After another win against La Brae on Saturday, Jan. 25, the Bison boys basketball team advanced to a 12-2 record.

The AP state basketball poll now ranks the team #2 in the state for Division III, which is the highest ranking in Beachwood School history.

La Brae was the team that destroyed the Bison’s State Championship hopes last season, so the win was a milestone. The final score was 67-41.

The Bison started the season strong against rivals the Orange Lions, beating them 74-46. The win energized fans for the season ahead. Next the Bison blew out Wickliffe 75-44, boosting the team’s confidence even more.

Next the Bison faced a team that was made out to be a much tougher matchup than the stat sheet showed. The Bison beat the defending CVC Champions, Richmond Hts. 85-64.

One of the toughest games so far was against Cleveland Central Catholic (CCC). The game was hard fought all the way through. The Bison couldn’t overcome CCC in the end though, losing 66-57. This game would have been a huge win for the Bison because CCC is a much bigger school than Beachwood.

In the 5th game of the season, Beachwood took on the Hawken Hawks. The Bison were not phased by the loss in the game against CCC and beat the Hawks 68-52.

Going into the first tournament of the season, the Bison were 4-1. In their first game of the “Brush Holiday Tournament” which only includes four teams (Beachwood, Brush, Willoughby South, and Mayfield), the Bison played in a nail biter, barely beating Willoughby South 68-61 OT. This was not their strongest game.

But the Bison stepped up their play in the championship game against Brush, winning 75-62 and taking home the first place title.

After a very successful tournament, the Bison came home to even more success. Berkshire traveled to Beachwood only to be blown out 78-32. Next the Bison picked up another easy win against Fairport Harding, a team that traveled a long way only to go home with a 99-60 loss.

Going into the biggest and toughest game of the season yet, the Bison were 8-1. Playing against St. Ed’s (12-1 and ranked #1 in Ohio), the Bison were rolling and ready for a challenge.

The Eagles started off strong with an alley-oop right off the tip. At the end of the first quarter, the Bison were down 25-15. The nationally-ranked Eagles would not lay off the Bison, beating them at the end of second quarter 45-26. But the Bison would not roll over or give up. They came in and beat the Eagles in scoring in the third quarter 20-15, bringing the score 60-46 going into the 4th quarter. The fourth quarter was up and down for the Bison, finishing with a final score of 78-63.

Even though it was a loss, the game was a plus for the Bison because they proved they could play with any team no matter their size or ranking.

After the loss to St. Ed’s, the Bison traveled to Kirtland for an easy win over the Hornets 74-52. Next Newbury came to Beachwood. This game was the easiest and biggest blowout of the season so far. The Bison demolished the Knights 87-26. The Bison also had their first dunk of the season by Maishe Dailey on a fast break bucket. In the last game before the “Dunk 4 Diabetes” tournament, the Cuyahoga Hts. Redskins traveled to Beachwood and lost 74-51.

This brought Beachwood to the “Dunk 4 Diabetes” tournament with a record of 11-2, and a 3- game winning streak. John Davis III had one of his best games all season, finishing with a game-high 27 points, 7 steals, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Playing with the strong desire for the season to fulfill its full potential, Davis led his team to a 67-41 victory over the LaBrae Vikings.

The Bison, now 12-2, are playing away in Wickliffe on Friday, Jan. 31 at 7:30.