Jr High Bison roll on through district

BJHS’ Logan Jones would not be denied the basket, despite the best defensive efforts of Centerville’s Amos Fills. Van’Go’photo Buffalo Junior High basketball players have been putting in plenty of time on the court. In addition to district competition, the youngest Bison participated in the Centerville Junior High Tournament last week, where both teams made it to the championship game on Saturday night. The 8th graders earned the championship trophy in their division with a win over the host Tigers, and the 7th graders took home the 2nd place trophy, bowing to CJHS.

NEW WAVERLY

The Seventh Graders battled hard at the Bulldog gym on January 11th. NJHS held a one-point lead at halftime, but outscored the Bison 9-2 in the third. Buffalo got the upper hand in the fourth quarter with Dylan St. Pe' turning in a 9-point effort, but the Bulldogs held on for the district win, 44-38. St. Pe' led his teammates with 20 points, including two threepointers. Layne Shelton followed with 10, Paul Mata contributed 7 and O.T. Garcia tacked on a free throw.

RIGHT: The 8th grade Bison boys relish their tournament championship at Centerville on Saturday afternoon. Van’Go’photo In the Eighth Grade contest, BHS had to make up a fivepoint first quarter deficit, but managed a come-from-behind 51-48 victory sparked by Logan Jones' 24-point game. Tyler Adams scored 8, Bobby Dorman 6, Jacob Davis and Jacob DeBorde 4 each and Trent Martin added 3.

CENTERVILLE TOURNAMENT

CENTERVILLE TOURNAMENT 7th Grade Action

The youngest Bison won their first tournament game, a barnburner against Teague. BJHS held a one-basket lead after the first quarter and a one-point lead at half. The score was tied at 23-23 going into the final period, when Mata led the Bison with 6 points for the 33-29 victory. Three Bison finished in double figures: Mata with 12, Shelton had 11 and St. Pe' with 10.

ABOVE: Paul Mata (#21 for BJHS) and CJHS’ Tully Pickens (#35) battle for possession in the 7th grade tournament final. Van’Go’photo BJHS next faced Normangee and, with St. Pe' leading the charge, the Bison dominated throughout the contest, coming away with a 35-16 win that sent them to the championship finals. St. Pe' led all scorers with 18, followed by Shelton with 12 and Mata with 5.

The championship game was a high-scoring junior high contest. CHS led by five at halftime, 25-20, and added to their advantage with every quarter to capture the first place title with a 53-41 win.

St. Pe's 17-point game led all scorers, with Mata following closely with 14. Shelton added 7, Damon Magouirk 2 and OT Garcia added 1.

For the tournament champs, H. Nash poured in 15 points, including two treys. T. Pickens had 12, C. Wakefield and C. Harris 8 each, C. Carrigan 5 and K. Harris and C. Wellman each added a bucket.

8th Grade Contests

BJHS' first opponent was Leon, and the Bison were definitely on their "A" game, evidenced by 80% accuracy at the free-throw line. Buffalo's depth was key to their 59-39 victory. Jones again led all scorers with 28 points, but other contributors included Martin (10), Adams (9) Kyle Read (5), Dorman (3), Davis (2) and Adam Simpson (2). B. Bilodeau and C. Eagans led the effort for the Cougars with 15 and 12, respectively.

Game Two found the Bison stampeding through Normangee, 52-32, with three Bison scoring in double figures (Jones' 19, Martin's 14 and Adams' 10). Rounding out the BJHS scoring were Read (6), Dorman (2) and Davis (1).

The Championship Final pitted BJHS against the host Tigers. BJHS dominated CJHS in the contest, lead 19-4 after one quarter, 29-7 at the half, on the way to a 38-17 win. All 15 Bison players saw court time. Read lead his teammates with a 12-point game, followed by Martin (11) and Jones (9). Adams added 4 and Dorman tacked on 2.