Eagles rally past Cougars

Kabeer Phull saved his best for last Monday.

The 6-foot-2 forward netted 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter to power the visiting Grimsby Eagles senior boys basketball team to a 62-47 victory over the Centennial Cougars in Niagara Region High School Athletic Association Zone 3 action.

“We were down at halftime but we played a lot of good defence. And the coach gave me the ball and I just went with it,” the 16-year-old Grimsby resident said.

Phull used to play basketball in a park in his neighbourhood before joining the Pelham Panthers travel program.

“I am hoping to pursue my dream and play at a high level,” he said.

Phull feels he has made great strides in his game.

“I have improved a lot with my defence and shooting.”

He was happy to be back on the floor and he was ready for the games to restart.

“I worked out a lot on my own on my cardio,” he said.

Grimsby coach Mike Hube likes what Phull brings to the court

“He’s a fantastic player. He is a great three-point shooter and he’s great at getting to the rim. I couldn’t be happier with his effort.”

Hube was glad to be back on the floor with his team.

“It was kind of nerve-wracking going through a break of a month and a half without playing basketball and I was nervous to see where these guys were at but it is good to know that even through the break they were keeping up with their stamina,” he said. “We were able to run some plays and do some stuff and I am very proud of them. They did a fantastic job.”

The Eagles used their size to wear down the Cougars.

“Our size helped tremendously, especially on defence. They had a bunch of play on the inside and we had our hands up straight and completely dominated them.”

After a pair of home losses to open the season, Grimsby improved to 1-2 with the victory.

Cougars coach Craig Maltais saw his team get out to an early lead before Grimsby roared back to tie the game 15-15 at the end of the first quarter. Centennial then led 24-21 at the half before getting outscored 41-23 in the second half. The Eagles blew open the game with a 12-0 run to start the final quarter.

“They played well in the second half and they took advantage of their size and strength and got to the rim,” he said. “They finished really well.”

Centennial looked exactly like a team that hadn’t played in more than two months because of the latest pandemic pause.

“The month off was tough, not being able to get the reps, the cardio and stuff like that. It is tough getting back into game shape on such short notice. We didn’t have full practices until a couple of days ago,” Maltais said. “It was compounded because we were a little bit shorthanded tonight but I think we played OK in the first half.”

Regardless of the result, his team was happy to be back on the floor.

“It goes from nothing and then everything is back,” Maltais said. “We want to be out here and we have been waiting for it. I was hoping we would be able to get off to a little better start but at the end of the day it is great to be back on the floor and to get all of our games rescheduled.”

The Cougars fell to 1-3 with the loss. Its two previous setbacks were against powerhouses Crossley and Churchill.

STATS PACK

Eagles 62 Cougars 47

Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Grimsby’s Kabeer Phull with 15 points, including 11 in the final quarter.

For the Grimsby Eagles: Phull 15; Zander Culic 15; Tyler Foster 9; Ryland Mullings 6; Shiv Ramdial 4; Cameron Ferns 3; Yash Chahal 2; eight points not accounted for on game sheet.

For the Centennial Cougars: Cam Larmond 21; Carter Williams 8; Gary Nelder 8; Kevin Zhang 5; Max McNeil 3; Jack Munn 2.