Buck Boys 1-2 Start

Home Saturday Matinee with St. John Neumann

by Jim Morgan

bucks-basketballLAPORTE – The Bucktail Bucks will host their first game in their newly refurbished gym this Saturday when St. John Neumann comes to Farwell for a 1 p.m. contest.

The Bucks will bring a 1-2 mark back home after a split at the Cowanesque Valley Tip-Off Tournament and a 57-21 loss at Sullivan County on Tuesday.

Bucktail could not get its offense going against the 3-0 Griffins. Sullivan County led 21-3 after one quarter and 36-7 at the half. Chuck Probst and Ryan Prebble had five points apiece for the visitors.

The Bucks started the season with a strong Saturday win over Oswayo Valley 67-49 as they left the second game get away from them in the third quarter as they lost to host Cowanesque Valley 59-50. With the games being postponed on Friday night, CV had to readjust their tournament schedule as they all played two games on Saturday.

Bucktail and OV were into another dog fight as OV hit a three to lead 20-18 at the end of the first quarter. Last year the Bucks won on a buzzer beater to win 50-48. Would it be close to the same outcome?  Both teams got tougher on defense in the second quarter as OV maintained the lead at halftime 30-27. Senior Chuck Probst had 11 of his game high 26 points in the first half; senior Trent Risley helping out on the defensive side of the boards as he ripped 5 of his total 8 rebounds in the first half. The big surprise for Coach Dave Pentz was the sophomore Prebble as he had one of his best games on the boards with 13 total rebounds for the game.

In the third quarter Bucktail was able to take the lead and keep it to the end as they outscored a cold OV in the third quarter 22-7 as they lead 49-37 to start the fourth quarter. Probst took over in the fourth quarter as teammate Risley fouled out. Sophomore Josh Knauff gave some quality minutes as he posted 8 points with 6 rebounds and four steals. Coach Pentz was pleased with some of the plays by the Bucks but said his team turned the ball over too much but OV was not able to score off of them as the Bucks had 16 turnovers.

The championship game saw the Bucks facing the same score at halftime against CV as the Bucks led 25-23. This time the Bucks were cold in the third quarter as CV was warming up to outscore the Bucks in the quarter 18-7 and never looking back for the win.

The first half it was all Probst and Risley scoring as they combined for 23 of the 25 points at halftime. Junior Ryan Fantaskey hit the boards hard with 12 rebounds this game. Probst scored 18 total points this game as he had a great day from the charity stripe in both games as he finished 17 for 21 (81%). Risley posted the high score in this game with 22 points.

Coach Pentz was pleased with Fantaskey stepping up this game on the boards. “That is where I need him and Prebble working hard every game, the points will come. We do need to find someone to step up and be consistent on scoring with Risley and Probst. Pentz noted things would get more difficult with Sullivan County on Tuesday and then the home opener with St. John Neumann on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 PM.

1 2 3 4 TOTAL
Bucktail 18 9 22 18 67
Oswayo Valley 20 10 7 12 49

Bucks: Trent Risley 8 0-0 20, Willie Hopkins 1 0-2 2, Derrick Long 1 0-0 3, Chuck Probst 9 8-10 26, Josh Knauff 3 2-2 8, Ryan Prebble 3 0-1 6, Ryan Fantaskey 1 0-0 2

OV: Nolan 7 1-1 18, Bachhole 0 0-2 0, Brabham 1 1-2 4, Goodliff 6 4-10 17, Lawrence 0 1-4 1, Gross 2 0-1 5, Meacham 1 2-2

3 Pointers: Bucks: 5 (Risley 4, Long) OV: 6 (Nolan 3, Brabham, Goodliff, Gross)

1 2 3 4 TOTAL
Bucktail 10 15 7 18 50
Cowanesque Valley 12 11 18 18 59

Bucks: Risley 8 3-6 22, Hopkins 0 0-0 0, Long 1 0-0 3, Probst 4 9-11 18, Knauff 2 1-2 5, Prebble 1 0-2 2, Fantaskey 0 0-1 0

CV: Bonham 4 1-2 9, Nudd 1 4-6 7, Painter 2 2-2 7, Brubaker 1 0-0 2, McLean 2 3-4 7, Melko 3 2-4 9, Corwin 7 4-5 18

3 Pointers: Bucks: 5 (Risley 3, Long, Probst) CV: 3 (Nudd, Painter, Melko)

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