Delphos Jefferson pounces on Perry, improves to 7-0

DELPHOS - The girls don't often get the chance to shine on Friday night; so Delphos Jefferson wanted to take full advantage when it got the opportunity.

And the Wildcats did.

Jefferson improved to 7-0 after an 84-46 non-league victory over the visiting Perry Commodores.

Perry was within 8-4 early in the first quarter when Delphos stepped up its full court press and roared away on a 23-4 run to grab a 31-8 lead after one quarter.

The Commodores (4-3) opened in a box-and-one on Jefferson sophomore guard Kristin Klausing but she still managed six first quarter points and Perry was forced to a 2-3 zone the rest of the way.

"We wanted to box-and-one Klausing but we knew it was the lesser of two evils," Perry coach Jon Shively said. "They just executed better than we did; they are probably one of the better teams in the area."

Jefferson hit 12 of 16 from the floor in the first quarter for 75 percent, including 3 of 4 from 3-point land.

The onslaught continued in the second period as the Wildcats outscored Perry 19-8 to grab a 50-16 lead going into the half.

"We shot the ball well and were able to get into the press; so the tempo was where we wanted it," Delphos coach Dave Hoffman said. "Momentum was on our side and we got into position for some easy shots."

The Wildcats press forced Perry into 20 first-half turnovers.

Jefferson called off the press and went to a 2-3 zone early in the third period as Hoffman started substituting liberally while trying out various rotations of players.

The Wildcats outscored Perry 21-13 in the third quarter before the Commodores bounced back and outscored Delphos 17-13 in the final stanza.

Ashley Watkins scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Wildcats offense. She was joined in double-figure scoring by Bridget Culp with 13 points and Klausing who chipped in with 12.

"We always to try to find the open person," Watkins said. "I happened to be in good places tonight."

All nine Delphos players on the roster scored and that was a source of satisfaction to Hoffman.

"We got quality minutes from the bench tonight with no drop off in performance," Hoffman said. "They were consistent and played well."

Shanique Southward led Perry in scoring with 12 points despite battling the flu.

Delphos finished the game shooting 51 percent from the floor while Perry managed 35 percent on 18 of 51 from the field.

Perry committed 31 turnovers to only 17 for the Wildcats and Delphos won the rebound battle by a 32-27 margin.