Girls basketball: Buckeye falls to 0-5 with loss to Cleveland Central Catholic

CLEVELAND — The Buckeye girls basketball team showed marked improvement but couldn't close the door Wednesday, dropping a 53-50 non-league game against Cleveland Central Catholic. The Bucks (0-5) nearly matched their combined offensive output from their first four games (54) and held a 42-36 lead early in the fourth quarter. The inexperienced team looked poised to add its first mark in the win column, but things deteriorated as the foul calls increased and 35 turnovers ultimately were too much to overcome. "This is our first year playing varsity, at all," said Buckeye junior center Kwynn Czerwony, who led the team with 24 points and 14 rebounds while adding three steals. "We've been pretty nervous." Buckeye made just one shot from the floor in the final 7:15. The Ironmen (1-3) made just three as much of the final frame was played at the foul line. "I think it was just very high energy in the fourth quarter," said Buckeye senior Maddy Kost, who had nine points, four rebounds and three assists. "I think we were a little frazzled due to the high-pressure situations." "It was definitely frustrating with everything going on and all the calls," Czerwony added. Each squad lost three players to fouls during the quarter, which featured 32 free throw attempts and 25 fouls. Neither team shot particularly well on freebies, but the difference was a 10-of-17 effort from the Ironmen to just 6-of-15 for the Bucks. "We played well," Buckeye coach Ron Clady said. "We played with a lot more intensity, but we are just making the game hard by not being able to finish enough at the rim. The free throws hurt us tonight, too." Central Catholic's Brooklynne Burge provided the dagger with the game tied at 48. The freshman, who looked determined not to even think about a pass, chucked the ball toward the backboard from five feet beyond the top of the arc and banged in a prayer for a three-point lead with 1:30 remaining. With Czerwony out and Ruby Hudak injured and unavailable, Buckeye couldn't manage to get any closer than two points the rest of the game. After narrowing the margin to 51-49 with 1:07 to play, Buckeye scored just one point on a Morgan Penny free throw. With the Bucks down six late in the second quarter, Penny scored a bucket, Kost followed with the team's only 3-pointer and Czerwony converted a three-point play as Buckeye jumped in front 23-21 at the half. "I think we were looking inside a lot more," Kost said. "We got a lot of inside looks. We've been working a lot on our high-lows, and I think that helped." Buckeye maintained the two-point margin at the end of the third quarter, 38-36, before the free throw shooting contest took over in the fourth. Teavonna Clements led the Ironmen with 14 points. Imani Dotson was next with 13 and Taiona Conner added 10. Contact Chad Grant at sports@medina-gazette.com. Cleveland Central Catholic 53, Buckeye 50 BUCKEYE&emsp;4 19 15 12 — 50 CENTRAL CATHOLIC&emsp;9 12 15 17 — 53 Buckeye — Kelsey Metter 3-0-6, Maddy Kost 3-2-9, Kwynn Czerwony 9-6-24, Ellen Steppenbacker 0-0-0, Macey Greer 2-1-5, Molly Danilovic 0-0-0, Morgan Penny 1-2-4, Devynn Beyer 1-0-2. TOTALS: 19-11-50. Cleveland Central Catholic — Kare'en Johnson 0-1-1, Moriah Jenkins 1-0-2, Imani Dotson 4-5-13, Teavonna Clements 5-2-14, Taiona Conner 3-2-10, K'yanna Penn 0-1-1, Willow Nelson 2-4-8, Brooklynne Burge 1-1-4. TOTALS: 16-16-53. 3-point goals — Kost, Clements 2, Conner 2, Burge. Rebounds — Buckeye 39 (Czerwony 14), Cleveland Central Catholic 39 (Nelson 9). Assists — Buckeye 9 (Greer, Kost 3), Cleveland Central Catholic 5 (Clements, Dotson 2). Records — Buckeye (0-5), Cleveland Central Catholic (1-3).