Perrysburg’s Northern Lakes League matchup at Bowling Green wasn’t the most beautiful work of art.
Still, the Yellow Jacket girls will take it.
Perrysburg locked down on defense against the Bobcats and pulled through for a 42-33 Northern Lakes
League victory Tuesday night.
“You’re going to have games where you don’t shoot well. Everybody does. But you can always rely on
defense. It’s just effort.” said Perrysburg coach Todd Sims, whose team improved to 11-2 overall and 7-1
in the NLL, one game back of league-leading Northview.
The ’Jackets held BG scoreless for the first 8:45 of the game, building an 11-0 lead early in the second
quarter as the Bobcats missed their first 12 shots of the game.
And although BG actually out-scored Perrysburg by two points the rest of the game, as the ’Jackets had
their own struggles on offense, the early deficit was too much for the Bobcats to overcome.
“I give (Perrysburg) credit. Part of that is their pressure defense, but part of it is we’ve got to step
up and finish some of those shots,” BG coach Jeffrey Nichols said.
BG finished 10-of-42 (24 percent) from the field, including an 8-of-32 mark from inside the 3-point arc.

“Obviously, they play really sound, fundamental, in-your-face defense. It takes away some of our
offensive looks. But we did a nice job, a concerted effort of screening and getting some people open,”
Nichols said. “We just weren’t able to knock them down … For us to get over that hump, we’ve got to
continue to get better at that particular aspect of the game.”
As much of a struggle it was for BG, the Bobcats cut Perrysburg’s lead to 31-25 entering the fourth
quarter as BG’s Hayley Williford knocked down a 3-pointer as the third-quarter buzzer sounded.
But the Bobcats wouldn’t get any closer, and Perrysburg held on for the much-needed win.
No player scored in double-figures for the ’Jackets, who received contributions throughout their lineup.
Perrysburg also didn’t attempt a single free throw in the game.
Senior guard Kendall Tudor led Perrysburg with nine points, all on 3-pointers. Kelsea Newman had eight
points and seven rebounds, and Emily Treece, Nicole Delas and Kayla VanderVlucht each added six points.
VanderVlucht added a game-high 10 rebounds and two blocks.
“We don’t look for one person to score,” Sims said. “Obviously, we have a leading scorer in Kelsea
(Newman), but we don’t necessarily look for her only to score. We’re a team. You’ve got to play team
basketball.”
BG’s Marissa Milligan led all players with 12 points, while Alyssa Kopp and Williford each finished with
eight points. Jenna Stoner had a team-high seven rebounds and two steals for BG.
Perrysburg focused on stopping Williford, BG’s leading scorer. Guards Lindsay Matolyak and Taylor Knight
shared the duties of guarding Wiliford, who is averaging 15 points per game. Matolyak finished with
three steals and four assists.
“That was the plan, to try to limit her looks and try to make her play defense … make her work as hard
as possible,” Sims said.
BG dropped to 8-6 overall and 2-6 in the NLL. BG has lost four consecutive games, the last three to the
top teams in the NLL — Perrysburg, Northview and Southview. The Bobcats host Rossford on Saturday.
“We’ve been on a little skid here, but we’ve also played three of the top teams in the league,” Nichols
said. “Our goal is still to win 11 or 12 games and I still think that’s doable. I believe the kids
believe it. So if we can come with that effort Saturday and get a win, we can get a couple of those last
few games.”
Next for Perrysburg is another road NLL game at Southview on Saturday.
“It wasn’t the prettiest game, but it was a win,” Tudor said. “Coach tells us we have to stay in the race
to be in the race, so we’re still in that position. Our next step is Southview so that’s what we’re
focusing on.”
Perrysburg won the junior varsity game, 57-21. The ’Jackets had four players score in double-figures —
Sarah Baer with 12 points; and Abby Sattler, Maddy Perry and Sam Gremler with 10 points each. Hanna
Williford led BG with nine points.
PERRYSBURG 42, BGHS 33
PERRYSBURG
K. Tudor, 0-3-0—9; Knight, 1-1-0—5; B. Tudor, 1-0—2; Matolyak, 0-0—0; Kaczinski, 0-0—0; Treece, 3-0—6;
Delas, 3-0—6; Newman, 4-0—8; Diehl, 0-0—0; VanderVlucht, 3-0—6; Mufti, 0-0—0. TOTALS: 15-4-0—42.
BGHS
Glandorff, 0-0—0; Stoner, 2-1—5; Williford, 0-2-2—8; Vazquez, 0-0—0; Milligan, 4-4—12; Kopp, 2-4—8;
Sommers, 0-0—0. TOTALS: 8-2-11—33.
PERRYSBURG 9 15 7 11 —42
BGHS 0 13 12 8 —33
Junior Varsity: Perrysburg, 57-21.