By Jared Field

Buctown dunks Carson City-Crystal in overtime

Allen slam beats buzzer to topple Eagles in C quarterfinal

11 March 2008

greatlakeshoops.com

Mt. Pleasant--On a night of incredible finishes, this one was extra special.

After hard-fought fourth quarter comeback to force overtime with Carson City-Crystal, the resurgent Flint Beecher Bucs found themselves tied with the Eagles with nine seconds to go.

The Eagles had possession of the ball and Cory Schneider drove to the basket with eight seconds left in the overtime period before getting stripped by Dominique Allen who took the ball the length of the floor for a slam with .4 seconds left.

Walker, who had previously fumbled away an opportunity to slam one home just ten seconds earlier in overtime, made good on his second opportunity.

And after two technical free throws for calling a timeout the Eagles didn't have, the final score was 71-67 in favor of Buctown.

The Eagles led nearly the entire game, and with an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter of a high school game (no shot clock) CCC seemed like a shoe-in to move on to the state semifinals in East Lansing.

But down the stretch the Eagles frittered away opportunities at the foul line and took a few ill-advised shots from the perimeter instead of milking the clock.

The Bucs had a few costly turnovers themselves in the fourth, but never lost any intensity on the defensive end. For every turnover they gave away, the Bucs took two back. The Eagles, it is now obvious, simply are not accustomed to playing teams as athletic as Beecher. The CMAC, in this way, does the Eagles no favors.

Game notes

--Buctown fans owe a debt of gratitude to senior guard Edward Cold, whose triple with less than 20 seconds to go tied the game in regulation. Cold and his backcourt mate, Janero Walker, also did their fair share of the heavy lifting in the Bucs' vaunted full-court press. Walker, only a junior, has some serious game and is as quick as a cat. Cold and Walker finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

--The press was the difference in the fourth quarter. The Bucs forced numerous turnovers in the final five minutes to erase what had been an 11-point CCC lead. Schneider was the only Eagle who could handle the press, and even Schneider struggled at times. The Bucs were just too athletic, as demonstrated by Allen's spectacular buzzer-beating dunk. How many times have you seen that? Allen had 12 points in the game, but none bigger than the final two.

--The best player on the floor was Buctown's Taron Boose, who checked CCC's 6-11 center, Sean Jones, for more than half the game. At only 6-1, Boose still managed to score all his points in the paint. This kid is strong, athletic and a real warrior. Boose, a sophomore, finished with a game-high 21 points.

--Jones (right) is a project big man with enough skills to be fairly dominant at the high school level. He rebounds the ball very well and uses the glass more than most big men. He still needs to get much stronger. He turned the ball over too many times upon contact in the post and the Bucs made him pay.

--CCC was paced by Jones and Schneider who scored 20 points apiece. The Eagles just needed one more scorer to really keep the Bucs honest. Jones was very effective on the glass and scored a lot of easy baskets in the low post. Schneider played an excellent all-around game and left everything on the fall. Schneider is a gamer, and one of the most underrated guards in mid-Michigan.

--Kudos to Buctown head coach, Mike Williams, who never lost his cool down the stretch. He didn't let his team quit, even after Simeo Overall, one of Beecher's most valuable players, fouled out in the fourth quarter. Williams coaches effort, and his team gave him everything tonight.

--The Bucs will take on unbeaten Negaunee at 2:50 p.m. on Thursday at the Breslin Center.