B-F, Ballard run Perry boys off home hardwood

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The Perry student section looks on in anticipation as senior Ronnie Bates shoots -- and scores his first varsity points -- as time expires Friday against Bondurant-Farrar.

Bondurant-Farrar and Ballard had little trouble in finding the bottom of the net at Perry in a pair of Raccoon River Conference boys basketball tilts Thursday and Friday.

B-F (9-11, 5-9) was a 70-41 winner over Perry (3-16, 1-13) Friday, some 24 hours after Ballard (14-5, 12-1) erupted for triple-digits in a 100-40 whitewashing of their hosts.

Perry faced only an 11-7 deficit after the first eight minutes of play Friday, but B-F went on a 29-6 run in the second quarter to command a 40-13 halftime lead. The host Bluejays were ice cold from the floor in the first half but shot much better in the third period and were able to trim their deficit from 27 points to 22, down 52-30, as the fourth frame started. They would come now closer as B-F steadily widened their advantage down the stretch.

One highlight for Perry came in the final seconds when Keghan West — who had 17 points to pace the home team — passed up a 3-pointer with five seconds left to fire a pass down the lane to senior reserve Ronnie Bates, who was seeing his first varsity action.

Bates caught the pass and, with the bench and Perry student section roaring, turned and put the ball in the basket just before the horn, giving the home team and Bates’ fellow students reason to smile.

Brendan Ivory added 13 points, Avery Meister four, Chase Archer three and June Reisberg two for the hosts.

Marquis George-Townes had 20 points, Braden Miller 15 and Colby Collison 14 for B-F. Ben Taulson splashed three 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter to score nine points for the guests, with Cade Eichmeyer adding six points, Nolan Meyer three, Cameron Meislahn two and Austin Kruse 1.

Perry had one of their highest-scoring first halves of the season Thursday by putting 14 points on the board in the first quarter and 16 more in the second.

Unfortunately, Ballard had scored 33 and then 17 to hold a 50-30 lead at the intermission. A 32-4 Bomber third quarter and 18-6 fourth created the humbling final. Ballard drained 15 3-pointers and five free throws to account for half of their scoring.

Ashton Hermann sank five treys en route to 24 points for Ballard, with Kale Krogh scoring 14 points and Connor Drew 12. Mason Murphy and Drake Wunder had nine points apiece to help fuel the attack as 13 players scored for the guests.

Only four Bluejays entered the score book, with Brendan Ivory leading all scorers with a game-best 28 points, 20 of which came in the first half. West had seven points, Meister three and Kaleb Lyddon two.

Perry steps out of conference for two home games next week to end the regular season. The Bluejays will host North Polk Monday and Hampton-Dumont-CAL Thursday. Both dates are currently scheduled as freshman/junior varsity/varsity sets beginning at 4:30 p.m.

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