Marcela Rodriguez scored a game-high 20 points but it was Perry’s stingy defense that led Perry to its second straight win on Tuesday.
JaC’ana Anderson added 11 points and Grace McKoon contributed with nine as the Pirates beat visiting South, 58-25.
“I was definitely pleased with our defensive effort,” said Perry coach Roy Infalvi, Jr. “I think we kind of set the tone early with our press and got them to speed up a little bit and it created some transition for us on the other end. South did a nice job early of kind of changing some defenses and throwing some things at us, but once we settled in and got the ball moving and hit some shots, things started rolling for us.”
Tuesday’s win was the second straight time the Pirates have held an opponent under 30 points.
“Our success with holding those teams to 25 and 27 points is the goal and keys we set before our games, which is to hold teams under 30 points and to never give teams second-chance shots,” said Anderson. “(We have) been successful in these two games.”
As impressive as the defense has been, the Pirates put to rest any speculation they’ll have trouble scoring this season after graduating two 1,000-point scorers in Madyson Hacking and Elle Infalvi.
In addition to Rodriguez and Anderson both scoring in double figures, Grace McKoon added nine, Gigi Vicini and Izzy McKoon both contributed with four, Rylee Hodge and Kaitlyn Newsome both added three, and Maddie Stevenson and Victoria Lynch each dropped in two points.
“Although we lost two key scorers from last year, we know we have other girls that could step up and play a big role in scoring, including me and Marcela, who have worked in the offseason on the moves and shots we’ve been taking,” Anderson said. “Offensively, what’s working for us is what we’ve always been good at, which is taking our time to create a good pace to get the ball through the net.”
Grace Woodcock and Emma Woolnough both scored six points to pace the Rebels.
