A scrappy effort helped overcome cold shooting as the Perry girls scored a 58-45 win over Ogden Monday, with the Perry boys not quite able to complete a comeback in falling, 56-51, to their guests.
The Jayettes (4-3) led, 15-14, after eight minutes but then used a 24-13 surge to open a 39-27 advantage. The second eight-minute span proved crucial to Perry’s chances, as the hosts outscored the Bulldogs (1-6) by only one point, 19-18, in the second half, the second quarter spurt thus avoiding a close game down the stretch.
Perry rebounded the ball well, with Lydia Olejniczak and Jayna Kenney pulling down an unofficial 11 boards apiece. That helped offset an unusually cold shooting night from guard Molly Lutmer, who misfired on all 12 of her 3-point shots after entering the game 18-of-39 (46.2 percent) the fifth-best accuracy rate in 4A for those with at least 30 attempts.
Despite the cold hand outside, Lutmer managed to score 17 points, joining Olejniczak, who had a game-high 18 points, and Kenney, who added 10 points, in double-figures. Hannah Peterson and Ashley Cerna added four points apiece, with Ainsley Marburger providing three points and Kennedy Tunink two.
Olejniczak and Kenney each hit two 3-pointers and Peterson and Marburger one each, with Ogden not making any treys.
Gabby Ross led Ogden with 17 points, with Reagan Church adding nine points. Six points apiece from Faith Mohr and Margo Christensen, four from Meredith Adreon and three from Denali Loecker capped the Bulldog scoring.
Both boys teams put on a horrific display at the foul line, with Ogden lucky to survive an 11-of-24 second half at the stripe (including sinking just 9-of-20 in the fourth quarter). Perry helped their cause by opening the game by converting only 2-of-9 in the first half.
The Bluejays entered the game sinking just 43.1 percent at the line, identical to their rate from last season, and finished the game 8-of-19. Ogden was hitting 64.3 of their foul shots, but stumbled to a 13-of-28 outing.
Perry (1-4) opened the game on a 7-0 run and led, 13-11, after one frame. A four-minute scoring drought allowed Ogden (4-2) to open a 20-13 lead, with the guests leading, 25-17, before June Reisberg landed consecutive treys to draw Perry to within 25-23.
However, Ogden responded with four unanswered points to enter the intermission holding a 29-23 advantage.
Four consecutive points from Jordan Long helped fuel Perry in the third period, with the hosts twice grabbing small leads before ending the quarter trailing, 40-39.
Despite air balls or clanks at the line, Ogden slowly opened a 47-40 lead. Perry battled back to make it a one-possession game, down, 49-47, with two minutes to play.
Turnovers and missed close-in opportunities denied Perry needed points in the waning moments, with Ogden doing just enough to slip away in the final 40 seconds to secure the five-point win.
Brendan Ivory’s 12 points led Perry, with Reisberg and Kato Dougan — who had several key baskets in the second half — each scoring 11 points. Keghan West had nine points, with six from Long and two from Chase Archer completing the score sheet.
Griffin Diggs had 17 points for Ogden, with Kaleb Badker providing 14 points and Sam Christensen 13. Kolby Moorman finished with eight points and Ethan Haberer four for the Bulldogs.
Perry will complete their pre-holiday schedule with a rare Thursday RRC trip to ADM while Ogden will host Woodward-Granger in WCAC play Friday.
