‘It is game time’: Buchtel routs Bay, advances to OHSAA boys basketball district final

Buchtel senior starters Marcel Boyce Jr., Khoi Thurmon, Amire Robinson and Jayden Maxwell know what time of year it is.

So does Griffins boys basketball coach Rayshon Dent.

With the calendar flipped to March, high school basketball teams across Ohio are preparing for a long tournament run.

Buchtel finds itself five wins away from a Division II state championship after beating Bay Village Bay 83-41 Wednesday night in a district semifinal at Stow’s James Tyree Gymnasium.

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Boyce scored 20 points and had five rebounds, five steals and four assists to lead the Griffins (18-6) past the Rockets (11-13).

“We are having good days at practice,” Boyce said. “We are coming into games with the same energy that we come into practices with. We are playing with effort, playing as a team and moving the ball around to everybody.”

Buchtel will meet either Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph or Rocky River at 7 p.m. Saturday in a district final at Stow.

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Thurmon and Buchtel junior Diaire Pride Jr. scored 12 points apiece Wednesday.

Maxwell finished with 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Sophomore Stevie Diamond scored 10 points and Robinson contributed nine points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals.

“They have picked it up in the practices and in the games,” Dent said of his players. “They know it is a new season. The guys have been challenging each other and really have been getting after it. That is one of the things that I told them. I said, ‘We have been putting all of these hard practices together, and now this is the reward. It is game time. This is what we should enjoy.’”

Buchtel jumped out to a 18-13 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Griffins extended the advantage to 43-21 by halftime and 67-35 through three quarters.

“We played really good,” Pride said. “We shared the ball pretty well and on defense we need to stick with our men. We have got to limit our turnovers. We had a lot of turnovers today. I feel like we can do better with that in practice.”

Buchtel committed 13 turnovers, but forced Bay into 26 turnovers.

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Boyce, Thurmon and Robinson were Buchtel’s go-to players in the first half, combining to score 33 points.

“If someone is hot, we have been giving them the ball,” Thurmon said. “We are looking for extra passes and extra opportunities for players to score the ball. The energy in practice has been there, and a lot of that energy in practice has been carrying over to the game.”

Although the Griffins were happy with Wednesday’s result, Boyce said: “There is always room for improvement.”

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Buchtel dominants Bay in OHSAA boys basketball district semifinal