The Boyd Buchanan Buccaneers and the Silverdale Seahawks have developed quite a rivalry on the basketball court in recent years and this year especially as these two teams have played four times so far.
They each won on the other’s home court during the regular season while Silverdale got the upper hand with a 52-49 win in the district final last weekend at Notre Dame.
And now a week later, the Seahawks made it another win in a game that wasn’t close as they led from the start before improving to 29-3 with a resounding 51-36 victory, winning the Division II-Class A, East region title in the process before a standing-room only crowd at the Silverdale Center.
It was the first time in school history that the Silverdale boys had won a region title. They get a bye in their next round and are just one win away from earning a spot in the Final Four at Tennessee Tech on Friday, March 1.
The Seahawks have really been playing outstanding basketball in recent weeks, very much so since their last loss to Signal Mountain. It all began with a 73-55 win over Concord Christian in the region quarter finals on Tuesday before racing past Notre Dame in the semifinals Friday night. And now they’re charting new territory as each win sets a new record for number of victories in a season.
Silverdale coach Slater Belew was all smiles following the game as he got the honor of snipping the first loop off the net before members of his team followed.
“I was a little nervous before the game as we had a tough game with Notre Dame last night and I knew that Boyd Buchanan would give us their all tonight,” he began.
“We’ve had a deeper focus since the loss to Signal Mountain and it’s good to see that kind of play at the end of the season. We still have some big games ahead, but I thought we played really good pressure defense and did a good job sharing the ball.
“It was a total team effort and not just a one-man show, but now we’re just one win away from a trip to the Final Four. We just have to keep playing hard,” Belew concluded.
Eli Gardenhire scored the game’s first bucket with a layup in the first minute to give the Bucs a 2-0 lead, but 11 straight points from Silverdale followed and the Seahawks never trailed again.
A layup from Elyjah Richardson with 55 seconds left in the first quarter extended Silverdale’s lead to 15-5 before the Bucs scored two buckets late to make it 15-9 at the first break.
A jumper from Kennedy Okpara to start the second stanza made it 17-9 before Hudson Jones answered with a bucket from the key with 6:47 showing, but Silverdale then scored seven unanswered points for a 24-11 lead midway through the quarter.
A slam by Okpara in the final minute sent Silverdale to the dressing room at intermission with a 29-19 lead.
The third quarter was the back-breaker for the Bucs as Silverdale enjoyed an 18-6 scoring edge with two free throws from Judah Richardson giving the Seahawks their biggest lead of the game at 45-23 with 1:23 left in the third.
The Bucs had an 11-4 scoring edge in the final quarter to make it a bit closer, but the Seahawks were able to run out the clock after Gardenhire scored the game’s final bucket with 1:26 to play as the Silverdale fans stood and cheered loudly as the last few seconds ran off the clock.
Wright finished with 16 points to lead the Seahawks while Okpara and Holland both added 11. All three earned a spot on the All-Tournament team with Okpara getting the MVP after leading his team with seven rebounds.
Caleb Hardaway had 10 points and eight rebounds to lead the Bucs while Gardenhire was next with nine.
Noah Reid and Hardaway were the All-Tournament choices for Boyd Buchanan, joining Notre Dame’s Gaas Herman and Harrison Rollins of King’s Academy.
BOYD BUCHANAN 9 10 6 11 -- 36
SILVERDALE 15 14 18 4 -- 51
BOYD BUCHANAN (36) – White 6, Johnson, Reid 3, Turnbow 6, Gardenhire 9, Jones 2, Caleb Hardaway 10, Fortune.
SILVERDALE (51) – Kennedy Okpara 11, Brett Wright 16, Houston Holland 11, E. Richardson 4, J. Richardson 9, Hoewischer.
3-Point Goals: Boyd Buchanan 4 (White 2, Reid, Gardenhire); Silverdale 4 (Wright 2, Holland, J. Richardson).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)