Editor’s note: Every week, the My Buckhannon sports team will select one highly-anticipated contest as our Game of the Week. This week, we picked B-U going on the road for the first time this season against rival Lewis County.
WESTON – The Buckhannon-Upshur Buccaneers gave head coach Travis Foster the perfect gift on his 40th birthday, a convincing 62-46 victory over the Lewis County Minutemen Wednesday night in a road Big 10 Conference outing.
The outcome was never in doubt as the Bucs, who are still struggling with several players battling illnesses, took an early 15-point first-quarter lead and never let the Minutemen back into the game.
“We are still battling some illnesses,” stated Foster. “We are still under the weather with some players. We are still trying to get Mason Hyre up to speed and Lamar Hurst still isn’t feeling 100 percent, and we didn’t have Shawn Blandino, who was injured in Tuesday’s game with Preston. It wasn’t a thing of beauty but a win is a win, especially against a rival like Lewis County.”
The Bucs raced out to a 21-5 lead late in the first quarter behind Lamar Hurst’s 10 opening-quarter points.
Hurst finished the game with 17 points, five rebounds and two steals.
“He is still battling through an illness,” remarked Foster about Hurst. “He wasn’t a 100 percent tonight but I thought his energy was at 100 percent.”
“Honestly, I was just feeding off the energy of my teammates,” stated Hurst. “We talked about it in the locker room about needing to execute and I fed off of my teammates and was able to do my job. We work hard every day in practice. It feels good to get the win.”
The Bucs took a 21-7 advantage into the second quarter.
Lewis County went on a 7-0 run to start the quarter trimming their deficit down to seven, at 21-14, but they couldn’t get any closer than seven points in the first half.
Ian Strader ended the run with a putback making it a 23-14 game and B-U closed the half on a mini 4-0 run for a 29-18 lead at the intermission.
The Bucs started the third quarter on a 7-0 run with baskets from Harrison Walker, Strader and Hurst for a 36-18 advantage.
Lewis County went on a 7-2 run making the score 38-25 midway through the third quarter.
The Bucs kept their lead at 13 points heading into the fourth quarter, up 43-30.
The Bucs’ biggest lead in the fourth quarter was 17 points after Strader may a pair of free throws 47 seconds in.
Lewis County was never able to get closer than 10 points in the final quarter.
Walker led the Bucs with 20 points while Hurst collected his 17 and Strader, making his second start of the season, just missed out on a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
The victory put the Bucs at 4-1 overall and 3-0 in the Big 10 Conference.
“We still have a lot of distance to cover,” stated Foster. “I still don’t think we are close to being the team that we can be. That is still down the road a ways, but I am proud that we were able to battle and overcome some illnesses and injuries tonight. We are 4-1 going into Christmas, we will take it. That said, there are a lot of things we have to get better at, but we play with a lot of energy and we are starting to see the floor better, but like I said, we still have a ways to go to finding ourselves.”
The Bucs will be back on the court Monday hosting Riverside in a non-conference game starting at 7:30 p.m.
The boxscore:
Buckhannon-Upshur 21 8 14 19 – 62
Lewis County 7 11 12 16 – 46
Buckhannon-Upshur 62
Harrison Walker 6-13 4-5 20; Lamar Hurst 8-14 0-0 17; Ian Strader 3-5 4-5 10; Sterlin Thropp 3-7 3-7 9; Zach Calef-Boring 2-8 0-2 4; Mason Hyre 1-3 0-0 2; Oliver King 0-0 0-2 0; Jaden Westfall 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 11-21 62.
Lewis County 46
Owen Hunt 6-9 8-8 20; Pason Kelley 4-5 0-0 9; Tanner Griffith 2-10 0-0 6; Manny Robinson 2-2 1-2 5; Zach James 2-2 0-0 4; Bryant Zielinski 1-2 0-0 2; Hunter Davisson 0-2 0-0 0; Grant Acord 0-1 0-0 0; Joey Aman 0-0 0-0 0; Luke Davisson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-33 9-10 46.
Three-point field goals – Lewis County: Griffith 2-9; Kelley 1-1; Zielinski 0-1; Acord 0-1; Hunt 0-1; H. Davisson 0-2. Totals 3-15; Buckhannon-Upshur: Walker 4-9; Hurst 1-3; Hyre 0-1; Thropp 0-2; Calef-Boring 0-5. Totals 5-20.
Rebounds – Lewis County: Hunt 5; team 5; Robinson 3; Zielinkski 3; Acord 2; Aman 1; Griffith 1; L. Davisson 1; Kelley 1; H. Davisson 1; James 1; deadball 1. Totals 25; Buckhannon-Upshur: Strader 9; Hurst 5; deadball 5; Thropp 2; Hyre 2; Walker 2; team 2; Calef-Boring 1; King 1. Totals 29.
Assists – Lewis County: Aman 1; Zielinski 1; Griffith 1; Kelley 1; H. Davisson 1; Hunt 1. Totals 6; Buckhannon-Upshur: Thropp 5; Strader 4; Calef-Boring 2; Hurst 1; Walker 1. Totals 13.
Steals – Lewis County: Griffith 3; James 2; Robinson 1; Kelley 1; Hunt 1. Totals 8; Buckhannon-Upshur: Thropp 4; Strader 4; Calef-Boring 3; Hurst 2; Walker 1. Totals 14.
Blocked shots – Lewis County: None; Buckhannon-Upshur: Thropp 1. Totals 1.
Turnovers – Lewis County: 28; Buckhannon-Upshur: 15.
Personal fouls – Lewis County: 20; Buckhannon-Upshur: 12.
