KIRTLAND—Nate Cubbison hit three first quarter 3-pointers on the way to scoring a game-high 20 points in Perry’s 58-50 non-conference win at Kirtland on Monday.
Cubbison’s hot start helped the Pirates build a double-digit first half lead over the Hornets.
“It was a disappointing loss,” said Kirtland coach Nick Gallo. “I thought we had a chance to beat those guys but give them credit. (Cubbison) hit some shots so we’ve got to do a better job of recognizing personnel.”
Cubbison finished the night with six 3-pointers for the Pirates, who also clamped down on Kirtland’s offense.
The Hornets struggled to score in transition and had scored just 29 points through the first three quarters.
“We were at the rim but we’ve got to finish plays at the rim,” Gallo said. “We were going off the backboard and we weren’t playing strong. We have to focus on making the shot instead of just drawing the foul. We did a lot of that tonight. We’ve got to learn to play through contact; that’s a big thing for us.”
The Hornets did make a run at the Pirates in the fourth quarter as Brandon Samsa scored six of his team-high 13 and Dominic Capretta added four of his six in the final eight minutes of play.
“I think our half-court execution was pretty good,” Gallo said. “We had some open looks but we didn’t seem in rhythm tonight. The last couple of games we’ve had three or four-minute offensive stretches where we were in rhythm. That didn’t happen tonight. They denied us the full length of the floor early, which got us out of our comfort zone. That led to some rushed shots. That hurt us.”
Seann McGill pitched in with 10 points for the Hornets and Adam Mueller finished with seven.
Kirtland dropped to 11-6 overall and saw its four-game win streak come to an end. Perry improved to 8-8.
“It’s a little bit of a setback after winning a few straight but we’ve got some opportunities coming up,” Gallo said. “We’ve got to get back to work.”
The Hornets travel to Geneva on Friday then play at Jefferson on Saturday.
Perry 58, Kirtland 50
Perry (8-8, 5-4 CVC): Anderson 14, Schiano 7, Reid 8, Cubbison 20, Ford 4, Cool 7
Kirtland (11-6, 9-4 CVC): Capretta 6, Mueller 7, Samsa 13, Fulco 6, Krulc 5, Work 3, McGill 10
Perry 17 14 14 13 — 58
Kirtland 13 6 10 21 — 50
Free throws: Perry 4 of 6, Kirtland 8 of 13; 3-pointers: Perry 10 (Cubbison 6, Anderson 2, Schiano 2), Kirtland 4 (Samsa 2, Krulc 1, McGill 1)
