By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES – For the first three quarters of Friday's game against Coloma, the Buchanan Bucks looked as if they would be shut down completely.
Carrying a 46-28 lead heading into the fourth period, the Comets felt pretty comfortable about walking away with an easy victory. Little did they know, the Bucks would make a huge comeback and come with six points of the lead with under one minute to play.
In the final seconds, though, Coloma sealed the victory and walked away with a 50-44 Lakeland Conference win.
"Our kids made a great effort in the fourth quarter. We had to trap a little bit and that caused Coloma some problems," Buchanan coach Reid McBeth said.
The Bucks caused the Comets 21 turnovers, 10 in the fourth period alone, while committing just 16.
Coloma outrebounded the Bucks, 27-20.
After the first quarter, Coloma carried an 11-6 lead, which grew to 29-15 at halftime.
"I told the kids we just needed to play the entire game like we did in the fourth. We gave up too many baskets in the first three periods and you can't do that," McBeth said.
Buchanan's Marquis Hall led all scorers with 15 points, while Avery Brown added 11, including three 3-pointers.
For the Comets, Jeff Gargano and Gabe Guirby each had 13 points.
Junior varsity and freshmen
The Buchanan junior varsity and freshmen teams both fell to Coloma Friday evening.
The JV team lost, 66-47, while the freshmen suffered a 57-50 loss.
T.J. Pike led the JV team with 10 points, while Spencer Anglero had 16 for the Bucks' freshmen team.
All three squads will travel to Brandywine on Tuesday for another Lakeland Conference match-up.