SPORTSINK.COM PHOTO
Known for his scoring ability, East senior guard Davonte Brunson (right) plays some tight on-ball defense Friday against rival Buchtel. The Dragons rallied to win at home 76-70 and stay undefeated in the City Series.
AKRON, Ohio -- East senior Mycle Shadie wanted so much to play well against Buchtel.
Maybe he was trying too hard.
But here he was again – the big home game against the Griffins – and he felt things were slipping away. And after 0-for-7 start from the floor, he was desperately trying to gather himself.
With his team trailing by nine points as the fourth quarter began, Shadie rallied himself and his teammates, scoring 11 of his 22 points in the final eight minutes Friday and the Dragons (14-1, 10-0) completed a season sweep of Buchtel, 76-70, in front of a sell-out crowd of 750.
East and Firestone now will meet in the City Series playoff championship game on Feb. 17. The Falcons topped Kenmore 63-60.
“I usually don’t play well against (Buchtel) and I didn’t play well today in the first half,” Shadie said. “But, I stepped up and our team stepped up.”
East fell behind 14-5 and trailed by 10 points for most of the second quarter.
“For some reason when we hear or see the name ‘Buchtel,’ our kids go into a different mode,” said East coach Ross Fiorello. “Everything that you can’t do against them – we did. We made it very difficult.”
The Dragons used an 8-1 run to close the first half and had whittled Buchtel’s halftime lead to 39-36. East senior Davonte Brunson stroked a 3-point shot from the right wing to make it 39-39 to start the third quarter. It seemed as if East had survived a rough patch and would take control.
Instead, senior Tyler Jones and junior Elijah Bell asserted themselves for Buchtel and the Griffins regained the momentum, leading 60-51 as the fourth quarter began.
Shadie sank a 3-point goal on the first possession of the fourth period to make it 60-54.
“It got me going,” he said.
The Dragons then turned up the defensive pressure and the Griffins experienced a rare meltdown. Buchtel turned the ball over 10 times (27 total) in the quarter and with each miscue the volume grew louder and a team which played with so much poise for three quarters suddenly came unhinged.
“We’re a young basketball team, after losing 11 kids from last year,” Buchtel coach Stephen White said. “So, when you’re playing sophomores and juniors, and a freshman, that have never been out there, these things happen.
“We just had too many unforced turnovers. We work on our press break every day, but we don’t work on it with a sell-out crowd.”
Fighting off cramps in his lower legs, Brunson’s put-back with 3:08 left in the game gave East its first lead at 65-64.
“They were real loose the first three quarters and we were tight,” Brunson said. “Once we got into our press, we slowed them down and started getting turnovers. We just kept our pressure up.”
Shadie put the game away and capped his brilliant fourth quarter when he sank two free throws with 15.7 seconds left to run the score to 74-68.
“In all fairness to them, they’ve got a lot of young players,” Fiorello said. “Somebody will pay for that next year when these kids are seniors.”
Jones led Buchtel (6-7, 5-5) with 18 points. Junior Erron Cosey and Bell had 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the Griffs.
“Maybe we’ll see them in the district championship and maybe the tide will turn finally for us,” said White.
Brunson, who topped 1,000 career points earlier this season, finished with 27 points to lead the Dragons.