BOYS BB: Pressure-hardened Peru preps for Saturday's semistate

Mar. 15—Pressure is OK.

Peru's boys basketball team has felt its share this season. From close games to an expectant community and now a ranked opponent in a round of play that the Bengal Tigers haven't reached in a generation, all those factors come with pressure, and they've survived all that so far.

"We have kids that have played a lot of big games," first-year Peru coach Travis Smith said. "I think our kids like the big-game atmosphere. Yeah, we haven't been to a semistate yet, but they enjoy the big games and the pressure, and that brings out the best in them."

Peru (16-10) squares off with No. 13-ranked South Bend St. Joseph (18-9) on Saturday morning in the Class 3A North Semistate at Logansport. The Bengal Tigers and St. Joe contest the semistate's first semifinal at 10 a.m. with No. 7 Delta (22-6) vs. No. 12 Fairfield (20-6) to follow. The semifinal winners return at 8 p.m. for the championship.

Peru has survived a difficult run of games to get to the semistate round for the first time since 1998. Peru won a three-point game against Norwell in the opening round of sectional action, then won the final by four points over host Mississinewa. In the regional, the Bengals trailed by a bucket at halftime before storming back to put down West Lafayette 62-46.

Peru's regional game, like Saturday's semistate, was at the Berry Bowl.

Asked why Peru has thrived in tough games, Smith looked off the court instead of on, at pressure that the players face constantly, all season.

"I feel like community pressure is the biggest thing here for our kids," Smith said. "They can see how the community has rallied around them and they look at that in a positive way and don't look at that as a stress on them, but energy to play harder, go harder in practice, prepare like they've never prepared."

Smith feels it too. He's a first-year coach taking over after Eric Thompson left for Huntington North after the first two of Peru's three straight sectional titles.

"Coach Thompson left his program in a good spot and it has made the transition easy in some aspects, but also hard in following the footsteps ... he's the school leader in wins here," Smith said. "It's a big spot to fill and you can get a lot of criticism if you're not winning right away."

The Tigers spent most of the season just above .500 and entered the postseason 12-10 before ripping off four straight wins in elimination games.

"This is a basketball community so the expectations are high," Smith said. "That's another reason I like the challenge. They expect to win. I go out there and expect to win, prepare to win, and the community expects the same, so I think that's a good thing."

South Bend St. Joseph, which has taken on the new nickname Huskies in the last few weeks, will deal its own pressure on court in addition to the pressure of the situation. Smith pointed to the Huskies' size and athleticism as their strengths.

"They play an uptempo game, fullcourt pressure. They put a lot of pressure on the ball, so we've been working on that a lot and getting ready going against seven, eight guys in practice to see that pressure and athleticism," he said.

The Huskies are somewhat similar to a local rival of Peru's, which also wears baby blue.

"They play a similar style [to] Maconaquah," Smith said. "They have a 6-5 guard and another 6-5 guy who plays like [Mac's Joshiah] Ball. Maconaquah's pretty comparable to them."

Junior wing Chase Konieczny and senior guard Jayce Lee are the tall Huskies Smith was referring to. Konieczny leads the Huskies in scoring at 20.3 points per game, rebounding at 9.1 per game and assists at 2.3 per game. Lee adds 15.2 ppg and 5 rpg. Elijah King adds 8.4 points, Brashaun Woods 7.7 and Nick Shrewsberry (son of Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry) 7.1.

Peru counters with a tight six-man rotation led by senior guard Matthew Roettger, who can also step inside on offense or defense. He averages 18.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.2 steals per game.

Also on the perimeter are junior Gavin Eldridge (13.5 points, 5.2 assists) and senior Ian Potts (6.5 points). Inside are senior forward Alex Ross (11.8 points, 7 rebounds, 3.7 assists) and junior Xavier Turner (8.5 points). Sophomore wing Reis Bellar (2.8 points) is the sixth man.

What awaits them is an opportunity not seen at Peru since the 1990s.

"I'm trying to keep everything in perspective for these kids," Smith said. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As you can tell, Peru has won four regionals now [in its history] and it doesn't come around very often. To get a chance to play a semistate game at Logansport is a dream come true. We're going to make the most of it and we're ready for the challenge. We can't wait for Saturday and we'll be ready to go."

Smith expects a lot of Black and Gold in the Berry Bowl.

"They're going to be huge," Smith said of the Peru fans' impact. "They were huge at the regional and I think we'll travel very well. We have a chance to do something that hasn't been done in this school before."