When it was pointed out to Perkins coach Scott McVeigh that his point guard, David Doster, had four 3-pointers in Saturday's 57-45 win over Western Reserve, the coach offered a slight correction.
“It was only three, and an attempted pass that somehow went in … but we'll take it,” McVeigh said in jest.
With his team trailing 13-5 midway through the first quarter, Doster threw an alley-oop pass too hard, and instead it went in for a 3-pointer to the surprise of everyone in attendance.
With Perkins (9-2) in desperate need of a third consistent scorer alongside Nic Williams and Brandon Smith, Doster's 15 points on 5 of 8 shooting was a welcome relief, and quite possibly the difference in the battle of two of the top teams in the area in recent years.
“These guys know they aren't going to be guarded consistently,” McVeigh said. “It's something we talked about with them last week, there are going to be open shots there. David really got going and comfortable after the 'pass' went in.
“He is a good shooter. Hopefully this will help us in the long run, his mentality of knowing he is capable of knocking those down. That was big.”
Western Reserve (10-3) raced out to a quick start, connecting on its first four shots to grab an 11-2 lead at the 4:50 mark of the opening quarter. Kevin Boose, Craig Meyer and Willie Roth each hit a 3-pointer to spark things for the Roughriders.
But the Pirates had cut the margin to 15-12 by the end of the quarter, and a Williams steal and layup gave the Perkins its first lead at 25-24 with 1:24 left in the first half, which remained the score at the break.
To open the third quarter, Williams and Doster hit back-to-back baskets for a 29-24 lead. Western cut it to a 31-28 deficit on a Nate Ash basket at the 5:43 mark of the third, but Doster responded with a big 3-pointer and Mitch Benkey hit a tough baseline shot inside the paint. Suddenly, the Pirates were in control again with a 36-28 lead with 4:22 left in the quarter.
Western had again crept close, but trailing 38-34, Doster hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the final 2:08 of the quarter to give the Pirates a 44-34 lead entering the final eight minutes.
For more information on this game and others, see Sunday's Sandusky Register.
