Boys basketball: Buckeye breaks press, beats Valley Forge

PARMA HTS. — The average score of a Buckeye boys basketball game this season has seen both teams in the 60s or 70s, so the Bucks were looking forward to a new challenge Friday night. Valley Forge presented one in the form of a 1-3-1 press that transitioned into a 2-3 zone, but senior-laden Buckeye took its time, shared the ball and played sound defense in a stellar first half that set the tone for a 53-33 Cleveland West Conference victory. Coming off a double-overtime win over Normandy and with another big home matchup against Rocky River (8-1, 4-1) next week, the Bucks (7-4, 5-1) avoided a classic trap game against the Patriots (2-8, 0-6) by leading 26-11 at recess. "I challenged our guys before the game," Buckeye coach Jeremy Salmonski said. "I said we needed to come out faster. The last few games, we've been down or tied after the first quarter. I said, 'I'm going to challenge you guys. Let's play hard and get a first-quarter lead.' "That can hurt us later in the season or in the tournament. When you get down like that against good teams, sometimes it's hard to come back." Helping Logan Brown bring up the ball against the 1-3-1 press, which really was about controlling a slow pace instead of forcing turnovers, before intelligently picking his spots to break down the 2-3 zone from elbow to elbow, Austin Hyre was heady offensively while scoring 19 points on 5-of-15 field goals, 2-of-7 3-pointers and 7-of-8 free throws. The senior was consistent, scoring at least four points in each quarter. The rest of the offense was spread out nicely. Turner Dolata scored six of his 13 points in the first half to go with 10 rebounds and three blocks, Jacob Snyderburn scored seven of his 10 points in the third quarter, Brown posted three points, five rebounds and four assists and Derek Snyderburn had five points and six rebounds. The Bucks won the rebounding battle 37-23. More importantly, seven of their eight field goals in the first half came off assists, as they kept the ball moving against the 2-3 zone. "We played against a defense that we're not used to, so it helps us to adapt," Hyre said. "The adaptability we'll get from this will help down the road. When we see other defenses, now we'll know what to do. "We were just trusting each other and waiting for the open look. Against a 2-3, you will get open shots. You just have to find them." Not known as a great defensive team — they entered play allowing 63.8 points — the Bucks played excellent man-to-man early before settling into a 2-3 zone of their own. Valley Forge, whose five previous CWC losses were by an average of 7.4 points, missed 19 of its first 23 shots from the floor and never made a serious push outside of cutting a 19-point deficit to nine in the third quarter before 3-pointers by Jacob Snyderburn and Zach Stough quickly halted momentum. The Patriots were 5-for-25 from the floor, 0-for-8 from 3-point land and 1-for-6 in a horrific first half. They weren't markedly better in the second, going 8-for-21, 3-for-7 and 3-for-6 while refusing to get out of the 1-3-1 press or 2-3 zone even after the outcome was decided. "In man, I felt like we were doing a good job getting up and just contesting every shot they put up," said Hyre, whose eyebrows raised when informed of Valley Forge's first-half shooting statistics. "Zone, I felt like we were flying around and really making them uncomfortable." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Buckeye 53, Valley Forge 33 BUCKEYE &emsp;&emsp;14 12 14 13 — 53 VALLEY FORGE &emsp;&emsp;6 5 12 10 — 33 Buckeye — Jacob Snyderburn 3-2-10, Turner Dolata 6-0-13, Derek Snyderburn 1-3-5, Austin Hyre 5-7-19, Logan Brown 1-0-3, Zach Stough 1-0-3, Mason Dolata 0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-12-53. Valley Forge — Jaden Gill 2-0-4, Colin Warner 2-1-6, Mykel Robinson 2-1-5, Justin Harb 2-0-5, Isaiah Paoletto 4-2-11, Aiden Soto 0-0-0, Jaylan Bizzell 1-0-2, Mason Furukawa 0-0-0, Nick Mason 0-0-0, Justin Chong 0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-3-33. 3-point goals — J. Snyderburn 2, Hyre 2, Stough, Brown, T. Dolata. Rebounds — Buckeye 37 (T. Dolata 10), Valley Forge 23 (Robinson 8). Assists — Buckeye 10 (Brown 4), Valley Forge 5 (Harb 2). Records — Buckeye (7-4, 5-1), Valley Forge (2-8, 0-6). Junior varsity — Valley Forge won.