Fairland 61 @ Buckeye Valley 70 Recap

<p>In a non-conference battle that put two top teams in their respective divisions against one another, it was Buckeye Valley defending their home court and coming away with a 70-61 victory on Monday evening. Buckeye Valley did an excellent job of protecting the rim and winning the rebounding battle with their big tandem of 6’8 [player_tooltip player_id="921750" first="Troy" last="Scowden"] and 6’6 [player_tooltip player_id="1041803" first="Jacob" last="Radcliffe"]. Those two were able to do what they wanted against the Fairland bigs, who stood at 6’3 or shorter. Buckeye Valley had very balanced scoring, as no player hit double figures until very late in the third quarter. This offense by committee gave them a lot of success as Fairland had to be worried about any one of the five Barons that were on the court scoring the basketball. For Fairland, they struggled mightily on offense in the first half, unable to create many open looks. In the second half they were able to cut the lead down to five points, but seven straight from [player_tooltip player_id="902099" first="Dylan" last="Thompson"] in 45 seconds put Buckeye Valley back with a comfortable lead. Here were the top performers from the contest.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="902099" first="Dylan" last="Thompson"], 6’2 SG Buckeye Valley 2022: Thompson had seven points in 45 seconds like I mentioned earlier and that little push put the Barons in control. Thompson shot the ball with a lot of success from the outside, making at least four 3-pointers. Thompson also shined with his on-ball defense, giving the Fairland ball-handlers a lot of trouble when trying to attack the basket. With Thompson and a variety of other shooters, it’s difficult to defend Buckeye Valley with their size inside to pair with this shooting.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="967169" first="Aiden" last="Porter"], 6’1 GC Fairland 2022: Porter was the leading scorer in the game, ending the night with 23 points. Those points didn’t come easy for Porter who was relentlessly attacking the basket with mixed success. Plenty of times Porter would attempt a layup and get contact but hardly ever got to the free-throw line despite this. Porter knocked down a couple 3-pointers off hand-offs to show his shooting skill. Porter has taken a massive leap this season and is a no doubt scholarship level talent in the 2022 class.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="921750" first="Troy" last="Scowden"], 6’8 PF Buckeye Valley 2022: Scowden gave Fairland a ton of problems with his rim protection, just controlling the paint defensively. On the offensive side of the ball, Scowden played his role with a couple put-back layups and a transition dunk. Scowden’s resillence is amazing and literally just stepping on a basketball court again would’ve been a win but he’s a very real college prospect after making a full recovery from having a seizure on the court that caused internal brain bleeding just over a year ago.</p> <p>Clayton Thomas, 5’9 PG Fairland 2021: If you find a slower point guard in the state than Thomas, I’ll raise my glass to you. Thomas is one of the most unique players in the state, as a chubby 5’9 PG with unlimited range. Thomas was making shots from all over the gym in the second half, helping him end the game with 20 points. Thomas has been inconsistent this season after being very dominant during his junior season from beyond the arc. It was good to see Thomas start to make shots again from the outside as Fairland needs him to score if they want to get back to the regional stage of the tournament.</p> <p>Owen Osborne, 5’9 PG Buckeye Valley 2022: Osborne was another one of a variety of Barons that made shots from the outside. Osborne helped run the offense for Buckeye Valley and made free-throws to seal the win.</p>