Perryville girls basketball season ends in district opener

~ The Pirates fell to Sikeston 36-24 in the Class 4 District 1 tournament

The many things that contributed to a difficult season for the Perryville girls basketball team reared their ugly head again Saturday afternoon, and not even a valiant fourth-quarter effort could keep the Pirates' season from ending.

Perryville fell 36-24 to Sikeston in the first round of the Class 4 District 1 tournament at Central High School to close the season at 6-18.

Perryville faced a 30-14 deficit midway through the fourth quarter before an 8-0 spurt cut it to 30-22 with just over two minutes remaining in the game.

But Sikeston was able to push the lead back to double digits and advanced to face second-seeded Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. on Monday in the district semifinals.

"We had a little burst of energy in the fourth quarter, but it's too late," said Perryville coach Vicki Lohmann. "You can't score enough points in the first three quarters to make it a game. And defensively, if you hold a team to 30-some points going into the fourth quarter, you feel pretty good about it."

What made it difficult for the Pirates was Sikeston's defense, which forced 21 first-half turnovers and 10 steals. And although the Bulldogs weren't able to capitalize offensively on those turnovers, they did prevent the Pirates from setting up a half-court offense. Perryville was just 3 for 15 from the field in the first half, including 1 for 7 in the second period, after which the Pirates trailed 18-8.

"All year long we talked about how we could get the ball into scoring position," Lohmann said. "And tonight, I don't think we did that. I think we just kind of moved the ball around outside, didn't step to the passes."

Instead, it was Sikeston sophomore forward Erica Peet who stepped up, scoring 15 points and coming up with eight steals for the Bulldogs.

"She patrols the middle," said Sikeston coach Matt Schonhoff, whose team improved to 14-12 on the season. "If she's able to score in the middle, that opens up Mikala [Nichols] so she can get some open shots. But Perryville did a good job of bogging everything in and slowing us down."

Nichols, a senior, finished with just five points, but sophomore guard Tara Bonner picked up the slack, finishing with nine.

"They were stuck on 14 [points] for about eight or nine minutes, and we just could not extend it," Schonhoff said. "We just could make [shots] five feet in, which has been our story all year. I think if we can do that, we can be a different level ball club."

Perryville's offensive woes were borne out by the final statistics. The Pirates took just 37 shots from the field compared to 53 for Sikeston. Although the Bulldogs had just one more field goal -- 12 to 11 -- than the Pirates, they were 11 of 21 from the free throw line compared to 2 of 7 for the Pirates. Sikeston also committed 26 fewer turnovers -- 36 to 13.

"We wanted to be really aggressive to at least get a foul or an 'and-one'," Peet said. "I felt a lot of intensity out there in the fourth quarter."

Peet hit two free throws late in the fourth to push Sikeston's lead back to double digits at 32-22, and the Bulldogs were able to hold on for the win.

Senior forward Desiree Brown led Perryville with 13 points, including six in the fourth quarter.

"When we made that little run, it was because of our defense," Lohmann said. "It wasn't based on an offensive set. Kylie Bilek gets a few steals, Allison Moldenhauer does some things, and we just go down and convert the easy layup."

Lohmann noted that several sophomores were thrust into important roles for the Pirates this season, and hopes the experience will prove beneficial come next season.

"Next year, we've got a lot of work to do," she said. "We lose two starters, five seniors total. ... The underclassmen are going to have to take a big step up. I have only one junior in the class. The sophomore are going to have to do a lot of work over the summer."

Perryville 5 3 4 12 -- 24

Sikeston 11 7 4 14 -- 36

PERRYVILLE (24) -- Ahnie Hoff 7, Allison Moldenhauer 2, Kylie Bilek 2, Desiree Brown 13. FG: 11, FT 2-7, F 16. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

SIKESTON (36) -- Keira Steward 3, Tara Bonner 9, Mikala Nichols 5, Erica Peet 15, Miranda Harrison 2, Alana Basham 2. FG 12, FT 11-21, F 17. (3-pointers: Steward 1. Fouled out: none)