Sectional Showdown: Buchtel takes down top-seeded Norwayne to begin title defense

CRESTON — A 20-win regular season and a top seed in a district bracket usually doesn't land a team with the defending state champs as a sectional final opponent.

While most top seeds around the state enjoyed relatively uneventful games Friday night, Norwayne and Buchtel went toe-to-toe in a packed Larry Acker Gymnasium in a game that lived up to expectations.

Defending Division II champion Buchtel did just enough to leave Wayne County with a 58-56 win, upending the top-seeded Bobcats and advancing to the Div. II Louisville District semifinals.

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"I've never been so proud of a team in a loss in my 17 years," Norwayne coach Brian West said. "I thought they gave it everything they had."

No. 19 Buchtel faces No. 8 Glenville in the district semifinals Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Louisville High School. No. 5 Canfield faces No. 11 Northwest the following night in the other semifinal.

It's been an up-and-down season for a Buchtel team that's much different than the one who lifted a trophy in Dayton last year. Stevie Diamond (8 points) is the only returning starter from that group, and a brutal schedule outside the City Series left the Griffins with eight regular-season losses.

"The regular season does count but it doesn't count because once playoffs come, that's when you really need to win each game," Buchtel senior Qi'Marreon Marks said.

It all prepared them for Friday night.

"We've been playing our whole regular season in big gyms with intense crowds, so it was like another game," Marks said. "We're pretty used to it. We knew (Norwayne) was going to make a run but we knew we were going to be able to bounce back and keep fighting the whole time."

Marks and Demetrice Coates scored 15 apiece to lead Buchtel, who got out to a nine-point lead early in the second quarter and kept Norwayne's at a short arm's reach the rest of the way. Whenever Norwayne cut into Buchtel's lead, the Griffins found ways to extend it, never allowing a lead change in the second half, despite only leading 28-26 at half.

"Their pressure was a lot," Braden West said. "We knew that going in. Their speed and athleticism is something no team in the WCAL is going to prepare us for. That's something you're never going to see out there. They're a great team."

The Bobcats did their best to come back from a nine-point fourth quarter deficit, with Braden West hitting an NBA-range 3 with 10 seconds left that cut Buchtel's lead to 56-54 but Diaire Pride Jr. knocked down a pair of free throws to clinch the win, with Beau Polen adding a layup just before the buzzer.

West played perhaps the best game of his high school career considering the circumstances, scoring 24 points and knocking down five 3-pointers, bringing offense to a Norwayne team that struggled to generate good looks for long stretches.

"The moment wasn't too big for him," Brian West said of his son's performance. "As a dad, I'm proud of him. And as a coach, I'm proud that he kept us in the game for a while with some big shots."

Norwayne freshman Braylon Arnold was one of the most impactful players on the floor, scoring 10 points and bring a level of athleticism to the table the Bobcats don't really have otherwise.

"He put a lot of people on notice that he's here for another three years," Brian West said of Arnold.

"I'm just proud of the kids. They're just such good kids."

With players like West, Arnold and star point guard Parker Metsker all back next year, the Bobcats have all the tools to keep its run of success (five straight 20-win seasons, back-to-back WCAL titles) going.

"We're very hungry and we know what we're capable of doing next year," Braden West said. "... We're going to keep this taste in our mouth heading into next season and remember what it feels like."

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Boys Hoops: Buchtel begins state title defense with win over Norwayne