The Perkiomen Valley girls basketball team had not played a game since December 18 so naturally it was going to have some rust.

But there must have been a mistake. The Vikings added a B, scrambled it up and turned rust into burst.

Burst is exactly what Perkiomen Valley showed while running out to a 29-point halftime lead in a first half demolition of host Owen J Roberts that resulted in a 52-24 Pioneer Athletic Conference victory Thursday night.

The ‘B’ injected by Perk Valley may have been for ‘Beattie’ or ‘Boettinger’. Or maybe both.

Senior guard Jen Beattie and freshman forward Quinn Boettinger were an outside-inside force while combining for 33 points. Boettinger, a 6-2 forward who OJR had no match for, dominated the first quarter by scoring eight of her 15 points while Beattie took control in the second quarter by knocking down three 3-pointers as part of her game-high 18 points.

Those outputs were complemented by the Miley sisters, freshman Grace Miley scoring 11 while senior Emma Miley netted six. Collectively, the Vikings were great on defense, allowing OJR only nine first-half points.

For Owen J. Roberts (1-1 PAC, 6-3 overall), junior Gabbi Koury had a team-high 13 points while senior Avery White, the PAC’s top returning scorer, was held to six points.

A blowout was not the expected result in a matchup of two probable District 1 playoff qualifiers that entered with a combined 9-3 record. 

“We expected a tight matchup,” said Emma Miley. “We really focused on our defense in practice, and when we got here our offense just clicked. We played really good defense, we talked, and we really hustled a lot and worked as a team.

“I think everyone was really excited. We were all hyped up for our first game back.”

Perkiomen Valley (1-0 PAC, 4-1 overall) had not played since a Dec. 18 win over Unionville due primarily to COVID precautions through the Christmas period.

It was a night to savor for the Vikings, especially senior leaders Beattie, a three-year starter, and four-year starter Emma Miley. They’ve endured middling results their first three seasons – 8-14 their first two years, 8-7 a season ago – but look to have turned a corner with the infusion of a strong freshman class led by Boettinger and Grace Miley.

“Knowing we can be a contender and win most if not all of our games in the PAC this season is very exciting,” said Beattie. “Knowing we have people that can come off the bench and play the role they need to play … we know what we have and we like to use it.”

It wasn’t so long ago PV was known for its frontline advantage with standout 6-0 forwards Megan Jonassen and Taylor Hamm, Class of 2018 graduates now in their senior years at Fordham and University of the Sciences, respectively. That advantage in the post may have returned with the introduction of Boettinger.

“She’s brought so much. Having that figure in there for blocks, boxing out, defense, she helps so much,” Beattie said. “And on offense, OJR tried to collapse on her and it got us a lot of open looks. She helps open the entire floor.”

“And more than stats, when she gets a block everybody is so energized by it, we’re talking and confident feeling like we’re locking down the other team on defense,” said Emma Miley.

Meanwhile Grace Miley is averaging 10.5 points per game and brings a hard-nosed presence – literally. She wears a protective face shield after suffering a broken nose in AAU play and was in a scrap for nearly every loose ball.

It was all on display for Perk Valley from the jump while running out to a 12-1 lead on back-to-back buckets from Boettinger. Grace Miley’s 3 and following putback opened a 19-5 lead after a quarter. 

Beattie’s third 3 of the second quarter capped a stunning 24-0 run that gave Perk Valley a 36-5 lead before Koury finally stopped the bleeding with under two minutes until halftime.

“I liked the energy. We were always picking each other up,” Beattie said. “If someone fell we were picking them up, Quinn got an and-one and we all hyped her up. The energy transferred from one person to another and brought the whole team up.”

Perk Valley triggered a running clock when it opened a 45-14 lead on a Boettinger layup midway through the third period. To its credit, the Wildcats kept competing and forced PV into a number of turnovers in the second half, but didn’t have the offensive flow to recover in a night to forget.

“Pretty much nothing went right for us in the first half. When you’re not making any shots you can’t pressure in the way you want to. I think we had nine points in the first half, which is atrocious. We didn’t make any jumpers, make some bad decisions, missed some layups and it snowballs,” said OJR coach Jeremy Mellon. “I thought we did a much better job pressuring in the second half and you’re able to rebound and run and those things showed. We played more the way we’re capable of in the second half but it was too late.”

The Wildcats must regroup after having starting sophomore guard and second-leading scorer Asya Price suffer a season-ending knee injury last week. 

While OJR is having to reconfigure its identity on the fly, Perk Valley’s looks to be in good hands with the experience of its leaders blended with its influx of depth.

“I’m feeling very confident,” Beattie said. “The freshmen are a little nervous sometimes, but me and Emma try to bring them into their shoes. We know what they can do, we just have to have them believe it.”