Boys basketball: Zach Butcher helps Highland carve up Tallmadge

TALLMADGE — Junior Zach Butcher was serving up long-range shots from all over James O. Maddox Court on Tuesday night and the Highland boys basketball team was the beneficiary in a 62-52 Suburban League American Conference victory over Tallmadge. Butcher scored a career-high 28 points on eight 3-pointers while going 4-for-5 from the foul line. Despite his shooting success, Butcher joked that he should have had more points with his teammates' ability to find him wide open. "I should have made more because I was wide open a lot, but you can't complain," he said. "It's nice. Personally, I think I've had a slow start to the season and this is a big confidence booster." Butcher scored his team's first nine points on a pair of threes and three foul shots after being fouled on a 3-pointer for a 9-5 lead. He finished with 12 of Highland's 20 points in the first quarter, nine of the team's 17 points in the third period and seven of the Hornets' 18 points in the final period. As the night went on and Butcher's confidence grew, he started hitting from longer and longer range, like a player on the classic video game NBA Jam catching fire. In addition to his shooting display, Butcher concluded the night second on the team with six rebounds. "He hasn't been shooting great as of late, but he really came on today and found it," point guard Cameron Koch said. "It was really clutch to be able to get it to him, wherever he was. He can knock it down from anywhere." The victory sets up a key SL American contest Friday between the Hornets (7-4, 5-1) and Barberton (10-1, 5-1), who are tied for first place. Koch was Highland's next-highest scorer with nine points and led the team with six assists. Playing in his fifth game as the starting point guard after Landon Sooy injured his hand against Nordonia on Dec. 22, Koch is growing ever more comfortable in his expanded role. "Playing more with the guys that are starting has definitely made me a lot more comfortable," he said. "I know where everybody is going to be at and can get us into our plays better, all of that." Koch and Maddox Albright (8 points, 5 assists) led a tremendous night of ball movement in which Highland finished with 18 assists on 21 made field goals. Hunter Winston (8 points, team-high 9 rebounds), Walker Kraus (6 points) and Liam Kenny (2) rounded out the scoring for the Hornets. Despite Highland's best efforts, the Blue Devils (4-6, 2-4) refused to fade into the night. Tallmadge, which only led 30-28 after Joey Ewers scored the first basket of the second half, trailed just 43-42 until Winston sank two foul shots with 45 seconds left in the third period. Winston and Koch extended that run early in the second period for a 52-42 lead and Butcher stopped a mini-run with back-to-back 3-pointers. Winston gave Highland its biggest lead of the game at 60-48 shortly after with a bucket. "The way we played was very impressive," Butcher said. "Everyone did their job and gave maximum effort. It was a great team effort." Tallmadge and the Hornets put on quite the foul shooting display, with the Blue Devils going a perfect 5-for-5 from the line while Highland finished 10-for-14. The Hornets locked down with their best defensive effort in the fourth quarter, holding Tallmadge to 10 points. The Blue Devils were led by Paul Rusinko (13 points, 6 rebounds) and Ewers (10 points.) "Defense was our focus this week and it really paid off," Koch said. "We focused on getting stops and getting out in transition, and we held their really good players to not that many points." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Highland 62, Tallmadge 52 HIGHLAND 20 8 17 17 — 62 TALLMADGE 15 13 14 10 — 52 Highland — Zach Butcher 8-4-28, Walker Kraus 3-0-6, Hunter Winston 3-2-8, Maddox Albright 3-2-8, Cameron Koch 3-1-9, Richard Chapman 0-0-0, Liam Kenny 1-1-3, Noah Radigan 0-0-0, Evangelos Verginis 0-0-0. TOTALS: 21-10-62. Tallmadge — Joey Ewers 5-0-10, Kaden Davis 3-0-7, Paul Rusinko 5-2-13, Ryan Eisaman 0-0-0, Caleb Reifsnyder 3-0-6, Jake Taylor 2-3-7, Chad Rusinko 1-0-3, Roobie Reid 1-0-2, Kaden Heller 1-0-2, Noah Jascoe 1-0-2. TOTALS: 22-5-52. 3-point goals — Butcher 8, Koch 2, Davis, C. Rusinko, P. Rusinko. Rebounds — Highland 26 (Winston 9), Tallmadge 22 (P. Rusinko 6). Assists — Highland 18 (Koch 6), Tallmadge 8 (Davis 3). Records — Highland (7-4, 5-1), Tallmadge (4-6, 2-4). Junior varsity — Highland 66, Tallmadge 55 (H: Josh Butcher 18).