Perry’s boys beat Veterans again
Two weeks ago, Perry beat Veterans by 11 points at Veterans. The second meeting wasn’t as close as the Panthers beat the Warhawks 69-54 on Tuesday.
Three who mattered
Josh Linder: The Veterans big man scored 20 points.
Damion Bagley: The Perry guard/forward scored 12 points.
Evan Lasseter: The Perry guard scored 10 points.
Turning Point
Perry and Veterans played a close game in the beginning. The score was 11-10 with Perry in the lead at the end of the first quarter. But briefly after the second quarter started, Lasseter hit back back-to-back 3-pointers after Veterans failed to score on a possession extending Perry’s lead to 20-16. Veterans played catch-up the rest of the way.
Observations
Slow start for both teams: The score was tied at 2 with five minutes left in the first quarter.
Last lead for Veterans: Veterans guard Dathan Boyd hit a 3-pointer to take the lead for Veterans starting the second quarter. That possession marked the final time Veterans had the lead.
Missed opportunities: With less than a minute left in the third quarter, Veterans guard Nyzhawn Frederick hits a jump shot, cutting the Panthers’ lead to 46-43. Veterans failed to take advantage of the momentum as the third quarter ended with Perry leading 51-43. Perry led 55-51 with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, and Veterans again failed to take advantage of the opportunity.
Also Tuesday night
Perry’s girls defeated Veterans 66-62 in double-overtime.
They said it
Perry head coach Brett Hardy thoughts on the win: “I was proud of our guys for the perseverance they showed. I was hoping that we would get challenged (Tuesday), and I knew we would. We had three easy — I don’t want to say easy — ballgames last week, but we won by double-digits in all three games. I wanted to see how we respond (Tuesday), and I thought we really did respond when they made a run offensively and defensively.”
Hardy on defending Linder: “Well I don’t know what to say about trying to contain him. He’s a great player, and any time you have a guy like that, it’s hard to stop them from going to the basket, making things happen. And I’m just proud of our guys for making things happen, and I’m just proud of our guys for fighting, and we obviously talked about making sure he gets one shot, and there were a couple of times when he got two and hurt us around the rim, but for the most part they did a great job on him.”
Perry forward Chandler Rawls on guarding Linder: “It’s challenging sometimes, but you’ve just got to go out there and play hard and get physical.”
What’s next?
Perry hosts Warner Robins on Friday, while Veterans hosts Choctawhatchee, Florida., on Monday.
This story was originally published December 14, 2016 at 12:07 AM with the headline "Perry’s boys beat Veterans again."