NEW WASHINGTON (Crawford County Now) — Buckeye Central’s boys basketball team did something it had not done in a decade.
A hard fought 65-61 win over South Central in a Division VII sectional final allowed the Bucks to cut down the nets and claim their first sectional championship since the 2014-2015 season.
“This win is very important not only for the current team. It’s important for our youth programs see this and you’ve got to build that culture,” said head coach Chris Moyer.
“It’s not luck when you win one. You put some work into it and we’re a junior-laden varsity team. It was very important for us to take that step and be able to go play in a district semifinal next week. I’m super proud of these kids.”
The Bucks face Norwalk St. Paul at Shelby at 6 p.m. Thursday in that game. The Flyers downed Mansfield St. Peter’s 53-41 in the other sectional final.
Buckeye Central (8-15) fell behind 2-0 but after Jack Phillips hit a 3 the hosts never trailed. Phillips, one of five junior starters, led Buckeye Central with 23 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and a blocked shot.
Phillips was 6-of-9 from the foul line, but when it counted he was money. He stepped to the line and sank both foul shots with 11.9 seconds on the clock to secure the four-point victory.
“These guys work really hard and during the regular season it wasn’t exactly the results we wanted to get,” Phillips said.
“Coach Moyer just said it. This is what basketball is all about. Climbing the mountain. There’s something about getting on top of the ladder and cutting the net down that just makes you feel good,” he said.
“I’ve been playing with them since I was little, like first or second grade. We just have so much chemistry and I’m so excited. Our potential next week and going into next year. I can’t say enough about Matthew (Heefner), he’s our only senior.”
Phillips admitted he struggled earlier in the night at the foul line.
“I just was taking a deep breath and relaxing and knowing that if I made both at the end, which I did, it would get it to a two-score game.”
South Central ends its season at 4-19. The Trojans were led by Bryan Chaffee’s 26 points and 7 boards.
After taking a 13-10 lead after one quarter, the Bucks fought off the Trojans as Chaffee and Trey Knoll kept it close. The visitors trailed 32-26 at halftime.
“Jack’s matured. The difference is the game has slowed down for him and he understands what we need him to do,” Moyer said.
“He’s our calming force. He had a couple of finishes there in the fourth quarter, just being patient. We’re going to win or lose a game with him. It’s going to go through his hands.”
Jeremiah Fishpaw, Caydin Jarvis and Heefner controlled the glass, giving Buckeye a 34-25 advantage.
“The great effort there on the offensive glass. Unfortunately, we weren’t taking advantage of those things. I know I question our effort on the defensive end nightly, but they gave me everything they had.”
South Central hung around after falling behind by 10 points, 21-11 in the second quarter and 58-48 in the fourth quarter.
“Chaffee kicked our tails tonight and he single-handedly kept them in the game,” Moyer said.
As the Trojans battled back with 35 second-half points, Moyer’s message was simple.
“You haven’t been in this situation before. When you’re up 10, you don’t have to go up 20,” he said.
“We missed a wide-open layup that would have put us up by 12 and it ends up costing us 3 points. Every missed lay-up is usually a 4-point or 5-point turnaround.”
Phillips and company righted the ship, pushing ahead on a Hunter Caudill 3 that broke a 58-58 tie with 2:30 remaining.
Caudill added 11 points, Alec Phillips 10 and Fishpaw 9 and a dozen rebounds.
“We stretched it out and took some quick ones. The last minute and a half we showed a lot of composure to hold the ball and get the clock to run down.”
Next up is the top-seed Flyers.
“We had an opportunity, and we took advantage of, but we’re not here to stop,” Moyer said.
“We have a lot of history with Norwalk St. Paul and we’re very familiar with them. We’ve done some work over the summer with them. They are by far the best team in the district, but we’re going over there to win a ball game. That’s the mentality we need to have.”
Box score
South Central 10 16 17 18 — 61
Buckeye Central 13 19 18 15 — 65
South Central (4-19): Shots 22-56; 3-pt. shots 5-19 (Trey Knoll 3, Bryan Chaffee, Troy Ayers); Free throws 12-18; Rebounds 25 (Wes June 8); Turnovers 11. Scoring: Wyatt Hall 0 1 1, Wes June 2 1 5, Dom Paynter 2 2 6, Tanner Back 1 0 2, Bryan Chaffee 10 5 26, Trey Knoll 4 3 14, Troy Ayers 3 0 7.
Buckeye Central (8-15): Shots 23-51; 3-pt. shots 8-16 (Hunter Caudill 3, Jack Phillips 3, Alex Phillips 2); Free throws 11-20; Rebounds 34 (Jeremiah Fishpaw 12, Caydin Jarvis 12); Turnovers 8. Scoring: Alec Phillips 4 0 10, Hunter Caudill 3 2 11, Caydin Jarvis 3 2 8, Jermiah Fishpaw 4 1 9, Jack Phillips 7 6 23, Matthew Heefner 2 0 4.