By TOM NYHUIS
Niles Daily Star

Buchanan jumped out to an early 17-point lead after one quarter of play and finished off host Brandywine 70-40 in a Lakeland Conference boys’ basketball game Friday night.

Brandywine did close the gap to a six points, 24-18 on a 10-0 run midway through the second quarter. But the visiting Bucks responded with their own 10-0 run to end the first half leading 34-19.

“They had a little run on us there,” Buchanan coach Reid McBeth said of the Bobcats second quarter burst. “Our kids did a good job there after we called a time out and ended it so I was happy that our kids did that.”

Buchanan opened the second half with another 10-2 run to put the game out of reach going up 44-21 four minutes into the third quarter.

Brandywine’s Jacob Frazier led the team with a game-high 15 points but it wasn’t enough. Buchanan was lead by Daniel Blackwell’s four 3-pointers, finishing the night with 13 points.

In all the Bucks sank seven from behind the arc. Richie Reed and Bryan Kuntz each added 12 points apiece as Buchanan improved to 3-0 in the league and 4-2 overall.

“They got a couple of lay ups and they were back against us and we weren’t getting fast break points, McBeth said of the Bobcat run in the second quarter. “That was a good easy way for us to get up early in the first quarter and we did a great job on the offensive boards.
“That was one thing we were a little bit worried about that if they sat in the zone we didn’t know how many offensive rebounds we would be able to get with the height they have. Our kids really attacked the basket and we were getting second and third chances and that is what you need against a team that big.”

Nine first quarter turnover by the Bobcats proved costly as Buchanan quickly opened up the double figure advantage.

“A lot of turnovers were caused by our man-to-man defense and our kids are pretty aggressive and their strength is not at their guards, their strength is with their big men. We have a lot of guys that we can keep rotating people in fresh and keep pressure on and that is what our kids did. Sometimes it is a matter if our kids are going to put in 32 minutes of effort and tonight they did a good job of doing it, McBeth said.

“We needed to do a better job of getting the ball inside and when we did our guys were throwing up shots against Frazier and he was having his way with them. I told the kids at half time to give a little shot fake and go up strong. Both Jalen (Brown) and Marquis (Tyler) did a great job of doing that, got him up in the air a few times and I know we missed a couple but we had a lot of improvement out of our post guys through out the season and they just keep getting better and that is going to be a huge factor for us down the race here.”
Brandywine falls to 1-3 in conference play and a 2-3 season mark.

“It’s always tough in this conference to win on the road and we always struggle at Brandywine so I was glad to get this one in and get out of here,” McBeth said.

BUCHANAN 70
Spencer Anglero 0 0-0 0, Dylan Arnold 1 0-0 3, Savon Brown 2 3-5 8, Richie Reed 5 1-2 12, Bryan Kuntz 5 2-3 12, Andrew Hearington 0 0-0 0, Dane Cauffman 0 0-0 0, Daniel Blackwell 4 1-2 13, Ryan Catalano 1 0-0 2, Jalen Brown 2 0-0 4, Brandon Jackson 1 2-2 4, Ryan Henckel 1 2-2 4, Marquis Tyler 4 0-0 8. Totals 26 11-16 70.
BRANDYWINE 40
Jeremy Zimmerman 0 0-0 0, Corey Luhrsen 1 1-2 3, DaKoda Udell 1 0-0 2, Dustin Sater 2 0-0 4, Lance Prescott 2 2-2 6, Stone Hadley 0 0-0 0, Dustin Bell 2 0-2 5, Cody Pierson 1 0-0 3, Wyatt Taylor 1 0-0 2, Jacob Frazier 7 1-2 15. Totals 17 4-8 40.

Buchanan  21  34  56  70
Brandywine 4  19  28  40
3-point goals: Buchanan 7 (Blackwell 4, Arnold 1, Savon Brown 1, Reed 1) Brandywine 2 (Bell 1, Pierson 1). Team Fouls (fouled out): Buchanan 17 (none) Brandywine 18 (none). Records: Buchanan 4-2, 3-0 Lakeland, Brandywine 2-3, 1-3 Lakeland. J.V. Score: Brandywine 59 (Joe Godfrey 22) Buchanan 56 (Justin Henderson 15) in overtime. Freshman Score: Brandywine 63 (Pierce Gleason 19), Buchanan 16 (Carsten McCarty 7).