Boys basketball: Derek Snyderburn, Scott DiMarco step up for Buckeye in win over Normandy

PARMA — A monster second quarter keyed by junior Derek Snyderburn and hot-shooting Scott DiMarco led the Buckeye boys basketball to a 57-46 Cleveland West Conference win over Normandy on Friday night. Leading just 15-12 after one quarter and with leading scorer Turner Dolata (14 points, 6 rebounds) dealing with foul trouble, Buckeye (11-9, 9-4) turned to the dynamic Snyderburn and DiMarco. Snyderburn (14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals) got things rolling right away, keyed by his continued stellar defensive play. He scored eight straight Buckeye points, with four of those coming directly off his steals to expand the Buckeye lead to 23-15 just 1:05 into the second. "I feel like anytime anyone does that, it's a motivator and gets us going," he said. "It helps us go on big runs." The junior also did a tremendous job getting in passing lanes and being a defensive menace all night. "I come into every game wanting to play defense," Snyderburn said. "I take defense as a passion. I go out there and play my best defense for my team, and I feel like my team contributes to that and that makes them play harder." When Snyderburn slowed down, DiMarco (17 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists) was right there to keep the Bucks cooking. The senior drained three consecutive 3-pointers and then converted a driving layup, scoring 11 points in a row and ballooning the Buckeye lead to 36-15. "My teammates were just finding me." DiMarco said after finishing the night 5-of-11 from behind the arc. "We were moving the ball around pretty well and they were finding me. I had a little rhythm going for me and that was pretty much it." DiMarco and Snyderburn scored all the points in what ended up being a 21-3 run. Dolata then missed all but a few seconds of the third when he was whistled for another quick foul on a night where the Bucks were called for 13 fouls to just four for Normandy (6-12, 2-11). "You just have to look forward to the next play," DiMarco said of the uneven foul total. "You can't let the past bother you and can't let it affect you. That's what you have to do." Both offenses went a bit stagnant in the third quarter, as Buckeye won the frame 8-6. The highlight of the quarter was a strong two-handed dunk from 6-foot-8 sophomore Nolan Klingbeil (11 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks). The Invaders made a strong push in the fourth quarter behind Logan Guadalupe (13 points) and reserve guard Brayden Edwards (11 points). Normandy got as close as 11 on multiple occasions but could never cut the deficit to single digits. Dolata made up for lost time by scoring eight points in the fourth quarter and got himself rolling with a dunk early in the final stanza. The Bucks also got key defensive performances and minutes from Jacob Snyderburn (4 rebounds, 3 assists), Logan Brown (5 rebounds, 2 assists) and little-used Andrew Tessman (2 steals, block). "We knew we could pressure them so we used our 1-3-1 (zone)," Jacob Snyderburn said. "Derek (Snyderburn) got tons of steals; we all got steals and run outs." Contact Chad Grant at sports@medina-gazette.com. Buckeye 57, Normandy 46 BUCKEYE&emsp;15 21 8 13 — 57 NORMANDY&emsp;12 8 6 20 — 46 Buckeye — Jacob Snyderburn 0-0-0, Turner Dolata 5-4-14, Nolan Klingbeil 5-1-11, Travis Avallone 0-1-1, Scott DiMarco 6-0-17, Logan Brown 0-0-0, Derek Snyderburn 7-0-14, Andrew Tessman 0-0-0. TOTALS: 23-6-57. Normandy — Logan Guadalupe 4-5-13, Elijah Gray 4-0-8, Daniel Bruno 0-0-0, Aadan Guadalupe 0-0-0, Alex Valentine Rivera 2-2-7, Laird Fry-Wilcosky 1-0-3, Brayden Edwards 4-0-11, Greg Muniak 0-0-0, Will Berridge 2-0-4, Jack Drobney III 0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-7-46. 3-point goals — DiMarco 5, Edwards 3, Fry-Wilcosky, Valentine Rivera. Rebounds — Buckeye 42 (Klingbeil 9), Normandy 23 (Gray 8). Assists — Buckeye 13 (J. Snyderburn 3), Normandy 9 (L. Guadalupe, Edwards 2). Records — Buckeye (11-9, 9-4), Normandy (6-12, 2-11). Junior varsity — Normandy 55, Buckeye 36 (B: Zach Stough 8, Rees Perkins 7).