Perryville seniors looking to turn season around down the stretch

Despite a frustrating 2-12 start, the Perryville Pirates still feel there is time to turn things around.

The Pirates roster features 8 seniors which coach Brett Hale said is important for this season and seasons beyond.

“We have a bunch of seniors and they’ve been really good with the younger guys,” Hale said. “Ethan Blythe has had a really good year and Andrew Terbrak has had a good year. Those two, in particular, have been super good for us.”

The seniors on the roster for the Pirates include Blythe, Terbrak, Ben Hotop, Devon Seabaugh, Jon Ward, Robert Ussery, Dalton Jenkins and Brady Garza.

In a 63-33 loss on Tuesday night to Chester (IL) in the opening round of the Chester Invitational Tournament, the Pirates struggled offensively in the first half as they trailed 15-0 after one quarter and 37-8 at halftime.

“The first half was not who we are,” Blythe said. “We just came out slow and weren’t ready to play.”

However, thanks to leadership from seniors, the Pirates were able to generate some better looks offensively in the second half.

“We’ve gotten off to some bad starts,” Hale said. “We’ve got to be physical and we’ve got to get the ball inside and we did a better job of that in the second half.”

“In the second half we came back into our own,” Blythe said. “Now we’re just getting ready for Thursday against Valle.”

The Pirates have 11 games remaining on the schedule and Blythe feels they could be headed in the right direction.

“We know we have some games coming up that we can win,” Blythe said.

Perryville still has four conference games remaining on its schedule as well.

“I think three of those are at home, so those will be big for us,” Hale said. “We’re just trying to get prepared for that.”

Hale is pleased with the way his senior class has performed despite the struggles.

“We’re really proud of those guys,” Hale said. “Hopefully they can get us moving in the right direction.”

Tuesday’s loss made it 10 straight for the Pirates, but Hale has seen some encouraging things.

“We’ve been in a lot of games,” Hale said. “Hopefully there’s some encouragement there and some positives to look forward to.”

Blythe said the seniors' leadership will be important in getting the team back on track.

“We’re very vocal,” Blythe said. “We say what we think because we know we can all take it because we’ve been playing together for four years.”

Hotop said the group of seniors gets along well together.

“The guys are great in the locker room,” Hotop said.

Leading the offense on Tuesday for Perryville was Ethan Blythe with 14 points. Dalton Jenkins and Grant Smith had 4 points, Jake Cissell had 3 points and Ben Hotop, Jon Ward, Robert Ussery and Andrew Terbrak had 2 points.

On the season the Pirates are averaging 49.1 points per game while allowing 63.6 points per game.

Perryville will look to snap its losing streak at 6 pm on Thursday, Jan. 12 when the Pirates take on Valle in the Chester Invitational Tournament at Chester High School (IL).