Perry withstands Sabien Cain's barrage of 3s, pulls out Open thriller over Millennium

Sabien Cain lined up from beyond the arc. Bang. Another and another. It was raining 3s in the first half from the Millennium sharpshooter from Indiana.

But, eventually, the senior guard went quiet, and Gilbert Perry asserted itself in the end to defeat Goodyear Millennium 71-67 for its second straight Open Division boys high school basketball state title Saturday night at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

It was top-seed Perry's third straight title, including the one captured in 6A two years ago before the Arizona Interscholastic Association turned to a 32-team Open Division tournament that included the top teams from 6A, 5A and 4A.

Millennium (25-6) was the best out of 5A and Perry (25-6) the best in 6A.

And, for a while, it looked like Millennium would run away with it during a flurry of Cain 3s.

Cain made 7 of 11 3-pointers in the first half, when he had 25 points, and the Tigers led by as much as 16 points.

Role players come through for Perry

But after Cain missed two straight 3s, Perry started to chip away mainly with role players surrounding 6-foot-8 junior Koa Peat.

Peat had an off shooting first half, making just 3 of 10 shots. But he had eight rebounds in the half and eventually had 21 points on 9 of 20 shooting, grabbed 13 rebounds and handed out four assists.

Cain was held to eight points in the second half and finished with 33 on 10 of 17 shooting, including 8 of 13 3s.

"It means the world," Peat said about securing the title, which is his third in three years as a varsity starter. "Me and my team, we've been working since June. To come here, everybody doubting us. We fought through adversity. I'm proud of my guys coming here and showing we're still the best team in Arizona."

This was the first loss against an Arizona team this season for Millennium, the sixth seed.

Leading 41-32 at the break, Millennium managed just five points in the third quarter when Perry started to grind on the Tigers in the paint. Don Tinley, a football running back, made plays on defense that turned into points. He finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.

The Pumas took a 47-46 lead entering the final quarter with Barron Silsby hitting a big 3 with 1:08 left in the quarter.

D'Andre Harrison knocked down a 3 for Perry to start the fourth, then, after Kingston Tosi converted a three-point play for the Tigers, Peat scored on a short jumper to make it 52-49.

Harrison's drive with 4:44 to play gave Perry a 57-53 lead. Cain then hit his first 3 of the second half, from about 28 feet, to get the Tigers within one.

With Tosi fouled out, Cain hit another big shot to cut it to 65-63 with 32 seconds left.

Big inbounds play turns game

Then came the biggest play of the night. With 20 seconds left, and Perry, leading by two, inbounding from the midcourt sideline, Millennium thought the ball was going to Peat. But coach Sam Duane Jr., had another idea after calling time out.

"We were lined up there, and we were gonna change it, and I saw his defender flip to the other side," Duane said. "I said, 'Barron go. And I said, 'Dre, go the other way.' We flipped them right before we inbounded. And Barron got the layup.

"When the defender flipped to the other side, they didn't have anybody guarding the basket. I said, 'Barron, go.' "

Don Tinsley hit Silsby darting towards the basket with a one-hop bounce pass that he scores on a breakaway that gave Perry a two-possession lead. But Millennium's Cameron Holmes wasn't done. He nailed a 3 with eight seconds left. He was 1 of 8 in the first half, but finished strong with 15 points, seven assists, three blocks,

Silsby hit two free throws after being fouled on the inbounds to make it 69-66.

Cain then got fouled with three seconds to play. All he could do was make the first free throw and purposely miss the second. He did that. But his second attempt was a violation because he banked it hard off the glass right back to him. He put it in but it was waved off.

And NoNo Brown iced it with two more free throws.

"We just didn't play defense and we didn't rebound," Cain said. "I thought I played good. It just wasn't enough."

Peat, who played the final 5:45 with four fouls, never forced the action the rest of the way and let his teammates make plays. He had a great pass inside pass to Harrison with 1:29 left that gave Perry a 63-59 lead.

Peat's jumper with 41 seconds left made it 65-61.

"Those are my guys," Peat said. "I don't think I played the best game personally. But they picked me up. For everybody to say that this is a one-man army, it's not."

Duane tried all kinds of combinations on Cain. When he started dialing up 3s, Duane was amazed.

"I told our guys at halftime, 'We've been in this boat,' " Duane said. "At Basha, we were down 17. I didn't think they could shoot the ball that well.

"They made 7 out of 18 (3s) in the first half. I said, 'If they continue that, we'll shake their hands.'

"We hit a bucket late to end the second half. We got it to a three-possession game. If we could string some stops together, we'll be fine. We kept believing in us."

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Perry pulls out Open thriller for third straight state title