Sometimes in sports, it’s just not your night.
In the case of the Perryville girls basketball team, that night was Monday.
The offense just wasn’t there as Perryville fell to Hillsboro 43-25 in the Pirates conference opener.
The Pirates were 8 for 49 from the field (16 percent) and 5 for 17 (27 percent) from the free throw line in the game.
“It’s going to be hard to win any game when you shoot like that Perryville coach Jason Dreyer said. “I felt like we were getting really good shots and just for some reason we just couldn’t make them.”
Kyla Schnurbusch led the way for Perryville with 14 points as only three players cracked the scoresheet on the night. Rachel Riney had seven points and Brooklyn Moll added four.
“Not every night is your shot going to go down,” Dreyer said. “But the effort was there and we played good enough defense I thought. When you hold a team to 43 points I like my chances most nights, but not the way we shot the ball.”
The game was close early as Riney made an offensive rebound putback and Schnurbusch made a three-pointer to end the quarter as Hillsboro led 10-8. For the rest of the game, Perryville managed just 17 points.
That included long scoring droughts in the second quarter as Perryville didn’t score a basket until the three-minute mark before halftime. Couple that with the fact that Hillsboro took advantage of a smaller Perryville team on the rebounding side with 41 rebounds (14 offensive) in the game and it just didn’t add up to a good night for the Pirates.
Hillsboro’s Kaylee Hilton had 14 points and 13 rebounds and Ashley Hilton added 11 points.
“We just tried to pack the lane and keep two or three girls in the lane,” Dreyer said. “They do a good job with their six-footers in there and it was hard for us to keep the ball out of the basket when they got it in there. I thought we were physical with them.”
Hillsboro kept the ball in the post and paint for much of the night, shooting just two three-pointers and making one. The Hawks came into the game having attempted 10 three-pointers through their first four games.
“They did a good job of moving without the ball and when we would lose focus or where we were supposed to be on some of our rotations, it seemed like they always had a girl there to take a shot.”
This particular loss meant a bit more in the bigger picture as it was a defeat at the hands of a Jefferson County Athletic Association Conference opponent. The Pirates went a perfect 8-0 and claimed its third conference title in a row last season. Dreyer understands his team dug themselves a hole in terms of winning it again, but that there is still plenty of time to make up the difference. The Pirates play each of the four teams twice (8 games total)
“Last year was the first time we went undefeated, so we dug ourselves a hole, but we have to move on,” Dreyer said. “We have a big game against Festus on Thursday and that is who we have been battling the last few years for that title.”
