A strong second half lifted Perryville past St. Vincent on Saturday, as the Pirates’ junior varsity boys claimed a 47-35 win at the 26th annual Mayor’s Cup at the Perry Park Center in Perryville.
It was Perryville’s only victory in the annual bragging rights city tournament.
After building a 15-8 lead in the first quarter, Perryville saw its offense stall in the second, scoring just three points and allowing St. Vincent to trim the margin to 18-16 at halftime. The Pirates regrouped coming out of the break, using a big third quarter to regain control of the game.
Perryville outscored St. Vincent 19-8 in the third period, creating separation behind improved shot-making and steady defensive pressure. That advantage held through the fourth quarter, as the Pirates closed out the win by outscoring St. Vincent 11-10 over the final eight minutes.
Sophomores Mason Cahoon and Brayden Amberger led Perryville with 12 points apiece, while the Pirates received consistent contributions up and down the lineup. Perryville improved to 9-6 on the season with the victory.
“We started out pretty slow, but we finally locked in the second half and started hitting some of our shots,” said Perryville coach Jeff Reisenbichler. “The boys’ confidence kind of raised up, and we played really well defensively all game.”
Reisenbichler also credited his team’s energy and communication.
“We shot the ball very well,” he said. “Our communication and our bench energy was really good today. We still need to work on situational shooting — learning when to shoot and when it’s the right time.”
For St. Vincent, sophomore Mason Naeger scored 11 points and freshman Clay Ellis added 8. The Indians fell to 6-4 on the season.
St. Vincent coach Bruce Valleroy said the atmosphere of the Mayor’s Cup played a role, particularly for a young lineup that featured several freshmen.
“I think a lot of it might have been nerves,” Valleroy said. “We had a lot of freshmen playing in this atmosphere for the first time. We played hard, but we turned the ball over too much and had some missed assignments.”
Despite the loss, Valleroy said the experience should pay dividends down the road.
“Hopefully this will be a learning experience for us,” he said, “and we’ll move on from there.”
