Cougars mine bronze in Review tourney
You need a calculator to determine the amount of times in a basketball tournament that Centennial’s Reese Radobenko gets hammered on the way to the basket.
But the 5-foot-11 point guard never backs down and was up to his usual tricks Friday helping the Cougars defeat the Saint Michael Mustangs 67-62 in the third-place game at the 41st Annual Niagara Falls Review Basketball tournament.
At the end of each tournament, the 18-year-old is banged up and bruised.
“I played the whole Tribune tournament injured and the Brock tournament was the same way,” Radobenko said. “I get injured a lot.”
But that doesn’t stop him from continuing to attack.
“I am used to it and it’s nothing new,” he said. “I come out of every game bruised and bleeding, but I just know that’s what it takes to win.”
Saint Michael’s hung tough all game and had a late lead before Centennial surged ahead with some late three-pointers.
“That was our biggest fear that No. 13 (Radobenko) was going to be able to break down our defence and then find guys open for shots,” Saint Michael coach Keith Bomberry said. ‘Those guys hit those shots at the right time.”
Radobenko, who had 34 points in the win, was a thorn in the side of the Mustangs all game.
“He is a tremendous player and I told him after the game that he did everything in his power to lead his team in the game,” Bomberry said. “He found the open players and he was able to get to the basket.
“We talked about defending him differently and he got through everything. He’s a heckuva player.”
Centennial coach Craig Maltais is used to Radobenko’s heroics.
“Today, the most important thing he did for us was getting us going,” he said. “When we were in a slump, he pulled us out of it and he got the others guys fired up.
“The rebounding started coming, the passes started coming, the motion on offence started coming and the defence started coming. A lot of it starts with him.”
Maltais said Radobenko works hard at his craft.
“It’s the amount of time he is in the gym and leading by example; either on the basketball court or working out in the weight room,” he said. “On the court, he tells guys where they need to be and he lifts them up and makes them better players.”
Maltais also gave a shout out to the rest of his team, who made some clutch shots down the stretch and always play excellent defence.
“They stepped up today and helped out.”
Bomberry was delighted with his team’s play in the third-place game.
“I was very happy with how they came out and controlled the game until the last couple of minutes,” he said. “Hopefully we can move forward with that in the playoffs.”
Maltais enoyed coaching in Friday’s game.
“That was fun,” he said. “It was back and forth the whole way with a couple of swings for each team and different looks on offence and defence.”
Radobenko liked his team’s play at the Review tourney.
“The last game was a tough game against Saint Paul because they have a great team,” he said. “Even though we lost, we all stepped up and had a great game.”
“This game (versus Saint Michael) everyone stepped up and it was a lot of fun.”
STATS PACK
COUGARS 67 MUSTANGS 62
Niagara River Lions Players of the Game: Centennial’s Nick Yioldassis and Saint Michael’s Steven Cabrara.
For the Centennial Cougars: Reese Radobenko 34; Yioldassis 17; Ryan Stark 11; Jackson McNeil 3; Kyle Clarkson 2;
For the Saint Michael Mustangs: Haydon Spelier 20; Cabrara 14; Michael Sieber 11; Jomer Mateo 8; Josh Duncombe 3; Ben Lockhart 2; Thomas Pruyn 2.
CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS
MARAUDERS 58 MUSTANGS 49
The A.N, Marauders built quarter leads of 22-9, 36-22 and 53-34 on the way to a 58-49 victory over the Saint Michael Mustangs in the championship semifinals of the Review tournament.
Scoring for the Marauders were Cormac McMahon (24), Nick Murdaca (20), Noah Sharp (4), Caleb Kim (3), Kory Costantino (3), Matt Garrett (2) and Christian Kuriata (2).
Replying for the Mustangs were Hayden Spelier (11), Andy Xu (10), Michael Sieber (8), Thomas Pruyn (7), Steven Cabrara (7), Jomer Mateo (4) and Ben Lockhart (2).
PATRIOTS 58 COUGARS 55
The Saint Paul Patriots knocked off the two-time defending champion Centennial Cougars 58-55 in the Review championship semifinals.
Saint Paul roared out to a 24-10 first-quarter lead and hung on for the victory.
Scoring for the Patriots were John Graovaz (31), Will Schmahl (19), Jerwyn Tutanes (4), Jarrel Pappin (2) and Houssein Alayan (2).
Replying for the Cougars were Reese Radobenko (23), Nick Yioldassis (11), Ryan Stark (6), Jackson McNeil (6), Anthony Perna (4), Jack Halliday (3) and Tim Swick (2).
