Emotions raw as ADM boys slip past host Perry (updated with video)

5
2761
Perry junior Janier Puente was a force inside against ADM Tuesday, finishing with 20 points and 12 rebounds. He scores here in the first quarter as teammate Ryan Rathje looks on.

As if the rivalry between ADM and Perry needed any additional fuel, along came Tuesday’s boys basketball battle.

The scoreboard will reflect that ADM improved to 6-2 overall and 4-0 in Raccoon River Conference play with a 78-66 win, but it was the manner in which the victory was achieved that left emotions on the Perry sideline more than a little irritated.

Perry was whistled for 31 fouls — including a pair of technical fouls — while ADM was whistled for 16 total fouls. As would be expected, the result was a 41-18 advantage in free throws attempted in favor of the visitors, who connected on 22 foul shots while Perry hit nine.

ADM's Cole Knoll defends against Perry's Shammond Ivory in the first quarter Tuesday. No foul was whistled on the play.
ADM’s Cole Knoll defends against Perry’s Shammond Ivory in the first quarter Tuesday. No foul was whistled on the play.

Rarely can the whistle be a dominant fixture in a game decided by 12 points, as there are often numerous other factors at play, but Tuesday was the exception to the rule.

Bluejay senior guard Shammond Ivory was called for four fouls in the first half, two of which appeared to stretch belief and which had both the Perry bench and players clearly frustrated.

Already tagged with one foul, Ivory was assessed a technical after apparently exchanging words with several Tiger players. Both teams were guilty of repeated “smack” talk on the floor, but Ivory drew the only technical in the game for taunting.

A 3-pointer from Ivory at the first quarter horn gave Perry a 20-19 lead after one period, but a third foul on the senior and a fourth — whistled just as the second quarter ended for a violation that drew a heated response from an already-agitated Bluejay crowd — meant the standout senior would start the second half one call from being disqualified, which Perry began facing a 35-30 deficit.

The continuing series of baffling whistles quickly put Perry in foul trouble throughout their starting lineup and did ADM little favor as well, as some Tiger players were called for fouls the ADM loyalists present disapproved of.

Alex Long is denied the baseline while Perry teammate Ryan Rathje sets a back screen.
Alex Long is denied the baseline while Perry teammate Ryan Rathje sets a back screen.

With neither team quite sure what would draw a whistle, the teams played a close third quarter, with the pivotal moment coming with 1:46 left to play in the period when Ivory was called for a very questionable offensive foul, his fifth. Visibly upset, he was then whistled for a second technical, and a disqualification turned into an ejection, a move which will force the senior to miss Friday’s game at Winterset.

ADM connected on the series of free throws to snatch a 51-38 lead and held a 54-46 edge when the quarter ended.

Perry made several small runs but could not close to within closer than six points down the stretch. At one point in the fourth quarter four of the five Bluejays on the floor were playing with four fouls while only two of the five Tigers on the court had as many as three and none had four.

Tajen Ross led ADM with 21 points, with Payton Conrad hitting four 3-pointers in scoring 15 points while Jacob Hardy added 12. Matthew Larson had nine points, Carter Nordman eight and Jared Sapp four, with Cody Hokel, Cole Knoll and Blake Crannell scoring three points apiece.

Janier Puente had a strong outing for Perry (4-4, 2-2) as the junior finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds while Kyle Nevitt led the way with 23 points. Ivory finished with 12 points while Ryan Rathje provided eight points and eight boards and Alex Long three points and six assists.

Perry visits Winterset Friday, then hosts Roland-Story in a boys/girls varsity set Saturday. The girls game will begin at 1 p.m. with the boys game to follow.

From a few posted stories and a humble beginning in February of 2015, we have grown to 750,000 confirmed website visits! If your business could use the kind of online exposure only ThePerryNews.com can provide, simply call 537-3992 and discover how easy and affordable it is to place your ad today!

Progressive Foundry sports booster medium sidebar 300x170

Roberts Smiley booster sidebar 300x170

 

 

5 COMMENTS

  1. Was this a sports story or an opinion piece? More emphasis on how hard our boys fought and less on the writer’s feelings about foul calls would be appreciated in the future.

  2. As a former sports writer, player, referee and fan, [I think] this probably is the absolute worst piece of sports writing covering an event that I have ever read! This is more of a commentary piece than unbiased reporting as it should have been. If you make a foul, it’s called. If you commit more fouls than the other team, then of course there will be a more lopsided view of the stats. From the two videos I saw, the bottom video was clearly a charging foul and was correctly called. My suggestion to this reporter: stick to the facts and only the facts, and don’t add in your personal opinions of the calls going against your team or not against the other team. If you think you can do better, then put on the striped shirt and go for it, and until you DO it, keep your mouth shut because in this article, you sound quite a bit like an opinionated whiner, instead of an unbiased sports reporter.

  3. Mr. Highland, thank you for your commentary. I have more than 25 years of experience as a sports writer in Iowa and know many dozens of my fellows but have not made your acquaintance. To your point(s): Of course a foul is a foul once it is called and, yes, there are many games in which one team receives as many as twice the foul shots as the other. That was not the issue. The issue was the manner of the fouls called and the reaction they caused. Perhaps you missed this part of the story: “Rarely can the whistle be a dominant fixture in a game decided by 12 points, as there are often numerous other factors at play, but Tuesday was the exception to the rule.” I later mentioned that ADM was also unfairly tagged with calls. The reason I brought it up at all? Because the reaction of players, coaches and fans was above and beyond the normal “bad call” often heard, and this was because of the questionable (and I refer to my experience of covering prep hoops since 1991) nature of several whistles that impacted this particular game far beyond most contests. I can think of only a handful of games in two and a half decades where so many calls were questioned. As for “my team,” well, good sir, “my team” plays 420 miles away in central Illinois. I gave credit to ADM for the victory, which they deserved. Perry still had a chance at the win, and the Tigers held them off. I am not implying that the game was “thrown” or that the officiating was “biased.” I am only noting that, of the unusually high number of calls that were deemed by those observing the game to be borderline, all but one went against Perry. As for the videos, did you not see the appended note declaring a charge was called? As for your final sentence, it is simple tripe unworthy of a response.

Leave a Reply to Fred Garvin Cancel reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.