Tornadoes splash 10 triples, but lose a close one

A lot of the stats favored Perkins Thursday night, but Columbian's 10 3-pointers kept the game close. Clinging to a 43-42 edge entering the fourth quarter, Perkins went on a key 11-0 run to begin the quarter and hit enough free throws down the stretch to pull out a 58-53 SBC Lake win.Earlier in the first half, Pirates senior Camryn VanVlerah made a pair of free throws in the second quarter that put her over 1,000 career points. The Pirates (9-12, 3-6 Lake) actually needed all 28 of her points Thursday to fend off the Tornadoes."She's been a fighter this entire season. She's been an offensive threat, she attacks and she has a scoring mindset," Pirates coach Leia Lyden said. "She just dominated (tonight). She didn't let any kind of defender stop her, she always tries to fight through any kind of contact. "Her athleticism is amazing. She can jump over anybody or run by anybody, so it's a great accomplishment and it doesn't really surprise me."Perkins lived at the line for most of the game, including the early part of the fourth quarter, drawing fouls attacking the rim. Four of the first 11 points in the 11-0 run in the fourth came at the line and then Mallorie Jones buried a 3-pointer and VanVlerah dropped in a layup as the Pirates led 54-42 with 4:57 left.TC (11-9, 4-5) battled back with an 8-0 run of its own as Mia Zeis made a bucket and then Marissa Allen and Lexi Beaston splashed back-to-back triples to pull TC within 54-50 with 2:30 left.After Perkins missed a pair of free throws down at the other end, Beaston flipped up a circus layup and it went down with 1:29 remaining, but Perkins made two free throws to close it out."From going from 27% shooting on Tuesday to shooting 45% and 60% from 3 tonight, there's something build on from that, but it's really hard to win games when you have 25 turnovers and give up 12 offensive rebounds," TC coach Morgan Harrigan said. "Those are the little things that we can work on. We're not gonna hang our heads and we're gonna learn how to play better transition defense and box-out better, so we can win some games like this."The Tornadoes came out hot, swishing seven treys in the first half, including four in the first quarter alone, but couldn't get enough stops on the defensive end to build a lead. VanVlerah's ability to get to the rim and draw contact was the difference. Perkins went 18 of 25 at the charity stripe, while TC was 9 of 14. Plus, Perkins' pressure defense forced 24 TC turnovers.A positive besides the hot shooting was just having senior Abbie Felske back on the floor, working her way back after missing a few games with a knee injury."Having Abbie back is our heart … she's our heart out on the floor," Harrigan said. "She would say she played horrible today, but I would say otherwise. Just her presence on the court calms others and her leadership you can't replace. "Our fight tonight was unbelievably different from Tuesday, so just having her back … her stats say she's at nine (points) and nine (rebounds), but I constantly say she's so much more than nine points and nine rebounds. Everyone else's confidence goes up when Abbie is back."Backing VanVlerah for Perkins were Haylie Brunner with 12 points, Jones added eight and Jordyn Brunner ended with seven.For TC, Beaston dropped in 18 points, followed by Allen with 16 and Zeis with eight. Perkins 58, Columbian 53Perkins (9-12, 3-6 SBC Lake): Allie Brunner 0-0-0; Jordyn Brunner 2-3-7; Zakiyah Castile 1-0-2; Haylie Brunner 4-1-12; Mallorie Jones 2-3-8; Avery Baker 0-1-1; Camryn VanVlerah 9-10-28; Elizabeth Green 0-0-0. Totals: 19-18-58.TC (11-9, 4-5): Mia Zeis 3-2-8; Marissa Allen 4-4-16; Maggie Rannigan 2-0-6; Kenzie Felske 0-0-0; Abbie Felske 0-0-0; Lexi Beaston 6-2-18; Chloe Heyman 1-0-2; Maddy Richie 1-0-2. Totals: 17-9-53.Perkins&emsp;&emsp;12&emsp;&emsp;20&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;15&emsp;&emsp;– 58Columbian&emsp;&emsp;12&emsp;&emsp;15&emsp;&emsp;15&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;– 533-point goals: Perkins 4 (H. Brunner 3, Jones); Columbian 10 (Allen 4, Beaston 4, Rannigan 2)Foul shots: Perkins 18-25; Columbian 9-14Turnovers: Perkins 7; Columbian 25