TENNERTON – Carter Zuliani had 11 points and a game-high 20 rebounds to help the Class AAAA No. 12 Buckhannon-Upshur Buccaneers to a convincing 48-39 victory over the Grafton Bearcats Saturday night in a Big 10 Conference clash.
Jerin Westfall added a team-high 15 points to lead the Bucs to their nine-point win in their third game in four days.
The Bucs started hot racing out to an 8-0 lead after two minutes of action behind a pair of three pointers from Ian Strader and Jerin Westfall and a putback by Malaki Williams.
Grafton closed the quarter on an 11-4 run reducing the B-U lead down to just one, at 12-11, heading into the second quarter.
Grafton carried that momentum early in the second quarter after a three-pointer by Kaden Keener put the Bucs down 19-14 with 3:37 left in the half.
B-U kept the Bearcats off the scoreboard the rest of the half with Jerin Westfall putting in a three-pointer with 46 seconds left as the Bucs trailed by one at the break, at 19-18.
Down 23-22, Jerin Westfall hit another trey, he had five in the game, to treat the Bucs to a 25-23 advantage with 4:27 left in the third quarter.
The Bucs never lost the lead again.
A three-pointer by Jevon Westfall wrapped up the third quarter scoring giving the Bucs a 34-28 advantage going into the final frame.
Grafton’s Mason Dunham and Jerin Westfall traded three-pointers to start the fourth quarter and a pair of free throws by Grafton’s Jacob Maier cut B-U’s lead to four, at 39-35, with 5:05 left in the contest.
The Buckhannon-Upshur defense came up big over the next four minutes keeping the Bearcats off the scoreboard going on a 7-0 run capped off by a free throw from Zuliani making it 46-35 game with 90 seconds remaining.
A basket by Jevon Westfall with 26 seconds left iced the game for the Bucs giving them a 48-37 lead.
Maier had a game-high 19 points for Grafton while Dunham contributed nine.
The loss dropped the Bearcats 4-8 overall and 1-6 in the Big 10 Conference.
Buckhannon-Upshur improved to 9-4 overall and 5-3 in the Big 10 Conference.
They will be back in action Wednesday in another conference battle at Philp Barbour with a start time of 7:30 p.m.
The boxscore:
Grafton 11 8 9 11 – 39
Buckhannon-Upshur 12 6 16 14 – 48
Grafton 39
Jacob Maier 7-17 5-5 19; Mason Dunham 3-8 1-2 9; Kaden Keener 2-6 0-0 5; Isaac Lough 1-4 0-0 2; Harrison Maier 1-4 0-0 2; Cody Cook 1-4 0-0 2; Dillan America 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 15-44 6-9 39.
Buckhannon-Upshur 48
Jerin Westfall 5-14 0-0 15; Carter Zuliani 4-12 3-16 11; Ian Strader 3-8 0-1 7; Jevon Westfall 3-5 0-0 7; Malaki Williams 3-6 0-0 6; Jaden Westfall 1-3 0-0 2; Bryson Johnston 0-2 0-0 0; Brody McDaniels 0-1 0-0 0; Nathaniel Ringer 0-0 0-2 0; Landon Marple 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-51 3-19 48.
Three-point field goals – Grafton: Dunham 2-6; Keener 1-4; Lough 0-3; Cook 0-2; J. Maier 0-2; America 0-1; H. Maier 0-1 Totals 3-19; Buckhannon-Upshur: Jerin Westfall 5-14; Strader 1-3; Jevon Westfall 1-2; Johnston 0-2; McDaniels 0-1.Totals 7-22.
Rebounds – Grafton: team 9; Cook 8; America 4; Keener 4; H. Maier 3; deadball 2; Dunham 1; J. Maier 1. Totals 32; Buckhannon-Upshur: Zuliani 20; Williams 7; team 6; deadball 5; Strader 4; Jaden Westfall 3; Jerin Westfall 2; Jevon Westfall 1. Totals 48.
Assists – Grafton: J. Maier 3; America 1; H. Maier 1. Totals 5; Buckhannon-Upshur: Strader 7; Jaden Westfall 2; Zuliani 2; Johnston 1; Jerin Westfall 1. Totals 13.
Steals – Grafton: Lough 3; Keener 1; J. Maier 1. Totals 5; Buckhannon-Upshur: Jerin Westfall 2; Strader 1; Wiliams 1. Totals 4.
Blocked shots – Grafton: Keener 1; H. Maier 1. Totals 2; Buckhannon-Upshur: Jaden Westfall 2; Jerin Westfall 2; Zuliani 2; Williams 1. Totals 7.
Turnovers – Grafton: 8; Buckhannon-Upshur: 8.
Fouls – Grafton: 14; Buckhannon-Upshur: 14.
