YORK TWP. — One of the most demoralizing things in sports is when you know exactly what’s coming and you’re powerless to stop it.
The first aspect of play listed on the Buckeye boys basketball team’s locker room whiteboard Friday was rebounding as the Bucks headed into a critical Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division showdown against Keystone.
Buckeye’s Joey Bartinelli scores between Keystone’s Austin Conrad, left, and Turner Campbell during the third quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
The bigger, stronger and flat-out better Wildcats did their thing anyway in front of a near-capacity crowd, and the 65-56 final wasn’t indicative of how the game went because Keystone (9-3, 7-0) led by 17 points with 4:36 to go.
“They shot the ball well (26-for-55), especially early, but we couldn’t rebound the ball,” Buckeye center Nick Wills said. “That’s on us, especially as seniors. Inside guys, that’s on us.
“(Keystone is) a good team, and they’re not going anywhere. We’ve got to do a better job sticking to our game plan. The No. 1 thing on the board was rebounding. We didn’t do that, so we’ve got to learn to do the little things and that will help us win games.”
The statistics collaborate what Wills said, as the Wildcats held a 32-19 rebounding advantage and grabbed 11 offensive boards in the first half. Keystone also scored 12 of its first 14 points in the paint, including eight on putbacks, and continued to beat up the Bucks (5-4, 4-3) en route to a 20-6 lead.
Buckeye, which saw the return of All-PAC guard Nathan Polidori, went to a 2-3 zone and got the score to 25-all, but the Wildcats’ Brody Kuhl (15 points, 5 rebounds) hit two big 3-pointers and Keystone got comfortable again finding 6-foot-3, 230-pound Ohio football recruit Austin Conrad (11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists) in the high post.
Bucks coach Tom Harrington was forced to yank the zone down double-digits in the third quarter. Predictably, 6-0, 220-pound Keystone center Brandon Kuhl (career-high 20 points, 13 rebounds) dominated inside and point guard Chris Sittinger (6 points, 7 assists, 2 turnovers) facilitated with ease.
“Austin Conrad, Brody (Kuhl) and myself, when we’re crashing the rebounds like that — not sounding cocky or anything — but I think we’re pretty hard to rebound against,” Brandon Kuhl said.
Wills led the Bucks with 14 points and a team-high five rebounds. High-flying backup center Justin Canedy was brilliant during the first-half comeback and finished with 11 points, three boards and two assists, while forward Liam Murray added 11 points and four steals.
Polidori was rusty after missing five games with a sprained ankle and didn’t score until burying back-to-back 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter. The 5-foot-11 senior’s rare off-night hardly affected the final outcome, however, because Buckeye was getting drilled in the paint.
“We do rebounding drills and all sorts of things,” Harrington said. “I told them, ‘The best defensive rebounder on the Cavs is the least athletic guy, Kevin Love.’ To me, it’s something that definitely needs to change going forward.”
The Bucks are now facing a dire scenario in the division race. Wellington (5-6, 4-2) moved into second place with a 68-50 win over Brookside, though a positive for third-place Buckeye moving forward is it plays seven of its next nine games at home.
A lot of soul-searching will be needed heading into a Tuesday game with archrival Black River (2-8, 1-6).
“When we struggle, it’s easy to get down on ourselves too much,” Wills said. “We have to stay a little bit more positive, but losing games is no fun, especially when our expectations are as high as they are.”
Note
| Michael Doerge had eight points as Buckeye’s junior varsity won 42-36 to improve to 9-1, 7-0. |
Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.
Keystone 65, Buckeye 56
KEYSTONE 22 12 18 13 — 65
BUCKEYE 13 14 13 16 — 56
Keystone — Austin Conrad 5-0-11, Turner Campbell 3-1-9, Brandon Kuhl 9-2-20, Brody Kuhl 5-2-15, Chris Sittinger 2-1-6, Jeremy Gerhardinger 2-0-4, Kyle Sherrill 0-0-0, Corey Moffat 0-0-0. TOTALS: 26-6-65.
Buckeye — Joey Bartinelli 3-2-9, Liam Murray 4-2-11, Nick Wills 7-0-14, Nathan Polidori 2-0-6, Mikey Novick 0-0-0, Carter Hudak 0-2-2, Justin Canedy 4-3-11, Justin Lowry 1-1-3. TOTALS: 21-10-56.
3-point goals — Bro. Kuhl 3, Campbell 2, Sittinger, Conrad, Polidori 2, Bartinelli, Murray. Rebounds — Keystone 32 (Bra. Kuhl 13), Buckeye 19 (Wills 5). Assists — Keystone 14 (Sittinger 7), Buckeye 6 (Polidori 2). Records — Keystone (9-3, 7-0), Buckeye (5-4, 4-3). Junior varsity — Buckeye 42, Keystone 36.
