Bucktail boys season ends at Sullivan County, 68-36

By Bees O’Brien

LAPORTE, PA- Bucktail was the last team anybody in District 4 would have expected to be in the 2023 playoff field, let alone finish as a seven seed. The Bucks did just that and they grew as a team throughout their return to play in early January.

The Bucks played one of the toughest schedules in the district 4 Class 1A field and their toughness was rewarded through the district’s power points system. It was the programs fourth playoff appearance in the past five seasons and just like their previous three trips, they would fall. This time it was tournament favorites Sullivan County that would end the Bucks’ season, 68-36 in front of a wild home Sullivan County crowd.

Bucktail didn’t back down early and handled the pressure well with an early 10-9 lead. A 13-4 Griffins’ run to end the first quarter would give them the 22-13 lead.

An 18-8 Sullivan second quarter advantage began to give the Griffins some breathing room at the half. Sullivan’s 40-21 lead was due to some missed Bucktail shots, turnovers and lack of depth.

The Bucks were without starting forward Kyler Friese and reserve forward Xander Shearer, which left head coach Mike Charcalla’s bench thin.

“We were out- hustled and a limited bench gave them too many opportunities for second chance points.” Charcalla said following the game.

The Bucks limited the Griffins to just 28 second half points, but only managed just 16 of their own.

Bucktail did make strides and improved since their previous 75-26 loss at Sullivan on January 14.

Four Griffins reached double figures in scoring with Riley King leading the way with 18 points. Trey Higley added 12 points and Ben Carpenter finished with 10.

Sullivan County improved to 15-8 on the season and will next meet NP-Liberty in the semifinals. The Mounties edged Lourdes Regional by one point to advance.

Bucktail’s season ends with a 6-15 mark.

Brody Pentz led the Bucks with 12 points and Gary Whipp added 10 points. Both will return next season, as will every single player on their roster. The addition of key starters and a talented group of incoming freshmen has been a sign of a promising 2023-24 season at Bucktail and Charcalla knows it.

“I’m proud of this team and they never gave up. Through everything they’ve been through, when I took over in January I was happy they were getting a chance to play.” Said Charcalla “To make the playoffs and be a couple possessions away from a home playoff game was awesome and I wished this team could have experienced it. We’ll be back!”

Bucktail                    13           8              8            8     =     36

Sullivan County       22           18           13           15    =     68

BUCKTAIL- Pentz 4 4-6  12, Whipp 4 0-2  10, Green 3 0-0  7, Mason 2 0-1  4, W. Steele 1 0-0  3, N. Steele 0 0-0  0, Ditty 0 0-0  0, Kalafut 0 0-0  0, Charcalla 0 0-0  0, TOTALS- 14 4-9  36

3FG- 4 (Whipp 2, W. Steele, Green)