Perry claims a must-win

PERRY TOWNSHIP - If there was a must-win game in Perry's young boys basketball season, this was it. The Commodores were riding a four-game losing streak and playing host a cross-town rival in Temple Christian, which also happened to be the defending Northwest Central Conference champs.

Sure enough, after the Commodores 56-50 win over the Pioneers on Friday, coach Matt Tabler didn't downplay the importance of his squad's success.

"We hadn't won in over a month, so this was really big for us," Tabler said. "Not only for the league standings ... this is bigger for the confidence in our guys. We kept telling them, ‘We got it. We're fine. We've played some tough teams.' I think this will help our confidence. We can go on a nice run now."

The must-win wasn't always a sure thing, though.

Temple (3-6, 2-1 NWCC) led 12-11 after the first quarter and 17-14 after Shane Holloway buried a 3-pointer from the left wing. Holloway finished with a team-high 14 points, 12 coming on 3-point goals.

Davion Williams already made his presence felt, scoring 10 of Perry's first 14 points, but the junior forward buckled into the driver's seat by leading the Commodores (4-5, 2-0 NWCC) on an 11-3 run to close out the half.

He scored seven of his game-high 19 points during the run, guiding Perry to a 25-20 halftime lead.

"Davion had a good first half, and that opened everyone else in the second half," Tabler said. "He knew we were going to him. We knew we could attack the middle of their 2-3 and 3-2 zone. Our guys did a good job of getting him the ball so he could complete it."

Williams hit the first points of the second half on a pair of free throws, and Devonaire Johnson scored as Perry built its lead to 29-20 early in the half.

 "To come get a road win, we need to make a few more shots and make a couple of defensive stands," Temple coach Bruce Bowman said "This game could turn on a few possessions. It felt like they made a few more plays to get by us."

However, the Commodores couldn't get very far with their lead. Temple kept chipping away with strong 3-point shooting; after struggling to convert 3-of-19 attempts in the first half, the Pioneers made 5 of 8 in the second.

Williams' pair of free throws were his only points of the second half, but Cody Riepenhoff had eight of his 10 points in the second. Alex Howell, a solid 6-foot-4 post player, totaled eight points and four rebounds.

The Commodores had a decided advantage on the glass, 29-18.

Tyler Sutton reached double figures for Temple, scoring 10 points. Combined, Sutton and Holloway attempted 16 3-point shots.

"We just didn't make enough big plays," Bowman said. "We didn't get the rebound when we needed it on the defensive end, didn't knock the shot home that we absolutely had to have. ... We didn't make enough plays to come on the road and beat a good team like Perry."