Bucktail ends slide, downs NoPo 45-40
By Bees O’Brien
FARWELL- It felt like a typical D9 NTL battle on Wednesday night in Farwell. That suited visiting Northern Potter, but in the end it was the duo of Gavin Pick and Corbin Pentz that won the slugfest in Dale Flores Gymnasium.
It was ugly and very physical at times. The Bucks battled back from a four-point deficit to start the final quarter and used strong defense and free throws to knock off the Panthers, 45-40 in nonconference play to end a four-game losing streak.
In the Bucks first game against a 1A opponent all season, they opened the game fast. Pentz found Teagan Stone on an offensive rebound to give Bucktail a quick 2-0 lead. Aidan Ditty connected on Bucktail’s only three-point basket of the night to extend the lead to 5-2.
Gavin Pick and Pentz connected on back-to-back buckets to help the Bucks hold a 9-4 lead after one quarter.
Back came the Panthers. Northern Potter began to take advantage of 10 first half turnovers and three-pointers to slash into the Bucktail lead. NoPo overtook the Bucktail lead at 1:30 mark.
Teagan Stone then connected on a basket to give Bucktail the 16-15 lead, but the Panthers responded with another three and both teams found themselves in an 18-18 battle at the break.
Bucktail played from behind for a majority of the third quarter. Northern Potter used a 14-10 advantage in the frame to build a 32-28 lead heading into the final quarter.
Luckily for the Bucks, the Panthers began to suffer a turnover spell of their own. The Bucks collected 15 steals in the contest, led by Aidan Ditty’s 5 swipes.
Pick brought the Bucks back with a basket with 1:40 remaining to pull his team to within one at 40-39. Pick connected on 2 free throws to finally pull his team ahead with 1:13 remaining. He would nail the back half of the bonus free throws to extend the Bucks’ lead to 42-40 with just 19 seconds remaining. Stone’s steal on the Northern Potter inbounds and pass to Pick sent him back to the line with 9 seconds left on the clock.
Pick dropped in both to ice the game for the Bucks and set the final. Pick finished with 19 points, including going 11 for 16 from the charity stripe. Pentz, only a freshman had a double-double by scoring 12 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Now 2-4, the Bucks hit the road on Friday to face Mid Penn Conference leading Muncy.
NoPo41414840
Bucktail99101745
Bucktail (45)
Pick 4 11-16 19, A. Ditty 2 1-2 6, Stone 3 0-0 6, Pentz 4 4-6 12, Emerick 0 1-4 1, J. Ditty 0 0-0 0, Mansfield 0 0-0 0, Totals 13 17-28 45
3FG- 1 (A. Ditty) Rebounds- 25 (Pentz 12) Steals- 15 (A. Ditty 5) Assists- 7 (Pentz 4) Blocks- 1 (A. Ditty)
