| Perrysburg’s Kevin Schenk (13) attempts to keep control of the ball. (Photo: Andrew Weber/Sentinel-Tribune) |
HOLLAND — Perrysburg’s and Springfield’s Northern Lakes League rematch played out quite differently from
the teams’ first meeting this season.
The Blue Devils rebounded from a 23-point defeat on Dec. 11, this time returning the favor and shutting
down the Yellow Jackets in a 56-39 home victory Saturday night. PHOTO
GALLERY
The
loss snaps Perrysburg’s five-game NLL winning streak and drops the ’Jackets to 7-5 overall and 6-2 in
the NLL.
Springfield, which started the season 3-4, has won three straight to improve to 6-4, 4-3.
“I think from the beginning they made more plays then we did,” Perrysburg coach Dave Boyce said. “We got
beat badly on the boards. We got beat badly early for loose balls. We didn’t convert our free throws
when we had to, and we didn’t get stops.”
Springfield limited Perrysburg to 11 points or less in all four quarters, and held Perrysburg to a
15-of-40 (38 percent) shooting performance from the field.
The Blue Devils out-rebounded the ’Jackets, 34-16, and forced Perrysburg into 15 turnovers for the game.
“When we got close enough to make a difference we didn’t make stops,” Boyce said. “I think they had a
good gameplan. They had a lot of answers for what we were trying to do.
“We made some adjustments and some of the adjustments worked and we got it close. But we never got that
run to loosen things up,” he added. “You’ve got to give (Springfield) credit. They were incredibly
disciplined and stayed with their plan the whole way.”
Springfield played man-to-man defense the entire game, sagging in and forcing Perrysburg to shoot from
outside. The ’Jackets finished 8-of-26 (31 percent) from 3-point range and made only 7-of-14 2-point
field goal attempts in the game.
The Blue Devils’ Leroy Alexander finished with a game-high 19 points, Jeremy Weemes had 14 points and a
game-high eight rebounds, and Quinton Green chipped in with 11 points for Springfield.
“It’s a huge win for our program. These guys have beaten us a lot over the years,” Springfield coach Tim
Reiser said. “I thought our guys executed defensively exactly what we wanted to do. I’m just very proud
of their effort.”
Springfield jumped out to a 13-2 lead, but Perrysburg battled back and trailed only 23-19 at halftime.
But the Blue Devils never trailed in the game, and pushed their lead to 37-28 entering the fourth
quarter.
Perrysburg was within three points (31-28) after a Jake Pfleghaar basket with 2:51 left in the third
quarter, but never got any closer the rest of the game. Springfield finished the game on a 25-11 run.
“The beginning of the game was huge and they got the lead and that gave them a lot of momentum and were
able to carry that through to the end,” Boyce said. “You’ve got to give them a lot of credit. We just
got out-played. We got beat.”
Springfield made 13-of-14 free throws in the second half to seal the win after missing its only attempt
in the first half. Perrysburg finished 1-of-5 from the foul line.
“Obviously they came in with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder,” Boyce said of Springfield, which
along with Bowling Green were widely considered the favorites to win the NLL this season.
“We had a rough start at the beginning. We played some tough teams,” Reiser said. “I think we’re coming
together as a team more now, and this certainly shows that we can play with those guys. Hopefully this
will keep us going throughout the rest of the season.”
Kevin Schenk led Perrysburg with 15 points, all coming on 3-pointers. Pfleghaar added eight points and
Scott Milne finished with six points off the bench for the ’Jackets.
Up next for Perrysburg is another NLL matchup, at Rossford on Friday.
“It’s a setback. There’s nothing we can do about. All we can do is get ready for Rossford,” Boyce said.
Perrysburg won the junior varsity game, 49-31. Shane Edwards led the ’Jackets with 17 points.
SPRINGFIELD 56, PERRYSBURG 39
PERRYSBURG
Milne, 0-2-0—6; Gordon, 0-0—0; Schenk, 0-5-0—15; Sell, 0-1-0—3; Meyer, 0-0—0; Yant, 1-0—2; Pfleghaar,
4-0—8; Dunbar, 0-0—0; Schimmoeller, 1-1—3; Schmenk, 1-0—2; Edwards, 0-0—0. TOTALS: 7-8-1—39.
SPRINGFIELD
McFadden, 3-0—6; Outly, 1-0—2; Green, 3-5—11; Renfroe, 0-0—0; Weimer, 0-0—0; Weemes, 7-0—14; Mackie,
0-0—0; Alexander, 5-1-6—19; Rogers, 1-2—4. TOTALS: 20-1-13—56.
PERRYSBURG 8 11 9 11 —39
SPRINGFIELD 13 10 14 19 —56
Junior varsity: Perrysburg, 49-31.
