For the first time since Casey Hayward last donned a Perry
High uniform, Panther basketball is in the GHSA state tournament. Qualifying
may have looked easy against the Howard High Huskies, but it turned out to be a
grueling second half for Brett Hardy and Perry, who hung on to take the victory
Tuesday 58-52.
This was the first Panther game in the Region 2-AAAA boys
tournament held at Westside High in Macon. Howard, located in Macon also,
earned the chance to face Perry with the state bid on the line Monday by
eliminating West Laurens.
In the first half Tuesday, the Panthers were as much as 15
points better than the Huskies. Even though it was a 16-point game in the
third, by the time the fourth quarter rolled along, that number was down to
one.
But, Hardy saw his team execute the plays needed to never
fully relinquish the advantage.
“That’s what I was worried about. I think it was too easy,”
said Hardy. “I kept telling, ‘Don’t play not to lose. Play to win.’ We got to a
point where we were trying not to lose. Give (Howard) credit. They got after us
and made us play.
“I thought our kids responded like a bunch of experienced
players. We had a good mix of sophomores and older guys who have not been in
that position. They played through it and made big free throws.”
The fourth quarter began with Perry up by six, 37-31. In a
span of 44 seconds, though, Howard shaved that down to 37-36 on a stick-back
and the one weapon that kept them close in the first half, the 3-pointer.
Where the Panthers found their answers were on their own
offensive glass. In one possession with the score 38-36, Perry had three tries
at shots, the third one going on from a K.J. Smith drive.
Down 42-36, Howard mounted another mini-comeback with a
three-point play. This time the third-shot field goal from Perry came off the
hands of Derrick Toliver.
Turnover problems, though, mounted for the Panthers. As the
Huskies stood within two points (45-43) of tying the game, Hardy drew up a play
during a timeout. His players did things accordingly, Marquez Thomas finding
Smith for what turned into a three-point play.
Exhibiting some of the same patience shown against Howard’s
zone defense in the first half, Perry set up a penetration basket for Smith.
The Huskies never got closer than six despite two more put-back field goals as
the Panthers made seven at the foul line.
Smith led the winning effort with 19 points.
Perry’s offense, after taking a few minutes to heat up, was
sharp in the first quarter with assisted baskets from Jamal Bagley to Jalen
Walker and Kevin Ford to Toliver. Facing that 2-3 zone, the Panthers took their
time looking for ways inside. Often, Bagley was in the middle, and he scored
two on a put-back.
In another set, Smith switched places with Bagley at the
last second, and he found a lay-up.
“We attacked (the zone) well,” said Hardy. “I also told them
they had to come after us and to be ready for full-court man to man. They
didn’t have anything to lose. They might hack us.”
The first quarter ended with Perry leading 13-5, Smith
converting a three-point play from his crashing of the offensive glass. In the
second quarter, the Panthers extended a run to 10 points in a row with Larry
Felder and Michael Thomas scoring in transition. That had the margin at its
largest for the half, 20-5.
Howard found 3-point success in the second with three makes,
the third coming at 2:03. With Felder’s score off penetration, it was still a
double-digit game, 28-16, at the half. Toliver, with another field goal in the
zone, kept Howard from scoring off a late turnover.
Walker’s baseline move in the third had the lead at 16,
32-16. The Huskies went to the press and created both turnovers and foul
situations. With the score 32-21, Deonte Soloman cashed in a Smith assist
inside.
All of Howard’s points were coming from the foul line; it
couldn’t get anything to fall from the floor until a small hook from an inbound
went in at 1:59. But by making free throws, it was 34-26.
Smith had a three-point play for Perry’s last points of the
third. The Huskies had the last five with takeaways, including a rebound from
the foul line, to trail 37-31.
“It’s been a long drought,” said Hardy about the five-year
gap between state appearances. “Our seniors, when they were freshmen, won zero
ball games. They deserve it. They stuck with it and kept getting better and
better.”
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