By By ERIKA PICKLES / Dowagiac Daily News
WATERVLIET - It doesn't matter how well a team prepares themselves for the quickness of Buchanan, they all seem to be finding out the hard way.
The Bucks took a 72-55 win over White Pigeon, a team they only beat by three points in the first game of the season, Tuesday night to advance to the Class C Regional finals on Friday night.
It's not only Buchanan's quickness that has been giving teams problems, but its pressure defense as well.
The Bucks' quickness was not an issue for White Pigeon in the first half though.
Neither was its rebounding.
The Chiefs used this to their advantage and got off to a good start. Their one-three-one zone caught Buchanan off guard and forced it to stay on the perimeter. The Bucks tried to pull off some easy baskets, but they were unsuccessful on making the shots or they would be stopped by White Pigeon's defense.
The Chiefs went ahead of Buchanan 8-0 halfway through the first. D'Vaughn Frazier made the first basket for the Bucks and Brian Shannnon hit his first and only three of the night with 1:27 left in the first. Tony Robinson was able to pull off two points for Buchanan and went 1-for-2 on the line. A last basket from PJ Pollack on an assisted pass from Jordan Lee tied the score at 10 heading into the second quarter.
White Pigeon built up a 17-13 lead with 4:33 remaining in the opening half.
Jordan Lee's back-to-back buckets tied the score back up at 17, but Troy Niblock, who was out the first time the two teams met due to an injury, added two points to give White Pigeon the lead back.
The two teams battled back and forth but once again had to settle for a tie at 23 at halftime.
Buchanan's pressure began wearing down the Chiefs, which allowed the Bucks to open up a 44-37 lead heading into the final quarter.
White Pigeon's exhaustion really showed in the fourth. The Chiefs couldn't keep up with Buchanan's fast pace.