N. Miami hangs on, beats Peru for first time since 2012

Musall leads with 13, Meredith has 11, Smith 10

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Kale Deardorff Lake Musall

DENVER — Lake Musall scored 13 points, Ryan Meredith added 11, and Ryan Smith had 10 as the North Miami boys basketball team held off a fourth quarter rally to beat visiting Peru 57-55 Monday.

Kale Deardorff and Karston Black added eight points each, and Laython Norman had seven for North Miami, who ended an 18-game losing streak to Peru and beat the Tigers for the first time since 2012. That 18-game losing streak included a 44-39 loss at the Miami County Invitational at Maconaquah Dec. 29.

North Miami improved to 13-8. They have already clinched their first winning record since 2010.

Zion See and Reis Bellar scored 14 points each for Peru, who fell to 6-14.

“This was a great, fun team win that we put together that we’ve been working for all year, so it feels pretty good,” Musall said.

North Miami never trailed after the first quarter, and they built the lead as big as 13 – 49-36 and 51-38 – in the fourth quarter.

Peru would get within two on a See driving banker with 55 seconds left.

See fouled Smith with 38.6 seconds left. North Miami was in the bonus, but Smith missed both free throws.

After a possession that included 10 passes, Peru coach Travis Smith called timeout with 4.0 seconds left. Then North Miami first-year coach Chuck Evans called timeout after seeing how Peru was aligned.

Jacob Boswell inbounded to See, who tried to pass back to Boswell in front of the Peru bench. Deardorff knocked it out of bounds with 0.4 seconds left.

After two more Peru timeouts, See launched an off-balance 28-footer that hit nothing but backboard. The 14-year drought was over.

“Well, it’s huge for the kids, and it’s huge for the community,” Evans said. “Shout out to our student section. It’s a Monday night, and they showed up. Our student section was great. Our band was great. Our kids were fired up. It just means a lot for our kids and where we’re at. We’ve come a long way this year. We’ve just kept getting better and better in my opinion. We had a few glitches somewhere along the line, but we always corrected them.”

Peru trailed by as many as seven in the first half but tied it at 24 on a Bellar 3-point play with 7:06 left in the third quarter. After a Meredith short banker, Peru tied it again at 26 on an Isaac Braley steal and layup.

But Black made two free throws with 6:03 left in the third quarter, and North Miami never trailed again. Deardorff hit Musall for a 3-pointer to increase the lead to five.

And then what had been a rock fight turned into a crisp offensive shootout. Smith had three buckets in the third quarter, but Bellar had nine points himself for Peru. A Braley reverse layup would keep Peru within 41-36, but a Deardorff 3-pointer and a Meredith third-chance putback gave North Miami a 46-36 lead going into the fourth.

And when the burly Smith kicked out from the post on the first possession of the fourth, he found an open Black, who played on Peru’s JV last year before transferring. Black hit the triple, and the lead was 13.

“We’re getting better offensively,” Evans said. “We’re moving the ball better. We’re playing more as a team. We’re distributing the ball better, and it always helps when you knock down shots.”

But See, who came in averaging 21 points per game but who was held to four through the first three quarters, had three baskets in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter. The third was a transition layup and came with a foul attached, but See could not complete the 3-point play.

The lead was down to 51-42.

Peru increased the intensity of their fullcourt press. They forced five North Miami turnovers in the fourth quarter after forcing only three turnovers in the first three quarters combined.

Oliver Rabe and Talin Douglass, two Peru reserves, each hit treys to narrow the lead to 54-50.

With the lead at 55-51, Meredith dove to the rim for a cutting layup off a pass from Musall to get the lead back to six.

The win marked the fifth time that North Miami beat a team that beat them last year. Evans has emphasized defense and ballhandling, according to Musall.

“He can be funny sometimes, but you’ve got to understand his jokes sometimes too,” Musall said of Evans. “But he’s serious and fun at the same time.”

North Miami 57, Peru 55

PERU (55) (6-14)

Jacob Boswell 0 0-0 0, Zion See 5 4-5 14, Isaac Braley 2 1-2 5, Reis Bellar 5 2-3 14, Kingston Eldridge 2 4-4 8, Ben Wynkoop 0 0-0 0, Dawsen Babbs 0 0-0 0, Oliver Rabe 3 0-0 8, Talin Douglass 2 1-2 6, Lukas Rodriguez 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 19 12-16 55

NORTH MIAMI (57) (13-8)

Kale Deardorff 3 0-0 8, Lake Musall 4 2-2 13, Karston Black 2 2-2 8, Ryan Meredith 5 1-6 11, Laython Norman 2 3-4 7, Ryan Smith 5 0-2 10, Caden Clingaman 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 21 8-16 57

Three-point field goals:

Peru 5 (Bellar 2, Rabe 2, Douglass),

North Miami 7 (Musall 3, Deardorff 2, Black 2)

Total fouls: Peru 13, North Miami 13

Turnovers: Peru 11, North Miami 8

Score by quarters

Peru 9 12 15 19 – 55

North Miami 11 13 22 11 – 57