Kendall Perpall picks up first two wins in debut as Pilots coach

Years of hard work for Kendall Perpall culminated last weekend, as Providence’s new women’s basketball head coach took to the court for his first league games as the team’s bench boss.

A Pilots alumnus, Perpall has been a mainstay as an assistant coach and has now taken the reigns of the school’s women’s team, continuing a system put in place by current athletic director Joel Coursey.

“I couldn’t ask for a better group to start with, with the returners that decided to come back,” Perpall said.

The team plays an aggressive, pressing, style for a full 40 minutes, made possible by complete line-up substitutions, as Providence use hockey-style lines in order to keep up the pace. Perpall said the system can speed up the opponent and force mistakes.

“I have these young recruits who came in, they’re naturally scrappy,” he said.

“It’s showing out there and making the system even better… They’re already progressing from when we first started. I can’t wait to see where they’ll be at at the end of the season.”

The Pilots opened up with a pair of wins against Canadian Mennonite University, but didn’t win many style points in the victories, letting big leads nearly slip away in both games Nov. 14/15.

The two teams also played an exhibition game earlier this season.

“It’s a discipline thing,” Perpall said on the less than stellar finishes from his group.

“A lot of (the players) are young, and I think it will progress a lot through the season. I’m glad we’ve got to have these three battles with CMU for these three games and be able to scrap out a win still… It’s good to get these kind of battles early on.”

The Blazers were able to stay within 10 points throughout the game Nov. 15 at the Niverville Resource and Rec Centre as the Pilots could never pull away with a game-clinching run. An offensive explosion turned a nine-point game into a one-point thriller, as Providence held on for the victory in their home opener.

“I’m glad we were able to build that early lead,” Perpall said.

“(We) just got some stops, finished it out, and got out of there.”

Providence basketball hits the road this week, playing games in Iowa for their National Christian Colleges Athletic Association and Northern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule.

Pilots basketball will next be in action in Niverville Dec. 6 for a match-up with St Boniface.