Bluejays, Toreadors to meet for third time

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By Jeff Webster

ThePerryNews Sports

Perry will try to make it three-in-a-row over Boone when the two Raccoon River Conference rivals meet Monday in a Class 3A District 14 Semifinal at Gilbert.

The Bluejays and Toreadors will begin play at 6:30 p.m. with host Gilbert (18-3) to battle Ballard (11-10) in the second contest. The winners will meet at 7 p.m. in Ames Thursday. Gilbert topped Ballard, 65-57, in the regular season finale for each team Thursday.

Perry (16-5) swept Boone (6-14) en route to the RRC title, winning at home, 71-45, and at Boone, 59-47, Feb, 16.

The Bluejays boast by far the more potent offense as they average 70.4 points per game while the Toreadors score at just a 51.7 ppg clip. Defense also favors Perry, as the team has 267 steals, tops in 3A (Gilbert is second with 263). Senior guard Will Whiton is second in 3A in both assists (138) and steals (80), with junior guard Shammond Ivory fourth in thefts with 62.

Ivory is fourth in 3A in scoring with an average of 21.7 points per outing while Whiton averages 13.1 points per game. Blake Lansing (10.3), Kyle Nevitt (8.1) and Scott James (3.9) round out the probable starting five for head coach Ned Menke.

James averages 7.1 and Whiton 5.7 rebounds per game, with Ivory, Lansing and Nevitt all clearing over three boards per contest.

Menke has played an 11-man rotation throughout the season, with Ryan Rathje, Jack Brosnahan, Jacob Clark, Alex Long, Zach Roberts and Nic Wilhelmi all seeing plenty of time on the hardwood.

Rathje (5.1 ppg) and Clark have played particularly strong of late, with Rathje hitting numerous key 3-pointers witth Clark’s burly, 6-5 presence under the basket helping the defense in relief of James, who has recorded 35 blocks on the season.

Ashton Clemons leads Boone with 10.4 points and nine rebounds per game, with Ethan Lewis (9.6 ppg) and Jake Johnson (8.2 ppg) also key for the Toreador offense.

The two teams played a much closer game in their second meeting, with the Jays holding only a 30-29 lead at the half. The third quarter of both previous meetings proved to be key, as Perry has outscored Boone by a total of 42-23 in the two frames.

The District 14 winner will face the District 13 champion in the Substate 7 Final March 2 at 7 p.m. in Johnston. Bondurant-Farrar (12-9) faces Grinnell (11-10) and DC-G (17-4) battles Saydel (9-12) in the two opening District 13 games Monday.

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