Perkins, Waubonsie Valley step up
Why not now?
After a back-and-forth three quarters of play against West Chicago, the time was perfect for Perkins to step up and lead an inexperienced Warriors squad, and it was time for that squad to claim its first win of the young season.
So Perkins connected on all five of his shots from the floor in the fourth quarter and helped lead Waubonsie Valley (1-2) to a 60-45 defeat over a shorthanded but game Wildcats squad in Hoops for Healing tourney action Wednesday afternoon in Oswego.
"We had lost two in a row and our backs were against the wall," said Perkins, who finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds. "We felt we had to play hard in the fourth quarter and that it was our time to step up."
West Chicago, playing without its top two scorers after Chad Driscoll and Charles Jacques suffered injuries in Tuesday's 54-52 loss to Oswego, trailed just 39-36 heading to the final quarter after guard Lamar Moore hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 7 of his 11 points in that quarter.
The Wildcats (0-3) took a 40-39 lead early in the fourth quarter after a driving bucket by Moore and a strong inside score from Ryan Karg. But Jakobi Johnson answered with a 3-pointer for the Warriors and then Perkins took over by making five straight shots, most of which came from the wing about 12 feet from the basket.
"He hit some nice shots for sure," Waubonsie coach Steve Weemer said. "I think early he rushed a couple shots, but as we got to the fourth quarter, as a leader and a senior, he took quality shots and knocked them down."
Johnson also played a vital role with a game-high 15 points off the bench, including a perfect 4 of 4 from the line down the stretch. Alex Edmondson added 10 points and Chris MacFadyen 7 boards as the Warriors notched their first win. For the Wildcats, Kevin Peterson had 11 points and 6 rebounds and Karg added 9 points, 9 rebounds and 1 blocked shot.
But it was tough to prevail after the injuries from the previous night.
"You have to take 25-30 points off the top (without Driscoll and Jacques)," West Chicago coach Kevin Baldus said. "But those aren't excuses. We were good enough to win today, we just ran out of gas. This is an opportunity for kids to step up. We got to learn a lot about some kids that probably otherwise would not have gotten these opportunities."
Waubonsie, meanwhile, hopes it learned that Perkins is ready to lead the team in crunch time.