SULLIVAN TWP. — Wild, intense, physical and an oh-so-close miracle comeback … otherwise, it was a standard Buckeye-Black River boys basketball game.
Black River’s Allan Benson dribbles the ball to the basket around Buckeye defender Mikey Novick during the second quarter. AARON JOSEFCZYK/GAZETTE
The Bucks did all they could to grab defeat from the jaws of victory Friday against the never-say-die Pirates, but seniors Liam Murray and Nick Wills refused to lose.
Final score: Buckeye 64, Black River 57 after the Pirates (6-15, 4-11) cut a 17-point deficit to one in the Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division showdown.
“I told myself, ‘I don’t want to lose to Black River,’ honestly,” Wills said. “Not that there’s anything wrong with Black River, but it’s a rivalry. I don’t want to lose to them.”
The Bucks (14-5, 11-4) led 41-24 early in the third quarter before nearly imploding. They led just 44-38 heading into the fourth, and it would have been closer had Black River star Allan Benson (22 points, 3 assists, 7 steals) not missed a driving layup in the waning seconds.
The night got even crazier when Benson and Zach Hawley had three consecutive steals for layups that made the score 52-51 with 1:55 left, but Wills answered with consecutive putbacks to push the lead back to five.
Bulldozing Pirates post Curtis Roupe then missed a contested power layup, allowing Murray (13 points, 8 rebounds), Nathan Polidori (team-high 16 points), Joey Bartinelli (10) and Mikey Novick (3 assists) to make 8-of-8 free throws in the final minute.
Bucks coach Tom Harrington could finally exhale.
“We’re (11-3) in games decided by 10 points or closer,” Murray said. “We’ve been there before, so I think that’s why we came out victorious. We know what to do. Yeah, we were careless with the ball, but we didn’t really panic.”
With Benson and Roupe combining for 27 of the Pirates’ 35 second-half points and Buckeye (11 second-half turnovers) passing carelessly against aggressive 2-1-2 and 1-2-2 defenses, someone needed to step up and stop the bleeding.
Murray and Wills obliged.
The power forward/center duo pumped in 20 second-half points, including eight by Wills in the fourth quarter. Murray drilled a clutch 3-pointer from the corner to put his team up 49-42 with 5:07 left, while Wills’ second straight putback came off a missed contested layup by Polidori, who had just gotten a key steal with Buckeye up 54-51.
Murray and Wills scored 18 of the Bucks’ first 22 points in the second half.
“We executed down the stretch — something with didn’t do (in an overtime loss Tuesday) at Keystone,” Wills said. “That was big.”
The first half ended with the game appearing all but over, mainly because sixth man Polidori showed the form that made him a first-team All-Gazette selection a year ago.
The Baldwin Wallace football recruit, finally close to 100 percent after missing 10 games with sprained ankles, scored eight straight Buckeye points after Benson connected for his first bucket at the 5:37 mark of second quarter. Polidori’s splurge gave the Bucks a 32-20 lead, and he added another driving score to keep the spread at 12 entering recess.
Buckeye, which owned a 31-19 rebounding edge, then went on a 7-2 run to begin the third quarter, putting its advantage near blowout status before Roupe (12 second-half points) and Benson (14, 12 in fourth) went off.
“When (Polidori’s) healthy, he’s the best player in the conference,” Wills said. “I’ll say that to anybody. I’ll say that to (reigning PAC Player of the Year and Columbia forward David) Delahunty’s face. (Polidori) is very good. When he’s healthy, we feed of that when he hits a big shot. It’s fun to play with him.”
Black River accepted the moral victory knowing it will get six days to prepare for another shot at Buckeye. The first scheduled meeting, on Jan. 12, was postponed due to snow.
The Pirates fell to 4-6 in games decided by single digits, but progress is progress for coach Josh Calame’s program, which hadn’t played in that many close games in six years.
“In the past years, we haven’t had the intensity and effort to come back from being down in the fourth quarter,” Benson said. “We’d be all lethargic and wouldn’t want to come back. This year is different. We’ve got a good group of guys and we’re determined to do some good things.”
Notes
- Before the playing of the national anthem, Black River scorekeeper Irene Gehring was presented a plaque for 33 years of service. The longtime Spencer resident, who is “retiring” after the season, received a standing ovation.
- Buckeye won the junior varsity game 55-28 behind Adam Fauver (16 points, 9 rebounds), Spencer Imes (12, 11, 3 assists) and Cameron Imes (10). Blake Widenmeyer had nine points for the Pirates, who shot 6-for-41, including 1-for-18 in the second half.
- The Bucks won the freshman game 55-27 to improve to 8-3.
Buckeye 64, Black River 57
BUCKEYE 15 19 10 20 — 64
BLACK RIVER 6 16 16 19 — 57
Buckeye — Joey Bartinelli 3-2-10, Liam Murray 4-3-13, Nick Wills 7-0-14, Braeden Stauffer 1-0-2, Mikey Novick 0-2-2, Nathan Polidori 6-4-16, Carter Hudak 1-0-2, Justin Canedy 1-1-3, Justin Lowry 1-0-3. TOTALS: 24-12-65.
Black River — Derek Hawley 3-0-7, Curtis Roupe 3-8-14, Zach Hawley 4-0-9, Allan Benson 9-2-22, Mike Hazlett 1-0-3, Brennan Scheck 1-0-2, Seth Pluta 0-0-0, Garrett Hord 0-0-0. TOTALS: 21-10-57.
3-point goals — Bartinelli 2, Murray 2, Lowry, Benson 2, Z. Hawley, D. Hawley, Hazlett. Rebounds — Buckeye 31 (Murray 8), Black River 19 (D. Hawley 6). Assists — Buckeye 9 (Novick 3), Black River 8 (Benson 3). Records — Buckeye (14-5, 11-4), Black River (6-15, 4-11). Junior varsity — Buckeye 55, Black River 28.