Perrysburg boys varsity team posing for a picture after their 75-44 win and Steve Williman Classic Basketball tournament champions at Liberty-Benton High School. (Drake Harlett/Sentinel-Tribune)
FINDLAY — Perrysburg got 11 players into the scoring column en route to defeating Genoa, 75-44, to win Liberty-Benton’s Steve Williman Classic holiday tournament Saturday.
Perrysburg won the Williman Classic by an average margin of 24.5 points per game after defeating host Liberty-Benton, 74-56, in the semifinals on Friday.
For 5-2 Perrysburg, it is about getting back on track after losses to Sylvania Southview (49-46) and Toledo Whitmer (84-57).
“We took some early losses at the beginning of the year and we wanted to turn it around real quick,” said Perrysburg senior Gavin Fenneken, who had 12 points, six rebounds and three steals in Saturday’s win.
“I think we’ve showed the other teams in the area that we’re good, we are ready to go now, and we’ll turn everything around, and I think in this tournament that is exactly what we showed,” Fenneken continued.
Starting with the loss to Southview, Perrysburg has played six opponents in 15 days, which included a 68-61 win over Columbus Walnut Ridge and 74-54 victory over Sylvania Northview.
“I think we’ve had a grind here since we played Southview,” Perrysburg coach Dave Boyce said. “We’ve played a bunch of games in a certain amount of time and things didn’t go right. This whole stretch could have been tough.
“But starting with Walnut Ridge, that was a big win, and then Northview is always tough, so it will be good to get a day off and get a week to get ready for our next opponent.”
The Yellow Jackets opened the championship game Saturday on a 19-3 run, scoring off five steals and hitting three shots from behind the arc.
However, Genoa got up to the speed up play in the second and third quarters, only getting outscored 28-27 in the middle two stanzas. A triple by freshman guard Myles Mollenhauer to close the third made it 49-34 entering the fourth quarter.
The Yellow Jackets went on a 16-2 run to open the fourth, and before you knew it every player up and down the Perrysburg roster was getting into the act.
Senior Austin Shultz and sophomore Tyler Palmer hit four three-point shots apiece and led Perrysburg with 14 points each.
Freshman Ben Pamer scored eight points, senior Joe Dynda had six points and four steals, and senior Matt Hubbard and sophomore Andrew Charpie scored six points each.
Perrysburg junior Carter Young had four points and seven rebounds, freshman Adam Gray scored three points, and junior T.J. Moore and freshman Braylon Foster contributed two points apiece.
Perrysburg shot 60% (31-for-52) from the field and had just one free throw attempt, which was missed. The Yellow Jackets committed just two turnovers and held a 23-20 advantage off the glass.
Genoa was led by 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Walter Plantz, who had 14 points and six rebounds, and Mollenhauer scored 11 points.
Senior forward Aiden Brunkhorst had seven points, four rebounds and two steals and senior forward Denver Stewart scored five points for the Comets.
Genoa sophomore guard Gavin Goodman scored three points and sophomore guard Logan Routson and freshman forward Jax Magnone added two points each.
The Comets, which defeated Wauseon, 55-51, to reach the championship, fell to 7-2. Genoa coach Jon Sandwisch knew Perrysburg would be a challenging opponent for his Comets.
“At times I thought we competed really, really hard and did a lot of good things, but when you play a team like Perrysburg, you have got to be perfect for four quarters,” Sandwisch said.
“Right now, our valleys were low and our peaks were high. The more we play really good teams like this, we’re looking for that consistency, but this is just a great opportunity for us to improve.”
Perrysburg is off until next Friday, when they travel to Toledo to take on Central Catholic (2-5) at the Sullivan Center in a non-league game. The junior varsity contest is scheduled for 5:45 p.m.
“Today we’ll be good, we’ll celebrate today and then be right back tomorrow and Monday when we have practice again, we’ll start game planning for Central,” Fenneken said.
“They are always good and we’ve got some good seniors on our team, so we’ll turn it around and be ready for that.”
In Saturday’s Williman Classic consolation game, Liberty-Benton (5-4) defeated Wauseon (3-4), 51-28.
“It’s a well-run event and four good teams,” Boyce said.
