SULLIVAN TWP. — The name of the game was The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and the only thing missing was Clint Eastwood’s famous movie character.

When the dust settled Tuesday, the Buckeye boys basketball team received hot shooting from Bill Doerge to beat Black River 71-55 in another emotionally-charged Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division rivalry showdown.

Buckeye’s Bill Doerge scores over Black River’s Andrew Vaughn in the first quarter. (GAZETTE PHOTO BY JUDD SMERGLIA)

“A win is better than a loss,” Bucks coach Matt Saunders deadpanned.

Buckeye (8-12, 6-10) pulled away from the pesky Pirates (1-19, 0-16) with a 14-5 run to end the game. How it got to that point was another story.

The Good:

Doerge finished with 26 points, highlighted by a 6-of-7 performance from 3-point range. The 5-foot-11 senior has 128 points over his last six games for a healthy 21.3 average.

• Buckeye held a 19-9 first-quarter advantage behind four or more points from Doerge, forward Garrett Beck (12 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists) and center Jeff Miller, and finished strong by making 11-of-17 free throws in the fourth quarter after not attempting any in the first half.

• Black River made its charge behind point guard Andrew Vaughn (11 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 8 turnovers) and small forward Dean Finkel (9 points) and brought the deficit to within two possessions midway through the fourth quarter.

• Bucks post Nick Prest, who earlier threw off his varsity warm-up from the stands and played two quarters in the junior varsity game because John Tighe exited with a wrist injury, scored six points in the final three minutes.

The Bad:

Doerge admitted his four consecutive turnovers in the fourth quarter were paramount in fueling the Pirates’ comeback.

• The teams combined to shoot just 10-of-33 from the floor in the third quarter, when poor decision-making and misses from point-blank range took center stage.

• The Pirates missed 11 of their first 12 3-point attempts. They also committed five turnovers and made only one more field goal after getting to within 57-52 with 3:25 left on a Finkel 3-pointer.

The Ugly:

Finkel was ejected with 1:09 remaining when he shoved Beck in the back two-handed on a fast break, which automatically results in a two-game suspension under Ohio High School Athletic Association guidelines.

“It seems like every year I play here we always end up having fights or something,” Doerge said.

After Buckeye forged a 35-22 halftime lead, the wheels came off, as Black River clearly outplayed the Bucks in the middle quarters once it figured out how to hold onto the ball.

Vaughn scored six points during a 7-2 Black River run to get the deficit within single digits. Doerge stretched it back to 13 with a 3-pointer midway through the fourth, but promptly lost the ball four straight times to help Black River get within five.

Fortunately for Buckeye, Beck and Ben Checkelsky (10 points, 5 rebounds) each found Prest for run-deflating scores. Doerge and Beck then made 3-of-4 free throws following Finkel’s ejection — Buckeye was in the double-bonus — and Prest scored on the ensuing possession to cap a 5-0 swing that put things on ice.

“We started gathering ourselves and played basketball the way we know how,” Doerge said.

Much to the dismay of Pirates coach Don Brunker, his team played the way it has most of the season — turnover-prone — over the final three minutes to kill any momentum it had.

Senior center John Guilford had five points, five rebounds and three assists before fouling out, power forward Tyler Potter added nine points and junior guard Gus Kazek scored seven of his nine in the second quarter.

“There were some emotions in there with the seniors (having) their last home game, and I thought they did a good job in a tough situation,” Brunker said. “We came out slow. I thought we did a better job as the game progressed, but we dug a hole that was a little too deep to dig out of.”

Note

Buckeye’s junior varsity won 60-45 behind a 22-9 run to end the game. Tighe (15 points), Jimmy Vealey (11) and Mike Bacho (12 points, 8 steals, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) played key roles. Black River was led by Nick LaHood (12 points), Kelly Brodeur (10) and Dakota Kuntz (7 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists).

Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@ medina-gazette.com.

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