There is no doubt that reigning Division II state champion Buchtel remains the top boys basketball team in the City Series .
Buchtel and Garfield entered Tuesday as the undefeated teams in the league, and then the Griffins dispatched the Rams 65-29 with four players scoring in double figures.
The main question for Buchtel is can the Griffins make another run in the postseason and win a second state title?
The answer to that question will come in March.
"We are still a ways away from where we can be," Buchtel coach Rayshon Dent said . "We show glimpses. ... Our defense is something that we have been hanging our hats on."
Buchtel defeated Lutheran West 51-49 in the Division II state final March 19 in Dayton with four seniors, three juniors and one sophomore logging minutes.
Starters Marcel Boyce Jr. , Khoi Thurmon , Jayden Maxwell and Amire Robinson graduated.
Starter Stevie Diamond is back this season as a junior along with Diaire Pride Jr. , Dakota Taylor and Qi'Marreon Marks , who are now seniors.
"This is a different experience because most of the guys that were on the state championship team last season that made a very big impact, they all graduated," said Marks, who had 15 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists against Garfield.
"This is a different experience for all of us because we are trying to find our roles and see how we all can come together as a team."
Dent's starting lineup against the Rams featured Diamond, Pride, senior Zevin Gadson , junior Demetrice Coates and junior Moustapha Ndao .
"We are coming along now and doing better as a team," Coates said. "We had a good team win tonight. Everybody contributed."
Marks, Taylor and junior Ta'Shawn Thomas are Buchtel's top reserves.
"We have been playing well," said Pride, who had 11 points, three steals, three assists, two rebounds and two blocks Tuesday. "We are still getting chemistry and still trying to learn from each other."
Buchtel opened its season with a loss to Pickerington North and then beat Firestone, North, Ellet and East. Lutheran West topped Buchtel on Sunday at Cleveland State.
"I think against Lutheran West we had a couple of slow starts at the start of the game as well as in the second half," Dent said. "We are trying to get into a habit of starting faster. There are a lot of different things as far as the players bonding and coming together, which I think in the second half of the season we should become more of a team."
Buchtel (5-2, 5-0) started fast against Garfield (5-2, 4-1) en route to building a 20-6 lead by the end of the first quarter. The advantage extended to 39-14 at halftime, 59-23 through three quarters and 65-25 during the fourth quarter.
"This group, I feel that they will get it," Dent said. "I think we have the talent to do something special once again, but it is going to take a lot of work to get there."
Dent said Marks and Pride are two vocal senior leaders.
Diamond had nine points, five rebounds, three steals, three assists and one block Tuesday.
"We are definitely coming together as a group," Diamond said. "We are trying to find each other more in the game, build chemistry during practice and do as much as we can to get the win."
Ndao is in his first year at Buchtel after his family moved to Akron from Qatar . He totaled 14 points and five rebounds against the Rams.
"It is going to take time for us to get our chemistry up together," Ndao said. "This is my first season playing with these guys, and trying to fit in with them is going to take a while. ... They have great energy, and that matters in basketball. Outside of basketball, they are great people."
Gadson contributed 10 points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals in his third game of the season after transferring back to Buchtel from Firestone. Gadson played at Buchtel as a freshman and sophomore.
"It has been a pretty good welcoming home," Gadson said. "These are my guys. We played together before. We just go out there, we play hard and we get the job done."
Marks, Pride, Diamond and Coates said they enjoy playing with Gadson and Ndao.
"Because those guys are so talented, it has been pretty easy to get them into how we play offensively and defensively," Marks said. "Even though Mous recently came, he is actually learning very fast what our defense is and how we want to run our offense.
"... Zevin changed the dynamic of the team. Because Zevin is such a talented player, a lot of people are going to look at him and then that leaves a lot more spots open for other people to score. They were doubling him a lot today, which led to other people scoring."
Pride lauded Gadson and Ndao for being "great players and great teammates."
Garfield opened the season with a loss to North Canton Hoover and then won five games in a row over Ellet, East, Tallmadge, North and Firestone under coach McNeal Thompson III .
Garfield's core group of players includes juniors Lamonte Brooks, Thomas Walker, Cory Rosenthal and Brima Barry, sophomore Avanti Caldwell and seniors Elliott Jackson and Antoine Wilson.
"Garfield is a talented team," Dent said. "Tonight, they were off and got out of sync a little bit."
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Qi'Marreon Marks, Moustapha Ndao lead Buchtel to boys basketball win
