DAILY GLOBE TROJAN HOLIDAY CLASSIC: Perham pounces on Dragons

WORTHINGTON — Mark Schumacher and Zach Gabbard both scored 17 first-half points Tuesday night, as the Perham Yellowjackets raced to a 59-11 halftime lead and posted a convincing 84-18 victory over the Adrian Dragons in the opening round of the 13th Annual Daily Globe-Trojan Holiday Classic boys’ basketball tournament at Worthington High School.

Perham (5-0), which won last year’s tournament title, will once again play for the championship. The Yellowjackets will tangle with Ellsworth (7-0) tonight at approximately 7:30 p.m., as the Panthers advanced with an exciting 62-61 victory over Worthington in Tuesday night’s second game.

Worthington (4-2) and Adrian (0-7) play in tonight’s third-place game, which will begin at 6 p.m. The Trojans defeated the Dragons 80-53 just last Tuesday, as they will meet again eight days later.

Perham, which has now held its last two opponents to 20 points or less (61-20 victory over Crosby-Ironton on Dec. 21), put on a clinic in all phases of the game against Adrian. The Yellowjackets forced 31 Dragon turnovers and dished out 29 assists on 38 made shots — running the floor and passing the ball effectively while scoring several fast-break baskets.

The Yellowjackets shot a blistering 75 percent (27-for-36) from the field in the first half and finished making 38 of 61 shot attempts (62 percent), while holding the Dragons to 7 of 40 shooting (18 percent).

“We are very happy with how things went for us tonight, as everyone played well and contributed — it was a good overall effort by our basketball team,” Perham head coach Dave Cresap said after the game. “We set the tone early defensively and used transition offense in our favor, as we got up and down the floor pretty well. We shared the ball and played unselfish, team basketball.”

Schumacher finished with 23 points and five rebounds, while Gabbard had 17 points and three assists. Nick Tobkin scored 10 points and collected six of Perham’s 21 team steals.

Sam Stratton (eight points, five rebounds and four steals) and Jordan Bruhn (three points) each dished out seven assists, while Jordan Cresap added four assists for Perham. Jordan Hein (eight), Dan Cavanagh (six), Mike Wiskow (five) and Des Duffy (four) combined to score 23 points for the Yellowjackets.

Tyler Hornstein scored eight points to lead Adrian, which was playing without starters Kyle Kilgore and Tony Reisdorfer. Brandon Weidert (five points, six rebounds), Justin Wolf (four points) and Kody Henning (one free throw) also scored for the short-handed Dragons.

Perham scores first 10 points, takes command early

Schumacher scored on a pair of inside feeds — high-low and post-to-post — from Stratton for four of the first six Yellowjacket points, while Gabbard converted a steal into a layup. Stratton added a driving basket and later passed to Gabbard for a fast-break bucket, as Perham claimed a 10-0 lead with 15:32 remaining in the first half.

Hornstein hit a trio of perimeter shots for Adrian over the next four-plus minutes, including a 17-footer along the left baseline for the Dragons’ first points at the 14:38 mark. Hornstein later buried a pair of 3-pointers — one from each wing — to make the score 20-8 with 10:54 left.

Perham, though, was continuing to expand its lead by converting steals into layups, as well as passing to open teammates for baskets in half-court situations. Bruhn fed Schumacher for a pair of hoops in the paint, while Gabbard and Tobkin both connected on a 3-pointer to help the Yellowjackets build a 28-10 lead with 9:44 showing on the clock.

Fast-break layups by Duffy, Stratton and Tobkin helped make it 36-10 at the 8:09 mark, while a 3-point play — following an offensive rebound — by Schumacher made it a 30-point difference (41-11) with 6:25 left.

The Yellowjackets scored 18 more points before the first half ended — taking a 59-11 bulge into the locker room. Tobkin scored on a nifty fast-break assist from Duffy, Bruhn passed to Schumacher and Gabbard for hoops, and Hein scored twice to highlight Perham’s action in the closing minutes.

“Our guys don’t care who scores the points, just as long as we score,” Coach Cresap said. “Our passing was sharp tonight, as we got the ball to the open man in good position to score several times. Everything started, though, with our defensive pressure, which allowed our transition game to get going and helped lead to easy scoring chances.”

A 3-pointer by Tobkin and an impressive two-handed, breakaway dunk off a steal by Schumacher were among the features for Perham early in the second half, as the Yellowjackets stretched the margin to 70-13 at the 14:03 mark. Duffy and Hein each scored in the paint before Wiskow and Cavanagh combined to score Perham’s last 10 points in the final 5:20.

Wolf scored a pair of buckets for Adrian, while Weidert converted a 3-point play — accounting for the only seven points the Dragons scored in the second half.

Adrian 11 7 — 18

Perham 59 25 — 84

Adrian (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Henning 0-0-1-1, Hornstein 2-1-0-8, Weidert 0-2-1-5, Wolf 0-2-0-4. Totals: 2-5-2-18.

Perham (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Schumacher 0-11-1-23, Duffy 0-2-0-4, Bruhn 0-1-1-3, Gabbard 1-7-0-17, Tobkin 2-2-0-10, Wiskow 0-1-3-5, Hein 0-4-0-8, Stratton 0-4-0-8, Cavanagh 0-3-0-6. Totals: 3-35-5-84.

Tags: sports, prep, basketball, adrian