It’s hard to figure out exactly what the purpose of early-season Hall of Champion basketball games, but it’s chance for coaches to challenge new players in new situations where they face non-region competition. In other words, a chance for coaches to see just where they are, what they need to work on and how their kids will react in real game situations.
That was the case at Boyd Buchanan’s Jett Gym Thursday evening where the host Buccaneers faced their next-door neighbors, the Brainerd Panthers for an early-season matchup.
It’s a whole new coaching staff for the Bucs as Kenneth White is the new head coach and there are a lot of players in new roles who might not have played much a year ago. But everything seems to be working well so far as the Bucs improved to 2-0 on the season with an impressive 70-54 victory.
That last win completed the sweep as the Lady Bucs rolled to an 80-15 win over the Brainerd girls in the first game of the evening.
The new coach was all smiles when the final horn sounded.
“Brainerd has always had a great team with great tradition and we really looked forward to playing them tonight,” White began following the game.
“We made some big plays along the way and we knew that we had to get stops at the end, but this is a step in the right direction for us. We have a bunch of guys in new roles this year, but I thought they responded well tonight. We have two really tough tests next week, so we’ll just keep working to get better,” he concluded.
Brainerd’s Lavar Brown knows what it takes to get to the next level as his Panthers advanced to the second round of the state tournament last March before their season ended. Brown said that he had one of his youngest teams ever and felt like they might play like that, but the Panthers had moments of brilliance and played really well in spots, despite getting outscored 17-6 in the final eight mnutes where the Bucs just slowly pulled away.
“We’ll get better, but we just have to be tougher inside,” Brown began after his post-game talk with his kids.
“They gave 100 percent effort for the entire 32 minutes and I’m happy about that, but we have a bunch of new kids who just need reps on the floor,” Brown assessed.
It was a close game early as a pair of free throws by Anthony Byrd put the Panthers up 7-5 with 4:44 left in the opening stanza. The Bucs responded with seven straight points and finished the quarter on a 15-6 run for a 20-13 lead at the first break.
A 9-5 run by the Bucs midway through the second period extended a 23-19 lead to 32-24. The difference was 10 at 34-24 following a bucket by Boyd’s Caleb Hardaway before Brainerd rallied to make it a two-point game at intermission.
A layup by Byrd to start the second half knotted the score at 35-35 before the Bucs scored 16 of the next 20 points for their biggest lead at 51-39 with 2:22 left in the third.
The Panthers once again had a strong finish to the quarter as they scored nine of the final 11 points to trail by only 53-48 with one quarter remaining.
The Panthers could have been closer at the end, but sank only two of 10 free throws in the final quarter as the Bucs slowly pulled away and won by scoring the last eight points of the game.
Hardaway, a scrappy sophomore with seemingly unlimited potential, finished with 22 points as three Bucs scored in double figures. Eli Gardenhire was next with 19 while Hudson Jones added 13.
Trea Shaw was tops for Brainerd with 14 points while Kendrick Jones added 11.
Boyd Buchanan also had an unofficial 31-29 edge in rebounds as Hardaway grabbed 16. Khris Martin was tops for Brainerd with six.
The challenge continues for the Bucs with a road game on Monday at Chattanooga Christian before hosting McCallie on Tuesday. Brainerd travels to McMinn Central on Monday.
BOYD BUCHANAN GIRLS 80, BRAINERD 15: This game was never close as the Lady Bucs jumped out to a 10-2 lead early while it was 16-4 when the first quarter ended.
The difference was 42-10 at the break while Boyd’s lead was 65-15 after three, leading to a running clock in the final quarter.
Lesley Burton scored 26 points to lead the Lady Bucs as five players scored in double figures.
Sarah Durham and Jada Sanders added 14 points apiece while Eva Winston and Kennedy King both added 10.
Chelby Jones was tops for Brainerd with six points.
GIRLS SUMMARY
BRAINERD 4 6 5 0 -- 15
BOYD BUCHANAN 16 26 23 15 -- 80
BRAINERD (15) – Atkins, N. De La Cruz, Bullard, Nasir, James, Walker, Foster, A. Jones 4, C. Jones 6, Underwood 3, Bailey, Watkins 2, A. De La Cruz.
BOYD BUCHANAN (80) – Barlow, Prarly, Eva Winston 10, Meitzler 2, Sarah Durham 14, Jada Sanders 14, Kennedy King 10, S. King 2, Houston 4, Lesley Burton 26.
3-Point Goals: Brainerd 1 (Underwood); Boyd Buchanan none.
BOYS SUMMARY
BRAINERD 13 20 15 6 -- 54
BOYD BUCHANAN 20 15 18 17 -- 70
BRAINERD (54) – Tre Shaw 14, Kendrick Jones 11, Martin 7, Byrd 6, M. Jackson 6, Ja. Smith 6, Jo. Smith 4, Fugh 2, K. Jackson.
BOYD BUCHANAN (70) – Caleb Hardaway 22, Eli Gardenhire 19, Hudson Jones 13, Reid 7, Fortune 5, Johnson 3, White 1, Turnbow, Lopez.
3-Point Goals: Brainerd 5 (Jones 2, Shaw 2, Martin); Boyd Buchanan 5 (Jones 3, Johnson, Gardenhire).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)