Until this season, Lerina Johnson was the one scoreboard watching. She would keep an eye on the other badminton teams around Arizona and relay the news to her players at Gilbert Perry.

But now, her players are the first to reach out with any badminton reports around the Valley. For over a decade, Johnson has been the one single-handedly fostering a culture. This season, her program has taken off.

Now, Perry badminton is on the precipice of arrival. And they’re flirting with something truly perfect.

With just two games left in the regular season, the Pumas hold an unblemished 13-0 record. More than that, they’ve won each of their games by a perfect score of 9-0 — something no team in Arizona has ever done.

A badminton game consists of three doubles matches and six singles matches, meaning a team can earn a maximum of nine points if they win every match. That’s exactly what Perry has done — in every game.

“I don’t think there’s been a team that has done that for 13 games,” Johnson said. “I tried to look back and didn’t see anyone.”

Not only would it be the first for an Arizona team, but there’s no record of any high school badminton team in the country with a completely perfect season, according to USA Badminton.

“You never expect to 9-0 everyone, but it’s happened,” Johnson said. “Every week we’re looking better and better. The girls have worked hard and they’re definitely seeing the benefit of it.”

The two games left on Perry’s schedule might be the most difficult of the season. They have a home date with Phoenix Xavier Prep on Oct. 3, a rematch of last year’s state championship which the Pumas lost. Xavier (10-1) has won four straight state titles, including two over Perry (2016, 2014). The final bout is with Chandler Hamilton on Oct. 4.

“We’ve taken notes on everyone that should have returned from last year, who played and what the score was,” Johnson said. “We’ve been doing our homework. We have that confidence level, but the girls remain humble.”

And while an undefeated campaign with an unblemished scoresheet is on their minds, the players have more lofty goals in mind for this season. Often looked down on by their peers, Perry badminton wants to make a statement.

‘Not a real sport’

The Pumas feel they are the deepest badminton team in the state. On any given day, Johnson is confident any one of her top six can perform at a high level.

According to the players, that’s a product of competitive practices. Every Monday, each player in the top six has to play for their position. If they lose — they move down, and the winner moves up.

This kind of internal competition between student-athletes doesn’t just apply to badminton. It burns at Perry like a wildfire. Since the school opened in 2007, no athletic team has ever won a state championship — and all the teams there are vying to be the first.

Seniors Jillian Lagasca and Megan Crow have been playing badminton since their freshman years and have seen the competitiveness between the programs — mainly because they are both multi-sport athletes at Perry.

There are no travel or club teams for badminton, so virtually all players come from other sports with no competitive experience in badminton. Take Lagasca, a softball player who was named All-Arizona in badminton last season by azcentral sports. She had never even played the sport until stumbling upon one of Johnson’s booths at a high school showcase as an eighth grader. Now, she’s one of the best players in the state.

“I always say (coach Johnson) tricked me into playing,” Lagasca said.

And she knows first-hand how bad every team wants to be the first state champion.

“Even for softball we wanted to be the first state championship,” Lagasca said. “It motivates us because we have a really good shot. Our coach would be proud … everyone who supports us will be proud.”

The badminton team does have a really good shot. Not only are they the No. 1 ranked team in Division I, according to AZPreps365, but their postseason will be the first held in the fall season. So, even if Perry’s undefeated and top-ranked football team were to win a state title, badminton could still be first in the rafters.

“I think even if it’s just for that short a time, it would get other sports to show that respect,” Crow said. “Badminton being able to have the spotlight, that would be awesome for us … We’re all in this together, seeing Perry grow as a school.”

But respect has been hard to come by — especially from their peers at Perry. Some players said other athletes at the school had sent out tweets saying they hoped the badminton team would not win a state title.

“I think it would show something for us (to 9-0 every game),” Crow said. “That would be like the Perry football team not having anyone score on them for a whole season. Each and every one of us are undefeated.”

The stigma that badminton is ‘not a real sport,’ is present at other schools, too. It’s something that Perry has dealt with by holding fundraisers with other sports, as well as inviting students and faculty to challenge the badminton team.

During one event with the baseball team, the coaching staff brought in a radar gun that clocked one of Lagasca’s hits at 129 mph. She made some believers that day.

“She hits it so hard … sometimes it’s not even fun to play her,” Crow said. “They leave welts.”

Building the dream

When Johnson started the badminton program over a decade ago, she never imagined a culture like this. The Pumas routinely engage in team-building activities and hold bonding sessions where players are encouraged to work out any personal issues with one another.

“We’re doing more team meetings,” Johnson said. “We’ll talk about what’s bothering you and we’ll get together and help each other. Just trying to make everything that we have control of work in our favor.”

The team prides itself on its “scrap attack,” something Lagasca calls “street badminton.” It’s an unorthodox playing style and something the Pumas have rallied behind.

The result is a close-knit group and a strong support system. When Perry held their senior night last week, the anticipation her players showed for the coming weeks put a smile on Johnson’s face.

“You listen to their excitement, you get chills,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to take it one day at a time, but on the other hand we can’t wait to see how it’s going to end.”

They couldn’t be more excited about their game vs. Xavier, whom Perry deems as a rival. Even if the 9-0 streak doesn’t make it past the defending champions, the Pumas are just hoping for a win.

“I think we’re holding our breath,” Crow said. “We go into every match excited to show teams what Perry badminton is all about. But especially with Xavier there’s so much history there, we’re nervous we can’t beat them 9-0 but a win’s a win.”

After Perry wraps up the regular season on Oct. 4, they will have a little over a week to rest until the state individual tournament — which does not count toward the team’s overall record. Immediately following that, the top 12 teams in Arizona will begin the team tournament to determine a state champion.

Players feel there’s so much on the line for Perry badminton — an undefeated record, a completely perfect season, revenge vs. Xavier, the reputation of the sport, winning a title and making a statement as the first state champion in school history.

No pressure.

“That would mean everything,” Crow said. “It would be so incredible to have that, all the work and effort we’ve put into this … to show the people who aren’t supportive that we are Perry badminton and do have a place at Perry.

“It would be cool to finally beat Xavier and make a name for ourselves. And knowing that we would go down in Perry history as Perry’s first state champions,” she said. “It’s our shot, badminton’s last shot.”

They’ve put themselves in position to do it. Now, they just have to make their statement.

“This moment in time, this is Perry badminton’s time to do it,” Crow said. “I don’t think anything could be more perfect.”

Richard Morin can be reached by email at rmorin@arizonarepublic.com and by phone at 480-316-2493. Watch the “Cover 2” high school football show with Morin and Obert, every Wednesday at 7 p.m. on the azcentral sports Facebook page. Follow him on Twitter @BigRickMorin.