Under the current classification system in use in Iowa, there are 64 teams playing boys basketball in Class 3A and 48 teams playing girls hoops in 4A, with the Perry boys/girls teams sanctioned as above.
It would be a safe bet to believe that few schools are sporting, among both of their squads, three Division I athletes.
Perry is a happy exception.
Jayette forward Claire Marburger has already agreed to accept a basketball scholarship at Valparaiso, while her teammate, point guard Maggie Lowe, will continue her cage career at Wayne State College.
This week Bluejay senior point guard Will Whiton joined his classmates in furthering his athletic career by signing a letter of intent to play football for South Dakota State University.
Barring something unforeseen, it is likely junior Shammond Ivory will accept a college offer after next season. He is closing in on the 1,100 point mark and sometime next winter should shatter the all-time PHS mark of 1,304.
All are part of two teams having exceptional seasons on the hardwood. As of Feb. 3, the Bluejays are 13-4 overall and tied for first place in the Raccoon River Conference at 9-2, while the Jayettes are 14-5 and 7-4 as one of three top-10 ranked teams in the RRC.
Both teams are at Winterset Friday (Feb. 6) and will host Bondurant-Farrar Feb. 10 before visiting Boone, Feb. 13, to complete RRC play. The Jays will then Saydel Feb. 17 to finish their regular season.
Fans of both — or just someone in the area looking for some good, entertaining basketball — owe it to themselves to attend these games, especially the final regular home date on Feb. 10.
Marburger and Lowe are both likely to end their prep careers as a three-time all-state selections, with the former likely to finish with over 1,800 points and somewhere around 550 rebounds while the later is closing in on 1,000 points and the school record for assists (516).
Whiton has topped 1,000 points and already owns the school mark for career steals. He is chasing — and should surpass — the mark for thefts in a season. One of the most gifted athletes to pass through PHS, he has been an all-state choice in both football and baseball.
Both teams are talented enough to make a serious charge at earning a state tournament appearance.
The Jayettes have experienced regional final heartbreak each of the last two years and would dearly love to exorcise that particular demon while the Bluejays are aiming at the first trip to the state tourney for the school in the lifetime of any of the current players and both are, as mentioned, legitimate threats to succeed in their goals.
The more fans there to root them on, the better. Who knows when the next time both teams are simultaneously this successful will roll around? Live it up while you can, Perry fans, and get out there to back your teams!
