By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
PERRYDALE, Ore.– The second quarter Perrydale clamped down on C.S. Lewis.
The first quarter saw the two squads trading offensive baskets with the Pirates leading 19-12 after the first quarter. C.S. Lewis made two three-pointers in the opening eight minutes to keep pace with Perrydale’s offense.
But it was the second quarter, similarly to their third quarter against St. Paul on Friday, where everything fell into place for Perrydale on both sides of the ball. The offense remained strong and continuing landing their shots, but it was their defense that clutched up at this moment. Their defense limited the three-ball, got the stops with turnovers and rebounds and ultimately held the Watchmen to one second quarter point.
The Pirates led 32-13 at halftime.
With a big week ahead—Wednesday against Powers before closing the regular season on the road at Chemawa and Southwest Christian on Friday and Saturday—the strong first half was an encouraging start to what they hope will be a momentum-building bridge into next week’s 1A Casco League Playoffs in Woodburn and beyond to the 1A State Playoffs.
“We haven’t had a good quarter where we are shooting and making all of our shots. For us to knock down these shots and really get the lead will help us with our confidence and realize that we’re a shooting team,” said Kaila Gibson, who led the Pirates with ten points.
“There’s been times this year where we struggled to get going, it’s taking us a few minutes to get going and firing on all cylinders. For us today, we got to see that we had the ability…we’ve known that we’ve had the ability, but to actually see it happen today was huge for us,” adds Perrydale Head Coach Lindsay Gunther. “On the flip side, we have to make sure we’re defending so we don’t keep those teams in it. Yes we’re scoring, but are we also defending to make a stop there.”
The defense continued to play strong into the third quarter. A 13-6 third quarter followed their 13-1 second quarter to help keep momentum firmly on their side in their 53-26 Casco League victory at home. With what’s ahead, their focus on their offense will still be a point of emphasis to work on as they close out the regular season
“Just sharpening up our offense and make sure that we got everything to a T,” said Gibson.
Alizabeth Yates and Isabelle Arthur each contributed seven points for the Pirates. Hannah Johnson led the Watchmen with 14 points. C.S. Lewis will host Falls City/Kings Valley Charter on Tuesday before finishing up the regular season on the road at North Clackamas Christian and Willamette Valley Christian.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
