Mentor-
Playing without Michael Ryan (injury) and Gabe Kynard, the Burning River Buckets improved to 2-0 over the scrappy Akron Aviators 110-94. The Buckets used a combination of strong inside play, and stellar outside shooting to pull away late. The game was surprisingly close throughout, as the Aviators shot the three ball well. In the end, the Buckets defense and experience proved to be too much.
First Quarter
The first quarter started with Akron shooting the ball well. The Aviators scored the first five points and were playing stingy defense. The game started with Akron up 11-6. The Buckets took a time out and went on a quick 8-2 run to take the lead and never surrendered the lead again. The Aviators stayed close and kept the quarter complete. The score after one was 29-27.
Photo by David Chopcinski
Second Quarter
In the second quarter, the Buckets seemed to break the game open. They opened the quarter on an 11-0 run to push their lead to 40-27. At this point, it looked like the Buckets were going to run away with the game. But the Aviators called time out to regroup and tightened up their defense. The put on a full court press, and with starting point guard Kynard out, the ball handling duties were a total team effort for the Buckets. But the three ball kept the Aviators in the game. At one point, the Buckets lead got up to 16 in the quarter, but the Aviators hit 3 three-pointers to narrow the margin 49-41. The first half ended with the Buckets up 54-44 in a ten-point lead that felt more closer than it was.
Third Quarter
The third quarter started with the teams exchanging threes. The third was a sloppy quarter for both teams as each squad pressed and ramped up the defense. The Buckets kept their lead and even extended it to 15 going up 80-65 to end. The quarter was bogged down by fouls, steals and sloppy play.
Fourth Quarter
Photo by David Chopcinski
The fourth quarter is where the Buckets really put the game away. Anthony Coleman started the quarter with a personal 8-0 run. The Buckets used that momentum to push the lead up over 20 points. Then Dylan Contento and Martell Medley got in on the action. The trio of Coleman, Contento, and Medley scored a combined 81 points. Coleman led all scorers with 31 and a complete offensive array of outside and inside scoring. Dylan Contento did most of his damage in the second half as he started dominating inside. The fourth quarter was easily the Buckets best quarter as their experience and Davy helped them cruise to the 110-94 win.
Next up
The Buckets go on the road next week to face the Aviators again on the road followed by a trip to Indiana next weekend. This back-to-back will be the first test of the Buckets young season as they go on the road for the first time. When they return home, it will be against the #1 ranked team from Pittsburgh in a highly anticipated matchup of two teams with national championship aspirations!
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