Boys Basketball: Buckeye snags hard-earned win over Valley Forge

PARMA HTS. — There is no easy night in the Great Lakes Conference this winter. The still young Buckeye boys basketball team is growing up quickly, and further proof came Friday at Valley Forge. The Bucks were awful from 3-point range, got manhandled on the glass most of the night and appeared on the brink of collapse at various points. They won anyway, as Danny Flood made 4-of-4 free throws in the final 4.9 seconds to give Buckeye a hard-earned 57-54 victory. "A lot went wrong, you know?" Flood said. "It was not what we wanted. We didn't shoot the ball well. We played OK defense in the first half and bad in the second half, but pulling out the win is all that matters. "We can't come into a game thinking we're going to win easily because every team in this league is good enough to win. We have to prepare for every game the same way." Buckeye (6-2, 5-1), which has matched last season's win total, overcame itself with help from the Patriots (4-6, 2-5) in the final two minutes. The Bucks made only 21-of-58 field goals (.362) and 2-of-17 3-pointers (.118), finished with just six assists and lost the rebounding battle by 11 despite hauling in a season-high 35. They won partly because of a 4-0 run early in the fourth period without Valley Forge touching the ball — technical foul, two free throws, bucket — that swung momentum and set up an action-packed finish in an otherwise brick-filled game. Down the stretch, the Patriots, who like the Bucks return four starters from last season, took an ill-advised shot up 52-51 with more than a minute to play. Flood then made 2-of-2 free throws out of a double bonus to give Buckeye the lead, and Valley Forge missed another shot inside. However, Flood was picked at half court, and big-time running back recruit Trell Marks scored for the Patriots. Marks then got another steal at midcourt and drew a shooting foul, but missed both free throw attempts with 8.1 seconds remaining. Undaunted, Flood got across half court, split a double team at the 3-point arc, was fouled and made 2-of-2 free throws with 4.9 seconds left. The Patriots then threw away the inbounds pass, Flood made two more free throws and Marks' volleyball-line prayer drew back iron as time expired. "I want them to think about where we were a year ago until now," said Buckeye coach Tom Harrington, referring to a 57-41 loss at Valley Forge that arguably was the low point of last season. "With all the things that went wrong — not only over the last couple minutes but over the course of the game — we found a way to win. People that keep finding a way to win in life are winners." Flood further cemented his reputation as a crunch-time player with 15 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter after making just two of his first 12 shots. Rangy forward Nick Miller added 14 points and six rebounds, center Shane Bambrick had six and nine and small forward Caden Hudak added eight points. Valley Forge didn't shoot the ball any better at 22-for-66 from the floor (.333) and 3-for-21 from 3-point range (.143) but frustrated the Bucks with 10 of its 13 offensive rebounds in the second half. Forward Tyler Quinones (13 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists) and center Chris Sledge (10, 13, 3) combined for 23 points, 22 rebounds and six assists — Quinones had two highlight-reel blocks off the backboard — while Marks, who has West Virginia, Iowa State, Cincinnati and Michigan State among his football offers, finished with 11 points on 5-for-16 shooting due to good defense by Buckeye's Zack Weber. The Bucks had quarter shooting totals of 4-for-13, 5-for-16 and 5-for-15 yet trailed only 38-33 entering the fourth. They then took a 39-38 lead on a 3-pointer from sixth man Chris Gaiter — they were 1-for-15 from deep to that point — and stretched their margin to 43-38 when Valley Forge's bench picked up a technical, Flood made two free throws and Miller scored inside. While the 10-0 run ultimately didn't decide the game, the Bucks' mental toughness in the final minutes did. "This group just plays a lot of close games," Flood said. "Last game against Rocky River was close, our first game of the season (at Rittman) was very close and we came back (to win in overtime). We're mature enough to come back at any time in the game." Buckeye 57, Valley Forge 54 BUCKEYE &emsp;&emsp;11 10 12 24 — 57 VALLEY FORGE &emsp;&emsp;10 10 18 16 — 54 Buckeye — Caden Hudak 3-2-8, Nick Miller 6-2-14, Shane Bambrick 3-0-6, Zack Weber 2-0-4, Danny Flood 5-9-20, Chris Gaiter 2-0-5. TOTALS: 21-13-57. Valley Forge — Tyler Quinones 6-1-13, Tyler Dickerson 1-0-3, Chris Sledge 4-2-10, Trell Marks 5-1-11, Randall Fields 2-0-4, Norman Pomales 2-3-8, Izzy Santiago 2-0-5, Max Dieye 0-0-0, Davion See 0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-7-54. 3-point goals — Flood, Gaiter, Dickerson, Pomales, Santiago. Rebounds — Buckeye 35 (Bambrick 9), Valley Forge 46 (Sledge 13). Assists — Buckeye 6 (Flood, Weber 2), Valley Forge 9 (Sledge, Quinones 3). Records — Buckeye (6-2, 5-1), Valley Forge (4-6, 2-6). Junior varsity — Buckeye 70, Valley Forge 63 (B: Joey Lenarth 33).