The Perryville boys basketball team was determined to learn from its mistakes. In a meeting at the Cecil College holiday tournament, the Panthers squandered a 23-point halftime lead in a loss to Harford Tech. On Friday night, Perryville stormed out to an 11-3 lead and never trailed en route to a 63-56 triumph over the Cobras.
Point guard Elijah Johnson said the holiday tournament collapse provided Perryville with "a lot" of extra incentive heading into the rematch. "We let up a 20-something lead and let them come back," Johnson said. "We was hungry. We was hungry tonight…We wasn't going to make that mistake twice and we just came out and balled." There were a few anxious moments for the Panthers. Perryville led 21-9 midway through the second quarter before seven straight points by Fred Gordon made it a five-point game. TyRell Hollingsworth, who was removed from the game after picking up his second foul with 1:53 left in the first quarter, returned to the court to help stem the tide and the Panthers held a 27-20 edge at halftime. The Cobras got as close as five in the third quarter before Perryville pulled away again. The Panthers led by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter. Tech did not get any closer than the final margin but that was still too close for comfort for Perryville coach Charles Givens Sr. "It was almost the same [as the first meeting]," he said. "We almost came up with a loss. We were sloppy at the end but I guess they showed good intelligence and poor judgment along the way. But intelligence overruled the poor play and were able to keep the lead." Prior to the game, Givens said he didn't need to bring up the first game. "They knew it. I didn't have to remind them. They knew that." Hollingsworth paced the Panthers with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and five steals. Tony Smith added 17 points and Johnson collected 10 points and seven rebounds. The day before, Perryville had a rematch with Tome. The Panthers topped the Titans in the holiday tournament consolation game and the result was more lopsided the second time around. Hollingsworth had 25 points, seven steals, six rebounds, five assists as Perryville prevailed 67-26. Johnson recorded 14 points, four steals and three assists. Smith supplied eight points, four steals, and three assists. DeShawn Bryant provided eight points and two steals. Comments are closed.
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