NORWALK — One of the older cliches in sport is “it was a tale of two halves.” Cliches, of course, become what they are by overuse, especially when there is no handier way to describe something.
Unfortunately, the boring cliche fit exactly the non-conference boys basketball game played Tuesday between Perry and host Norwalk. The Bluejays found themselves in a 13-9 hole after one quarter of play and were down only 25-20 at the intermission. Then came the second half.
Norwalk (4-2) erupted for a 21-14 spurt in the third quarter to open a 46-34 lead, then blew the game open with a 24-11 scoring edge in the final eight minutes en route to a 70-45 victory that dropped Perry to 0-4 on the season.
Perry simply had no answer for 5-9 freshman guard Bowen Born, who proved to be every bit as good as advertised. Considered one of the finest players in the state in his class, Born finished with a game-high 23 points, with well-regarded teammate Luke Vaske adding 22 points.
Senior Trent Moritz, a 6-9 center, might have been expected to give Perry fits under the glass, but he was outplayed by the more physical Janier Puente, who, despite giving away five inches, finished with a team-high 21 points for the Bluejays.
Moritz finished with six points, but those were hardly needed, as the Norwalk defense forced Perry into a slow-down game that appeared to flummox the Bluejay players, who struggled to find their rhythm throughout the game.
Rashon Ivory had nine points for Perry, with Kyle Nevitt adding seven points. Three points apiece from Drew Levan and Tanner Duffy and two from Michael Meyer capped the Perry scoring.
Neither team shot well from the foul line, with Norwalk connecting on 14-of-25 at the line while Perry hit just 11-of-22. Duffy had a 3-pointer in the first half for Perry and Ivory a trey in the second half, with Norwalk making one 3-pointer before the break and five afterward.
Perry will host ADM Friday before playing in a boys-only JV/varsity set against visiting Ogden Saturday, with the first game starting at 12 p.m. A Tuesday visit from Winterset will cap the pre-holiday portion of the schedule.
