Senior forward Josiah Paisley scored 10 points to lead the Perryville Pirates in a 69-32 loss to Festus (12-4) at the Perry Park Center in Perryville on Jan. 23.
“It was a tough game,” said Perryville first-year coach Eli Sample. “That’s how the ball bounces sometimes. Sometimes it doesn’t go in your favor. We didn’t have a great night shooting the basketball, and Festus played a pretty good game. That’s just how it happened.”
The visiting Tigers came out ready to play from the tip, holding Perryville to 2 points in the first quarter and 6 in the second to take a 35-8 lead into the half.
“They were pretty physical,” Sample said, “and they had the ball bounce in their favor a few times. The momentum kind of stuck in their favor tonight. There’s a lot of ups and downs in the season, and it just didn’t go our way.”
The second half seemed to tilt more in Perryville’s favor, as the Pirates closed the gap to 55-26 by the end of the third, but another run from Festus in the fourth set the final margin.
The Tigers were led by Drew Johnson with 20 points, followed by Keegan Womack with 18, Jackson Smith with 12 and Braydon Wilkes with 11.
