Buchtel and St. Vincent-St. Mary come away with wins at Canton Play-by-Play Classic

CANTON, Ohio – With the OHSAA tournament slated to start this coming week, four teams from Northeast Ohio participated in the Play-by-Play Classic at the Canton Civic Center, as Buchtel defeated Canton McKinley 75-58 and St. Vincent-St. Mary beat CVCA 62-52.

Buchtel 75, Canton McKinley 58

Marcel Boyce, Jr. scored the first seven points of the game for the Griffins and finished with a game-high 31 points to take home the game’s MVP honors.

“That was probably my best game this year,” Boyce, Jr. said.

It was the first game in two weeks for Buchtel, who last played when they beat East 72-60 for the Akron City Series championship on February 3rd. The long layoff led to a slow start for the Griffins, who trailed 16-10 after one quarter.

“It was hard having two weeks of hard work in practice,” Boyce, Jr. said. “(Canton McKinley) has been playing this whole time while we have been off so they were ready and energized to go.”

But Buchtel started to take control in the second quarter, outscoring McKinley 23-10 in the quarter to take a 33-26 lead into the half.

“The guys are a strong-willed and they do play together well,” Buchtel head coach Rayshon Dent said. “The thing was they didn’t panic and at the end of the first quarter I think we started gaining momentum and we settled in.”

Playing a team from outside the City Series will also help prepare the Griffins for the tournament, which begins for them with a game against either Cloverleaf or Bedford on February 24th.

“(It was a) new team to play, different stuff to see,” Boyce, Jr. said. “That will help us in the playoff run.”

McKinley will begin the tournament on February 22nd against Euclid.

Khoi Thurmon had 18 points for Buchtel and Amire Robinson added 11.

Jahlil Graham was named McKinley’s MVP of the contest with 26 points.

St. Vincent-St. Mary 62, CVCA 52

Darryn Peterson led all scorers with 26 points for CVCA, but the Fighting Irish took home the win.

STVM played the game without Lance Hayes, but they did have Kevin “Fat” Hamilton, who scored a team-high 22 points. They also got a good performance from junior SirCharles Gordon, who scored eight points and picked up some of the defensive assignment on Peterson.

“Big win, the guys stepped up when we needed,” STVM head coach Dru Joyce II said. “Sir Gordon, we have been waiting for him and he stepped up in a big way and Kevin Hamilton did what Kevin Hamilton does.”

Hamilton did what he does, running the offense and getting everyone involved.

Jayson Walker scored 10 for STVM, Torrel Hopson had nine, Aidan Callahan had five and Darius Stratford had four. Daniel Ajose had the first three points of the game for the Fighting Irish with a dunk and a free throw.

“I just had to put the trust in some of my other guys that they would step up and people did,” Hamilton said. "I have trust in my teammates, I know they can make shots and they stepped up defensively too.”

Hayes, who was injured in a win Friday night over Wooster, sat out the game and STVM hopes he will return for the tournament, which they will begin on February 22nd with a game against Akron Garfield.

CVCA will begin tournament play on February 24th against either Coventry or Springfield.

Hamilton and Peterson were named the MVPs of the game for their teams.