All-District Boys Basketball Player turned Beyer into section finalist

Brian Perry was in middle school when he began to take stock of the Beyer High boys basketball program.

The 2016-17 All-District Boys Basketball Player of the Year found a team buried in losses, coming off consecutive one-win seasons.

“I remember Beyer going 1-26 or something like that,” Perry said.

Oh, the places they would go.

For the last three seasons, Perry, now a senior guard, has been an instrumental part of the program reboot.

In 2014, coach Kyle McKim brought three members of the Class of 2017 – Dylan Weltmer, Deangelo Dancer and Perry – with him to the varsity level.

Since then, the Patriots have developed into one of the premiere programs in the southern half of the Sac-Joaquin Section, winning 76 percent of their games with a run-and-fun style.

That brand of basketball has placed the Patriots on the podium at nearly every tournament or major competition.

Beyer began its season with a third consecutive Modesto City Schools Tournament title, and then rolled that momentum into a Modesto Metro Conference banner.

Not that they cared.

“We weren’t worried about the MMC title,” Perry said. “I don’t even think we talked about it. That wasn’t a goal. When we clinched it on the final day, I don’t even think we knew.”

With McKim in charge, Beyer has dared to look through a longer lens.

“The goal was to make a playoff run,” Perry said. “To go as far as we could. We always talked about the playoffs and taking that next step.”

“Leap” would be appropo.

The Patriots played for the program’s first Sac-Joaquin Section championship.

Beyer lost to Whitney in the Division II section final at the University of the Pacific, but not before stunning Burbank of Sacramento in a double overtime thriller in the semifinal.

“The way we played defense, we shut them down,” Perry said. “No one thought we had a shot to win that one. To get it was huge for us.”

With that victory, the Patriots clinched their first CIF State Regional Division II Tournament appearance. Beyer defeated Mountain View in its opener, earning a date with eventual state finalist Moreau Catholic of Hayward.

Seven years after it was beaten by nearly everyone on its schedule, Beyer played into the final month of the season, losing only to section and Northern California champions.

“It’s always better losing to a good team. We don’t want to come out and lose to average team,” Perry said. “We can look back and say we lost to a section champion and probably a state champion. That’s pretty cool.

“We beat a lot of good teams on the way to get there, too.”

Perry was the catalyst, setting single-season records with a refined offensive game. He averaged 20.9 points per game and set new school marks for points (691) and 3-pointers (98) in a season.

He shattered Ryan Carter’s 21-year-old scoring mark with 29 points against Burbank. Carter scored 613 points during the 1995-96 season.

For divisions I through IV, no one scored more points or made more 3s than Perry, according to statistics reported to MaxPreps.

“To have him up there with Ryan Carter is amazing. He’s a guy everybody looks up to at Beyer High. It’s a name everyone knows,” McKim said. “But I don’t think the scoring mark etch his name into school history – the wins do. Winning is his biggest mark.”

Perry worked hard to shed his reputation as a spot-up shooter.

The Patriots were in the weight room the day after a season-ending loss to Grant of Sacramento.

“We were disappointed the night before, so it was about having no excuses and getting back to work,” McKim said of the home playoff loss to lower-seeded Grant. “I think it says a lot about him; a lot of guys wouldn’t want to get back in the weight room or do extra work after a loss like that.”

Perry said the added strength helped him compete in the paint. He shot 105 more free throws this season, compared to his junior campaign (58), making 75 percent.

On two-point field goals, Perry was 138 of 276, making nearly three times as many as he attempted as a junior (55). All of those field goals were in the paint or at the rim, according to McKim.

“I knew I could shoot,” Perry said. “I just wanted to get better at getting to the rim and making plays in the paint.”

With a true sense of school history, Perry is proudest most of the program, not player he’s become.

“I feel like we’ve set a standard,” he said.

“I coached his brother and I can remember this little kid shooting NBA 3-pointers. You knew he would be a special player,” McKim said. “To see him become the person he has become, in terms of being a leader, that’s what has separated him.”

This story was originally published March 26, 2017 at 6:38 AM with the headline "All-District Boys Basketball Player turned Beyer into section finalist."