The Bison notched an important win against Chagrin Falls on Tuesday night, bringing their record to 9-4 (3-3 in CVC). 

Since the Tigers beat the Bison by 10 in the second game of the season, this was an important game.

The first half was a slugfest, with neither team gaining a significant point differential. 

The Bison pulled ahead in the third, earning a 32-28 lead with seven minutes to go in the quarter. 

The team built on this momentum, making it an eight-point differential going into the fourth (49-41). The Bison didn’t stop there. They played solid defense and executed on fast breaks to finish the game with a 23-point lead (71-48).

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Johnny Owens

Coaches talk to the team before the game.

The Bison have fought hard all season. 

Despite getting off to a rocky start with losses to conference opponents Chagrin Falls and Richmond Heights, the Bison bounced back going on a 7-1 run, with a tough loss to Hawken on Jan. 10. 

Unlike the other two losses, the Hawken game was very close going into overtime where Hawken was able to capitalize on some Beachwood mistakes. 

The Bison were down by 8 points in the first quarter, but took a time out and came out on a strong run with consistent shooting and solid defense, surpassing the Hawks within a few minutes.

Senior guard Nate Lurie has been on a rampage all season, and it was clear that Hawken’s game plan took Lurie into account. The Hawks attempted to play very tight defense on Lurie.

Lurie has led the Bison in scoring, averaging 26 points a game along with fifty percent field goal completion, making him the key player for the Bison.

Although Lurie was set to be dominant in the Hawken game, the Hawks defense managed to hold him under his average and forced mistakes on the Bison late in the game. 

At the end of the fourth quarter, the game was tied at 58. As overtime began, a foul was called on Beachwood, and Hawken scored two free throws. 

The pressure was on, and a pass from Max Page to Noah Page was intercepted by Hawken, leading to a loss of momentum for the Bison.

Lurie is not the only player who has made an impact this season. Senior forward Noah Page has averaged 16 points along with an impressive 9 rebounds per game. 

Senior guard Josh Jones has averaged 9 points per game and has made some key steals. 

In addition, senior Michael Kesselman is tied with Lurie for most steals per game, and senior MarQuis Pinkney has made a number of clutch three pointers, contributing to his 43 three-point shooting percentage. 

The big challenge for the Bison this season has been that in spite of a solid winning record, their conference ranking is not what it could have been due to the fact that the Bison have only lost conference games this season. 

The CVC is tough this season. Although West Geauga and Orange have losing records, the other teams in the conference are all strong. Especially Richmond Heights, despite being a smaller school, the team won the Div. IV state title last year and has gone undefeated this year, beating everyone in the conference by over twenty points each game. 

However, the Bison still are still in the upper half of teams in Division III basketball and should have a pretty decent seed in the playoffs, allowing hope for a very successful playoff run. 

The team schedule favors the Bison with seven of the remaining nine regular season games at home.

The Bison are currently ranked 4th in the CVC. They have a home game Saturday at 2:15 against Eastlake North.