Perkins tops Sailors in matchup of top SBC teams

Perkins’ defense was more than Vermilion could handle as the Sailors brought the effort and energy to the Sandusky Bay Conference crossover match on Dec. 7, but fell short to the Pirates, 54-39.

In a matchup between two of the top teams in the SBC, Vermilion could not get its offense rolling early as Perkins pushed the ball around the court and found success from beyond the arc.

“I can say that I was really proud of the girls’ effort. I think they played about where they are now,” Vermilion coach Yvonne Craigo said. “Their defensive effort was there, so we were in the game there and the other team could just hit its lights out from outside and we struggled in that area.”

The Sailors battled back into this one late in the second quarter. Trailing, 20-12, with 1:35 left

before the half, Vermilion went on its biggest run and closed the gap to one as the Sailors took some confidence into the half down 20-19.

But that would be as close as Vermilion would get for the rest of the game as the Pirates’ defense was too stifling.

“I think defensively we were solid all night. We missed some rotations, gave them some easy buckets, but for some of the things we want to do you’re going to give up some of those every now and then,” Perkins coach Brian Heck said. “We gave up a few more to my liking, but I challenged them at halftime because the energy level wasn’t where it needed to be and to their credit, they came out and did exactly what we wanted them to in the second half. So they responded.”

As the Sailors went cold from the field, the Pirates pushed the lead higher in the second half and found the difference late in the quarter with its biggest lead of the game coming before the fourth quarter at 38-28.

Sticking to the game plan, but coming up short, Vermilion senior Skyler Myers said she was proud of the way her team battled back and showed heart when they easily could have folded.

“I’m super proud of my team. Coach didn’t give up on us, so that’s great,” Myers said. “We’ve had a couple of coaches, but the whole time she was telling us to stick with it and the whole time we were just saying let’s stick with our game and we can get this. We’re still in it. Let’s get back. So, I’m super proud of my team that we just kept on fighting the whole time.”