Photo by MacKenzie Morris

Ever since the calendar flipped to 2024, offense has been tough to come by for the Perry boy’s basketball team and the trend continued Tuesday night as 8th ranked South Hamilton defeated Perry 56-40 in Heart of Iowa action.  The Hawks remain in a share of first place improving their overall record to 12-1.  The game featured poor shooting by both teams in the first half, with South Hamilton settling into a half court 2-3 zone defense.  The Hawks led 22-16 at the intermission despite top scorer Ryland Ubben sitting for the final 6 minutes after picking up his third foul.  Perry could not hit their shots against the zone in the first half with Zander Mahler scoring 11 of Perry’s 16 points.

The Hawks came out strong in the third quarter after switching up their defense to a box and one, and starting the second half on a quick 8-0 run highlighted by a thunderous dunk from senior Reese Ricke.  The high flying big man finished with a couple of dunks and a season high 28 points including 23 in the second half.  Ubben played smartly with three fouls and added 19 points on the night.

Mahler led the Perry offense with 13 points while Owen Myers scored 10 second half points.  Gustavo Drahos and Drake Levan added 7 each.

Perry is now averaging only 41 points per game in their three games since the start of the New Year.

The traveling Bluejays get ready for a busy weekend.  Perry will travel to Ft Dodge Thursday night, PCM Friday night and Ankeny on Saturday for a battle with top ranked Grandview Park Baptist.  Perry will travel to DMACC Boone Monday for a neutral site game with Woodward Academy.  Saturday’s game with Atlantic has been postponed.