Canton, OH - On Thursday night the Akron Buchtel Griffins took on the Youngstown Chaney Cowboys at the Canton Civic Center in a Division 2 Regional semi-final matchup.
To start the first quarter the Griffins got off to a hot start showing off their offensive prowess, as they were able to put up a 17 points, as six of them came from Khoi Thurmon. They played outstanding defense this quarter as well.
Things didn't go so well for the Cowboys, as they were only able to score eight points in the quarter and they had no answer for the Griffins high powered offense. They allowed nearly 20 point to get scored as the Griffins had a commanding 17-8 lead after one.
In the second it was the same story for the Cowboys on defense, but they were able to start putting up points on offense. They were able to put up 13 points, but it unfortunately wasn't enough.
On the other side of things the Griffins were able to put up 15 points on offense outscoring the Cowboys by two, as Marcel Boyce Jr. was able to score six of the points. He helped his team build a commanding lead going into halftime as Buchtel led 32-21.
Coming out of the half things started looking up for the Cowboys, as they looked like a completely different team at the beginning of the third. They were consistently scoring while playing great defense against the Griffins, as they were able to score 14 in the third which closed the gap to only five points.
In the third, Buchtel looked like a completely different team as their shots weren't falling and they were allowing the Cowboys to get back in the game. They were only able to put up eight points in the third, as the Cowboys were playing great defense. We went into the final quarter with the Griffins in the lead 40-35.
In the final quarter the Cowboys were able to tie the game at 42, as Matt Jones was able to hit a mid range jump shot. The Griffins were able to take their lead back when Khoi Thurmon hit two free throws and Deairre Pride Jr. hit a three.
The Cowboys were trying to fight back, and it was going well after Jason Hewlett was able to get a steal and slam the ball home making it a three point game. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, the Griffins were making their presence known in the final minutes as they were able to put up 22 in the fourth.
The Cowboys played great offense in the fourth, as they were able to put up 21 points and couldn't stop Buchtel's high flying offense as the Griffins prevailed 62-56.
Marcel Boyce led the way for Buchtel with 21 points. Jason Hewlett was tops for Chaney with 19.
The Griffins advance to play the Glenville/Gilmour winner on Saturday at 1:30 at the Civic Center.