Miami County Invite: Peru Wins in Game Against Maconaquah

Peru proved its shooting skills on Tuesday beating Maconaquah with a 53-51 victory at the Miami County Invitational finals game at North Miami.

Kokomo Tribune said the win was almost at hand for the Maconaquah Braves when Brayden Marley scored a 3-pointer with only 43 seconds left, putting the score to 51-50. But it noted that Peru's Christian Howell ran to the basket on the opposite end to score a shot.

Peru's Tyler Murphy was fouled after a turnover and was able to make one free-throw shot, making the score 53-51, in favor of Murphy's team.

With only 3.4 seconds remaining on the game, Marley again attempted to score a 3-pointer but failed to make it count.

"There were a couple different options on that. Obviously, Wyatt [Hughes] was posting hard and wanted to get the ball, he got pushed out a little too far, give Peru credit they pressured us well. As far as execution down the stretch, Peru executed better,'' said Maconaquah coach Tim Maiben.

He also noted that he has not seen all of the previous games of their opponents but noted that he was surprised with the three pointers of Jeremiah Johnson. Maiben said his points brought great results to the team and made Peru a harder team to guard.

For Peru coach Jim Metcalfe, the win was a proof of their hard work as a team.

"It was a game of runs and we were lucky enough to make the last play. Great win for our kids. It was a total team effort. I thought our defense did a really good job of controlling Wyatt," he said in the Kokomo Tribune report.

The coach also recognized the great efforts of their opponents especially during the last minutes of the game.

"That was a really good basketball game with two good teams. It was another fun Peru-Maconaquah game. It was fun to coach and I'm sure it was fun to watch," Metcalfe added.

JC Online noted that during the first round of the Miami County Invitational, Maconaquah defeated Delphi with a 69-39 win while Peru overwhelmed Miami with a great gap winning 63-27.

Maiben earlier said that their win versus Delphi was a result of putting pressure on their opponent early but noted that they had to improve on their passing and offense.

A separate Kokomo Tribune report earlier noted that the Miami County Invitational started on Monday with the opening rounds and ended on Tuesday with the consolation game of the losing teams and then the championship.