Boone defeated Perry, 51-48, Jan. 28. Memories of a rally that ended just shy, and of defensive breakdowns in the fourth quarter, were still fresh in the mind of Jayettes Tuesday.
“I know we are supposed to let games go, but that game was in my mind all day at school,” Perry junior Jo Diw said. “We knew we could beat them if we out-hustled them, and all day I was so fired up and kept telling myself I wasn’t going to ever let up.”
Diw played a huge role in the win, scoring 11 of her team-high 15 points in the second half. She had two key baskets late, then coolly stepped to the line and buried a pair of free throws with 7.2 seconds remaining to give Perry a 40-39 victory.
“They have two girls so much bigger than anyone we have, so we knew we were not going to win if they both out-rebounded and out-hustled us, so we went just as hard as we could from the start,” senior Emma Olejniczak said. “You could see that they didn’t want to work as hard as we were and I think that got us going even more.”
Perry’s clear edge in speed and athleticism bothered Boone throughout the game, as nearly every loose ball, rebound and ball heading out of bounds was chased down or challenged by at least one Jayette.
Perry (13-6, 7-5) fought tenaciously throughout and held slim leads of 11-9 after one frame and of 19-17 at the half against Class 4A’s 11th ranked team. Boone (16-5, 11-2) made a run in the third frame to erase their deficit and carry a 32-28 lead into the final quarter.
The Toreadors looked to have done enough damage after scoring the first five points of the period to take a 37-28 lead, but Perry refused to yield.
“We remember that we came back from 12-down the first time we played, so there was no panic” Olejncizak said. “We just needed to keep working hard, and we did.”
A Grace Stewart 3-pointer pulled Perry to within 37-31 with four minutes to play. From that point forward, the Jayettes would outscore the Toreadors 9-2 to seize the win.
Perry trailed, 39-38, when Diw caught a lob pass under the basket and was fouled while shooting by Madlyn Danner with 7.2 seconds to play. Diw was all-net on both shots, with calling a timeout.
“I just went up there and hit them — I didn’t even really think about it,” Diw said of her fateful trip to the line.
Laura Anderson passed to Danner on the in-bounds play, but her half-court pass to 6-2 Claire Sandvig was too tall, giving Perry the ball with just over three seconds to play. Stewart hit Grace Marburger, who flipped cross-court to a wide-open Diw, who dribbled out the clock.
Perry finished 7-of-9 at the line and Boone 3-of-5, with the hosts hitting five 3-pointers and the guests two.
Sandvig had 15 points for Boone and Caitlynne Shadle seven. Danner had 18 points in the first meeting but was held to seven in the rematch, all in the second half. Laura Anderson finished with six points, with Emma Rouse and Lauren Calkins each adding two points.
Diw’s 15 paced Perry, with Olejniczak adding nine points and Marburger eight. Stewart contributed six points and Lutmer two to complete the Perry scoring.
Both teams went with their starters all the way save for Calkins, who saw limited time for the Toreadors.
Jayette seniors Marburger, Olejniczak and Maddie West were honored between games, as was cheerleader Brooke Huntington. Bluejay cagers saluted were Grant Eklund, Dane McCarty, Kyle Nevitt, Janier Puente and Noah Wilkening.
Also recognized were pep band seniors Brian Amaya, Devon Archer, Lauren Benjamin, Brennan Carrillo, Alexandrya Hopkins, Edwardo Medina, Zach Mills, Jacob Murillo, Jairo Murillo and Samantha Paulin.
Perry travels to Bondurant-Farrar Friday before hosting Carroll Saturday in a game rescheduled from Jan. 24. The girls game will start at 1 p.m. with the boys to follow.
