DELTA — The sixth-seeded Perryville Lady Pirates girls basketball team returned to action in the First State Community Bank Holiday Classic on Dec. 13 for a second-round matchup with the third-seeded Delta Ladycats in a quarterfinal matchup that saw the Lady Pirates take the court a little shorthanded.
Even with two athletes out because of injury and sickness, Perryville was able to edge Delta 54-52 and advance to the semifinal round, where they were scheduled to face Perryville on Monday at the Show-Me Center in Cape Girardeau.
“The girls had a great performance,” said Perryville coach Jason Dreyer. “We held the lead the entire game. We jumped out to a 10-0 lead early on and kind of stumbled a little bit down the stretch with turnovers and a couple things, but we made enough plays toward the end to finish it off.”
Perryville (4-2) led 12-5 at the end of the first quarter, and 28-24 at the half after Delta (3-1) rallied in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Pirates 19-16. The third quarter proved extra close, with the teams going back and forth in scoring, but Delta was never able to get the upper hand, even after outscoring Perryville 16- 13 in the final quarter.
Junior Aby Amberger led the Lady Pirates with a game-high 22 points, edging Delta’s Grace Ancell, who finished with 21.
“Janie Porter played a really good game for us,” Dreyer said. “She really controlled the basketball for us. She had 7 assists for us that night. Over our last couple of games, she’s had 17 assists to 3 turnovers. She has been playing really good here lately.”
Junior Zoe Hoehn had 16 points, and junior Janie Porter had 10. In all, six Lady Pirates — one less than the seven players available — contributed to the scoring effort.
“We’ve got five or six girls that any night could be in double digits,” Dreyer said, “which is a really good thing for us to have. A lot of people are always going to focus on [Amberger] because she can score. When she’s playing good offensively, she’s hard to stop. When people focus on Aby, it just frees up opportunities for other girls. So far this year, they’ve been really good at taking those opportunities.”
PERRYVILLE 71, DEXTER 54
DEXTER — Junior Aby Amberger scored a game-high 25 points and junior Zoe Hoehn made 4 three-pointers and finished with 21 to lead the Perryville Lady Pirates to a big victory over the host Dexter Lady Bearcats (0-4) in a regular-season game on Dec. 11.
Janie Porter, also a junior, added 14 of her own as Perryville roared to a 38-23 halftime lead.
The Lady Bearcats rallied after the break, outscoring Perryville 12-9 in the third quarter, leaving the score 47- 35, but that was the closest they’d get.
Dexter was led by junior Mauriona Menley with 20 points. Junior Brooklyn Goodman had 11, and junior Chloe Warren had 10.
PERRYVILLE 63, SCOTT CITY 13
DELTA — In a strange twist, Perryville’s opening round game in the First State Community Bank Holiday Classic was against their previous regular season opponent, Scott City.
This time around, the Lady Pirates took a more defensive approach, holding the Lady Rams to just 13 points in a 50-point Perryville victory Dec. 10.
“We played a great defensive game,” said Perryville coach Jason Dreyer, whose team held the Rams to 12 points in the first half and one in the second.
The Lady Pirates also had a decent night on offense, as all 10 players who stepped on the court scored, led by Janie Porter’s 15 points. Aby Amberger finished with 10.
“They really locked in on the defensive end,” Dreyer said, “which created a lot of turnovers and a lot of easy baskets for us. It’s always nice to have those games where when you get everybody in and everybody scores. That’s always a good time for everyone.” Hayden Collier led the Lady Rams with 6 points.
PERRYVILLE 85, SCOTT CITY 59
After starting the season with back-to-back losses, the Perryville Lady Pirates were hungry for their first victory of the season. They didn’t have to wait long to get it, overpowering a scrappy Scott City team in their first home game of the season on Dec. 8 in Perryville.
Junior Aby Amberger had the hot hand for the Lady Pirates, finishing with a game-high 36 points, including 4 three-pointers. Zoe Hoehn also had a good night from long range, hitting 3 three-pointers and finishing with 14 points. Janie Porter and Paula Sticht had 10 each.
Scott City (0-4) was led by Annabella Walton with 14 points, while Reese Carter had 15 and Hayden Collier 10.
PARK HILLS CENTRAL 44, PERRYVILLE 37
FREDERICKTOWN — Fresh off a season-opening 63-58 loss to Neelyville in the opening round of the Fredericktown Lady Cat Tournament, the Perryville Lady Pirates took it on the chin one more time, falling 44-37 to Park Hill Central in the second round Dec. 4.
The Rebels (2-2) went on a 21-5 run in the second quarter and led 28-17 at the half.
The Lady Pirates were led by Janie Porter, who finished with 20 points, the only Perryville player to score more than Aby Amberger’s 5 points.
Park Hills was led by Mia Monges with 12 points, while Mallory Blankenship and Katelyn Clark each had 11.
