The Buckeye Bucks defeated the Clearview Clippers, 75-60, in a Division II sectional final on March 3, avenging a regular season loss from earlier in the season in Lorain by defending home court in the postseason.
Buckeye was led by a game-high 28 points from senior guard Braeden Stauffer, who knocked down six 3-pointers in the win.
His first triple of the night made it 11-2 in favor of Buckeye, less than four minutes into the game.
Braeden Stauffer makes it 11-2 Buckeye with this 3-pointer pic.twitter.com/KqdiCgLqdW
— Matt Medley (@MedleyHoops) March 4, 2017
Clearview began to chip away at the deficit and Jaylin Paschel intercepted a pass, driving coast-to-coast, and finished off a beautiful layup to make it a seven-point game.
Jaylin Paschel coast to coast with a sweet layup
Clearview cuts the deficit to 7 pic.twitter.com/IsNj0K9fAq
— Matt Medley (@MedleyHoops) March 4, 2017
Buckeye led by nine after one quarter of play and the threes continued to fall in the second quarter, as the Bucks drained four shots from deep (three of which were courtesy of Stauffer).
Buckeye making it rain three's in the second quarter. Bucks lead by 11 pic.twitter.com/HDkeYhsUY2
— Matt Medley (@MedleyHoops) March 4, 2017
Clearview senior guard Deuce Martin kept his team in the game, heading into halftime, sinking a nice mid-range pull up shot to trim the deficit to ten before halftime.
Martin makes it a ten-point game
Buckeye leads 37-27 at halftime.
13 pts for Martin
17 for Stauffer pic.twitter.com/HwU4c3jzDh
— Matt Medley (@MedleyHoops) March 4, 2017
Clearview opened the second half on a 4-0 run, but Buckeye quickly answered back.
Just like that, Buckeye's lead back up to 11 pic.twitter.com/3JWBDEJJC4
— Matt Medley (@MedleyHoops) March 4, 2017
The Clippers wouldn’t go away, as Clearview mounted a comeback and DeAri Todd finished off a fastbreak layup to make it a three-point game with two minutes left in the third.
Clearview rallying back..
DeAri Todd makes it 44-41 with 2 min left in 3rd pic.twitter.com/JjtiF2vON2
— Matt Medley (@MedleyHoops) March 4, 2017
Martin brought Clearview within one point on the Clippers’ next possession, scoring a transition layup.
Deuce Martin makes it a 1-pt game pic.twitter.com/L5fM7gMkSm
— Matt Medley (@MedleyHoops) March 4, 2017
Michael Novick opened up the fourth quarter with a big three-pointer to build Buckeye’s lead up to four.
Novick 3 makes it 49-45 Buckeye
7 min left pic.twitter.com/jxBemUSUuQ
— Matt Medley (@MedleyHoops) March 4, 2017
Stauffer followed it up with another huge three.
Huge 3 for Stauffer. He has 20 points
Buckeye leads 52-45 pic.twitter.com/CHuCvPMiU1
— Matt Medley (@MedleyHoops) March 4, 2017
Clearview continued to scrap and fight its way back into the game, as Todd battled for an offensive rebound and cut the deficit to five with just over six minutes remaining.
Todd muscles his way to cut it to 5 pic.twitter.com/mbRjWMN6pi
— Matt Medley (@MedleyHoops) March 4, 2017
Buckeye started to create some distance again getting the lead up to 10, and Justin Canedy came through with a big layup with five minutes to play.
Buckeye pulling away. Up by 12 with 5 min to play pic.twitter.com/33I2ZQFSGz
— Matt Medley (@MedleyHoops) March 4, 2017
Joey Bartinelli, who was relatively quiet for most of the night, stepped up in the fourth quarter, converting this dazzling layup.
What layup by Joey Bartinelli. Buckeye still up 12 4 min to go pic.twitter.com/7OMsk5Z9xT
— Matt Medley (@MedleyHoops) March 4, 2017
Stauffer continued his impressive night, taking it to the rack to keep Buckeye in front by double digits with under three minutes to go.
Huge basket for Stauffer
He has 24
Buckeye up 10 with 2:53 to play pic.twitter.com/BDmlv0sHSG
— Matt Medley (@MedleyHoops) March 4, 2017
With the score 66-56 in favor of Buckeye, Bartinelli drained what felt like a dagger with 1:30 to play.
Dagger from Bartinelli
Buckeye leads 69-56 with 1:30 to go pic.twitter.com/xm7IADYiLI
— Matt Medley (@MedleyHoops) March 4, 2017
Buckeye closed out the 75-60 victory and stays alive in the tournament.
Bartinelli finished with 7 points on the night, five of which came in the fourth quarter.
Novick scored 22 for Buckeye, knocking down four shots from long-range.
Martin scored 23 in his final high school game, capping off an impressive high school career. Fellow seniors DeAri Todd and Jamel Billings each scored 12 points in the loss.
Clearview’s season comes to an end with 18 wins, five losses, and a Patriot Athletic Conference Title.
Buckeye (19-4) advances to face Bay (16-8) in the Division II North Ridgeville district semifinals at North Ridgeville High School on Thursday, March 9.
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