Sizzling shooting to start each half helped Perry do enough damage to lift the Jayettes over Bondurant-Farrar, 52-46, Friday. The win was the first Raccoon River Conference victory of the season for Perry and snapped the second of two nine-game skids in a sometime trying campaign. It also avenged a 40-36 overtime loss Jan. 5.
Perry (3-18, 1-15) and Bondurant-Farrar (7-14, 3-11) will meet again Wednesday in Bondurant for a Class 4A Region 7 contest. The winner moves on to face host DC-G Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. Boone awaits the winner of the Des Moines Hoover vs. Norwalk contest; the highest remaining seed will host the Region 7 Final Feb. 20. All games start at 7 p.m.
Seniors Isabel Saemisch, Grace Stewart and Alyssa Kruger were honored, along with Bluejay players, cheerleaders and pep band seniors, and it was Kruger — and sophomore Molly Lutmer — who launched Perry early.
Kruger and Lutmer each splashed four 3-pointers in the win, with three in the first half from Kruger and two before the break from Lutmer helping Perry out of the gate.
The hosts held a 14-3 lead after eight minutes and were in front, 23-13, with four minutes left in the half when the Lady Jays rattled off a 13-2 run to enter the break with a 26-25 lead.
Perry countered the run with a 13-2 blitz of their own to start the third quarter and establish a 39-28 edge, a margin that swelled to 46-31 when the period ended.
Apparently in complete control, the Jayette offense suddenly went stagnant, and although the hosts led, 48-35, with six minutes to play, by the time four more minutes had elapsed the margin had shrunk to 48-43.
Both teams went on a two-minute scoreless span until a smattering of points at the end, with Perry able to claim the 52-46 triumph.
Riley Gilroy and Avery Fried had 13 points apiece for B-F, with Katie Fogarty adding seven points and Kaylee Seitzer six. Four points form Lacey Beck, two from Addie Ehlers and a Casi Waterhouse free throw completed the Lady Jay scoring.
Lutmer finished with a game-high 22 points, with Kruger scoring 12 and Stewart 10. Saemisch and Gabby West contributed four points apiece toward the winning cause.
