BY BRIAN GOSSET
X – @gosset41
X – @gmsportsmedia1
Perrin-Whitt senior Jack McCormick has been among the top scorers in the state all season long – and the 2025 guard went back to work this week, leading the Pirates to program history.
McCormick scored a game-high 28 points and was voted state champ MVP as the Pirates beat Turkey Valley 65-46 to win the Class 1A Division 1 title on Thursday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
The Pirates cap off the season with a 34-5 record.
In 1944 and 1946, the Perrin boys program made the state tournament with the ’46 team playing in the Class B final.
McCormick also finished 7 of 22 shooting, 4 of 6 from three and 10 of 133 from the charity stripe Case Lambert added 17 points on five threes and four steals. Cole Kenney chipped in 16 points on 6 of 13 shooting, six rebounds and four steals.
Perrin-Whitt had 12 steals total and made 11 3-pointers – tied for the third most in a Class 1A state game.
The Pirates went 4 of 7 from downtown in the first quarter while Turkey Valley missed all three attempts. McCormick dropped seven points as the Pirates led 16-11 after the opening period.
McCormicka nd Kenney hit back-to-back 3s for the Pirates to increase the lead to 22-13 with 6:13 left in the second quarter. Kenney added a driving layup in the fast break a minute later and the lead grew to 11.
Turkey Valley cut it to 28-22 on a Kanyon Taylor lay-in and the Pirates took that six-point lead into the intermission.
The Pirates started to pull away with the first 10 points in the third quarter with a Kenney second-chance layup, stepback three by McCormick, two free throws by Lambert and a pull-up three by Lambert. The lead was 38-22 with five minutes left in the period.
Perrin-Whitt led 41-27 after three.
The lead got up to 20 in the fourth on a Lambert trey and a pair of freebies by McCormick at the line. Turkey Valley got it to within nine following a 12-1 run. Evan Meyer made a layup and it was down to 50-41 with 3:09 left in the game.
But the Pirates scored the next 10 points to shut the door on the Patriots.
Perrin-Whitt also beat Saint Jo, Gilmer Union Hill, May, Huckabay and Brookeland in the playoffs.
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Martin’s Mill 55, Lipan 43: Evan Lott scored 10 points for Lipan, but the Indians couldn’t overcome 19 team fouls and 11 turnovers – losing to Martin’s Mill in the Class 2A D2 final on Thursday. Lipan ends with a 34-5 record while the program was playing in the title game for the fourth straight season. The Indians won 1A championships in 2023 and 2024.
Kountze 67, Paradise 41: Just a week after the Paradise girls team made the state final for the first time, the boys took a crack at its first appearance to the Alamodome, but the Panthers couldn’t overcome a 42-20 halftime deficit – losing to Kountze in the Class 3A D2 final on Friday. Kountze got two players with 23+ points while Paradise was led with 15 from Cooper Jones, who also added a team-high seven rebounds. The Panthers end the year with a 30-7 record.
