The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Persistent Pirates prevail in overtime
The only thing missing from the Feb. 22 edition of the Madison-Perry basketball rivalry, which annually puts up a candidate for game of the year, was a full gym of raucous fans to witness it.
The crowd that was on hand, limited by coronavirus related restrictions, was again treated to a classic, as the host Pirates prevailed in overtime, 89-81.
Although the contest featured dueling runs that swung back and forth, the Blue Streaks didn’t grab their first lead until junior Dimitri Dragas sank a 3 with 28 seconds left in regulation for a 74-71 advantage.
Perry freshman Brayden Richards followed by missing a pair of free throws, but was able to grab his own rebound of the second miss, and passed quickly to senior Jaylen Anderson.
Anderson let fly from the top of the key, and his shot was true, tying it up at 74-74. After a steal by Perry junior Javin Richards, neither team could convert final shot attempts, sending the game to overtime.
After Madison senior Shane Gibson’s and-one basket cut the Blue Streaks’ deficit to 79-77 in the extra session, Javin Richards scored for Perry, then his younger brother Brayden came up with a steal and converted a layup at the other end to extend the Pirates’ lead to 83-77.
Perry junior Joey Conroy pulled down a rebound and was fouled, sinking one of the two shots to make it 8477 with 1:02 left in overtime.
The Pirates pushed their lead to 88-78 when senior Desmond Malone scored on a full-court inbound pass from Anderson, a Gibson free throw for Madison, and two Anderson free throws.
A trey by Madison’s Eli Klimko cut it to 88-81, but only 16 seconds remained. Anderson sank one more free throw for the final margin.
Anderson led all scorers with 25 points, and Perry sophomore Jake Cubbison and Javin Richards each added 21 points.
Freshman J.P. Dragas led Madison (5-7) with 24 points, and his brother Dimitri added 17. Gibson tallied 13 points.
“It was just a hard-fought game from the first quarter all the way to OT,” said Anderson, who is headed to West Virginia on a football scholarship. “It was just who wanted it more. We kept working hard and ended up coming out with the win.”
Perry (14-1) built leads of 11 points in the second quarter, and 12 points in the third, but the Blue Streaks kept battling back.
J.P. Dragas scored 13 points in the second frame as Madison cut a 34-23 deficit to 38-35 before Perry pushed the lead back out to 42-35 at halftime.
A pair of Anderson free throws made it 52-40 Perry in the third, but a 17-6 Madison run capped by a triple before the buzzer by junior Sam Cost brought the Blue Streaks within 58-57.
Perry again stretched its lead in the fourth, stretching it to 69-62, by Madison came back to tie the game
three times before it went into overtime.
“That’s pretty much a given. It’s the way it’s always been in the past,” Perry coach Al Iacofano said of the close nature of the rivalry matchups. “Madison played really hard. Those guys never gave up. They got down double digits and they didn’t flinch, just kept coming.”
In the overtime session, the Pirates planned on limiting the Blue Streaks’ drives and to exercise patience offensively.
“When they got downhill, they were either dumping down, or finishing at
the rim, or kicking out to their shooters,” Iacofano said. “We talked about trying to limit that, and then just making every possession on the offensive end count.”
The Richards brothers combined for 12 rebounds, and each came up with a crucial steal in big moments.
“I was jumping out of my seat for that,” Javin said of Brayden’s steal and layup in overtime. “That was insane.”
Madison coach Nick Gustin was disappointed with coming up short, but was proud of the way the Blue Streaks fought back
time and time again.
“They were relentless,” Gustin said. “Unfortunately one team has to lose, but these guys did not want to lose that game. We’ve been preaching that we need to be relentless and play as hard as we can the whole game, and tonight we did that, but they just made a few more plays at the end.”
Madison will host Kent Roosevelt in a Division I sectional semifinal Feb. 24. Perry, playing in the Division II tournament, has a first-round bye, and will host Chagrin Falls or Chardon in a sectional final on Feb. 26.