ASHTABULA—A balanced offense, stingy defense and an outstanding rebounding effort helped Perry down Gilmour Academy in a Division II district championship game on Thursday, 47-45.
With the win, the young Pirates advanced to the Barberton Regional for the third time in school history.
“It’s huge for us,” Perry coach Roy Infalvi said. “We started with two great seniors that kind of set the tone for the season but we play three sophomores, two juniors and we play three freshmen along with them. There was going to be some growing pains but fortunately, we didn’t have as many as there could have been. That’s a credit to them. They come every day and work and get after it and it shows on the court.”
The Pirates used whatever experience they gained from playing 24 games this season to battle a talented Gilmour squad.
That meant shutting down top shooters Annika Corcoran, Maddie Puletti and countering Lizzie Bender’s presence in the paint. Corcoran finished with a team-high 17 and Bender added 12 but Puletti was held scoreless.
“We knew going in we had to do it on the defensive end,” Infalvi said. “They had two real good shooters and real good scorers in 21 and 31 and their big, Bender, is very physical inside. We knew we were going to face a lot of pick and roll and our girls stepped up tonight.”
The Pirates also held their own on the glass.
“We did a really, really good job rebounding,” Infalvi said. “That was the No. 1 key we had on the board. We had to rebound and limit their second shots.”
Leading 24-19 at halftime, the Pirates adjust their offense to help free up Elle Infalvi and Madyson Hacking, who finished with seven points each.
“We had little adjustments we saw based on what they were doing, some things we needed to do offensively,” Coach Infalvi said. “They were face-guarding Elle and Madyson the whole game so we needed to do some things to help them off of that but also we saw some things where we could free up some of our other players. That was a real big key today.”
Lauren Sutyak led the Pirates with 10 points, Katie Pietrzak added six, Marcela Rodriguez and Makenzie Hacking each contributed with five points, Sydney Moon hit a 3-pointer and Anna Sorine and Jacy Anderson both closed out the game with two points.
“We had girls like Lauren Sutyak step up, Katie Pieterzak, Marcela, Jacy, Sydney Moon, all of them came in and hit big shots, had key scores and key stops on defense and that’s what it is this time of year,” Infalvi said. “To win a district championship, teams are going to take your best players away and other girls need to step up and they did.”
Perry will play Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary in a regional semifinal on Tuesday at Barberton High School.
Perry 47, Gilmour 44
Gilmour: Nolan 4, Foster 2, Terranova 2, Corcoran 20, Stover 4, Bender 12
Perry: Sutyak 10, Infalvi 7, Mad.Hacking 7, Pietrzak 6, Sorine 2, Moon 3, Rodriguez 5, Mak.Hacking 5, Anderson 2
Gilmour 11 8 14 11 — 44
Perry 9 15 14 9 — 47
Free throws: Gilmour 8 of 12, Perry 8 of 17; 3-pointers: Gilmour 4 (Corcoran 4), Perry 5 (Sutyak, Mad.Hacking, Pietrzak, Moon, Rodriguez)
