Boys Basketball: Buckeye holds off Valley Forge comeback efforts

PARMA HEIGHTS — Though the final scored did not reflect as such Friday night, Buckeye's boys basketball team put together arguably its best performances of the season. The Bucks defeated Great Lakes Conference East Division foe Valley Forge 54-46 but led the entire game except for a 2-2 tie and led 50-21 early in the fourth quarter. When Derek Snyderburn made a bucket midway through the fourth to put Buckeye (7-13, 3-4) ahead 54-27, coach Jeremy Salmonski emptied the bench. The Patriots 2-18, 0-7) then went on a 19-0 rally that forced Salmonski to return to his starting lineup for the final 1:26. "It was a great team win," Snyderburn said. "We found each other open in the zone and made the shots we needed to make." Snyderburn tallied a team-high 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds to lead the Bucks. Turner Dolata added 12 points, six rebounds and a team-high three assists. It was the fifth win in the past six games for the Bucks after starting season 2-12. "It's always good to get a win, no matter how it ends," Dolata said. "We had a really rough start, which no one expected that. We never lost focus and came into practice working hard every day. "Now we're getting some wins, which is good for us." The team hopes to continue that momentum with two more games in the regular season this week before beginning the postseason with a Division II, Northeast 2 Sectional semifinal on the road against No. 25 Revere on Feb. 27. "This run has been huge momentum for us going into the postseason," Snyderburn said. "We'd like to keep that run going to go deep into the playoffs." The late rally by Valley Forge, which has lost 15 consecutive games after starting the year 2-3, masked what was a mostly outstanding defensive effort by Buckeye in forcing 15 turnovers, earning a 32-21 edge on the glass led by Snyderburn and Dolata and holding the Patriots to four points in the first quarter and three points in the third to build a 41-21 lead. After getting burned by sharpshooting Valley Forge point guard Nick Mankins for 25 points in the first game, a 55-48 Bucks' victory, Buckeye paid plenty of attention to him. Mankins still scored a game-high 21 points, but 11 came in the fourth quarter. "We were locked in (defensively)," Dolata said. "(Mankins) we couldn't let him shoot. We made sure we got up on him and didn't let him get off good shots." Terry Robinson Jr. had a nice all-around game for Valley Forge with four points, five rebounds and four assists. Offensively, Buckeye started as cold inside the gym as the wintry night air outside and limped out to an 8-4 lead after the first quarter but figured out how to move the ball around the Patriots' 2-3 zone over the middle quarters, where the Bucks held a 33-17 edge. Over the final minute of the second quarter through the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, Buckeye went on a 27-3 run. Dolata led the run with eight points, while Derek Snyderburn (6), Jacob Snyderburn (5), Austin Hyre (4) and Nolan Klingbeil (4) also contributed to the scoring. Hyre finished nine points, four rebounds and two assists. "We came in knowing they were going to play zone," Snyderburn said. "In our zone offense we ran, we found each other and made shots." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Buckeye 54, Valley Forge 46 BUCKEYE 8 19 14 13 — 54 VALLEY FORGE 4 14 3 25 — 46 Buckeye — Casey Murray 2-0-6, Derek Snyderburn 7-0-14, Turner Dolata 5-1-12, Austin Hyre 4-0-9, Carter Burgess 1-0-2, Travis Avallone 1-0-2, Jacob Snyderburn 2-0-5, Nolan Klingbeil 2-0-4, Scott DiMarco 0-0-0, Logan Brown 0-0-0, Blake Zacharias 0-0-0, A.J. Bohnannon 0-0-0, Nate Miller 0-0-0, Jeff Costigan 0-0-0, Andrew Tessman 0-0-0. TOTALS: 24-1-54. Valley Forge — Hayden Moser 2-0-6, Tyler Chong 1-0-3, Eddie McTear II 2-0-4, Terry Robinson Jr. 1-2-4, Nick Mankins 5-7-21, Cam Wadsworth 2-0-5, Adam Flora 1-0-3. TOTALS: 14-9-46. 3-point goals — Murray 2, Hyre, J. Snyderburn, Dolata, Mankins 4, Moser 2, Wadsworth, Chong, Flora. Rebounds — Buckeye 32 (D. Snyderburn 8), Valley Forge 21 (McTear II 7). Assists — Buckeye 12 (Dolata 3), Valley Forge 8 (Robinson Jr. 4). Records — Buckeye (7-13, 3-4), Valley Forge (2-18, 0-7). Junior varsity — Buckeye 48, Valley Forge 41 (B: Nate Miller 17).