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Perkins sinks Panthers at the line
Fairfield senior hits 3 free throws in final second to stun Mt. Pleasant
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD — With the game on the line at rival Mt. Pleasant, Fairfield senior Riley Perkins had the ball in his hands. As it turns out, it was, again, where exactly where the Trojans wanted to be.
Perkins, who has had his share of heroics in the past, found himself at the line down two, with 0.6 seconds remaining in the game. Three free throws later, and Fairfield was celebrating on the court with a 51-50 victory.
“The thousands of free throws come in handy, I guess,” said coach and father Nate Perkins. “He was prepared for the moment.”
Perkins had the ball in his hands on the final possession of the game, trying to escape from defender Brody Clark, who got a hand up to defend the potential game-winning 3-pointer. The ball didn’t go in, but a foul call on the play put Perkins at the line.
Despite a gym of Panther faithful, and a couple of timeouts to ice him, Perkins hit one, then two, and then three, rattling in the third to give the Trojans a one-point win, after a last-second Mt. Pleasant heave fell short.
“I know my teammates and my coaches have all the confidence in the world in me,” Perkins said. That just elevates my confidence to take that shot.“
The Trojan senior didn’t score one point in the second half, but finished with 12.
Mt. Pleasant was up 47-41 with two minutes and two seconds remaining after climbing back from a halftime deficit. The Trojans capitalized on a couple of huge shots in the last minute and a half, including a corner 3-pointer by Perkins and a second-chance dunk by Eli Zillman.
“It doesn't come down to just one moment,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Eric Rawson. “There were plenty of moments throughout the game where, if you take care of those, you're not in that position.”
The Trojans got the ball back after a pair of missed free throws by Mt. Pleasant’s Noah Lange, who had been perfect all night before that moment. Fairfield called a timeout with 11 seconds left to set up the final play.
Ethan Bisgard scored 14 points to lead Fairfield in the win. Zillman and Perkins had 12 points apiece. Andrew Myers and Luke Konczal had six apiece.
Mt. Pleasant was led by a 13 point effort from both Lange and Ryan Helling. Ian Reid scored 12 points. Isaiah Lange had six. Clark finished with four, and Keegan Heaton had two.
With the win, Fairfield moved to 6-14 overall and 4-6 in Southeast Conference play, good enough for fourth place in the league. Mt. Pleasant finished at 2-18 and 1-9.
Fairfield won both games in the Highway 34 rivalry this season. It was the first time since the 2018-19 season that the Trojans swept the Panthers.
“It was good we did it this year, because they've got a lot of good kids coming up,” said Coach Perkins. “It's been a while since we've done it, and I feel like our guys earned it.”
