The Record Books are extremely clear. One team is used to making the short trip into Des Moines while the other has to go back a few years. Two former Raccoon River Conference rivals will collide tonight in Johnston when the Perry Bluejays (18-5) take on the Dallas Center Grimes Mustangs (19-4) in a 7:00 3A Substate Final. The winner marches into the state tournament the following week.
Dallas Center Grimes is no stranger to the state tournament having qualified three of the last 5 years while Perry has to go back to 1988 for the last time they made an appearance in the state spotlight.
This year’s Bluejay team doesn’t care a lot about the history and recent frustrations of the program. They have brought the school its first conference championship since 2003 and now look to check off their next goal of qualifying for the state tournament. Perry defeated Heart of Iowa Champion Gilbert 68-63 in overtime Thursday night to earn tonight’s game while DCG beat Raccoon River Conference member Bondurant Farrar by 12 in their District Final.
This will be the second meeting between the two teams this year. The Mustangs beat Perry 67-54 back on December 9th at the Perry Sports Pavilion. The Jays struggled from the floor hitting on only 1-16 from three point land. DCG dominated the glass outrebounding Perry 39-28.
“This has been quite the year,” commented Head Coach Ned Menke. “This team has stuck together and accomplished every goal up to this point. We have one more tonight that we set back in early December after the Carroll road win. We are enjoying every moment and I thought our crowd was great last Thursday night. It was fun to see the town of Perry come together and support us like they did. The good news is we have a shorter drive tonight so hopefully even more folks can make it to Johnston.”
Tip off is slated for 7:00 with the pregame show to begin at 6:35 on KDLS and raccoonvalleyradio.com
Game- Perry vs Dallas Center Grimes
Tip 7:00 at Johnston High School
Radio 1310 KDLS Shawn Kenney Jeff Webster
Streaming raccoonvalleyradio.com with Shawn Kenney and Jeff Webster
TV- Tape Delay with Doug Wood Pegasus Channel 12 with KDLS audio
Directions to Johnston High School- Take HWY 141 toward Des Moines. Turn left on 19th Ave (second light past Walmart exit). Follow directly to high school.