The Perry boys basketball team relied on defense to win the district opener against Dallas Center Grimes 57-50 Monday night in Adel. Perry never trailed jumping out to a 16-7 first quarter lead. The ambush 1-3-1 zone trap created numerous turnovers in the final four minutes of the first quarter allowing Perry to build the early lead.
“We really did a good job with our defense tonight,” stated Head Coach Ned Menke. “The kids have really bought into our system the past 3 weeks and have started putting a lot of attention and energy on the defensive side of the ball. The best part is that they are having fun doing it and enjoy the shell drill and some of the defensive sets we run in practice.”
Perry needed the defense due to the fact that the Jays struggled from the perimeter finishing just 3-16 from 3-point land. However, Perry made up for it at the foul line connecting on 16-22 free throws. Senior all-state selection Shammond Ivory went 11 of 16 including 2 big ones late to seal the deal. Ivory led all scorers with 19 points. Perry built a 13 point lead on 2 occasions only to have DCG close it down to 3. That was as close as DCG could come. Ryan Rathje and Kyle Nevitt each buried a key 3-pointer to get the Jays back up to a 2 possession lead.
The win for Perry was a big one in the fact that DCG had defeated them in the previous 14 meetings.
“Yeah, this one feels really good,” smiled Menke. “They have always had our number in the past and feels good to come out on top for a change. All the credit goes to the players and my coaching staff. I relied on them a lot of advice in practice and during the game tonight. We executed our plan of jumping out early and staying aggressive all night. I really like the team’s mindset right now.”
Perry advances to the District Final Thursday night against RRC opponent Boone, who shocked ADM on their home floor Monday night. Perry and Boone split during the regular season. Tip off will be 7:00 at Johnston High School and can be heard on KDLS 99.7 and 1310 am and raccoonvalleyradio.com.
You can relive the excitement of last night’s game on the Raccoon Valley Radio Network’s on-demand section at raccoonvalleyradio.com..