Norwalk falls at Perkins in finale

PERKINS TWP. — Senior Night couldn't have gone any better for the Perkins boys basketball team. The Pirates went through a crisp pregame ceremony Friday then proceeded to run away from Norwalk 69-28 to clinch the program's first conference championship since 2017. Seniors Kellen Glass, Sam Schweinfurth, Kash Koch and Levi Groot took their bows before, during and after the game. Perkins, ranked No. 9 in the state in Division IV, improved to 20-2 overall and tied Sandusky with a 9-1 record in the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division. "It's been great. This is really exciting," Perkins head coach Andy Hoying said. "We obviously haven't cut these down in nine years. There couldn't be a greater set of kids out here playing for me. It's good to get back in that top spot." Perkins' last league title came in the final season of the old eight-team SBC. The new net was cut down in the final year of the current SBC mega-league configuration. "I thought we came out from the jump and took care of business," Hoying said. "A little slow start, but Grant (Kuhnle) really got us going and from there we handled business. "When he gets going, he can get red hot. He got us going and the seniors carried us from there. Great atmosphere. We had a great crowd in here. I'm really happy for the guys." Yes, Kuhnle broke the ice. Perkins was leading just 7-4 late in the first quarter when the 6-foot-3 junior came off the bench and let it fly. Kuhnle swished his first 3-pointer with 1:55 left in the first quarter to give Perkins a 10-4 lead. He hit three more quick 3s, the fourth coming from the pirate flag that covers midcourt just seven seconds into the second quarter. It was Kuhnle's fourth 3-pointer in just 2 minutes, 2 seconds. Kuhnle's barrage was the centerpiece of a 17-0 run that relaxed the Pirates and their fans. Glass did his part, too. The 6-6 forward finished with 16 points, five rebounds and had two dunks in the third quarter, the first coming after Levi Groot blocked a shot, gathered the ball and passed ahead to an open Glass. Glass scored right before the second quarter buzzer to give Perkins a 46-11 lead, which ensured that the second half would be played under a running clock. His bucket pushed the Pirates' second quarter point total to 29. The game took only 55 minutes to play. "It went quick in the second half," Hoying said. "I'm glad we could get all those younger guys in; they were all itching to get in there. Glad they got some minutes at the end and we were able to get the seniors a nice ovation." The seniors exited for good early in the fourth quarter. Schweinfurth finished with 11 points and sank three of the Pirates' nine 3-pointers. Groot added nine points and Kaden Legando came off the bench with his usual energy boost and finished with seven points. Perkins shot 50 percent from the field and committed only three turnovers in the game, which came after the junior varsity won 74-30 to finish off a 22-0 season. Kingston Gonzales led the Truckers (1-21, 0-10) with eight points. His second bucket got Norwalk to within 7-4 with 3:05 left in the first quarter. Xavier Saunders added six points for the Truckers, who head to Mansfield Senior (15-7) for a Div. III sectional tournament game on Friday. NORWALK (1-21, 0-10) Kingston Gonzales 3-2—8, Xavier Saunders 3-0—6, Nolan Jones 2-1—5, Brandon Carty 2-0—4, Caiden Schmidt 1-0—3, Jack Pittenger 1-0—2. TOTALS 12-3—28. PERKINS (20-2, 9-1) Kellen Glass 7-2—16, Sam Schweinfurth 4 0—11, Kash Koch 1 0—2, Bryce Davie 2 0—4, Levi Groot 3 2—9, Kaden Legando 2 3—7, Grant Kuhnle 4 0—12, Ty Obergefell 2 0—5, Carter Koch 0 1—1, DJ Johnson 1-0—2. TOTALS 26 8—69. Norwalk 4 7 10 7 — 28 Perkins 17 29 18 5 — 69 Three-point FGs: (N) Schmidt); (PER) Kuhnle 4, Schweinfurth 3, Groot, Obergefell.