Perryville claims first Mayor's Cup victory since 2019, cementing program turnaround

At 8-9, the Perryville boys' basketball team has won more games this season than any previous season since 2019, but a turnaround season can not be complete without a long-awaited signature win over a cross-town rival.

The Pirates got that by beating St. Vincent 71-64 for their first Mayor's Cup victory since 2019. Nobody was happier for the victory than Perryville athletic director Justin Dreyer, who coached the team last year but made the shrewd offseason move to bring Chris Hann back aboard the Pirate ship to rebuild the program.

"The program's been down for a while," Hann said. "This win is just kind of that signature win they needed to hopefully 100 percent buy into what we're doing, to be committed again. It's a big rivalry game so anytime you can beat SV, it's a big deal."

Hann started his coaching career with the Perryville freshman team and he developed a reputation for building programs from the ground up, mainly through his work with the Delta boys’ basketball team, who went 42-17 with two district titles from 2019-21.

"We have a great group of kids," Hann said. "They've all been pretty open. We're doing some different stuff than what they've ever done before, and they've all been really coachable and open about doing it. So I'm not shocked that we're starting to roll right now, because it usually takes about half a season. That's kind of the time frame."

Perryville started the season 2-1 but then lost six straight games to drop to 2-7. However, something happened in the Chester Tournament, as a key adjustment by Hann transformed the Pirates' fortunes. They got revenge on Valle Catholic to spark a four-game winning streak and the tournament's consolation title.

Including the win over St. Vincent, the Pirates have won six of their last eight games.

"We started going five in and five out, so playing with two groups," Hann said. "I think it's allowed us to play with better effort and I think the two groups that we have, they work well together. So each kid compliments each other. I think that's been a big part of it because our press is able to keep the pace up and guys are fresh."

Regardless of which unit was on the floor for Perryville, the shots from beyond the arc were flying. Like cannon fire, the Pirates made 11 three-point shots, as Waylon Huber, Eli Schott, and Jake Cissell each scored nine points. The other three-balls came from Aiden Wendel and Karston Schilli, who led the Pirates with 18 points.

"We shot a ton, and we were shooting well," Hann said. "We're just trying to get a bunch of shots up with our pace. We don't really care about what the number of threes was. We would like to get a lot of layups, but we got kids that can really shoot it."

All of Schott's nine points came in the first quarter, helping Perryville establish an early 26-16 lead. Max Wheeler's offense woke up in the second quarter with six points to help St. Vincent pull close and narrow the Perryville lead at halftime to 38-30.

Four baskets from three-point range gave the Pirates the advantage in the third quarter, winning that period 18-16 to return their lead to double-digits entering the fourth quarter at 56-46.

Colden Prost and Wheeler led the Indians with 19 and 18 points each and it showed throughout the game. The duo were responsible for 13 of St. Vincent's 18 fourth-quarter points.

Quinton Doza scored 12 points for the Indians making more three-pointers than anyone else in the game.

The Indians brought the game to within three points in the final minute. Perryville prevailed in the end on the charity stripe, making 5-of-7 free throws in the fourth quarter.

While Perryville only had one double-digit scorer, the Pirates did have nine different players put up points in what has been a total team effort.

"The reason we're able to do the two groups is because we have 10 to 14 guys that can all play," Hann said. "Everybody contributes. We don't have one guy on the floor that can't play. That's a good thing about this team."

While considered a neutral site game, this is the first time the Pirates played a game in Perryville since Dec. 21. Unlike the previous two months, the Pirates will play half of the final eight games of the regular season on their home court.

"Our schedule is tough here coming up," Hann said. "We got all of our conference teams playing again, we got Ste. Gen at the end of the year, so it's a difficult part of the schedule. Competition will be tough, but hopefully, we can kind of rise up and keep playing as a unit together and keep enjoying what we're doing."

St. Vincent (6-9) will host Saxony Lutheran on Tuesday, Feb. 4.