Plymouth defeats Buckeye Central in Division IV Sectional semifinal
PLYMOUTH – A 10-point fourth quarter Plymouth lead evaporated to two in the blink of an eye, before Jarrett Burrer and the Big Red decided that Buck finally stopped there.
Burrer ended an 8-0 Buckeye Central run over the first 2:14 of the final period with his first of back-to-back put-back baskets, as he went on to convert four straight field goals for Plymouth, reclaiming their 10-point cushion and they made it stand, 51-41, Wednesday evening in Division IV Sectional semifinal action at Plymouth High School.
The sophomore wing scored nine consecutive PHS points in building a 50-41 advantage with 40.7 seconds remaining, after the Bucks (4-19) slashed a 41-31 deficit to 41-39 on back-to-back threes by Hunter Caudill and Jeremiah Fishpaw’s first field goal of the night.
Burrer finished with 15 points, sharing gamehigh honors with teammate Gavin Bishop. Burrer added five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Canaan Slone also scored in double-figures, tallying 10 points. Layne Bushey led Plymouth’s 25-20 rebounding advantage with a team-high 10 boards.
“We rebounded very well, especially on the offensive side,” said Plymouth Head Coach Eric Picklesimer. “Burrer and Slone attacked the glass and that was big for us.
“He just does a great job of attacking the glass, and he was able to get there and get them back in,” added Picklesimer on Burrer. “That was a big point, after they (Buckeye Central) came out and hit two threes in the fourth, so we needed those to get a little more breathing room. Buckeye plays hard. Their kids hustle. They battled us every possession. They definitely got after us.”
Caudill led the Bucks with 12 points, as he connected on the two threepoint jumpers in the first 68 seconds of the fourth, narrowing the margin to just four (41-37). Fishpaw’s basket was his only field goal of the contest, as he posted game-best totals of 13 rebounds and four assists.
Plymouth (10-13) locked in defensively down the stretch, yielding just two points over the final 5:46 of play.
The Big Red did a solid job of taking care of the basketball (committing just seven turnovers) and it took one of their rare mistakes to produce the Bucks’ lone points of the closing minutes. Caudill came up with a steal and lay-up with just under two minutes left to pull BCHS within eight, at 49-41.
The Bucks used the three-point line to keep things tight with Plymouth throughout the evening. They drained seven of their first 15 three-point attempts--including 3-of-6 in the first quarter to build a 13-7 advantage, before the Big Red chipped back within two (13-11).
Bishop sank the first of his three buckets from three-point distance to push the Big Red in front, 14-13, in the opening 40 seconds of the second period. Despite a game effort from Buckeye Central, Plymouth never trailed the remainder of the evening--earning a Friday night match-up in the Sectional championship game at top-seeded Colonel Crawford (16-6).
The Big Red shot 51 percent from the field (21-of41), but struggled from the foul line, converting just 6-of-15. The Bucks shot 37 percent, sinking an identical 7-of-19 from both two and three-point range, for 14-for-38, overall.
Picklesimer was impressed at the development of the Buckeye Central squad from his
team’s first encounter with them (a 40-29 victory) in the first game of the season in New Washington.
“In the season opener, you don’t know what you’re going to get,” said Picklesimer. “I don’t think they were as polished in that game. They did a lot better tonight in handling the ball. They weren’t turning it over and made good decisions tonight. It was a much better team tonight, but our guys were a lot better tonight, too. We had a great two-and-ahalf days to prep for these guys. When we rebound and take care of the basketball, we can be pretty competitive.”