By By MARK ANDERSON / Niles Daily Star
THREE OAKS - In the last half of varsity basketball action Monday evening, the Bucks from Buchanan gave River Valley "no quarter."
This spelled victory for Buchanan, 41-26, in this starting game of the district playoffs.
After leading the Bucks 7-6 at first quarter's end, and 15-14 at halftime, the Lady Mustangs were denied the luxury of leading the game in the explosive second half. That's when Buchanan - which used a tight man-to-man defense the whole game versus RV's mix of zone and man-to-man - turned the tables.
The score was 26-23 in the Bucks' favor at the end of the third quarter and Buchanan only permitted the Mustangs to score three more points in the last period. Meanwhile, Buchanan surged ahead, with forward Dee Dee Thompson and guard Sheena Bradshaw establishing themselves as the game's top scorers with 11 points apiece.
Guard Daniella Bachleda and center Hayley Cashier were next in line for Buchanan with nine and eight points, repectively.
Notably, Cashier cashed in two particularly meaningful points when, just before the game's end, repeated lay-up attempts by Buchanan just wouldn't drop through the net. Although aggressive Mustang defenders tried to keep Buchanan's final score in the upper 30s, Cashier stayed in the fray and canned the final two points at the buzzer.
Buchanan coach Bill Weaver was pleased with the outcome.
Buchanan had 24 rebounds to River Valley's 15, and Buchanan had just 16 turnovers to the Mustang's 23. Cashier grabbed nine of those rebounds, and Thompson snared eight, with five steals.
River Valley's top scorer was guard Brittany Warren with seven points. Kali Lauzon, Heather Totzke and Valerie Schlutt each had four points.
Buchanan……….41
River Valley…….26
Buchanan (41) - Katie Backus 1 0-2 2, Dee Dee Thompson 4 3-4 11, Sheena Bradshaw 6 0-0 13, Ashley Pointer 0 0-0 0, Hayley Cashier 3 0-0 6, Linsey Ross 0 0-0 0, Jill Woodrick 0 0-0 0, Holly Dunivan 0 0-0 0, Leteshia Shannon 0 0-0 0, Danielle Bachleda 4 0-0 9. Totals: 18 3-6 41.
River Valley (37) - Erika Kettering 0 0-0 0, MaggieHansmann 1 0-0 2, Jordan Cronin 1 0-0 2, Kali Lauzon 1 2-4 5, Heather Totzke 1 2-2 4, Kayla Schmidt 0 0-0 0, Brittany Warren 3 0-0 7, Candyce Lintner 1 0-0 2, Valerie Schlutt 2 3-point shooting - Buchanan 2 (Drach, Rudlaff); River Valley 2 (Radde, Am. Pingel). Rebounds - Buchanan 34 (Drach 6); River Valley 37 (Radde 7). Fouls (fouled out) - Buchanan 11 (none); River Valley 14 (none). Records - Buchanan 6-15; River Valley 18-2.