Jeremiah Perkins the vocal starting center for the Eagles called it an absolute gift from God that Conor McCaffrey and Jace Easley are in his gradutating class of 2020.
The Our Savior's Eagles are going into the 2020 LSA State Tournament with an impressive record of (34-10). Perkins had two crucial blocks late in the fourth quarter vs Trinity Hoffman in their 2020 State Play-In Game down in Centralia on Tuesday, March 3.
Perkins battling injury after injury throughout the 2020 season has found himself right in the middle of the celebrations, this would be the first time the Eagles have made State since 2016. But understandably Conor McCaffrey and Jace Easley watched the celebration from the outside of the huddle, knowing their job was not yet finished.
"I'm beyond excited right now," Perkins said. "I'm just blessed to be able to be healthy during this long stretch of games."
What's New with OS
The Eagles (34-10 overall, 10-4 CIL) return extremely talented and multi-postional STUDS in Conor McCaffrey and Jace Easley.
Jace Easley is the vocal leader of the Eagles, he plays the physical defense and is the trashtalker while Conor is the efficent and silent but deadly playmaker and scorer who's averging 25.9 points, 10.9 assists and 9.3 rebounds this season.
The rest of the rotation is very different compared to past seasons with bunches of new players, filling new postions. Other starters include 8th grader Jeremiah Perkins a former guard converted into a center. 8th grader Noah Oldham a player who fills space, and 7th grader Lucas Schmidt a fiesty defender who protects the ball.
"The chemistry Conor and I have together on and off the court is something you look for and don't hardly ever find, we've been best friends since we've been 2," Jace said. "It really helps to have him (Conor) on the floor with me, he's so good at Basketball it's impressive, he just understands the game, me I'm just a baseball player."
Not a lot of options
Perkins is a solid center, but offensively isn't polished enough to help out a lot. Perkins and Schmidt's play have stabled the frontcourt, allowing McCaffrey and Easley to do their work in the backcourt.
"These men have worked hard all year, and they all understand their role," Eagles coach Phillip Heppe said. "They're great. Everybody is playing together, players are stepping up when McCaffrey or Easley are out. We definantly have our go-to duo, but everybody on the floor and on the bench is contributing."
Perkins, in the middle of the Eagles celebration, said he fits right in the middle of how the team wants to operate.
Heppe describes Perkins as someone who keeps the rest of the team in check, he relays the messages that Heppe gives McCaffrey and Easley, who then give them to Perkins.
"He's super energized and someone we need in the locker room, even though he gets down on himself way too often, i'm glad McCaffrey steps in and helps him out," Lucas Schmidt said.
McCaffrey's Lead
Conor McCaffrey is still undetermined on his high school and plenty of schools are intrested. Lutheran, Plains, Springfield and Sacred Heart Griffin coaches have all been at Eagles games this season, scouting out Easley and McCaffrey, but Easley already says he's purely focused on baseball.
McCaffrey is a now 7 year veteran in the AAU basketball scene and brings so much knowledge to the schoolball level, he's played for the Predators Elite, and now plays for Coach Will Jenkins who claims "He's the best shooter and leader I've ever seen."
McCaffrey did however find himself ejected in just the 3rd game of the season his first ever ejection at any basketball level, AAU included. "That set the tone on our season, he came over, took off his jersey handed it too me and just walked to the locker room." Logan Allen said. "Heppe didn't seem to mind, Conor came out of the game with a bloody nose and cuts all up and down his arms, and he just decided he was done." Allen added.
He's the most confident, non-confident person I've ever met. He brings his AAU knowledge into our locker room and really helps Coach Heppe and the rest of us really develop our skills." Schmidt said.
"He's the leader of this team, there's no doubt, you don't see the coach of your team look to a player for answers, and Heppe looks to Conor it's the first time I've ever seen that, it's so cool to see something you don't see that often." Perkins said.
"We have McCaffrey and Easley, but for us to be successful it's going to have to be the whole team," Heppe said. "This is going to be a full team effort. There's no going back from where we are now."