Perkins leads Uniontown past Ringgold, 78-47
Uniontown responded to its first loss in strong fashion with a 78-47 victory over Ringgold in Section 4-AAA action Tuesday night at AJ Everhart Memorial Gymnasium.
The Red Raiders (3-0, 8-1) lost Saturday at the KSA Classic Tournament finals at Orlando, Florida, to Bolles School, Florida, 69-48. Bolles is the fourth-ranked team in its state.
Although his team will not go through the season undefeated, Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky believes his team will grow from the experience and be ready as they prepare for the meat of their schedule in January.
“It was a learning experience playing against a team like Bolles,” Kezmarsky said. “I thought we responded well tonight. We are where we need to be. We had 12 kids that got into the game tonight.”
Senior Jeremy Perkins scored early and often in leading all scorers with 27 points. Perkins made 12 two pointers and was three-of-five from the foul line.
Perkins did not see anything different from the Rams’ defense that got him going.
“I was just getting to my game and in good position,” Perkins said. “They really didn’t throw any different looks at me. I got a lot of good looks.”
Perkins and his teammates know they are one of the favorites in the section and will have a bulls eye on their backs, but he believes they are prepared for the challenge moving forward.
“We know what we have to do,” the senior forward said. “I think we came out a little slow, but we finished strong. We will take a few days for Christmas, then it is back to practice Friday.”
Uniontown never trailed and the game was only tied once at 2-2 before the home team took over. Perkins scored the first basket before Ringgold’s Ethan Defide put in a bucket.
Defide led the Rams (1-2, 3-3) in scoring with 15 points. He made 7 two pointers and was 1-for-3 at the line.
Uniontown increased its lead to 15-6, as Perkins scored 10 of those points before coming out for a rest. The Red Raiders outscored Ringgold 13-7 the rest of the quarter for a 28-13 lead after one.
“We turned the ball over against their press and that led to easy baskets for them,” Ringgold coach Phil Pergola said. “Their inside game hurt us, especially Perkins, and we didn’t convert on our shots.
“We have a young team with three sophomores starting. If we had the kind of effort like we had tonight against Elizabeth Forward, we may have won that game. This may be the best team we play all year.”
Uniontown continued its pressure in the second, and brought in Rodney Harris to add another presence inside. Harris scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half, and the Red Raiders led 57-23 at the break.
“We had a real nice effort from our inside guys,” Kezmarsky said. “Jeremy knows what he has to do and he did it tonight. He always does what he’s asked. Rodney came in and pulled down some tough rebounds and scored. Nate Guerriere played a strong game for us, as did Joe Campbell. DeAundre Winfrey did a great job running the floor, and our seventh man, Phil Mosley, played a solid game.”
Campbell had 16 points on six field goals and was four-of-five from the line.
DeAundre Winfrey, who runs the point for Kezmarsky’s squad, had seven points, including knocking down one-of-two three pointers for the Red Raiders. Lyric Ellis had the other three pointer for Uniontown.
The Red Raiders outscored the Rams, 16-14, in the third to extend their lead to 73-37 after three. A 72-32 lead put a running clock into effect for the remainder of the game. The Rams won the fourth, 10-5.
“I have a lot of respect for Coach Pergola, his staff and his kids,” Kezmarsky said. “Our kids are 30-4 the last two years. We have to be ready to play every game. We have so much respect to be part of Uniontown basketball and its tradition.”
Uniontown hosts Belle Vernon on January 2 in a Section 4-AAA game, while Ringgold plays Yough Friday in the Charleroi Tournament.