The Perry boys basketball team defeated Glenwood 73-71 in overtime Monday night in Atlantic to earn the school’s first trip to state since winning it all in 1988.  The game was tied at 63 at the end of regulation but two big 3-point plays proved to be too much for Glenwood to overcome.  Janier Puente started the scoring using his size in the post and converted a 3 point play.  Perry senior Ryan Rathje delivered the final blow as he buried a 3-pointer with 40 seconds to go to give Perry a 72-69 lead.  Rashon Ivory added one free throw to give Perry a four point lead late.  Trailing 73-71 with 6 seconds to go,  sophomore Nate Mohr missed his second free throw intentionally hoping to get a rebound but Alex Long jumped in and snatched the board to send Perry into celebration mode.

Perry won despite playing without all state guard Shammond Ivory for the final 3 minutes of the 4th period and all of overtime.  Ivory fouled out with a little more than 3 minutes to go after lighting up Glenwood for 25 points.  Juniors Kyle Nevitt and Puente along with shooting of Rathje picked up the offense and sealed the deal.

“I told the guys that even without Shammond, we still had the advantage in the post area.  I thought if we could get the lead and rely on our dynamic defense that we might have a shot.  It was a total gutsy performance.  I am so proud of these guys.  What a journey this year,” added Head Coach Ned Menke.

Ivory led Perry with 25 points while Nevitt and Rathje added 14 points.  Nevitt scored 12 of his 14 in the second half.  Puente added 10 second half points as well.

Perry will advance to the state tournament next Tuesday night when they play Pella at 8:15 at Wells Fargo Arena.

Listen to comments from the players and coaches during the Raccoon Valley Radio’s sportscast at 7:30, 12:30 and 5:30.

You can also listen to last night’s game at raccoonvalleyradio.com through our on-demand feature as you relive all the exciting plays with Shawn Kenney and Aaron Kautzky.