A 16-2 was just the tip of the iceberg for the Perham girls basketball team when they cruised to an 87-36 victory over the Staples-Motley Cardinals on Feb. 1 in Moorhead.
The Yellowjackets didn’t let the Cardinals get off the ground as they cruised to the victory during the Heart O’Lakes Conference Showcase. Sydney Anderson finished with 22 points, while Willow Thiel added 15, Katie Johnson 13 and Grayce Mickelson 10 in the victory.
The Yellowjackets were 14 of 27 from the 3-point line and took advantage of the Cardinals’ willingness to stay in a zone defense in the first half. Anderson hit six of her nine 3-point attempts in helping the Yellowjackets build up a 19-point first half lead.
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“We shot really well,” Anderson said. “Defensively, we need to do a little better on closing out, but after that it went pretty well.”
Anderson said their ability to turn their defense into offense was important in the win.
“We needed that good transition and pushing the ball up really worked for us,” Anderson said. “We like when teams are in zones because it opens a lot of things up. We can look at the posts more and that opens up a lot of shots.”
Perham has now won four straight since a 3-point road loss to Crookston. They are 11-4 against Section 8AA opponents with the victory.
Perham followed a strong first half with an even better second half. Perham’s depth proved to be too much for the Cardinals to handle. Perham outscored Staples-Motley 48-16 in the second half. Haley Cichos finished with nine points to lead Staples-Motley.
Perham is now 14-6 overall and will begin a busy stretch of important road games. The Yellowjackets travel to Pequot Lakes on Feb. 4, before taking on Barnesville on Feb. 6 and Wadena-Deer Creek on Feb. 7.
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Perham appears to be locked into a No. 3 seed in the South Subsection of Section 8AA. Menahga is behind Perham in the QRF rankings and does hold a head-to-head victory over Perham.
SM 20 16--36
PER 39 48--87
SM-Kaila Erbe 6, Aleeah Halverson 2, Haley Cichos 9, Kaitlyn Smith 6, Aften Robinson 4, Elizabeth Danilyuk 2, Bella Martin 7
3-pointers: Cichos 2, Smith 2, Martin. Free Throws: 3-7. Team Fouls: 16. Fouled Out: None
PER-Mya Morris 9, Katie Zepper 6, Lily DeBoer 2, Olivia Pilgrim 5, Stella Raser 5, Willow Thiel 15, Sydney Anderson 22, Katie Johnson 13, Grayce Mickelson 10
3-pointers: Morris 3, Zepper, Pilgrim, Anderson 6, Johnson 3. Free Throws: 13-18. Team Fouls: 13. Fouled Out: None
Perham 71, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 41
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Despite a slow start, the Perham girls basketball team was able to defend its home court in convincing fashion with a 71-41 victory over Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton on Jan. 30.
Perham head coach TJ Super said they started slow against DGF’s triangle and two defense, but Willow Thiel got them going with a pair of layups which helped push them into the lead.
The Yellowjackets led 28-16 at the break and continued to expand the lead when the Rebels were forced to play man defense.
Super said the Perham defense picked up some early steals which led to layups. Sydney Anderson went on a 10-0 run by herself and Katie Johnson had a really good floor game, according to Super. He said they dominated the boards and pushed the tempo with a lot of baskets in transition.
Anderson finished with 19 points, while Thiel added 13. Katie Johnson finished with 11 and Mya Morris hit for 10 points.
The Yellowjackets grabbed 37 rebounds in the game and committed just 13 turnovers in the victory over the Rebels. The victory improved the Yellowjackets to 6-2 against Heart O’Lakes Conference opponents.
DGF 16 25--41
PER 28 43--71
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DGF-Lauryn Brenna 3, Ally Freier 3, Peyton Wilson 4, Mallory Leitner 4, Peyton Backes 3, Ashley Taves 6, Maria Watt 15, Olivia Feigum 3
3-pointers: Brenna, Freier, Backes, Watt, Feigum. Free Throws: 10-15. Team Fouls: 21. Fouled Out: None
PER-Mya Morris 10, Katie Zepper 2, Olivia Pilgrim 2, Stella Raser 5, Willow Thiel 13, Sydney Anderson 19, Katie Johnson 11, Grayce Mickelson 9
3-pointers: Morris 3, Anderson 2, Johnson 2. Free Throws: 17-26. Team Fouls: 17. Fouled Out: None
