last Saturday. "Nobody has ever done it in boys basketball history here at Perkins," Glass said. "Honestly, I feel like I'm a part of it and it's such a great feeling." The Perkins-Glenville winner faces either No. 1 Maysville (26-1) or No. 2 Cincinnati Wyoming (24-2) for the state title at 4:15 p.m. Friday at University of Dayton Arena. "We're going to see a lot of athleticism come Thursday," Hoying said. "Glenville is a real solid group. They have a number of guys that have size. They have length. We're going to need Kellen to step up and play a really nice game for us. He can match that athleticism and length of some of their guys." Regardless of how the week goes, it will wrap up the high school career of Glass and classmates Groot, Koch and Sam Schweinfurth. It hasn't sunk in, but the group has big goals before it is all said and done. Glass is cherishing every moment. "We've been playing together since fourth grade when Levi came to our school," Glass said. "We have such a strong connection. "Knowing this is the last time together, I'm happy it is us four."