PERRYSBURG — Perrysburg 6-foot-3 senior Gavin Fenneken scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter, leading the Yellow Jackets to a 40-37 come from behind win over previously unbeaten Findlay Friday.

Perrysburg improves to 11-3 overall and 3-1, putting them in a three-way tie for first place in the Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division. Findlay, ranked fourth in the state’s Division I RPI basketball rankings, falls to 12-1 and 3-1.

On Tuesday, Perrysburg travels to Toledo to take on seventh-ranked Whitmer (12-1, 3-1) at Memorial Field House. The Panthers gave the Yellow Jackets their only league loss, 84-57, on December 19, but the Jackets say they are prepared for the rematch.

“It feels awesome — No. 4 in the state and we knock them down,” Fenneken said. “We’re just boosting our confidence right here. We have Whitmer on Tuesday, and that’s another big test, and I think we’ll be good for that.”

Fenneken, who has reached double figures in the majority of Perrysburg’s games, had not put a point on the board after three quarters in the win over Findlay. However, with his team trailing 32-30 and five minutes still remaining, he scored the final 10 points for the Jackets.

An offensive rebound by Perrysburg senior Matt Hubbard provided the ammunition to get Fenneken started. After pulling down the rebound, Hubbard’s bounce pass through the lane got Fenneken an easy lay-up and he was fouled.

Fenneken’s first of two consecutive old-fashioned three-point plays gave Perrysburg a 33-32 lead with 4:09 remaining.

Two possessions later, Fenneken drove the lane, beating a defender to the rim, scoring, and he was fouled, giving the Jackets a 36-32 lead with 2:59 remaining.

“I think that drive got him going,” Perrysburg coach Dave Boyce said. “He played really strong. Once we got to the double bonus, he was money at the foul line.”

For his final four points, all free throws, Fenneken was fouled in the backcourt at the 2:11 mark and with 16.7 seconds left in the game.

Even though he had not scored the first 24 minutes, he was still a big part of the Jackets’ game and he grabbed five rebounds, but he was just waiting for the right opportunity to score.

“My coaches are telling me to just be me and keep shooting, but I don’t want to force anything, but once I saw the lane I took it, and I’m a good free throw shooter, so I knocked them in,” Fenneken said.

Perrysburg senior guard Joe Dynda had scored the Yellow Jackets’ first six points to give his team an early 6-5 lead, but Perrysburg never led again until Fenneken’s run in the fourth. At halftime, Findlay built a 24-16 lead.

“We just thought at halftime that there wasn’t a lot that had gone our way, but we were still right there,” Boyce said. “We just kept telling them to have poise and keep playing one possession at a time.”

Perrysburg sharpshooting senior guard Austin Shultz had not scored in the first half, either, but he hit three second half shots from the arc, one from 25 feet, to help get the offense back on track.

Findlay coach Jim Rucki was making sure his defense payed special attention to Perrysburg’s shooters, but says his team’s downfall was allowing Fenneken and Shultz to find ways to score.

“We lost a couple guys there at the end and when we found them, we fouled them, and they are a good team and you can’t do that,” Rucki said. “I don’t think either team shot well, but we turned it over too many times.”

Perrysburg’s defense also forced 11 turnovers, including eight steals — three by Hubbard and two apiece by Dynda and Shultz.

Even though the Jackets did not get a lot of baskets off turnovers or in transition, the defensive pressure often took Findlay out of their game, which is a more deliberate style of play.

“I know we did a great job on defense, we made a bunch of free throws, and we played really strong and with a ton of poise,” Boyce said.

Shultz had nine points and four rebounds, Dynda scored eight points, Hubbard had five points and four rebounds, junior Carter Young scored four points and freshmen Ben Pamer and Braylon Foster added two points apiece.

Perrysburg shot 35% (14-for-40) from the field, made 9-of-11 free throws, and had 10 turnovers.

“We forced bad shots,” Boyce said. “They missed some shots and we missed some shots. I think the one big thing we did was (make foul shots).”

Findlay shot 35% (15-for-43) from the floor, made all three free throw attempts, and outrebounded the Jackets by a narrow 28-26 count.

Senior Javontae Hill led Findlay with 13 points and nine rebounds, senior Sam Ernst scored seven points and junior Ryan Montgomery had six points and eight rebounds for the Trojans.

Senior Will Cordonnier had six points and six rebounds, senior Ben Best scored three points, and senior Luke Weihrauch contributed two points for Findlay.