Bucktail handles NoPo to win first game of the season
By Bees O’Brien
ULYSSES, PA- In a Wednesday night game that was originally scheduled to be played in Farwell on Monday evening, the Bucktail boys basketball team handled Northern Potter with ease in a District 4 vs. District 9 crossover contest to pick up their first victory of the season.
Braylon Fantaski, Brody Pentz and the returning Brett Mason led the charge against the Panthers. All three scored in double figures as Bucktail cruised to a 57-44 road win in Ulysses.
Fantaski started off the Bucks with a hot hand by scoring 10 of his team’s 17 first quarter points. Brody Pentz added five points in the frame and Kyler Friese added a bucket. Bucktail (1-2) led 17-4 after one quarter of play.
Northern Potter (0-3) had no answer for the Bucktail guards all night long. The Panthers did us a 14-9 second quarter advantage to chip away at the visitor’s lead and trailed 26-18 at the break.
Ty Daniels did his best to keep NoPo in the contest in the third quarter by netting 8 points, but both teams scored 16 each in the frame to allow the Bucks to hold their 8-point lead.
A 15-10 fourth quarter advantage by Bucktail was enough to finish off Northern Potter in the fourth quarter.
Fantaski would lead all scorers with 25 points, despite not hitting a single three-point basket. Bucktail as a team didn’t connect from beyond the arc all game. Pentz netted 19 and the returning Mason reached double figures with 10 points. Mason, who scored all of his points in the second half was a welcomed addition to head coach Gene Bruno’s roster.
Daniels led Northern Potter with 13 points.
The Bucks will next be in action on Monday when they travel to Benton to open MPC play.
Bucktail 17 9 16 15 = 57
No. Potter 4 14 16 10 = 44
BUCKTAIL
Pentz 6 7-15 19, Fantaski 10 5-8 25, Mason 3 4-4 10, Pettengill 0 1-2 1, Friese 1 0-0 2, Charcalla 0 0-2 0, Whipp 0 0-0 0, Green 0 0-0 0, W. Steele 0 0-0 0, Shearer 0 0-0 0, Ditty 0 0-0 0,
TOTALS- 20 17-33 57
3ptFG- Bucktail- NONE
