DAYTON— The Buchtel boys basketball team is one win away from a state championship.
Columbus Bishop Ready lined up against Buchtel as an undefeated team Friday afternoon in a Division II state semifinal.
Seventy minutes later, the Griffins gave the Silver Knights their first loss, recording a 60-50 win in front of 4,078 spectators at University of Dayton Arena.
Sophomore Stevie Diamond scored 13 points to lead Buchtel (22-6) into a state final at 10:45 a.m. Sunday against Rocky River Lutheran West (25-3).
Buchtel senior Marcel Boyce Jr. totaled 12 points and five rebounds, senior Khoi Thurmon had 12 points, four steals and three assists, and senior Amire Robinson finished with 11 points, five rebounds and four assists.
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"This is one of the biggest moments of my life," Thurmon said after the win. "We executed on defense. We guarded them and we communicated together. We are all bought in and make sacrifices. I think this whole playoffs is about making sacrifices and doing what is best for the team.
"Even though we were undersized, we all took accountability of our man. We played a great defensive game."
Lutheran West topped Dayton Chaminade Julienne 56-54 in Friday's opener.
"I figure for all the fans who came out for this year's state semifinal, I think they got two good games, two quality games," Buchtel coach Rayshon Dent said. "The west side community of Akron, I think we made them proud today.
"... Bishop Ready is a top-notch team. I can see why they were 28-0. They are well coached, and I think our guys played up to the challenge."
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Senior Charlie Russell made 5 of 7 3-points shots and paced Ready (28-1) with 19 points.
Ready senior Luke Ruth totaled 12 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and four steals. Sophomore Kayden Schaffer scored 12 points and senior Kaleb Schaffer battled through a rolled ankle in the first quarter to score five points and grab five rebounds.
"The biggest factor in the game, without even looking at the stat sheet, was points off of turnovers," Ready coach Tony Bisutti said. "… They are really physical, in a good way. "
Buchtel scored 20 points off Ready's 13 turnovers. The Griffins scored 40 points in the paint.
Ready scored six points off Buchtel's seven turnovers. The Silver Knights scored just 18 points in the paint.
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"We are not only an athletic group, we are also a strong team," Dent said. "I have six seniors and these guys have been through the battles. They have been tested, and I think they have seen all types of opponents throughout our schedule that we had this year.
"It is all about the community for me and these young men. … I am very, very happy and glad that they were able to perform the way they did today, win, lose or draw. I think they played an outstanding basketball game."
Buchtel jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first three minutes of the first quarter with three layups by Boyce , a 3-pointer by Diamond and a layup by Thurmon .
Ready countered with a run to cut the deficit to 15-12 by the end of the first quarter.
Buchtel took a 30-26 halftime lead with Boyce, Thurmon and Diamond combining to score 23 points.
"We played with energy, we made steals and we rebounded well," Diamond said. "We gave a great effort and utilized our athleticism."
Ready made 6 of 6 shots from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half. Russell made four of those 3s.
That changed in the second half, as Ready shot 2 of 9 on 3s.
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"Everybody on the floor will post up at any given time, so we were concerned about protecting the rim and defending the paint," Dent said. "Russell was reading that and he was popping out for 3s. … The kid can shoot it. In the second half, we said let's stay connected to him more and not try to help off in the paint. That boded well for us in the second half."
Said Russell: "Credit to them for their defense and their adjustment."
Buchtel concluded the third quarter on a 9-2 run to lead 43-34 heading into the fourth quarter. Junior Diaire Pride Jr. made a 3-pointer to start the spurt, Diamond dropped in a layup, Thurmon made two free throws and Robinson tossed down a two-hand dunk.
"We created that dunk off our defense," Robinson said. "That was a great steal by Diaire. He blitzed the gap, stole the ball and Q [junior Qi'Marreon Marks] was able to grab the ball and pass it up."
The Griffins passed the ball around to run clock to open the fourth quarter and received layups from Thurmon and Robinson to extend the lead to 47-34 with 5:34 to go.
"There are a lot of emotions," Robinson said. "This is one of those things where you have never felt like this before. This is probably one of our biggest basketball achievements that we have had."
The Silver Knights trimmed their deficit to 54-50 with 39.0 seconds remaining, but the Griffins scored the final six points as Robinson and Diamond each made two free throws and Boyce dropped in a layup.
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"Stevie is one of the better sophomores in the state," Dent said. "He is a football guy as well [as Buchtel's starting quarterback]. This season has been an opportunity for him to start getting his basketball legs up under him during the season because the football team got done so late [with a Division IV regional semifinal appearance]."
Pride Jr. finished with two 3-pointers and eight points. Buchtel senior Jayden Maxwell and junior Dakota Taylor each contributed a layup.
"This is very special and big for our community, especially on the west side of Akron," Boyce said.
"... We came in with a good mental mindset, knowing that we were the underdogs, knowing that a lot of people didn't believe that we could do this because they were 28-0. We came in mentally prepared and physically prepared and that got us this victory. … We are going to enjoy this win tonight, get locked in and get ready for Sunday."
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 advances to OHSAA Division II boys basketball state final
