East Buchanan falls short in Class 3 state quarterfinals against Summit Christian
Mar. 2—It was a beautiful day in Gower, Missouri, on Saturday, but the true place to be in the town of 1,500+ individuals was East Buchanan High School, as the Class 3 quarterfinals were being played between the East Buchanan Bulldogs and the Summit Christian Eagles.
The contest began with an Eagles basket, but Bulldogs' Aidan Smith came down the court and hit an NBA range 3-pointer, giving the Bulldogs a 3-2 advantage early. The two would trade baskets until the Bulldogs took an 8-6 lead with 3:26 on the clock after Dylan Davidson hit a 3-pointer in the left corner.
The Eagles would capitalize on transition offense, leading to easy lay-ups on their end of the court. The quarter ended with Eagles' Bajj Walker hitting a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to take a 19-13 lead into the second.
In the second quarter, Davidson, once again from beyond the arc, got things rolling, cutting the lead back to 19-16. However, Summit began to find a rhythm, and built a 23-18 lead before expanding it to 27-18 in less than two minutes.
East Buchanan was able to cut the lead with their full court pressure causing turnovers, but still trailed 31-25 entering the halftime break.
Out of the break, and it was East Buchanan who caught their stride. Smith began the quarter with another 3-pointer, he finished with five on the night. Gage Busby would begin his dominance as well, using an And-1 opportunity to pull within three, 34-31, with less than two minutes passing in the quarter.
Bulldogs would hold onto a two point lead in the third quarter, but Kash Pritchard used his height to finish at the rim to bring it back even at 44. After a Busby dunk off a steal and a turnover from the Eagles to end the quarter, the Bulldogs went into the final quarter with a 49-46 lead.
Turnover bug would follow East Buchanan the entire game, and it sprung back in the fourth quarter which again led to easy transition baskets for Summit Chirstian. Busby and Smith would try to put the team on their backs, as Smith brought the team within a point off a 3-pointer.
After that shot, the Bulldogs were down 65-64, having to foul. After the foul, Summit's Carter Jeffries missed the first, but would hit the second free-throw.
Now down by two and the season on the line, East Buch would pass it in, and the ball would Smith, but Summit's Maxwell Rieger was able to block the game winning 3-point shot.
The Summit Christian Eagles survive and advance, winning 66-64 over East Buchanan and advancing to the Class 3 Final Four.
The two leading scorers for East Buchanan were Aidan Smith with 21 points and Gage Busby with 20 points.
Calvin Silvers can be reached at calvin.silvers@newspressnow.com.
