Bucks Battle but Fall in District 4 Playoffs

NORTHUMBERLAND – The Bucktail Bucks gave it their best shot Tuesday night, but came up short in a District 4 Class A first-round playoff game, falling to Northumberland Christian High School by an 84-69 final.

Bucktail stayed with the favored Warriors on Northumberland’s home court, holding a 32-31 halftime lead. But Northumberland Christian picked up its offense in the second half, scoring 25 in the third period and another 28 in the final quarter. The Bucks, with only a six-man rotation due to injuries and illness, could not keep up the pace.

Buck coach Gene Bruno noted the Warriors’ physicality and said fatigue finally set in for the Bucks. But he lauded Bucktail for its effort, stating “The kids played hard; we’d give a good run and showed good defense and showed a lot of heart.” While the contest ended as a loss, the Bucks gave a much better account of themselves than their first meeting with the Warriors, a 78-50 NC home court win on Jan. 16.

Sophomore Dylan Cross was hot in the first half for Bucktail, hitting three 3-balls in the second period alone as Bucktail overcame a 14-10 first quarter deficit to take the 32-31 lead into the locker room at halftime; Cross finished with 11 points. Liam Dwyer was virtually unstoppable in the second half for Bucktail, putting up 22 of his game total of 29 in the final two quarters. Gabe Conway added another 13 and Devin Serafini scored in every period on the way to 16 points. Sophomore Kayden Friese hit three free throws in period two.

Bucktail worked hard to contain Warrior standout Aaron Knauss, a 2,000 point career scorer. He finished with 19 points but was able to complete multiple pass-offs to teammates inside for easy buckets.

Afterwards, coach Bruno said he was “ecstatic” about the season. He said the goal, despite a more difficult schedule, was to make the playoffs for a second straight year, which Bucktail did. Bruno said the plan is to keep his returnees playing in the offseason, the objective picking up a first playoff win next year.

The second-year Buck head coach had words of praise for his four seniors, Conway, Dwyer, Serafini and Darrin Bruno, who saw limited time Tuesday as he was getting over an illness. “These four kids didn’t quit, no matter the sport; they were entertaining to watch, competitive, all heart,” he said.

Bucktail finished the year at 8-15. Northumberland Christian is 15-7 with the win and moves on to play #1 seed North Penn-Liberty in the district semifinal round.