The Bison boys were able to hold off the Lions basketball team on Friday night in a thrilling overtime finish.
When these two teams faced off three weeks ago, Beachwood was in the game for much of the first half, but the final score did not reflect the Bison fight as they ended up losing by 20.
This time the Bison knew they would be in for a tough game, and while the Lions kept the pressure on, the Bison ultimately prevailed.
“I feel like the whole game was back and forth,” senior Daniel Rub said. “[We] knew if we kept playing our game we could win.”
Going into halftime, the Bison were up by only two points, and the game was tied after three quarters.
The game was certainly going to come down to the wire, but it seemed Beachwood wouldn’t need overtime when Daniel Rub hit a huge three-pointer for a 7 point lead with a mere 5 minutes remaining.
Nevertheless, the Lions did not back down and were able to make an impressive comeback, forcing overtime.
The Lions are a very talented team with a very physical mindset that flows through talented Senior Guard Ernie Pryor. Pryor has averaged 19.6 points per game on the season and scored 21 in this contest.
But in overtime, it was all the Bison as talented sophomores in Jayden Koonce and CJ Payton essentially took over when the team needed them most. CJ had a clutch three and a critical layup in overtime with Jayden scoring a spectactual layup at the hoop as well.
“Jayden was the main ball handler and did a great job handling the pressure, scoring and distributing the ball to others,” Coach David Krasnow said.
“CJ had his best game of his career,” he added. “He was aggressive and hit the shot of the game in overtime. I am so proud of him. It was a big crowd, very loud and he was a star.”
Senior Daniel Rub also credits these two sophomores for their impressive play.
“CJ and Jayden are the toughest sophomores I’ve ever seen play,” he said. “People forget they’re only sophomores. They both took a few games to get used to the speed of varsity, but now that they have they’re both really tough and will be tough for the rest of their careers.”
The 60-54 victory against the Lions was the second big win of the week for the Bison after a 58-52 win over Andrews Osborne Academy on Tuesday.
These wins wouldn’t have been possible for the Bison without the leadership of senior Daniel Rub. For a team that started the season lacking varsity experience, the Bison knew they would have to turn to one of their only veterans in Daniel Rub.
Junior Nick Reese, who has also been a key part of the recent Bison wins, said Rub has been great not only on the court, but in his role as a leader.
“He has done a really good job in helping us by lifting us up,” he said. “Whether someone misses a shot or makes a bad play, he will remind us to keep shooting.”
“He also takes accountability when he makes a mistake,” Reese added. “Overall, he has done a great job at what he does and he helps his teammates.”
It took awhile, but we are clicking. The guys are trusting each other and the coaching staff and playing our best basketball in time for the playoffs.
— Coach David Krasnow
Krasnow is also pleased with Rub’s leadership this year.
“Daniel has had an outstanding year and clearly established himself as a leader and our leading scorer,” he said. “Daniel has been a guy that takes the big shot and has the confidence to do so.”
Krasnow was also eager to credit sophomore Larry Clark for his role in the Lions game.
Although Larry’s performance didnt light up the stat sheet on Friday night, Krasnow said he was nevertheless a big contributor.
“Larry didn’t have any points, but his defense was outstanding,” he said. “They had some big physical guys and Larry didn’t back down from them.”
This mentality of never backing down from the opponent is starting to get the Bison the results they have trained all season for.
They now sit with a record of 5-12 with 5 more key games in the regular season to sharpen up for postseason play.
This team is coming off a very successful 2022-23 season which ended in a district championship, and even though that season was driven by seniors, this Bison squad is going to do everything in their power to go on a playoff run of their own.
“We are a young team who have had to learn to play together and at the varsity level,” Krasnow said. “It took awhile, but we are clicking. The guys are trusting each other and the coaching staff and playing our best basketball in time for the playoffs.”
