Cougars rally past Lynx in overtime
Nate Perna has become Mr. Clutch for the Centennial Cougars this week.
Just 24 hours after hitting three straight three-point shots in the final minutes in a win over the E.L. Crossley Cyclone, the 17-year-old, Grade 12 student was at it again Friday.
Perna nailed a dramatic game-tying three-pointer with less than a second remaining to send the game into overtime as the Cougars rallied past the St. Jean-de-Brebeuf Lynx 51-49 in a consolation round semifinal game Friday at the 68th Annual Welland Tribune Basketball Tournament.
Perna’s basket tied the score at 40-40.
“It felt amazing,” Perna said. “We ran the play; we did everything perfectly and executed.”
Perna called for the ball, made a quick move on a defender, then drained a perfect shot.
“We had the double screen set up. The guy was on me to I had to double pump,” he said.
Perna is enjoying being the Cougars go-to man.
“It’s been incredible,” she said. “It’s the best feeling in the world so far. I love it. It’s been amazing.”
The Cougars got off to another slow start before slowly working their way back into the game, trailing 32-25 after three quarters.
That set the stage for a wild fourth quarter that saw the Cougars finally tie the game on Perna’s bucket.
“It was tiring,” Perna said. “It was a fight, same as last game. We were down and we climbed all the way back. This game was a bit more scrappy, but we fought through it.”
Centennial coach Reese Radobenko tipped his cap to his squad.
“It’s all the kids,” Radobenko said. “We can draw up all the plays we want but at the end of the day, it all comes down to them and their effort and their desire to win.
“The first half these last two games we got down but we called them out at halftime to either roll over and give them the win or we can fight back and that was the result.”
The Lynx rallied back in overtime and had a chance to tie the game with 1.3 seconds remaining, but missed both shots.
Lynx coach Eric Labonte said the loss could be a good learning experience for his club.
“Sometimes they need to adjust. We were being physical and trying to create some turnovers and they were calling a lot of bumps from the chest and we didn’t adjust. We just kept playing that way and it got us in foul trouble and we lost a couple of key players and that did hurt.
“As long as we learn. This was an excellent game. It was a barn burner and if we can come out of here and think through it, it’s not like it’s a season-ending game.”
The Cougars now face the Lakeshore Catholic Gators Friday at 5:30 for the consolation title.
“They’re really aggressive and they have a lot of skilled players,” Radobenko said. “It’s never easy whoever you’re playing when you get in a hole like that, so we’re going to emphasize coming out with intensity right away.”
STATS PACK
Cougars 51 Lynx 49 OT
Policella Homes Players of the Game: Centennial’s Callum Brown and Jean Vanier’s Enzo Aka.
Centennial Cougars: Nate Perna 18; Callum Brown 12; Marco Reyes 6; Jaden Davis 6; Jesse Opufo 4; Noah Wellard 4; Kelsan Stayzer 1.
St. Jean-de-Brebeuf Lynx: Enzo Aka 12; Zoe Toge 10; Taiten Stifter 7; Princeley Toge 4; Musimwa Toge 4; Stephane Tambekou 4; Jonathon Barrett 3; Jayden Brisebois 2; Mitchell Morden 2; Ronan Stark 1.
Up next: The Cougars advances to the consolation final versus Lakeshore Catholic Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Notre Dame.
Tournament admission: Cash-only admission for the games on Friday and Saturday is $5 for adults and $3 for students.
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