Perdue steps up as Katy holds on for win against Mayde Creek

By Tyler Tyre, Sports Editor
Posted 1/26/22

“He knew he could be the guy,” Froe said. “He knew when I came out he would have to be the guy, and he did it. That’s ultimately why we won at the end there. He was clutch, he really won us the game.”

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Perdue steps up as Katy holds on for win against Mayde Creek

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Dayvaughn Froe knew how important Wednesday's game was to Katy’s playoff hopes.

One game back in the playoff hunt and still having to play each of the top four teams in district, Froe knew that the team would need multiple wins against those top four teams.

The Tigers had their first opportunity to do so when they opened the second half of district play against Mayde Creek, the No. 3 team in the district coming into the week, and Katy started the second half of district 19-6A play as perfectly as they could have drawn it up, topping the Rams 67-62 at the Mayde Creek gym in a game that wasn’t decided until the last minute of play.  

“We knew it was going to be hard to get a win against Mayde Creek, especially coming in here on the road,” Froe said. “They have really talented players, but big players on our team made big plays all night. Everyone stepped up and it’s what won us the game.”

Katy came out firing on all cylinders and took a big lead out of the gate, going up 26-14 after the first quarter. But they had to withstand several runs from Mayde Creek from there.

The Rams came roaring back in the second quarter, trimming the Katy lead to five going into the half.

“Everything looks good when the ball goes in, but a big reason for that and we talked about it at halftime, is we just made the easy plays in the first half,” said Katy head coach Danny Russell. “We didn’t try to overcomplicate it. We made the right reads, we moved without the ball and we played well. We didn’t move as well in the second half and that stifled the offense. A lot of that has to do with Mayde Creek’s defense too. Coach (Anthony) Fobb did a good job keeping us off balance with that. It’s always big when you can start fast and when big players step up. It’s a 32-minute-game and I think over 32 minutes, we played well.”

The Rams continued to cut into the Tigers lead in the second half and flipped the script, as Katy trailed 44-43 after the third quarter. Mayde Creek built the lead to as many as five points in the fourth quarter, but each time Katy was punched down, they had a response.

“We felt like when we played them at our place, the middle third is what got away from us,” Russell said. “Our kids battled through that a bit today, but we stuck with the gameplan. We got some rebounds down the stretch and I really think that was the difference in the game.”

Katy trailed 57-52 and had their best scorer in Froe foul out, but they continued to chip away and Aydan Perdue was the player to step up with Froe out. Perdue took over the primary ballhandling duties and made a big layup and free throws down the stretch to seal the game in Katy’s favor.

“He knew he could be the guy,” Froe said. “He knew when I came out he would have to be the guy, and he did it. That’s ultimately why we won at the end there. He was clutch, he really won us the game.”

When Froe fouled out, Perdue didn’t even know, but once he realized the situation, Perdue locked in.

“I didn’t realize the gravity of the situation at first to be honest,” Perdue said. “But as I was dribbling the ball up, Coach Russell said ‘you have to ball out, you have to go to work.’ I knew what I had to do and I just tried to make plays but it wasn’t just me. Everybody was doing great things.”

Katy knows they will have to keep up their strong play. They hope to make a late season surge and secure a playoff berth.

“It was huge to get this win,” Perdue said. “Dayvaughn and I knew how important this was and knew we needed to ball out. But the younger guys are starting to figure it out to. They’re figure out the gravity of these games and they realize this isn’t just a pickup game, we have to go and we have play as hard as we can.”

District 19-6A

Katy 67, Mayde Creek 62

Points: (K) Ayden Perdue 22, Dayvaughn Froe 20, Travis Evans 10, Cason Cole 8, Joel Elfert 7; (MC) Angel Sonnier 18, Christian Jones 18, Larison Lamette 11, Landon Bean 4, Jamal Chretien Julian Owezine 3, Mac Reed III 2, Caleb Davis 2

Halftime: Katy 39-34; 3-pointers: (K) Perdue 2, Evans 2, Elfert, Cole; (MC) Sunnier, Jones, Owezine, Chretien, Lamette; Records: Katy 13-15, 3-4; Mayde Creek 19-9, 4-3