Buckeye blows big lead in loss to Lakewood

YORK TWP. — The fast-improving Buckeye boys basketball team had a great chance at posting a signature win Friday night, but instead left its home gym heartbroken. The Bucks had a solid but small Lakewood team on the ropes throughout prior to falling 68-61 in overtime in Great Lakes Conference East Division play. Buckeye (2-11, 1-4), which had won two of its previous four games after starting 0-8, led by 15 with 6½ minutes left in the third period but simply had no answer for Rangers (11-5, 4-1) point guard Lucas Seguine, who finished with 37 points — 26 after intermission — on 12-for-18 from the field and 11-for-14 at the line, nine rebounds and two assists. The Bucks got some solid individual performances, but their shot selection worsened as the game progressed, resulting in shrinking quarter scoring totals of 20, 19, 10 and eight before being outscored 11-4 in the four-minute OT. Shooting guard Austin Hyre led Buckeye with 15 points on 5-for-15 shooting, while center Turner Dolata stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists but went 3-for-12 from the floor, with all his makes coming from behind the 3-point line. Workhorse power forward Derek Snyderburn was solid throughout en route to 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting, seven boards, two assists and two blocks and small forward Casey Murray had seven of his nine points in the first quarter. Running their offense through Dolata, who repeatedly found open teammates behind the arc, the Bucks made seven of their first 10 3-point attempts in jumping to a 31-21 lead with 3:49 left in the first half, but they went just 1-for-17 from deep the rest of the way as the Rangers tightened the screws defensively. Still, when Snyderburn scored off a pass from Dolata and Hyre drove for a hoop to start the second half, Buckeye led 43-28 and appeared to be in complete control. That's when Seguine took over. Repeatedly scoring on nifty drives and cuts down the lane, the 5-foot-10 junior had nine points in the third quarter, nine in the fourth and eight in OT, with three of his hoops coming off great bounce passes from center Drew Jablonowski (9 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists). The Rangers, who also got 11 points and six boards from shooting guard Luke Vannucci, used a 15-2 run to take a 50-49 lead with 5:01 to play in regulation, but Murray drove for a hoop and Dolata drilled a three to put Buckeye back up four with 3:24 on the clock. Lakewood, which started four players 5-11 or smaller, then scored the next six points before Hyre drove, scored and was fouled with 13 ticks on the clock. Hyre made the free throw to put the Bucks up 57-56, but Seguine made 1-of-2 at the line with 3.3 seconds left to tie the game. Hyre's desperation 30-footer hit only backboard as time expired in the fourth period. The Rangers went up 63-58 when Vannucci hit two free throws with 1:54 left in OT, but Snyderburn answered with a three-point play to make it a two-point game with 1:32 on the clock. The Bucks failed to score again and Lakewood iced the game by going 5-of-6 at the stripe. Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X. Lakewood 68, Buckeye 61 (OT) LAKEWOOD 17 11 14 15 11 — 68 BUCKEYE 20 19 10 8 4 — 61 Lakewood — Dominic Peck 1-0-3, Jack Gowan 1-0-2, Drew Jablonowski 3-3-9, Luke Vannucci 4-2-11, Lucas Seguine 12-11-37, Peter Checkett 0-0-0, Luke Vonvissuto 1-0-2, Aidan Smith 1-2-4. TOTALS: 23-18-68. Buckeye — Casey Murray 3-1-9, Derek Snyderburn 6-2-14, Turner Dolata 3-2-11, Austin Hyre 5-4-15, Carter Burgess 1-0-2, Travis Avallone 0-0-0, Jacob Snyderburn 2-0-5, Scott Dimarco 1-0-3, Nolan Klingbeil 1-0-2. TOTALS: 22-9-61. 3-point goals — Seguine 2, Peck, Vannucci, Dolata 3, Murray 2, Hyre, J. Snyderburn, Dimarco. Rebounds — Lakewood 28 (Seguine 9), Buckeye 28 (Dolata 8). Assists — Lakewood 9 (Jablonowski), Buckeye 13 (Dolata 6). Records — Lakewood (11-5, 4-1), Buckeye (2-11, 1-4). Junior varsity — Lakewood 38, Buckeye 33 (B: Logan Brown 15).