Perryville follows formula to victory over Woodland

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The Perryville girls basketball team has a formula for winning games, and that blueprint hasn’t changed, apparently.
Perryville utilized its pressure defense in the first quarter to race out to a big lead and used that momentum to cruise by visiting Woodland 59-30 Monday at Perryville High School. Perryville continues their winning way as they have won five of their last six games, including three in a row.
“We have the same plan going into every game, and that’s to win on the defensive side of the plan and use that to generate some fast breaks,” Perryville coach Angela Fulton said. “Any win at this point of the season is a good one. We don’t like to mention it, but knock on wood that we have been on a roll lately.”
Perryville (8-5) used that pressure to stay on that winning roll. The Pirates jumped out to a 6-0 lead, and kept the momentum flowing after a Woodland timeout when Kyla Schnurbusch had back-to-back steals which turned into lay-ups on the other end. The junior guard had eight points in the first quarter to get the Pirates off on the right foot and Perryville forced five first quarter turnovers and led 16-4 after the opening frame.
“Kyla can break down a team on both ends,” Fulton said. “When she can stay out of foul trouble, we are pretty solid.”
Although that aggressiveness, put Schnurbusch into some trouble as she picked up three fouls in the first half. Perryville did not skip a beat with her out and even increased their lead to 30-16 at halftime. Brooklyn Moll had a putback and Ciara Ehlers hit two of her trio of three-pointers in the second quarter.
“That’s the beauty of our team,” Fulton said. “They know their role and they do it well. It shows me where we are right now as a team.”

Perryville was led by Moll’s 11 points as the entire starting lineup was able to crack double figures. To go along with Moll, Ehlers, Schnurbusch, Rachel Riney and Aubrey Jung each had 10 points apiece. Bre White also had six points.
It’s rare for us to have everyone seemingly get 10 points, but honestly it’s what needs to happen,” Fulton said of the balanced attack. “For us to continue to play well, we need the contributions from everyone.”
Woodland (7-8) was led by Addie Johnson and Chloe Goodwin each with 12 points. The Cardinals had just three players tally a point in the contest. Perryville’s main focus coming into the game was Johnson because last season, she hit seven three-pointers. Goodwin got hot from outside in the second quarter and cut the Perryville lead to just eight. The Pirates rebounded well after a timeout and widened the lead back to double digits, where it stayed for the remainder of the night.
“They came out aggressive and we came out a little flat in the second quarter,” Fulton said. “Good players are going to get their shots, but the question is what can we hold them to?”
Perryville try to continue their momentum when they travel to conference foe, Festus (12-3) on Jan. 20. The Pirates beat the Tigers 52-48 in overtime on Dec. 16 and currently sits 3-0 in conference play.