Midway through the fourth quarter Tuesday it looked as if the Perry girls basketball team would cruise to a victory in their season opener against visiting Newton. The Cardinals had other ideas, and used a late surge to nearly spoil the fun for the hosts, forcing the Jayettes to scrap for a 60-56 victory.
Newton (1-2) entered the contest having already played twice, and no first-game jitters or bugs needed to be worked from their system.
That said, and despite a clear size advantage, the Cardinals found themselves trailing, 15-5, in the first quarter before rallying to close their deficit to 16-13 after one frame. Perry controlled the second quarter thanks in part to tight defensive pressure on the ball and the prolific scoring of both Grace Marburger and Jo Diw, which helped the hosts enter the half with a 27-20 edge.
Newton kept clawing away but could not come within a possession through most of the second half. The guests trailed, 39-34, after three frames and faced a 51-42 gap when Perry opted to pull the ball out and run clock with just over three minutes remaining.
Missed shots and turnovers fed Cardinal possessions, with the visitors quickly fighting back into contention with seven consecutive points in 80 seconds. Perry scored for a 53-49 lead, with the teams trading buckets for a brief span.
Marburger and freshman Molly Lutmer each hit 1-of-2 at the foul line in the final minute, points that proved just enough to salt the four-point win.
Anne Rausch had 17 points for Newton, with Mareline Marvellie and Courtney Jackson each sinking a pair of 3-pointers while scoring eight points each. Taylor Shipley had eight points as well, with Ellie Horn adding six points, Taylor Ryan five and Randi Walters and Ali Bestell two points each. The guests were 7-of-13 at the foul line.
With both teams making 14 two-point field goals and Newton finishing with a 7-3 edge in 3-pointers, it was at the charity stripe that the issue was decided.
While Perry faced — as they likely will all season — a size disadvantage, an edge in speed and quickness off the dribble resulted in Newton being whistled for 26 fouls (Perry committed 14). The result was a game-changing 37 shots at the line for the Jayettes, with the team sinking 23 (62 percent).
Marburger went off for a game-high 30 points and was 13-of-20 at the foul line while Diw added 17 points and was 7-of-10 at the stripe. Lutmer finished with eight points, with five points from Emma Olejniczak capping the Jayette scoring. Additional statistic information was not available.
The Jayettes will face host Des Moines North Monday before traveling to Carroll Dec. 2 for a girls/boys set, which will serve as the season-opener for the Bluejays.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnr5pxR1Syc
