Free throws carry St. Vincent boys to victory over Perryville

~ St. Vincent knocked off crosstown rival Perryville 46-37

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- One side of the Perry Park Center was a sea of green and white; the opposite side blue and gold. And in between the throngs of spectators, bodies were flying all over the floor.

It only could be the annual Perryville-St. Vincent basketball game.

In the 2010 edition of the annual grudge match between Perryville's public and parochial high schools, it was the private school that won the bragging rights Saturday. St. Vincent downed Perryville 46-37 in a hard-fought battle that had both coaches talking about not only the game but the rivalry.

"It's usually a pretty physical ballgame," St. Vincent coach Bruce Valleroy said. "The kids give everything they've got and they leave it all out on the court."

It was the first time the Indians defeated the Pirates since 2004 and only the fourth time in Valleroy's 17-year tenure as coach of the Indians.

Perryville coach Joel Roth coached his seventh game in the series and described the rivalry between the two schools as mostly a friendly one.

"But some years it gets a little chippier than others," said Roth, who said he and Valleroy are good friends.

St. Vincent 6-foot-4 senior forward Kyle Rollet scored 14 points to lead the Indians, including 10 in the first half to help his team build a 24-20 lead at the intermission. The Indians trailed by three after the first period.

But it was the clutch free-throw shooting of junior guard Adam Winkler that was a difference late in the game as the Indians held off a Perryville run.

St. Vincent built a lead of 13 points with five minutes left in the game as sophomore Sean Martin scored on an offensive rebound then sank a pair of free throws seven seconds later to make it 38-25.

But Perryville junior Wade Lawrence drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:30 left to cap an 11-2 Pirates run that pulled them to within four points at 40-36.

But Winkler's free-throw shooting kept the Pirates at bay as Perryville had to foul in the final minute. Winkler nailed 5 of 7 foul shots in the fourth quarter and 8 of 11 for the game to finish with 10 points.

"He stepped up big time for us," Valleroy said about Winkler's performance down the stretch.

Another key to the win for St. Vincent was shutting down Perryville sophomore Ross Moldenhauer in the second half. Moldenhauer had 10 points in the first half but was held scoreless in the final two periods.

"We had a halftime talk about him," Valleroy said.

While St. Vincent made its free throws down the stretch, Perryville's poor performance from the line helped seal its fate.

The Pirates sank only 6 of 15 free throws on the night.

Roth, whose team fell to 7-12, said his team's record could be reversed if not for a lot of close losses.

St. Vincent improved to 9-6.

Perryville 11 9 5 12 -- 37

St. Vincent 8 16 10 12 -- 46

PERRYVILLE (37) -- Andrew Martin 9, Ryan Kassinger 4, Ross Moldenhauer 10, Wade Lawrence 5, Bryce Weibrecht 6, Jared Thieret 3. FG 14, FT 6-15, F 26. (3-pointers: Moldenhauer 2, Lawrence. Fouled out: Jared Hotop, Weibrecht.)

ST. VINCENT (46) -- Adam Winkler 10, Ryan Boxdorfer 2, Kyle Rollet 14, Justin Eggers 2, Brock French 7, Brett Wengert 1, Sean Martin 10. FG 13, FT 19-31, F 15. (3-pointers: French. Fouled out: none)