“Road wins are a big thing to us,” Perkins said. “Coming into Ross and winning is a big one. It’s hard to win here.”
Monroe improved to 8-1 overall and 4-0 in the SWBL Southwestern, extending its winning streak to five games and its run against Ross to three straight victories. The Rams, playing for the first time in 13 days, slipped to 2-5 overall and 2-2 in league play.
Monroe built a 17-11 advantage after one quarter and took a 25-18 lead into halftime. The Hornets stretched the margin to nine late in the third quarter, going up 33-24, before Ross made its push.
Bryce Fulmer’s layup while being fouled trimmed the deficit to 33-30 with 7:50 remaining, but Monroe never relinquished the lead and closed it out at the free-throw line.
“It was good to keep the lead and never give it up,” Monroe coach Casey Popplewell said. “When it got 33-30, I was thinking, do I call timeout? Do I need to do something? But our kids played through it, and that’s good.”
Perkins carried the scoring load on a night when Monroe’s offense was uneven, particularly in the half court. Sophomore Colt Howard — a SWBL top five leading scorer along with Perkins — finished with nine points.
“We didn’t get much out of half-court offense,” Popplewell said. “That’s going to happen sometimes. We scout each other. We know what our tendencies are, especially in the league. But we stayed together.
“When you only give up 37, and if you’re a coach, you better find a way to get 38. And we got enough tonight.”
Popplewell credited Perkins’ toughness in navigating Ross’ physical defense.
“I thought Ty was really tough,” Popplewell said. “He was really tough with the ball and good at seeing things, and that was good to see.”
Junior Ethan Fuersich and freshman Ryan Smith each scored 10 points to lead Ross, which celebrated Youth Night and recognized its 2026 Athletic Hall of Fame class in front of a lively crowd.
“I told them after the game, I don’t know if we could have played any harder than we did tonight,” Ross coach David Lane said. “I thought defensively we did a great job, locking in on the scout report and limiting what they wanted to do.”
Lane pointed to Monroe’s top scorers and felt his team largely held its ground.
“I know Perkins had 20, and a lot of those came at the free-throw line, but Howard had nine, and he’s averaging almost 20, 21 points,” Lane said. “So I thought we did a good job there.”
Ross’ effort never wavered, but missed opportunities and late turnovers proved costly.
“We were 6-for-13 from the free-throw line in a four-point game,” Lane said. “That stings.
“We made one 3. Right now, we’re not able to stretch the floor, so we’ve got to have more consistent shooting and have some guys knock down shots with confidence.”
Still, Lane came away encouraged by his team’s resolve after the long layoff.
“The effort has to be the standard,” Lane said. “It’s got to be there every night, and I thought tonight it was.
“I felt bad for them because I thought we played hard enough to win that game,” Lane added. “You’ve got to give them credit — they made some winning plays down the stretch.”
Perkins said Monroe’s conditioning and energy made the difference late.
“You could see that Ross wasn’t going to go away, but the last two minutes in the fourth quarter they were starting to get tired and you could tell,” Perkins said. “We just kept going because we’re very conditioned this year.”
“It’s good to be 8-1. Long way to go,” Popplewell chimed in. “The season’s not even half over. We’ve got a bunch of good ones. I think our kids bought into what we’re trying to do. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be playing hard defensively, giving up 37.”
Ross, meanwhile, looks to build on the performance despite the loss.
“As frustrating as the loss is, I’m really proud of our guys for how hard they played,” Lane said. “We’ve got some things to build on. It’s a long season.”
Both teams return to action Tuesday. Monroe hosts Harrison, while Ross welcomes Preble Shawnee.
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