It didn’t matter to either Perrysburg or Bowling Green that Friday’s boys basketball game on the Bobcats’ floor no longer counts in the Northern Lakes League standings.
There was amazing shooting, lots of ugly fouls, and even a technical foul and the ejection of four fans, but the Yellow Jackets came away with a narrow 65-64 victory.
“It’s always crazy playing here at BG, especially when always come out on fire and they always have good leaders on their team who are pushing to do their best,” said Perrysburg senior Gavin Fenneken.
“It was a task for sure and I’m just glad we came out with a win and we played well down the stretch. It means a lot to still beat someone who is obviously still an NLL team — it’s tough adjusting to this new league but that feels good.”
Perrysburg, which improves to 9-3 overall, now plays league games in the NLL Buckeye Division while BG (5-8) competes in the NLL Cardinal Division. Crossover games are scheduled by the NLL, but do not show up in the conference standings.
In a game that saw 10 ties and six lead changes, the Bobcats were up 39-34 at the half and never trailed in the second half until Fenneken was fouled grabbing an offensive rebound with 1:57 remaining in the game.
His two free throws broke a 59-59 tie, giving Perrysburg a two-point lead and was part of a string of six successive free throws made by the Jackets, including two off a technical foul, that gave the Jackets the lead for good.
Fenneken finished with a game-high 21 points, including a trio of three-point goals and he was 8-for-9 from the line, including 6-for-6 in the final two minutes. He also had four rebounds.
Perrysburg senior guard Joe Dynda had 16 points, six rebounds and two steals and sophomore Tyler Palmer hit three triples to score nine points.
BG senior guard Jacob Amspoker could not be denied with his 8-12 foot floater off the dribble drive as he led the Bobcats with 19 points and five rebounds, senior guard Ahmir Ruffin had 14 points and four rebounds, and junior forward Tomas Meek hit three triples, scoring 11 points.
Perrysburg coach Dave Boyce knew his team would be tested by the Bobcats on their home floor. Plus, BG shot a remarkable 65% (24-for-37) from the floor.
“They always play that way at home. They are scrappy to begin with, they are very athletic to begin with and when they shoot like that, they can beat a lot of people,” Boyce said.
“They’re athletic, they’re tough, and I don’t think they had easy shots except for a few. And it wasn’t one guy — everybody who touched it was throwing it in.
“I mean, their shooting percentage was out of this world into the third quarter and it went into the fourth quarter when they missed a couple.”
Meanwhile, Boyce had to keep finding different ways to use his players against the Bobcats’ swarming defense, which did not back down, forcing 10 turnovers and four steals.
Still, Perrysburg shot an almost as impressive 55% (24-for-44) from the field.
“We just told them we had to keep making hard shots and whenever they had a miss, we had to get the rebounds,” Boyce said.
“Obviously, we had to keep adjusting our offense to get the open shots and we made a bunch of big shots and a bunch of free throws down the stretch and we didn’t turn it over.”
Rebounds were far and few between as each team finished with 17, and that includes a combined three dead ball rebounds.
BG had another trick up its sleeve — a four-corners offense that might have helped when they lost three conference games after leading by double digits.
The four-corners offense kept Perrysburg at bay for most of the fourth quarter until the Bobcats began fouling in the final two minutes, even with the lead. Plus, the Bobcats had four misses from the floor down the stretch that hurt.
“We put that in the other day just to change some stuff up,” BG coach Mason Roth said. “We’ve got some guys who can drive it and score.
“We got some good looks in the fourth quarter — they looked fine and it’s basketball. I mean, its the fine line between winning and losing sometimes.”
Tuesday in Oregon, BG lost to Clay 62-60, after the Bobcats opened an 18-point halftime lead. Roth liked Friday’s four-quarter effort much better.
“Obviously I was disappointed in the loss — the effort was not a question in this game,” Roth said. “I thought Tuesday we gave it away. I think they (Perrysburg) earned the win tonight.”
For the Jackets, freshman Ben Pamer scored five points, junior Carter Young, senior Matt Hubbard, and senior shooting guard Austin Shultz, who was held in check by the hand in the face at all times defense of BG senior guard Brayden Freyman, was held to four points.
Perrysburg junior Finn Brownfield added two points. The Jackets were 10-for-16 from the line and the Bobcats were 9-for-10 from the stripe and committed 13 turnovers.
For BG, Freyman scored nine points, senior guard Kyle Sickler scored seven points, and senior forward Reece Rath, who got his first start after returning from an injury, scored two points. Junior guard Ja’ceous Shannon also scored two points for the Bobcats.
