Up 46-45 and on defense, Perry stole the ball in the key then, with the ball in his hands and clock under 30 seconds, the USC commit hit a jumper to give the Wolverines a 48-45 lead.
"There really was no mindset," Perry said. "In the last minute and a half, the switch kind of clicked that I didn't want to lose. It wasn't just me, it was my entire team. I was just very fortunate down the line that the ball was in my hands and I had to go make a play."
Perry was big all night, finishing with 17 points, four rebounds and two blocks along with the steal and the jumper at the end.
"It was no shock to me, I was just super happy he hit it," said Harvard-Westlake four-star junior
Nikolas Khamenia.
The game went back and forth all night with several fourth-quarter lead changes.
"It was a heavyweight bout with knockout punch after knockout punch," Harvard-Westlake head coach David Rebibo said. "The team with the most resolve would win and I'm glad it was us."
Harvard-Westlake jumped out to a 21-11 lead as four-star senior Harvard pledge
Robert Hinton hit several shots. He finished with a team-high 19 points.
The game was back-and-forth throughout the second half as Salesian sophomore
Elias Obenyah kept hitting big shots to regain the lead. Obenyah went 7 of 9 shooting with 14 points.
"We are a second-half team, we've been a second-half team all year," Salesian head coach Bill Mellis said. "We took the lead, it was back and forth and that game goes either way at the end."
Salesian led 45-44 with 1:17 left before Perry scored to give the Wolverines a 46-45 advantage. Perry was playing with four fouls and moments earlier had risked fouling out to block a shot in the key.
No. 6 Harvard-Westlake defeated No. 14 Salesian College Prep 50-45 Saturday in the CIF Open Division championship. (Photo: David Steutel)
On the next possession, he stole the ball to allow the Wolverines to run the clock down to 25 seconds knocking down the jumper to take a three-point lead.
"Crunch time they turned the ball over two possessions in a row and we converted on two plays," Rebido said. "We won the rebounding battle, which we knew was going to be a big deal. I think both teams would love to have some possessions back. In a championship game, all bets are off and you have to grind out each possession."
Perry has come up with key plays all postseason. In the Southern California Regional semifinal win over Carlsbad, he had 42 points. Then, in the SoCal final against No. 13 Roosevelt he scored 28 in the 63-59 victory.
It's the second year in a row he has been the ace of the Wolverines state championship as he scored 16 points, dished out 10 assists and pulled down eight rebounds last year.
