By By TOM NYHUIS / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Buchanan's game plan of slowing down the offense and playing a strong defense worked for one half in Thursday night's semifinal district basketball game against Berrien Springs at Bridgman High School.
But from the start of the second half it was all the Shamrocks as they went on to take the 61-36 win and advance to Saturday's district championship game against the Bees.
"They came out to start the second half with that press," Buchanan coach Reid McBeth said following the loss. "The last two games we have been hit with the press and we have done a very poor job of handling it. I take responsibility for that, we haven't worked on it very much.
The Bucks took an early 6-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game and held a 8-2 advantage with two minutes to play in the first quarter.
The Shamrocks trailed by one, 8-7, after a 3-point basket and a field goal by Shelby Wood and Matt Delmer.
Eric Cole and Jeff Kyles stretched the lead to five with a basket each in the final 30 seconds of the quarter. Most of the time in the quarter, the Bucks kept the ball on the outside as the Rocks stuck to their 2-3 zone.
In the second quarter, Berrien tied the game at 12 and finally took the lead, 17-16, with 4:20 to play and finished the period with a 7-2 run and a 24-18 halftime lead.
Berrien extended the lead to 10 in the third quarter as Shelby Wood scored 10 of his game high 16 points for the Shamrocks for a 40-30 lead after three quarters of play. A 21-6 fourth finished off any thoughts of a Buchanan victory
"Sixteen minutes wasn't enough. We needed a full 32 minutes tonight to win this. Berrien made some adjustments at halftime and it worked out for them," McBeth said.
Buchanan was led by Kyles and Marquis Hall, who each finished the night with 10 points.
Along with Kyles and Cole, seniors Taylor Johnson and Justin Kuntz played their final prep game on the hardwood for the Bucks, finishing the season with a 9-12 record.
"Our four seniors, five with our manager, busted their tails every day. I know people judge a team by wins and losses but I have four seniors that showed up every day at practice and were good leaders and they played their hardest," praised McBeth.
Buchanan 12 18 30 36
Berrien Springs 7 24 40 61