Unbeaten Perry aims to make ‘perfect’ statement
For over a decade, Lerina Johnson has been single-handedly fostering a culture. This season, her program has taken off.
Now, Gilbert Perry badminton is on the precipice of arrival. And they’re flirting with something truly perfect.
With just two games left in the regular season, the Pumas hold an unblemished 13-0 record. More than that, they’ve won each of their games by a perfect score of 9-0 — something no team in Arizona has ever done.
A badminton game consists of three doubles matches and six singles matches, meaning a team can earn a maximum of nine points if they win every match. That’s exactly what Perry has done — in every game. Not only would it be the first for an Arizona team, but there’s no record of any high school badminton team in the country with a completely perfect season, according to USA Badminton.
The two games left on Perry’s schedule might be the most difficult of the season. They have a home date with Phoenix Xavier Prep on Oct. 3, a rematch of last year’s state championship which the Pumas lost. The final bout is with Chandler Hamilton on Oct. 4.
And while an undefeated campaign with an unblemished scoresheet is on their minds, the players have more lofty goals in mind for this season. Often looked down on by their peers, Perry badminton wants to make a statement.
‘Not a real sport’
Every Monday, each player in the top six has to play for their position. If they lose — they move down, and the winner moves up.
This kind of internal competition burns at Perry like a wildfire. Since the school opened in 2007, no athletic team has ever won a state championship — and all the teams there are vying to be the first.
Seniors Jillian Lagasca and Megan Crow have been playing badminton since their freshman years and have seen the competitiveness between the programs on campus.
Their postseason will be the first held in the fall season. So, even if Perry’s undefeated and top-ranked football team were to win the state title, badminton could still be first in the rafters.
“I think even if it’s just for that short a time, it would get other sports to show that respect,” Crow said.
The stigma that badminton is ‘not a real sport,’ present at other schools, is something that Perry has dealt with by holding fundraisers with other sports
During one event with the baseball team, the coaching staff brought in a radar gun that clocked one of Lagasca’s hits at 129 mph. She made some believers that day.
“She hits it so hard … sometimes it’s not even fun to play her,” Crow said. “They leave welts.”
When Perry held their senior night last week, the anticipation her players showed for the coming weeks put a smile on Johnson’s face.
“You listen to their excitement, you get chills,” Johnson said.
A lot on the line
Players feel there’s so much on the line — an undefeated record, a completely perfect season, revenge vs. Xavier, the reputation of the sport, winning a title and making a statement as the first state champion in school history.
“That would mean everything,” Crow said. “It would be so incredible to have that, all the work and effort we’ve put into this … to show the people who aren’t supportive that we are Perry badminton and do have a place at Perry.
They’ve put themselves in position to make their statement.
“This moment in time, this is Perry badminton’s time to do it,” Crow said. “I don’t think anything could be more perfect.”