Chemainus Secondary School Cougars closed out the Island single-A senior boys basketball championships in Ucluelet with a victory to place seventh in the eight-team event.
The Cougars defeated Cedar 55-49 to avenge a loss from earlier in the season and “really finish in a way we’ve been trying to play all year,” according to coach Kyle Peruniak.
The evolution of the team in its return to senior basketball bodes well for next season and down the road, as the program continues to develop.
“I think we’ve got some good young kids coming up,” noted Peruniak.
The opening game of the tournament Thursday against host Ucluelet turned into a bit of a rout, with the top-ranked school beating the Cougars 92-49.
“We kind of fell apart in the second quarter,” observed Peruniak. We kind of gave up.
“I think the guys were a little disappointed. They were really pumped up going into the tournament.”
The second game for the Cougars against Gold River Friday was there for the taking, with the teams tied 37-37 at halftime.
“We just had another bad third quarter, beginning of the fourth quarter,” Peruniak noted.
Gold River vaulted into a 10-point lead and ended up taking it 76-61.
Chemainus continued to struggle to find its scoring touch, other than Alex Loewe, who racked up 28 points.
“That was super disappointing,” Peruniak indicated. “That gave us our last shot at going to provincials.”
An injury to Patrick Wang late in the second quarter derailed Chemainus’ bid for a victory.
“I think that was the big deciding factor,” conceded Peruniak. “He’s really strong at attacking the hoop.”
Loewe stepped up with 33 points against Cedar Saturday to finish with an average of 27 for the tournament. Nolan Baker played a big defensive game and Darius Thomas had a strong third quarter before fouling out.
Baker was the player of the game for Chemainus in the opener, Loewe in the second game and Thomas in the third game.
“Super proud of the guys, they all worked hard,” Peruniak summed up.