It’s been five long years since the Perryville boys’ basketball team had a record as good as this season’s 8-9, but the winning game the crowd saw the team play last Saturday at the Mayor’s Cup tournament against its crosstown rival, St. Vincent, had little similarity to the team it was at the start of the season.
Perryville began the season with a 2-1 record but then lost a succession of six games, dropping to 2-7. However, it was during the Chester Tournament that Hahn made a tweak that made a noticeable change that revitalized the team. They ended up beating Valle Catholic, which started a four-game winning streak and runner-up status at the tournament.
Beating the Indians 71-64, the team’s first Mayor’s Cup win since 2019, was a sweet victory for the PHS varsity team that’s seen more lows than highs in recent years as a malaise seemed to envelop the boys every time they stepped out on the court. If the spirit wasn’t totally dead, the situation was sometimes dire enough to compel a check of the team’s pulse for any signs of life.
Pirates athletic director Justin Dreyer, who coached the team last year, made a diagnosis that a changeup was needed to save the patient, and so in the offseason, he brought back Chris Hahn, who has done an admiral job this season rebuilding the program.
Hahn’s athletic career began with coaching the Pirates freshman team. He became known for his ability to build programs by encouraging his players and expecting hard work. For example, he did this with the Delta boys’ basketball team, which earned a 42-17 record and two district titles between 2019 and 2021.
There was a palpable feeling of energy radiating from the team on Saturday as the boys put St. Vincent through its paces on the court — never allowing too much distance between the teams on the scoreboard — but instead keeping a 10-point buffer between the two as each team took turns making baskets until the gap began to close ever so slightly in the last minutes of the game.
Watching Hahn’s animated movements and expressions courtside during the game was almost as entertaining as watching the teams battle it out on the court.
“The program’s been down for a while,” Hahn said. “With this win, the team can begin to 100 percent believe in itself and get committed again. St. Vincent is the team’s big rival, so tonight’s win is a big deal.”
Hahn described the team as being open to doing things differently than they’ve done in the past and pointed out that the timing for Saturday’s win came along at just about the right time.
“A team usually takes around half a season to get on a roll,” he said. “They’re a great group of kids and have been really coachable.”
If you count Saturday’s win over the Indians, Perryville has won six of its last eight games."
The team was hot on the floor as the Pirates made 11 3-point shots thanks to the efforts of Waylon Huber, Eli Schott and Jake Cissell, who scored nine points. Schott made all of his nine points in the first quarter, which allowed Perryville to create an early 26-16 lead. In the second quarter, the Indians’ offense gained six points, which allowed St. Vincent to a 38-30 lead at halftime.
Others making 3-balls were Aiden Wendel and Karston Schilli, who led the team with 18 points.
In the third quarter, the Pirates took the lead 18-16 by making four baskets in the 3-point range, returning the team’s lead to 56-46 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Max Wheeler, who scored 18 points, and Colden Prost, who scored 19, helped St. Vincent a lot throughout the game. Prost and Wheeler were responsible for 13 of the Indians’ 18 points in the fourth quarter. Making the most three-pointers in the game, however, was Quinton Doza, who scored 12 points for St. Vincent.
In the final minute, the Indians narrowed the Pirates’ lead to three points, but Perryville managed to secure the win by sinking 5 of 7 free throws in the fourth quarter.
This is the first time the Pirates have played in Perryville since Dec. 21. Now, the team will play half of its final regular-season games at home. After Saturday’s loss, St. Vincent is now 6-9 for the season but was to host Saxony Lutheran the following Tuesday, Feb. 4.
In the boys’ junior varsity game, the Perryville Pirates won 52-21 over the St. Vincent Indians.
