Boys basketball: Buckeye can't pull off upset against Elyria Catholic in GLC tournament

YORK TWP. — The Buckeye boys basketball team's defense was solid, but its offense let it down in a 41-39 loss to Elyria Catholic in the consolation round of the Great Lakes Conference Tournament. Buckeye (5-16) held the Panthers to just nine second-half points, including two in the fourth quarter, but those two points were the difference. After senior Caden Hudak tied the game at 39 with a 3-pointer from the right wing, Elyria Catholic senior Tony Grasso hit a short runner with 29 seconds on the clock to close the scoring. The Bucks had two opportunities to tie or take the lead, but a pair of turnovers allowed the Panthers (17-5) to escape with the win. "Our effort was outstanding. I'll take that every day of the week," Buckeye coach Tom Harrington said. "We just couldn't string enough good offensive possessions together. The kids fought like crazy and I commend them for that." The Bucks led 17-13 at the end of the first quarter, but Elyria Catholic opened the second on an 8-0 run to take a 21-13 lead. Buckeye spent the rest of the game fighting back, pulling within two points once in the second quarter and cutting the Panthers' lead to four to start the fourth. In the final period, after a Casey Murray free throw pulled the Bucks within three at 39-36, Elyria Catholic coach Jeff Huber had his guards stand near midcourt to pull Buckeye out of its 2-3 zone. More than 2 minutes burned off the clock before Harrington complied, having his guards move out to pressure the ball. Elyria Catholic quickly turned the ball over, setting up Hudak's game-tying 3-pointer. "That was a big shot by Caden and I was happy to see that go down," Harrington said. "Basketball means a lot to Caden and he's given everything he can to our program. I was happy for him to see him make that shot." Huber said his team played well enough to win. "I told our boys, not many times in a boys varsity basketball game are you going to score nine points in a half and win," he said. "We just couldn't score the ball in the second half, but the thing we can be proud of is that we did actually score nine points in a half and win the game. "That was because of our defense and tonight we really played hard for the duration of the game defensively. "On offense we struggled, but we gave ourselves a chance because of what we did on the defensive end of the floor." Murray led the Bucks with 14 points and Hudak added 10. Buckeye opens sectional tournament play Tuesday when it travels to Firelands. "A month and a half ago we would have had no shot to win that game," Harrington said. "This team has improved so much with its effort and I hope they can see, after competing like they did tonight, that they can play with anybody." Senior Colin Kenneally paced the Panthers with 11 points. Contact Mike Perry at sports@medina-gazette.com. Elyria Catholic 41, Buckeye 39 ELYRIA CATHOLIC 13 19 7 2 — 41 BUCKEYE 17 7 11 4 — 39 Elyria Catholic — Colin Kenneally 5-1-11, Jacob Raab 1-2-5, Colin Ginley 2-1-7, Tony Grasso 1-1-3, Thomas Niederst 3-0-7, Teddy Budinger 1-0-3, Farai Mvare 1-0-2, John Paul Spray 1-0-3. TOTALS: 15-5-41. Buckeye — Caden Hudak 3-3-10, Casey Murray 5-1-14, Luke Knittel 0-0-0, Joey Lenarth 1-1-3, Turner Dolata 4-1-9, Derrick Snyderburn 1-0-3. TOTALS: 14-6-39. 3-point goals — Ginley 2, Raab,Niederst, Budinger, Spray, Murray 3, Hudak, Snyderburn. Rebounds — Elyria Catholic 26 (Niederst 6), Buckeye 21 (Lenarth 5). Records — Elyria Catholic (18-5), Buckeye (5-16). Junior varsity — Buckeye 57, Elyria Catholic 43.