The Perryville boys basketball team stormed out to a big first quarter lead and never looked back in a 72-52 victory over visiting Havre de Grace Tuesday night. The Panthers jumped out to a 22-7 lead and the Warriors never got closer than nine the rest of the way. "They come out with zest and zeal to get and play, play, play, play," Perryville coach Charles Givens Sr. said. That's out style, to get out and run, and they certainly did that to a certain degree." The coach credits his players for starting strong.
"I don't give pep talks before the game," said Givens. "I've always said you work in practice. Before the game, these guys will tell you I don't give pep talks. Either they're ready to play or they aren't. And most times they're ready to play." Trailing by 16 in the second quarter, Havre de Grace cut the lead down to 10 before Perryville ended the first half with a free throw by TyRell Hollingsworth and a steal and layup by Elijah Johnson. Mired in foul trouble, Hollingsworth and Johnson both sat out the entire third quarter but Perryville managed to maintain its 13-point lead as both teams missed several short shots. "It was a tough game," Givens said. "In the third quarter we had to makeshift. Two of our best players on the bench. But the other guys prevailed." With Tony Smith the only member of the "Big 3" on the court, Perryville got contributions from Tyleke Johnson, Bobby Monk, and Marquis Topp, and DeShawn Bryant. "They came through," said Givens. "We didn't get a lot in the third quarter that we got that first half because of two people on the bench but I guess that's what the bench is for. They helped out a little bit. They maintained the lead until our big two came back. It did make a difference." The big early lead enabled the Panthers to sit out Hollingsworth and Elijah Johnson for the entire quarter. "You don't know how the game is going to be but certainly that big lead worked to our advantage because when they got in trouble we had something to play with," Givens said. "Had we been behind it'd been just the opposite. We'd been trying to catch up. Then with your players on the bench it would've been even worse. But we had something to play with and certainly the kids did as much as they could." The senior guard Smith said the Panthers were prepared to play without Hollingsworth and Elijah Johnson because the Panthers practice for just such a situation. It was a particularly meaningful victory for Smith, who transferred from Havre de Grace to Perryville to start his junior year. "It's a big deal," Smith said. "I wanted revenge because last year they beat us in two sports, football and basketball." Elijah Johnson paced the Panthers with 21 points and added four rebounds. Hollingsworth added 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals. Smith finished with 14 points and three steals. Tyleke Johnson collected eight points and eight rebounds. Comments are closed.
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