Everyone has had the flu at one time or the other. At times, it’s just a day or two of feeling rather miserable. At others, it seems to keep us down for days.
Likewise, for those who have competed in any kind of game, they have occasionally been dealt a lousy hand or an embarrassing setback. Both were visibly evident Saturday in Perkins’ 56-30 shellacking of the Fliers boys varsity basketball team.
The black and white contingent of Coach Scott McVeigh very well could be the cream of the crop in the Sandusky Bay Conference this season. Though young, they are highly-skilled with the ball and have a strong 6’-5” sophomore post. They are now 12-3.
Right from the start, the Fliers were behind the Pirate 8-ball. The Pirates raced out to an 11-0 and never showed the Fliers an ounce of mercy.
Only a Connor Long 3-pointer kept the blue and gold from putting up an egg in the first quarter. Clyde trailed, 19-3, at the end of the opening quarter.
Intense pressure defense disrupted the Flier half court plans and forced too many bad shots. Without any experienced length in the post, the Fliers were in trouble inside with a boy known as Helmut taking command.
Then, unknown to most fans until after the game, there was the crippling flu issue.
Nathan Strudthoff, who is 6’-4”, never dressed after missing practice all week. Leading scorer and arguably the best athlete on the floor, Zach Rieman, went scoreless which had to be immensely frustrating for the senior standout. Rieman, also, missed two days of school with the flu. Having Strudthoff and Rieman healthy probably would not have changed the outcome, since Perkins had two of its better players unavailable as well.
By halftime it was 31-10 and the rout was well under way. It had to be very disconcerting for many Flier fans who have essentially been spoiled rotten from the string of very good seasons in football, girls’ and boys’ basketball.
The Flier boys take to the road the next four games beginning with another SBC contest at Oak Harbor. Hopefully, the flu will have flown away by then.
