PERRY—Perry came out with energy and sustained it for all four quarters in a 69-45 Senior Night win over visiting Beachwood on Friday.
“We felt like if we can come out with that same type of defensive mentality and energy that we had in the first half, then obviously we give ourselves a really good chance to win the game,” said Perry coach Al Iacofano.
Perry forced stops and turnovers that gave the Pirates an 11-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Pirates went on a 10-0 run midway through the second quarter. Beachwood drilled a late 3-pointer to cut its deficit to 31-19 at the half.
Energy and intensity led the Pirates on an 8-0 run early in the third quarter and they closed out the final two minutes of the period on a 9-2 run that pushed their lead to 56-28 with eight minutes left to play.
“We try telling our guys energy is the one thing we can control,” Iacofano said. “You can’t always control shots going in, but if you come out with the right mentality and right energy, you can make the other team’s opportunities to get buckets difficult.”
Brayden Richards led the Pirates with 26 points, with 13 of them coming in the first half as the Pirates built their lead.
“They face guarded Jake Cubbison and they didn’t really have help on the defensive side so I just took it to the rim,” Richards said.
Javin Richards contributed to the win with 10 points, Cubbison finished with nine, and Owen McKoon scored eight. Charlie Rockwell and Joey Conroy each contributed four.
Beachwood knew the game was going to be about intensity from the jump.
“I started the game with this message to the team, and I ended with this message, I told them we have to match Perry’s intensity,” said Beachwood coach David Krasnow. “I think they are so well-coached, and they play extremely hard.”
Nathan Lurie led the Bison with a game-high 27 points while Braylan Eaton added seven.
“We just didn’t come out with the same intensity,” Lurie said. “Like coach said, (Brayden Richards) came out with a lot of intensity and he kept it up for the whole game.”
With the win, Perry improved to 12-4 and 5-1 in the Chagrin Valley Conference Lake Division. The Pirates host Edgewood on Tuesday.
Beachwood fell to 5-10, 1-6 and will host West Geauga on Tuesday.
