Perry moves on to face defending champs

COLDWATER - A lopsided victory during the regular season can sometimes spell trouble in the postseason.

That almost happened in Tuesday's Division IV boys sectional basketball tournament at Coldwater.

Perry had its way with Waynesfield in their regular-season game, defeating the Tigers 72-50.

In Tuesday's sectional opener, Waynesfield slowed Perry down - but, it was not enough as the Commodores came away with a 48-44 victory at The Palace.

With the win, Perry (13-8) will face No. 1 New Knoxville (20-0) in a sectional final Friday with tip-off set for 6:15.

Devonaire Johnson led Perry with 14 points, five rebounds and five steals. Davion Williams scored 11, while Brandon Riepenhoff added 10, including two 3-pointers to help lead the Commodores.

Jake Spencer's 10 points, including two 3-pointers, led Waynesfield (5-16). Taylor Miller added nine points and had a game-high 13 rebounds, while Jerry Weeks added nine points on three shots behind the arc.

Waynesfield led for a little more than three-and-a-half minutes into the contest.

But once Perry claimed its first lead, 4-2, on an inside move by Johnson at the 4:24 mark of the first quarter, the Tigers found themselves playing catch-up all night.

Waynesfield did, however, cut the deficit to two points on five occasions and also pulled within one, late in the game. With 1:28 remaining to play, a 3-pointer by Weeks made it 43-42.

However, Perry answered with a 3-pointer by Riepenhoff, making it 46-42.

Perry coach Matt Tabler said his team played just well enough to record the win.

"I was pleased with our kids' effort tonight, but I wasn't real happy with our execution," Tabler said. "But, give Waynesfield credit. We beat them easily the first time. Tonight, they came out and controlled the tempo."

Tabler pointed to Waynesfield's defensive effort as a key.

"They did a nice job of pulling us away from the basket in our half-court (offense)," Tabler said.

After getting off to a slow start in the first half - shooting just 39 percent from the field - Perry finished the game shooting 48 percent.

Waynesfield shot 35 percent for the game, after struggling in the first half as well, connecting on 29 percent from the floor.

Waynesfield coach Romie Youngpeter said his team executed about as well as could be expected.

"I thought we came out and executed our game plan very well," Youngpeter said. "The first time they beat us by 30... so that was a big difference. I thought (tonight) we did a much better job."

New Bremen 62, Minster 45

In Tuesday's second Division IV sectional at Coldwater, New Bremen led early and eventually pulled away for a convincing win over Minster. 

The Cardinals (14-7) will face Fort Recovery (13-7) in a sectional final Friday, 30 minutes following the New Knoxville/Perry contest.

Justin Eilerman led New Bremen with 26 points and 16 rebounds. Teammate Aaron Clune added 10 for the Cardinals.

Sam Otting led Minster with 11 points, while teammate Jack Griner added 10.