Despite the fact that the Perryville boys basketball team is ahead of where they were last season, first-year head coach Brett Hale still understands there is a way to go.
The Pirates showed flashes of good play, but fell to Fredericktown 66-49 Friday night at Perryville High School.
“We are trying to learn how to win,” Hale said. “I knew we would struggle with Fredericktown, and I don’t think they were a good matchup for us. We did some good things, but at times would go long stretches where we threw the ball away too much. When you play a good team and you aren’t super explosive offensively, you can’t win that way.”
Perryville senior Ethan Blythe led the way for the Pirates with 20 points, while Jake Cissell added 15 points. Robert Ussery chipped in nine points to aid the offensive effort. Andrew Starkey finished with 26 points and six assists to lead Fredericktown and pace four starters in double digits.
Riley Fraire produced a healthy double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Mark Heine added 12 points with two steals, and Zander Stephens had 10 points with five assists.
The Pirates were down 31-24 at the half, but the Blackcats started the third quarter on a 11-4 run, partly because of a turnover problem that haunted Perryville.
The Pirates turned the ball over seven times in the quarter as they fell behind 42-28 and eventually 48-35 after three quarters.
“We just turn the ball over too much,” Hale said. “That is a recurring theme, and not like it just started happening tonight. We have to fix that, but it will be a learning process and we have to keep improving.”
Fredericktown jumped out to a 8-0 lead from the opening tip, and Hale said things just weren’t going the Pirates’ way.
“I don’t think we even played that poorly,” he said. “We got the ball where we wanted, but the shots would not fall. I thought we played ok in the first quarter, it was just one of those things in basketball where we were down even though I thought we did good things.”
The Pirates battled within 22-19 in the first half, which was a good sign for Hale.
“We just have to do what will make us successful this year,” he said. “We have a gameplan of where we want to get the ball and have to keep grinding and not panic. That is something that is easy to do, especially when you get down early. The tendency is to get it all back in one play.”
The Pirates (2-4) have already equaled its win total from last year, despite the loss on Friday. Hale said he sees good things out of his team during the early part of the year.
“We are playing hard and the effort is there,” Hale said. “Obviously Ethan was out last year and he has been a big help and a focal point for us this year. He’s averaging about 18 points per game. We are getting contributions from everyone and just learning how to win. We were down two against Valle Catholic the other night with four minutes to go and couldn’t close. It’s those types of situations that we need to learn from.”
Perryville continues its season Friday against conference foe Festus at 7 p.m.
