Injury to Perry alters Foothill’s plans

Adam Candee

Thursday, Jan. 2, 2003 | 9:05 a.m.

Califonia Dreamin' quickly turned into So-Cal Nightmares for the Foothill basketball team last weekend.

Star swingman Harvey Perry Jr. broke his shooting wrist at the San Diego Nike Classic and will spend the next six to eight weeks on the sidelines, dealing a huge setback to the up-and-coming Falcons.

Perry went up to block a shot in an early-round game and attempted to break his fall with his hand. Instead, he broke the wrist and changed the outlook of Foothill's season.

Off to a hot start behind the hot hand of Perry, Foothill now stares down a major challenge. Most of the scoring for Foothill originated through Perry, either by the 6-foot-4 junior creating his own shot or drawing attention from the defense.

Foothill coach Kevin Soares said that no one player will be able to make up for the loss of Perry, but his rotation as a whole will need to compensate for his absence.

"It gives a couple of players the opportunity to step up and contribute in different ways," Soares said.

Soares said that if the injury heals quickly, the Falcons could have Perry back in the fold by the final week of the regular season. In the meantime, Foothill will have to rely on speedy junior point guard Jamaal Smith to create more chances within the offense.

In the average Southeast Division, the Falcons should still have little trouble grabbing one of the four Sunrise Region tournament berths, but Soares' team had aspirations of challenging Green Valley for the division title.

"He got us more offensive opportunities," Soares said.

Perry spent last season with the Gators, but attended Foothill in the previous year. Rumors suggest that recruiting attention from some of the bigger names in college basketball is already under way.

The 6-4 southpaw swingman, a transfer from Centennial, showed extremely well against both Oak Hill Academy (Va.) and Green Valley. In the latter Monday game, his 19 points and seven rebounds keyed the Cheyenne victory.

"Fuller started off slow, but in the second half, he really turned it around," Cheyenne coach Larry Johnson said Monday.

Fuller, a second-team Sun All-State pick as a junior with the Bulldogs, does a little bit of everything and does it with intelligence. Able to hit the long jumper and get inside to grab rebounds, Fuller is an offensive factor and his defensive energy is also key to the Desert Shields' 14-1 start.

"He's a heck of a player," Green Valley coach Jim Allen said.

On a Cheyenne team that could use a dose of consistency, Fuller certainly is a good model from which to build.