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Chemainus Cougars give DCS a run with inspired play

Best all-around effort only hampered by a letdown late in the second quarter
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Jack Miller of the Chemainus Cougars scoops the ball up on the run.

Consistency remains a stumbling block for the Chemainus Secondary Cougars in their bid to reach the Island senior boys single-A high school basketball playdowns.

Otherwise, the Cougars have shown they’ve come a long way, particularly during a tough 71-55 loss to the Duncan Christian School Chargers last Wednesday in Duncan.

“As our scoring comes, we’re just becoming more of a threat,” said Cougars’ coach Kyle Peruniak.

The Cougars rebounded from a slow start to take a 15-14 lead after the first quarter. They came out like gangbusters during the early part of the second quarter to open up a whopping 26-17 lead.

But, just when things were looking good, DCS went on a 14-0 run and regained a 31-26 advantage at halftime. The Cougars couldn’t maintain the execution that made them successful earlier in the quarter and started to surrender far too many turnovers. DCS was only happy to capitalize.

DCS outscored Chemainus 22-15 in the third quarter and 18-14 in the fourth, but it was still an impressive overall effort from the Cougars, especially playing on the Chargers’ home floor.

“I think we shocked them a bit,” noted Peruniak. “Our defence in the first half was outstanding.

“We penetrated the paint well. It was our best game by far.”

Unfortunately, Alex Loewe had to sit down for the last three minutes of the first half with three fouls. He was on fire with 12 points to that stage and eventually finished with 21 after another great run of nine more points in the fourth quarter.

But Peruniak didn’t see having to take Loewe out of the lineup for that short stretch as any reason for the Cougars to collapse. They simply were guilty of telegraphing their passes and DCS made a quick transition to score.

“They made some adjustments on their defence,” offered Peruniak. “They started pressing the ball a little more.”

It’s all part of the process of building a contender and Chemainus only needs to look back to the previous week’s 99-56 loss to DCS to realize the huge steps it’s made.

“Other than putting the ball in the basket, I think the guys got great looks,” Peruniak indicated.

Patrick Wang scored 16 points in a supporting role to Loewe’s offense while Will Ngenda and Jack Miller chipped in with six apiece, Darius Thomas had four and Josh Desrochers added a bucket. Miller hit a confident three in the second quarter that showed some of the other players are starting to emerge.

Peruniak was pleased to see the team’s response, considering pre-game preparations didn’t go so well at times.

“We had a flat practice the day before on the Tuesday,” he said. “We had a good talk at the end of practice and what we had to do. They came out firing.”

Chemainus is playing a challenge game Friday at Port Alberni Secondary for a final berth into the Island playdowns being held in Ucluelet Feb. 22-24. They need to win to make it.

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Duncan Christian’s Pierson A., above, blurs the vision of Patrick Wang of Chemainus, as he tries to move the ball up the floor. Left, Alex Loewe of Chemainus and Elvis A. grab the ball at the same time. (Photos by Don Bodger)
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Will Ngenda finds himself surrounded by the entire DCS team on the floor without any other Chemainus Cougars in sight during a senior boys basketball game in Duncan.


Don Bodger

About the Author: Don Bodger

I've been a part of the newspaper industry since 1980 when I began on a part-time basis covering sports for the Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle.
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