By PAUL GOTHAM
BLOOMFIELD, N.Y. — What Tyler Cowie started, his teammates finished.
Despite being plagued by foul trouble, the 6-foot-4 Cowie paced the No. 1 seed Perry Yellowjackets to a 47-45 victory over No. 4 seed C.G. Finney Falcons in Section V Class C2 semi-final action, Monday night at Bloomfield High School.
The 6-fot-4 senior guard/forward scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the first half, but was at his best midway through the third quarter when he pushed the Perry advantage to double digits.
“Tyler is such a versatile player,” Perry catch Phil Wyant said. “He’s a special, special player. He’s got the ability to see the floor, to handle the ball, to pass it. He can score it in. He can score it out. He’s a great teammate.”
Tyler Cowie gets the hurt and harm. Perry leads C.G. Finney 11-8 pic.twitter.com/OJ0MHXXhvf
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 27, 2018
When the Yellowjackets’ seven-point halftime lead had disappeared, Cowie highlighted a 12-1 run with back-to-back 3-pointers.
“My teammates are really great with helping me get open,” Cowie said. “They set a lot of screens and are great off the ball as well, getting themselves open and creating off the dribble for themselves. That just helps me as well too.”
Sophomore Michael Hockey started the run with a pair of triples of his own. The second coming on one of Cowie’s four assists on the night.
“They’re running two, three guys at him, and he’s not going to force the shot,” Wyant said of Cowie. “He’s going to find the open guy ad make a few plays. I can’t say enough about him.”
Cowie followed with a catch-and-shoot three ball from the top of the key. On the next possession, he used a ball screen to get enough room for a second straight triple.
Perry led 43-32.
The Yellowjackets still led by six when Cowie picked up his fifth foul with 2:27 remaining in the game.
“Obviously when Tyler goes out, everybody else just stepped up and made plays,” Wyant added. “It was the defense. It was scrapping. It was the rebounds. It was just finding a way.”
Austin Croll converted a pair of free throws for two of his nine points in the closing moments.
“Austin got the ball in his hands,” Wyant said. “He stepped up.”
Finney’s Keegan O’corr collected four of his team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter when Finney outscored Perry, 12-4. Josh Taylor twice converted a pair of free throw attempts and cut the deficit to one at 46-45 with 1:20 remaining in the contest.
Cowie finished the night with 11 rebounds and three blocks.
Hockey had nine points and three assists. Challis Farmer grabbed six rebounds.
Max Harris and Joe Tomlinson scored nine apiece for Finney. Steve Folkerts and Xavier Smith both had four points.
Perry will meet No. 3 seed Lyons, Friday – the Yellowjackets third straight finals appearance.
“We got to put it all on the floor this year,” Cowie said. “It’s mine and Austin’s last one. It’s our third straight, but we’ve come up short both times. We know what to expect. We got to make it happen this year.”
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