JOHNSTON — “We made some plays and they made some plays and in the end we just ran out of time.”
So spoke Perry head coach Ned Menke after his Bluejays fell to DC-G, 73-70, in overtime in their Class 3A Substate 7 Final Tuesday.
“All of our kids made plays and worked so hard to get us back in the game,” Menke said, referring to an impassioned comeback that saw Perry rally from as much as a 14-point second-half deficit to force overtime.
“It was nothing the coaches did; this was all about the players. They simply were not going to give up.”
DC-G (20-4) had defeated Perry (18-6), 67-54, in early December thanks to a first-half blitz that gave the Mustangs a 32-18 lead at the intermission. On Tuesday the same nightmare scenario unfolded for the Bluejays, as DC-G bolted to a 17-5 lead after one frame and held a 32-19 advantage at the half.
Poor decisions with passing and cold shooting helped Perry to dig their own hole, with DC-G taking full advantage as sophomore guard Trey Washington scored 11 points and Anthony Jacobsen 10 in the first half. Washington was seemingly everywhere on the court, harassing the Perry ball handlers and making an unofficial six steals in the opening 16 minutes.
To Perry’s great credit, the Bluejays refused to fold and slowly began to drag themselves back into the game.
Ryan Rathje hit a crucial 3-pointer and 6-4 sophomore forward Kyle Nevitt suddenly went off, scoring repeatedly as the Bluejay deficit shrank to 45-38 entering the fourth quarter.
Nevitt and Shammond Ivory hit big baskets and Rathje tied the game at 58-all with a deep trey with 80 seconds left in regulation. DC-G answered with two free throws from 6-9 senior center Austin Rix, but a Will Whiton hoop re-tied the score, with a missed shot by the Mustangs creating overtime.
A Nevitt basket to begin overtime gave Perry their only lead of the game, but Connor Smith answered with a big triple, with a Rix bucket and Doug Heritage foul shot moving DC-G into a 66-62 lead.
Nevitt scored four more points, but three points from reserve Grant Shivvers and two Washington free throws offset an Ivory basket to set the score at 72-68 in favor of DC-G. Ivory scored a layup with five seconds left to make it 72-70, with Heritage adding a foul shot for a 73-70 DC-G lead.
Ivory had a good look at a game-tying 3-pointer, but the shot was off the mark, ending both a thrilling game and an impressive season for Perry.
“I could not be more proud to coach a group of kids like this Bluejay team,” an emotional Menke said. “They could have just gone away after that first half but they would not quit, which says a lot about them.”
Aside from the halftime deficit, the telling story of the game came at the foul line. Unofficially, Perry finished 6-of-9 at the stripe while DC-G was granted 36 free throws, of which they hit 16 — just enough to win.
Nevitt was spectacular in the second half. He hit two first-half 3-pointers before adding 15 second-half points and six points in overtime to lead all scorers with 27.
“The thing about our team all year was you never knew who was going to step up and tonight Kyle did,” Menke said. “We had many players make plays, but Kyle was just awesome tonight.”
Ivory finished with 16 points, and Rathje with 14, with Whiton adding nine points and Blake Lansing four.
Washington had 21 points for DC-G, with Jacobsen and Heritage both adding 14 while Rix had 12. Smith provided eight points and Shivvers four.
The loss ends a season for Perry that saw the Bluejays record their most wins since winning the 2A state title in 1988. Whiton, Jack Brosnahan, Jacob Clark, Scott James, Zach Roberts and Nic Wilhelmi all played their final games as Bluejay cagers.
“This senior group is who turned this program around,” Menke said. “They stuck it out, put in the work and made us who we are.
“The other thing about this group is how good a group of kids this is,” he added. “All six are going to go on to do big things in their life. Yes, we wanted to go to state, but they will still have plenty of fond memories. They will be able to remember that they won a conference title, won 18 games and were the group that began our turnaround.”
