Article published January 13, 2007
BOYS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Buford's final point biggest
Libbey holds off Start rally
Brad Burton takes a shot for Libbey in close. The unbeaten and ninth-ranked Cowboys survived a strong upset bid by Start last night but were able to fend off the Spartans at the end.
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THE BLADE/LORI KING
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By STEVE JUNGA
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
Only one of William Buford's game-high 28 points came in the fourth quarter of Libbey's City League basketball battle last night against visiting Start.
Fortunately for the ninth-ranked Cowboys, Buford's free throw with seven seconds remaining was the deciding point as Libbey (9-0, 5-0) hung on for a 55-54 victory.
Upset minded Start (7-2, 3-2) - which fought back from a nine-point deficit late in the third quarter by limiting Libbey to just three points in the fourth - did have one last shot to win.
But Jeff Williams' off-balance 14-footer on the move from the left wing missed at the buzzer.
"We couldn't make our shots, we were missing free throws and we weren't going to the basket strong," Buford said of the fourth-quarter drought.
"I was trying to go to the bucket [for winning shot] so I could get a foul and go to the free throw line. After I missed the first one I was just thinking, 'Make the second one.'•"
The Spartans had a chance at duplicating the feat of the Start girls two nights earlier.The girls knocked off state-ranked and previously unbeaten Notre Dame Academy.
Down the stretch, such a repeat seemed not only possible, but likely.
Start’s Robert Lonas is surrounded by Julius Wells, left, Tony Brown, and Brad Sandridge as he tries to corral a rebound during the Spartans’ loss to the Cowboys in City League play.
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THE BLADE/LORI KING
)
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"I thought we had an excellent opportunity to win the game at the end," Start coach Gil Guerrero said, "especially when Buford misses one of two. You expect him to nail both of them.
"We tried to set up Jeff Williams to take it down the middle, and [Tim Haynes] got stalled a little bit at half court. That took some time off and we needed one more second, because we had the rebound.
"It wasn't to be."
After Libbey's Brad Burton scored on a fast-break layup 42 seconds into the final period, the Cowboys held a 54-47 lead.
But Libbey would miss all four of its remaining shots from the field, commit half of its 10 total turnovers in the final 6:06, and miss its first three foul shots in fourth quarter.
Searching for something to put his team back on track, veteran coach Leroy Bates had his team stall the ball for nearly a minute midway in the quarter. That move failed.
"We probably stalled the ball too long," Bates said. "When you do that, you kind of take your team out of continuity.
| SCOREBOARD |
Boys
Libbey 55, Start 54
Waite 68, Bowsher 38
Clay 65, Rogers 58
Scott 69, Woodward 60
Whitmer 54, St. Francis 49
A. Wayne 63, Springfield 49
Southview 49, Perrysburg 42
Ott. Hills 65, E. Christian 49
Maumee Vall. 56, Northwood 54
Blissfield 54, Erie Mason 53
Girls
Rossford 43, Bowl. Green 37
Otsego 52, Woodmore 40
Pat. Henry 38, Evergreen 37
Swanton 59, Wauseon 55
Archbold 46, Montpelier 33
A. Wayne 63, Springfield 44 |
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"We feel fortunate to win because they outrebounded us
offensively, and I guess we should have done a better job of preparing for them."
Start forward Chris Wilson (14 points, 11 rebounds) scored on a tip-in with 5:50 to play, and Haynes followed with a steal and layup at 5:12 to get the Spartans within 54-51.
After JuJuan Hamilton (16 points) scored on a driving bank shot with 2:47 left, Williams hit the second of two free throws 29 seconds later to knot things at 54.
"You can't take away from what Start did," Bates said. "They have a veteran club and they know what they did to us last year. They looked forward to doing it again this year."
The Spartans were the last team to beat Libbey, upsetting the Cowboys in last year's Division I sectional finals.
Start used a 12-4 run to close the first quarter with a 19-14 edge, but Buford tallied 21 of his points in the second and third quarters to lift the Cowboys. A Lance Jones drive netted Libbey its biggest lead at 52-43 with 48 seconds left in the third.
Libbey was 20 of 53 from the field, 13 of 20 from the line, and topped Start 37-33 on the boards.
The Spartans were 20 of 47 from the field and 11 of 18 from the line.
"It was a matter of keeping their poise, which they did tonight," Guerrero said of his team. "They could have easily folded the tents and said, 'We're down nine points to the ninth-ranked team in the state - that's it, forget it.'
"But they didn't. We battled right back."
Contact Steve Junga at:
sjunga@theblade.com
or 419-724-6461.
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