To begin both teams’ seasons, Roncalli made the short trip to Perry Meridian on Saturday night to renew the rivalry between both schools. Roncalli, led by Youngstown State signee Ryan Weber and Lewis University (DII) recruit David Heckman, begin their first season as a 4A school in sectional 10 and Perry Meridian was playing their first game without Max Landis who is now at Gardner-Webb.
The beginning was dominated by Perry as they jumped out to an early 10-0 lead with hot shooting, but the size of 6-7 Weber and Heckman was too much for Perry’s zone. Several times, they were able to connect with high-lows in the zone, giving Heckman easy lay-ups underneath the basket. Heckman had 10 of Roncalli’s 12 first quarter points.
From there, Roncalli’s defensive pressure was too much. Trailing 13-12 after the first quarter, Perry didn’t score again until three minutes into the second half. With the halftime score being 21-13 at the half, Roncalli went on a 21-3 run after Perry opened with a 10 point lead.
The Rebels did finally pull away to a 12 point victory as the Falcons’ offense struggled to find scoring. Freshman Kaleb Ferrell, young brother of IU signee Yogi Ferrell, led the team in scoring with 13 as he knocked down several free-throws towards the end of the game.
David Heckman led all scorers with 21 points and added on six rebounds. Ryan Weber struggled offensively, shooting just 1-7 from the field and finishing with just four points. However, he did add a couple of steals, blocks and assists using his length against an undersized Perry team.
Roncalli- 12 9 12 13 --46
Perry Meridian- 13 0 5 16 --34