PERRYSBURG — Perrysburg boys basketball pulled away during the second half of their season opener to defeat visiting Springfield, 70-52, Thursday.
Perrysburg 22nd-year coach Dave Boyce likes to think in the second half his team was finishing better inside, not just on offense, but on defense, too.
“We did a fair amount of things well in the first half, but we just didn’t finish with the basket and we didn’t finish with the defensive possessions with the rebounding,” Boyce said.
“We finished with the basket a lot better in the second half and we started winning those one-on-one battles on defense.”
Perrysburg 6-foot senior guard Austin Shultz hit four three-point shots to lead the team with 22 points, junior Carter Young had 14 points and four steals, and senior Gavin Fenneken had 13 points and three steals.
However, Springfield, which fell to 0-2, took a 14-13 lead late in the first quarter when junior guard Camren Whitmire scored off a steal by 6-5 senior forward Aaron Adams. The Blue Devils had hit four triples prior to that.
Then, Fenneken hit a half court shot at the buzzer to put the Jackets in front 16-14 at the end of the quarter and Perrysburg never trailed again. That doesn’t mean the Blue Devils just went away.
In the second quarter, Perrysburg never led by more than seven, and Springfield junior forward Drew Martin scored on an offensive putback with 20 seconds showing to send his team into the locker room trailing by just four, 30-26.
Springfield out rebounded Perrysburg 19-11 in the first half, including eight on the offensive glass, proving Boyce’s point about finishing defensively.
That all changed in the third quarter as the Yellow Jackets outscored the Blue Devils 17-9 with good ball movement, stemming from two assists apiece by seniors Joe Dynda and Matt Hubbard.
Perrysburg put up 23 points in the fourth quarter, scoring on transition, finishing drives to the basket, and Hubbard dished out two more assists and Shultz had a dime early in the stanza to get things rolling.
Perrysburg shot 56% (31-for-55) from the field, made 2-of-3 free throws, and had just 10 turnover while steady defensive pressure forced the Devils into 21 miscues.
Dynda finished with nine points, four rebounds and two steals, to go along with his assists Hubbard had five points and two steals, and junior T.J. Moore added two points for the Jackets.
Springfield still finished with a 31-20 advantage off the glass, but the Devils shot 40% (19-for-47) from the floor and made 6-of-8 free throws.
Springfield coach Kyle Linehart says his team needs to learn how to finish, too, but in his case he means finish games.
“We’re playing hard enough to win. We’ve got a brand new group,” Linehart said. “The biggest thing is getting them to play for a full 32 minutes. Right now we are about a 20-minute team.
“We’ve got to learn how to compete for the full 32. These guys are coachable kids and the second half of the year I’d like to think we’ll get it figured out and we’ll be competing.”
Junior guard Nate Pope led the Devils with 19 points, including four treys, six rebounds and two steals and Martin had 10 points and five caroms.
Senior guard Izaac Moses scored six points, Whitmire scored five points, and Adams had four points and seven rebounds.
Springfield senior forward David Falade scored three points, and freshman guard Kai Taylor and senior guard Javar’ian Poe added two points each.
Perrysburg returns to the court after losing to graduation Matt Watkins, who averaged 16.8 points, and twins Avery Hunt (9.3 points) and Andrew Hunt (6.8). Shultz thinks his teammates are ready for the responsibility.
“I think we can be capable of a lot,” Shultz said. “We lost a lot from last year but we’ve obviously replaced and we’re reloaded and I think we can make a deep run.”
Last year Shultz led the team in scoring, averaging 17.3 points on his way to earning first team All-Northern Lakes League, first team all-district, and Division I honorable mention All-Ohio honors. He says he and his teammates aren’t motivated by personal goals, howeveer.
“I don’t really want to prove anything,” Schultz said. “I just want to have a great year with my team and do whatever it takes to have my team win.”
Last year the Jackets finished 20-6 overall, were NLL co-champs at 12-2 and won a district championship. Boyce says for this year’s team to do better, his younger players are going to have step up because of unproven depth at the varsity level.
Boyce believes the leadership of four “solid seniors” will help plus he has plenty of athleticism and team chemistry, but his team lacks height.
“We will need our seniors to lead and others to grow up quick,” Boyce said.
Two other key seniors are the 6-3 Fenneken, who averaged 7.4 points, 4.6 assists, and 3.3 rebounds last year, and the 6-3 Hubbard, who averaged 4.9 points and 4.2 rebounds.
Others expected to contribute are the 6-3 Dynda, the 6-2 Young, the 6-4 Moore, 6-2 junior forward Finn Brownfield, 6-3 sophomore forward Andrew Charpie, 5-10 sophomore guard Tyler Palmer.
For the first time in about three-quarters of a century, the Perrysburg-Springfield game did not count toward the NLL standings.
Now, Perrysburg plays in the NLL Buckeye Division with the league’s biggest schools, and that is something Boyce and his team have to prepare for, too.
Boyce believes Toledo Whitmer and Findlay will provide the bringest challenge, but the Jackets cannot overlook Anthony Wayne and Sylvania Northview.
“Honestly, I’d say we are all fairly even,” Boyce said. “Whitmer has a bunch of transfers, but a great player for sure, Findlay has some good young players, AW is always better than you think and I think Northview will by OK.”
Plus, if Perrysburg gets 16 wins, Boyce will get his 600th win as a coach. In 36 years as a coach, including stings at Northwood (1982-85) and Galloway Westland (1986-2000), he is 584-313, including 376-148 at Perrysburg.
