Boyd-Buchanan's Ian Johnson shoots a three in the first half of a game against McCallie Monday night in Jett Gymnasium. The Blue Tornado defeated the Bucs, 56-47, behind Eric Rivers' 18 points. Johnson also finished with 18 points to lead Boyd-Buchanan.
photo by Greg Davick
It was the first really cold night of the new year Monday evening and unfortunately for the Boyd Buchanan basketball team it was an even colder night inside the Bucs’ Jett Gymnasium.
At least when it came to shooting the basketball.
McCallie took advantage of an ouch-for-12 shooting start from the Bucs, racing to a 16-0 first quarter lead before turning it over to the steady hands of senior Eric Rivers down the stretch in a 56-47 victory over Boyd Buchanan last night.
“You just can’t have a scoreless quarter against a team like McCallie and expect anything different than what happened tonight,” said Boyd Buchanan coach Josh Templeton. “They had a great game plan, and their kids stepped up. Spencer Turner and (Jay) Hardy just killed us with daggers all night long.”
It was Turner who almost seemed to be rubbing salt in the wound as the Bucs missed all six of their 3-point shots in the opening quarter. Turner hit three straight 3s within a 1:01 span of the quarter as the big man made it a point to display a part of his game he felt as been disrespected in recent games.
“Last week against Chattanooga Christian they sort of dared him to shoot from outside, and he worked really hard this week to take advantage of that. I thought he was looking for it tonight, and he never hesitated,” said McCallie coach David Conrady.
Added Turner of the effort: “I took offense to it to be honest. They slacked off me out there last week and I wanted to shoot it with confidence tonight. They gave it me, so I took it.”
And when he wasn’t taking it, his big man counterpart John Hardy was. The 6-5, 290-pounder hit a pair of treys in both the second and third quarters to help keep the Bucs at arm’s length.
“I’ve got the green light to shoot it from out there as long as I catch in it in rhythm, and felt like I did that tonight,” said Hardy, who scored 15 on the night.
Boyd Buchanan actually won the final three quarters, but the cold start combined with Rivers ability to close a game out was just too much.
“The first quarter was a fluke and we knew that. They are a really good team and we knew we had a long way to go despite the big lead. I thought we did a really good job of taking it more inside in the final period when we were trying to close it out, but Rivers make my job easy. He has such a high basketball IQ, and he knows how to close a game out,” Conrady said.
After the Bucs managed to claw back in it slowly but surely, cutting it to 36-28 early in the final period, Rivers scored 10 of his game-high 18 points from that point on, including make all eight of his free throws as the Bucs desperately tried to press them.
“Rivers is a one-man press breaker, and he makes it very hard to play from behind. Our guys are fighters, and we’re not going to go down without a fight, but I thought some of the big game nerves got to us early, and that’s something we’re going to be honest about and work to solve. That’s why we play these type games,” said Templeton.
And fight the Bucs did, especially once some shots starting falling. Boyd Buchanan was 10 of 13 on 3-pointers in the final half once Ian and Caden Johnson heated up. Ian finished with 18 points on six treys and Caden added 11, including three 3s. In fact, all but two of the Bucs’ 15 field goals came from behind the arc as the two squads combined to hit 22 on the night.
Eli Evans added eight points for the Bucs, now 15-4 on the year, along with eight rebounds. Jacob Oliver dished out seven assists as well.
Rivers (18), Hardy (15) and Turner (11) each had double figures for the winners.
Boyd Buchanan girls 53, Oakwood Academy 26: The Lady Bucs broke open what had been a competitive game with a big 20-3 fourth quarter run as Macy Balthrop and Riley Roberston each scored nine points in the final quarter.
Balthrop led the girls with her 12 points and four steals, while Robertson added 11 points to go along with seven rebounds. Dani Reeves chipped in 10 points and five steals and Hannah Massey pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
GIRLS SUMMARY
OAKWOOD ACADEMY 9 11 3 3 – 26
BOYD-BUCHANAN 12 13 8 20 – 53
OAKWOOD ACADEMY (26) – Broadrick 9, A Green 8, Baggett 4, Asher 3, Suits 2, Tucker, Ray, L Green, Tindell.
BOYD BUCHANAN (53) – Macy Balthrop 12, Riley Robertson 11, Dani Reeves 10, Massey 6, Garner 6, Stone 4, Baxter 2, Pope 2, Norton, Sisk, Henderson.
3-POINT GOALS: Oakwood 4 (Broadrick 3, A Green); Boyd Buchanan 5 (Balthrop 4, Robertson).
BOYS SUMMARY
McCALLIE SCHOOL 16 6 12 22 – 56
BOYD BUCHANAN 0 8 14 25 – 47
McCALLIE (56) – Eric Rivers 18, John Hardy 15, Spencer Turner 11, Saizonou 4, Rankin 3, Hamilton 3, Self 2, Elliott, Craig.
BOYD BUCHANAN (47) – Ian Johnson 18, Caden Johnson 11, Evans 8, Oliver 5, Lopez 5, Edmondson, Emrey, Gay.
3-POINT GOALS: McCallie 10 (Hardy 4, Turner 3, Rivers, Rankin, Hamilton); Boyd Buchanan 12 (I Johnson 6, C Johnson 3, Evans, Oliver, Lopez).
(Contact James Beach via email at 1134james@gmail.com or Twitter @beachnut1134)