Pirates crank up defense in victory

~ Perryville beat crosstown rival St. Vincent 44-39 on Saturday.

PERRYVILLE -- The nets at the Perry Park Center were in no danger of being scorched Saturday night during the Mayor's Cup boys game.

Maybe that's why Perryville's patient offensive attack paid off in a 44-39 victory against city rival St. Vincent.

The teams combined for just 45 points over the first three quarters before the Indians finally caught fire while the Pirates were trying to stave off the rally from the free-throw line.

"We're not much of a shooting team," said Perryville junior guard Ben Prevallet, who led his team with 13 points. "We're more of a defensive team. We keep games close by playing good defense."

In the case of Saturday's game, they held St. Vincent at bay by challenging the Indians to shoot over the top of their zone.

"Then we tried to get rebounds and let them get just one shot each possession," said 6-foot-5 junior Wade Leible. "Coach told us they would try to work the ball inside and if they couldn't get rebounds, they would have trouble scoring."

Pirates coach Joel Roth was right much of the night as St. Vincent (6-10) made just two field goals in the first half and fell into an 18-10 hole. Aaron Grebing's offensive rebound and basket for Perryville (5-13) in the final seconds set the halftime score.

The Pirates bumped the lead to 11 (28-17) by closing the third period on a 6-0 run. Brent Roth scored on a three-point play and Prevallet hit his second 3-pointer of the night.

St. Vincent, which had made two 3-pointers in the first three periods, suddenly got hot in the final 5 minutes. The Indians hit five treys -- including two each by Justin L'Hote and Josh Rollet -- and ended the game with seven 3-pointer and just four 2-point field goals.

But they had built too big a hole. Leible's three-point play after St. Vincent failed to corral a missed Perryville free throw and the Pirates' 7-of-11 free-throw shooting in the final 3:03 was just enough.

"We've got to be more consistent on offense," St. Vincent coach Bruce Valleroy said. "The last three minutes we started moving the ball on offense and granted, some shots started to fall. We just can't wait until the last few minutes of a ballgame. That's the puzzle right now."

Rollet finished with 17 to lead St. Vincent.

Roth scored 10 point to join Prevallet in double figures for Perryville.

Perryville 10 8 10 16 -- 44

St. Vincent 4 6 7 22 -- 39

Perryville (44) -- Jon Hecht 3, Steve Richardson 3, Ben Prevallet 13, Aaron Grebing 4, Brent Roth 10, Wade Leible 5, Tyson Brown 6. FG 14, FT 14-20, F 15 (3-pointers: Prevallet 2. Fouled out: none)

St. Vincent (39) -- Justin L'Hote 7, Aaron Dzik 6, Josh Rollet 17, Kyle Rollet 2, Shawn Renner 8. FG 11, FT 10-14, F 17 (3-pointers: L'Hote 2, Rollet 2, Dzik 1, Renner 2, Hoch 1. Fouled out: none)