Despite finishing with a 10-16 record this season, the Perryville High School boys basketball team managed to show some major improvements.
According to coachChris Hahn, chief among them was claiming the team's first conference game victory since 2019.
“We broke, I believe, a 38-game losing streak in conference,” said Hahn, in his first year at PHS. “We had the most wins since 2019. So they went like 16 and 112 the previous five years, and this year we were able to go 10-16.
“I really felt like it was a pretty good first year, with me coming in and kind of the progress we made.”
Hahn alo pointed out the accomplishments of junior point guard, Karston Schilli, who tied the program record for assists in a season with 124, and senior Jake Cissell, who broke the the school record for threes in a season last season, and wrapped up the career record for three-pointers this season with a grand total of 219. The team as a whole set a record for three-pointers in a season with 198.
The Pirates record included victories over Kingston (74-73); Oak Ridge (84-68); Valle Catholic (75-69); Valmyer, Ill. (77-52); Herculaneum (73-57); Crystal City (67-61); DeSoto (59-47); St. Vincent (71-64); Jefferson (55-49); and DeSoto again (75-54); ending with a 78-65 loss to Kennett in the first round of the Class 4, District 1 playoffs.
The Pirates finished the season averaging 63.4 points per game, and allowing 72.2 points per game against.
A year ago, the Pirates finished 2-24. In 2019, their record was 14-13.
“I know 10 and 16 doesn't look real impressive,” Hahn said, “but when you consider that, I think they haven't won over five games in a long time — whatever the record was — I think it was a huge stepping stone. The kids finally got to see some success and I think we can really build off of it.”
The Pirates boasted only four seniors this season, Cissell, Evan Hayden, Eli Schott, and Carter Blechle, who hadn't played basketball since the eighth grade.
“{Blechle] came out this year and he was a great defensive player for us,” Hahn said. “Super good athlete. He signed to go play soccer at Jefferson College. A really good kid. He came out and he just played hard and he was coachable.”
Hahn said Cissell had the most experience among the seniors.
“He's been known as just like a pure shooter,” Hahn said. “This year, I really thought he stepped up his game in other areas. We full-court pressed, so he asked him to play harder defensively. I think he got more rebounds and steals than he has in any other season of his career. He started to show that he could do other things than just be a shooter.
Schott, Hahah said, also showed a lot of imporvement.
“As a junior, he averaged like 2 points a game, somewhere around there, and this year he ended up closer to eight,” Hahn said “He was our best shooter statistically. I just really felt like he he got an opportunity this year and he took advantage of it. He's a kid that I think really loves basketball. He's always in the gym.
Hayden, who earned the Jefferson County Athletic Association's defensive player of the year award in football, joined the team after the Pirates' football season ended with a 43-0 loss to Festus in the third round of district playoffs.
“He came in and struggled at the beginning of the year,” Hahn said. “But after Christmas, I felt like he really stepped up. He became a leader on the floor, he played real hard, and he picked it up defensively. He had multiple games where he was scoring 15 to 20 points for us. Especially at the end of the year, I thought he really took over.
Hahn had nothing but praise for his seniors.
“It's four kids that have not had a lot of success in their careers but this year, I think they really went out with a bang and they really helped solidify a foundation of what the program could be and where it's going. They're four great kids. You couldn't ask for a better senior group to come in and coach for your first year.”
As for postseason honors, Schilli was named to the JCAA All-Concerence second team, while Cissell earned an honorable mention.
As for next year, Hahn has hight hopes.
“I really think we're going to be deep,” Hahn said. “We could have 10 to 13 kids that we could play on varsity.
“We're going to keep doing what we're doing. We're going to play fast offensively and we're going to press defensively the whole game. We're returning a pretty good junior group. We've got some size. I think we have three guys that could play the point guard position, and we have two bigger kids. And then, we're real excited about adding in our sophomores and a couple freshmen potentially on varsity.”
The future looks bright, Hahn said.
“I think our program's on the right direction,” Hahn said. “We've got a lot of great kids involved in our program. I think we have a really good staff . I think the future is bright for our program. I think we're headed in the right direction.”
