Boyd-Buchanan coach Zach Roddenberry was hoping for a fast start at home Tuesday night against arch-rival Silverdale and his kids responded in a most favorable manner.
Scoring the first 13 points of the game in the opening seven minutes of the first quarter, the Buccaneers used that as a springboard for a 52-42 victory in a key District 5-A contest.
The Bucs improve to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in district play while Silverdale is now 4-7 overall and 1-1 in 5-A.
"We did some good things and some bad things, but we rebounded better and came out with more intensity at the start and I'm happy about that," said Boyd-Buchanan coach Zach Roddenberry following the game.
"Silverdale is our rival and they're a scrappy bunch, but we were hyped up early. We still have some growing to do, but our effort was better as we tried to clog the middle. And that fast start certainly helped," he nodded.
Silverdale coach Slater Belew also pointed to that slow start as a key to the outcome, but he liked what he saw from that point forward.
"We didn't start off very well, but I was super proud of the effort we gave as we could have easily given up in the first quarter. We were able to cut it to eight and it could have been even closer, but I'm proud of how we fought to the very end," the first-year coach said afterward.
"We have to be more patient on offense and we have to finish around the rim, but we have some tough kids and I liked how they battled through adversity tonight. We can certainly learn from this, but we're ready for a Christmas break," he said, noting that he still has a home game against Berean Academy on Thursday and a holiday tournament at Whitwell next weekend.
Seth Rogers got the ball rolling with a three-point play the old-fashioned way while Cade Evans had six points and Adam Mullinax two before a layup by lanky Parris Clark made it 13-0 with 1:21 left in the first quarter.
Michael Hawkins finally got the Seahawks on the board with just over a minute remaining, but the difference was 13-4 when the first stanza ended.
The Seahawks kept chipping away and had the lead down to four points at 19-15 following a nice inside move by Tyler Mossburg with 41 seconds left in the half before Evans sank two free throws 13 seconds later as the difference was just 21-15 at the break.
A short bank shot by Rogers, an inside move by Clarke and a layup by Evans allowed the Bucs to double that halftime lead at the start of the third quarter and it was still a 12-point game at 33-21 when the fourth quarter began.
Christian Rogers scored on a drive down the lane for the Seahawks at the start of the final quarter before the Bucs scored six straight points, enjoyed their biggest lead of the game at 39-23 with 5:19 to play following a short jumper in the lane by Rogers.
About that time Brannon Walls came to life as he scored 13 of his game-high 17 points in the final four and a half minutes of the game, but the Buccaneer lead was simply too much for the guys in green to overcome.
Evans scored 19 points to lead the Boyd-Buchanan attack while Rogers and Clarke were also in double figures with 10 points apiece.
Walls was the only Silverdale player in double digits as he finished with 17 points while Hawkins, Mossburg and Rogers all finished with eight points apiece.
The Buccaneers also won the battle of the boards by an unofficial 27-23 count. Clarke had a dozen for the winners while Walls had eight, Rogers seven and Hawkins six for the Seahawks.
Neither team hit a 3-point shot.
Silverdale will be at home on Thursday to face Berean while Boyd-Buchanan will go down on Third Street to face CSAS on Friday.
SILVERDALE GIRLS 51, BOYD-BUCHANAN 43: This was a relatively-close game from start to finish, but the Lady Seahawks had a 17-12 edge in the final quarter to make the final score not as close.
Megan Lewis scored 16 points and Emily Harkleroad 10 as Silverdale improved to 10-1 and 2-0 in District 5-A with its ninth straight win.
Maddie Caldwell and Rachel Sanders added eight points apiece for the winners.
Marisa McCalla was tops for the Lady Bucs with 27 points and was honored between games for surpassing the 1,000-point mark in an earlier game.
Maddie Wright was also in double figures for the Lady Bucs with 10 points before fouling out late.
GIRLS SUMMARY
SILVERDALE 8 16 10 17 -- 51
BOYD-BUCHANAN 9 8 14 12 -- 43
SILVERDALE (51) -- Caldwell 8, Harkleroad 10, Lewis 16, Sandes 8, Skelton 6, White 3.
BOYD-BUCHANAN (43) -- Abed, Parker 2, Balthrop, High 4, McCalla 27, Wright 10.
3-POINT GOALS: Silverdale 3 (Lewis 3); Boyd-Buchanan 2 (McCalla 2).
BOYS SUMMARY
SILVERDALE 4 11 6 21 -- 42
BOYD-BUCHANAN 13 8 12 19 -- 52
SILVERDALE (42) -- Marshall, Hawkins 8, Mossburg 8, Rogers 8, Walls 17, Crockett, Gibson, Hannah 1, Matheny.
BOYD-BUCHANAN (52) -- Baker 2, Evans 19, Mullinax 6, Hodge 5, Rogers 10, Clarke 10.
3-POINT GOALS: Silverdale none; Boyd-Buchanan none.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)