The Perham boys basketball team left The Hive on Friday night, aiming to put things in perspective.
After suffering a third-consecutive loss, this time at the hands of Class A’s third-ranked Cherry (16-3) 66-56, the Yellowjackets (16-4) are searching for answers.
The Tigers took an 18-9 lead at the midway point of the first half before Perham went on a 15-6 run. Micah Thompson’s 14 first-half points charged the Yellowjackets. However, Cherry’s Noah Sundquist banked a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Perham’s 32-31 halftime lead was gone by the midway point of the second half. Cherry’s Isaac Asuma, a certain Division-I prospect and one of the more revered players in the state, gave the Tigers their first lead since the opening 10 minutes at the 11:58 mark of the second half.
Asuma, who scored a team-high 25 points, started a 12-0 run. His brother, Noah Asuma, drilled a 3-pointer to put the Tigers ahead 47-38.
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“The biggest thing they do well is hit their shots,” Thompson said of the Cherry. “Isaac (Asuma) is a darn good player. He pulled up twice from 25 feet in the first half. When he hits those, it opens him up to drive, and he finishes very well. He’s so smart with the basketball, and the other guys know how to play around him. They know how to work, so he can get them open. They trust him to make the right decision when it comes down to it.”
Perham’s late-game efforts weren’t enough to stage a double-digit comeback. The Tigers won their 12th straight game, and they don’t have a senior in the starting lineup.
Perham’s latest three-game stretch was likely the most demanding of its season. Albany (17-1), Bemidji (12-8) and Cherry put the Yellowjackets through a gauntlet before their most important week in Section 8AA play.
“We need to have perspective,” Thompson said. “We’re a good team. We know we’re a good team. We know we can be a good team that goes a long way. We played Albany, who was ranked fourth in the state. We hung with them for the entire game until the very end. We played Bemidji and came back from a big lead. That’s a (Class 4A) school. They’re big and physical. Then we came out today and played Cherry. That’s a rough three-game stretch, in my opinion. They have the best player out of all three of those teams.”
“It’s not like we didn’t hang with (Cherry) either. We had a two-minute stretch where they took the lead and ran with it. We played with them for 34 out of 36 minutes. Once we get those two-minute stretches figured out, we’ll be fine.”
A three-game losing streak stings, but it’s nothing new to this group of boys basketball players. In 2021-22, Perham finished the regular season 14-11 before making a run to the state tournament out of a loaded Section 8AA. Right now, the Yellowjackets hope to shift their attention internally.
“Everybody is focused on what we need to do better night now. We also need to look at what we’re doing well,” Thompson said. “Just look at that and expand on that. Everybody is looking at what we’re doing wrong. Every team is looking at what we’re doing wrong. We’re looking at what we’re doing wrong. I think we just need to address that and get better at those things, but also exemplify what we’re doing right and expand on those things too.”
Perham heads to Pelican Rapids (11-7) on Tuesday before hosting Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (16-5) on Friday. Both games have vital Heart O’Lakes Conference and Section 8AA implications. The Yellowjackets beat the Vikings 64-29 on Jan. 6 and dropped their first game of the season to the Rebels 57-56 in overtime on Jan. 12.
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“Win and learn. That's what we always say,” Thompson said. “We’ve won (16), and we’ve learned from four. We’ll learn from this one and come back with the perspective that we need to have. Alex (Ohm) just reminded us that this is a long season. Nobody is pushing the panic button.”
CHS 31 35 – 66
PHS 32 24 – 56
PERHAM- Alex Ohm 11 points, 4 assists; Miach Thompson 26 points, 16 rebounds, 1 steal; Evan Kovash 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists; Soren Anderson 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block; Jacob Daniels 5 points, 1 rebound; Blaiz Schmidt 2 points; Ashton Detloff 2 rebounds
CHERRY SCORING- Noah Sundquist 14, Isaac Asuma 25, Noah Asuma 9, Landon Ruostalainen 3, Carson brown 15
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