PHOTO BY JUSTPHOTOS.BIZ
Wadsworth's Josh Kipfer goes up strong for two points during the Grizzlies' 56-35 win over Highland on Friday night in Suburban League boys basketball.
YORK TWP., Ohio – As snow began to fall Friday night across Northeast Ohio, Buckeye guards Bill Doerge and Garrett Beck were heating up the Bucks’ home gym as the pair combined for 28 points in Buckeye’s 60-27 victory over arch-rival Black River.
“I was just playing relaxed and hitting shots. I felt good,” Doerge said. “It’s always nice beating Black River – it’s always a fight.”
Doerge, a senior, went to work on the Pirates (1-10) early, scoring 13 of his game-high 15 points in the first half. Doerge helped power two key first-half runs for the Bucks (4-7), scoring seven of his team’s points on a 9-2 run late in the first quarter and six straight of his team’s points in a 14-2 run that spanned the entire second quarter.
“Billy was aggressive and he took good shots. Sometimes as a team we start to rush, but overall we took some good shots,” Buckeye coach Matt Saunders said. “I thought we got some turnovers that led to some easy buckets early. I think that’s what pushed us out ahead early.
Keyed by a pressure defense that forced Black River into too many mistakes and tough shots, Buckeye outscored the Pirates 18-4 in the last 12 minutes of the first half to take a 22-point advantage into the locker room.
“We were trying to pressure them as best we could, trying to turn the ball over and get fast breaks as best we could,” Doerge said.
Black River coach Donald Brunker was pleased with his team’s effort overall, just saying they lacked in one key area.
“I was very pleased with our effort, I felt like we did everything we needed to, but we just didn’t put the ball in the basket,” Brunker said. “We got the ball where we wanted, the shots that we wanted from the guys that we wanted - just had a bad shooting night.
“Unfortunately, that’s how the game is scored.”
With his team up 30-8 at halftime Saunders was able to rest some of his key guys and extend his rotation in the second half. One of those guys that got rest was Doerge, who only played briefly at the start of the third quarter, as Saunders said he wanted his guard to get extra rest after coming off an illness.
With Doerge sidelined the Bucks turned to Beck, a sophomore, and junior guard Mike Bacho in the second half. Beck scored six of his 13 points in the second half, while Bacho added seven points in the fourth quarter.
“It was nice to get (Doerge) some rest,” Saunders said. “He was sick our last game and he missed a practice this week so we just figured we’d give him some time off.”
Despite trailing by double digits for all but five minutes of the game, the Pirates showed some resiliency in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 of their 27 points in the final eight minutes. Senior forward John Guilford, junior guard Gus Kazek and senior forward Tom Ziebro led Black River with five points apiece. Guilford also added 10 rebounds.
In other games:
Akron Garfield 64, Kenmore 52. At Garfield High School, the Golden Rams upset the Cardinals in an Akron City Series matchup.
After trailing 32-20 at halftime, Garfield (5-7, 3-4) outscored Kenmore 44-20 in the second half to steal the victory.
Senior Jorden Boykin shot the lights out to lead Garfield with 25 points. He was 9-of-9 from the free-throw line. As a team the Golden Rams made 17-of-20 free throws.
Senior Darius Hoisten was dominant on both ends as he scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for Garfield.
Kenmore’s senior sensation, guard Antonio Hearn, put up 18 points to lead Kenmore (7-3, 5-2). He also had a strong night at the line, hitting 6-of-8.
Junior Desean Ballinger had 13 points for the Cardinals.
Firestone 97, North 78. At North High School, junior Jerome Lane led the Falcons with 25 points.
Firestone opened to grab a 29-11 first-quarter lead and closed with a 28-19 fourth to seal the victory. North (0-13, 0-7) actually closed the gap to six points in the fourth before Firestone gathered itself to take command and close things out.
Firestone junior Kevin Gladney put up 19 points, while freshman teammate Reggie Rogers added 14 points.
North junior Damon Bowman led led all scorers with 33 points, including three 3-pointers. Senior Keyon Dre’ Woods put up 19 points for the Vikings, while junior Marcus Robbins scored 14.
Cuyahoga Falls 66, Brush 57. At Cuyahoga Falls, four Black Tigers scored in double digits en route to the victory over the previously unbeaten Arcs.
Jacob Slone had 15 points, while Henry Shaw (14 points), Josh Ricker (13) and Cory Asbury (11) also had solid scoring efforts for Cuyahoga Falls (4-7, 2-3).
Brush (9-1, 4-1) was led by seniors Curtis Oakley and Pharaoh Brown, who scored 21 and 19 points, respectively. Junior Brandon Dawson dropped in 12 for the Arcs.
Green 61, Revere 49. At Richfield, senior Andrew Pratt hit six field goals and 5-of-7 free throws to lead the Bulldogs with 17 points.
Evan Keeslar, also a Green senior, scored 16 points, including 4-of-4 from the line. Senior David Lebo and Junior Dan Fanelly each had nine points for Green.
Senior Mark Mockbee hit five 3-pointers on his way to a team-leading 25 points for Revere. Senior Mitch Ruetty scored 12 for the Minutemen, also hit 4-of-4 free throws.
Copley 69, Tallmadge 57. At Copley Township, junior Jayln Tyler scored 18 points to lead the Indians (8-4, 5-2) over the Blue Devils.
Kenny Paramore added 15 points for Copley.
Senior Tucker Linder led the way for Tallamadge (6-5, 3-4) with 11 points.
Hudson 46, Solon 37. At Hudson, junior led the Explorers with 15 points and pulled down four rebounds in the victory.
Senior Randall Berkley and junior Ben Gedeon each scored 10 points for Hudson (8-5, 2-3). Junior Alex Mushock had eight points and nine rebounds for the Explorers.
Denzell Davis led the way for Solon (3-9, 1-4) with 19 points.