VB outshoots Riverdale in 47-36 win

By LONNIE McMILLAN

Times news bureau

MOUNT BLANCHARD — Basketball seems so much simpler when the ball is going through the hoop.

Van Buren had hot stretches from the outside, while Riverdale never found its touch as the Black Knights took a 47-36 victory in Blanchard Valley Conference boys basketball action Friday night.

The Falcons (9-8, 2-5 BVC) went just 1-for-12 on 3-pointers.

“I’m happy with our teams’ effort,” Riverdale coach Al Thomas said. “We just didn’t make a whole lot of shots. When we don’t make a whole lot of shots, everything is magnified, and why we didn’t make shots is Van Buren played really hard on the defensive end, and we couldn’t get good shots.”

Seth Gregory did make shots for the Black Knights (9-6, 5-2 BVC). He connected on four 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 15 points.

His first made 3-pointer gave Van Buren a 15-14 lead in the second quarter, but it was in the second half where he really heated up and helped his team build a lead. He connected late in the third quarter to give the Black Knights a 37-25 lead, and then he made back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that pushed the lead to 43-31 after the Falcons had made a slight run.

“Once we get it to the inside and kick it out, our hands and feet are ready,” Van Buren coach Mark Bunn said. “Seth Gregory had an awesome night. … It’s nice when they fall.”

Van Buren led 24-18 at halftime and then used a 9-0 run late in the third quarter to take its lead to double digits after Riverdale had cut it to three. That stretch included three straight baskets inside by Finn Martin, who finished with 11 points, and then a Gregory 3-pointer.

Down a dozen after Gregory’s final trey, the Falcons clawed their way back into the game with a putback basket by Grant Inbody and then their only 3-pointer of the night by Jack Dusseau.

Trailing 43-36 with still over three minutes left, Riverdale had a couple of chances to get even closer, but Dusseau missed on a couple of open looks. The Falcons missed their final seven field goal attempts.

“We started out trying to deny some of their good shooters, and some of their other shooters made shots right off the bat,” Thomas said. “That’s part of the basketball game, but we ended up making a run and getting back in the game. It’s just the way it worked. They made a little more shots than we did, they played a little bit harder, and they got more rebounds.”

Alex Homan knocked down 3-pointers, with a three-point play from Gregory in between, as the Black Knights jumped out to a 9-4 lead on their first three possessions. But Riverdale picked apart Van Buren’s zone relatively effectively and got good looks inside, allowing it to tie the game by the end of the quarter.

Offense became a struggle in the second period, however. After a bucket by Grant Inbody gave the Falcons a 16-15 lead, the Black Knights closed the half on a 9-2 run.

“We just started going to full-court man, trying to pressure, wear them down a little bit,” Bunn said. “We did a great job rotating. We didn’t do it a little bit early on, and then they just started communicating on defense.”

Evan Reiter led Riverdale with 13 points. Elwood had a double-double of 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds and added three steals.

But it was not enough to overcome a 15-of-41 (36.6%) shooting night from the field. They also were 5 of 10 at the foul line.

So far, the Falcons have been able to beat the teams they are supposed to but have not been able to secure a marquee victory. They will have plenty of chances down the stretch.

“We’re right around the .500 mark,” Thomas said. “This is right around where I thought we would be, and it’s part of our schedule that we think we’re playing some good teams. Van Buren’s a good team. We’ve got Upper Sandusky, we’ve got Liberty-Benton, we’ve got USV, Arcadia. We’ve got a lot of teams that are good teams, and we’ve got to get over the hump by playing good basketball for 32 minutes.”

Riverdale won the junior varsity game 44-41.

The Falcons travel to Upper Sandusky at 5 p.m. today.