by It was a Blue Division matchup on a Saturday night before ringing in the New Year as the Burning River Buckets struck down Team Network of Detroit 134-102 on a Saturday night matchup in Mentor.
Coming into the matchup, the Burning River Buckets were 3-4 while Team Network was looking for its first win of the season sitting at 0-6.
The Buckets were without Head Coach Michael Calo as he was out of town for another matter. Buckets captain Dylan Contento stepped in and served as the head coach. With Contento deciding to coach, he gave his number 25 jersey to Ke’Sean Christian and chose not to play to focus on coaching.
Wearing the number that is normally worn for the team captain, Christan would have a monster night for the Buckets as he would finish with 34 points.
“I passed up on a couple of shots in the first quarter,” Christian stated after the game. When asked what got him going offensively, he simply stated, “confidence” helped.
Christian also stated that wearing the team captain’s number 25 was “an inspiration” and it “rubbed off on me”
The Buckets got started with an early lead thanks to five points from Sherman Dean as he hit a three-point shot and a quick layup to get the offense started. A three-point shot by teammate and former Kent State player Joe Klauer would put the River Buckets up 8-2 in the first two minutes of the game.
Dean would continue his scoring streak late into the quarter and with 3:20 left in the first, the River Buckets had a 20-9 lead at that point. Dean had 10 points at that time on the stat sheet.
After the first quarter, the Buckets had a 24-14 lead but struggled in the second quarter of action.
The Buckets went cold from the field missing several shots and not getting second chance opportunities. With several points in a row, Team Network cut the deficit to 7 as the Buckets were only up 33-26 with 7:10 left on the clock for the second quarter. Devonte Lash for Team Network had 9 points at that time.
With 4:52 left in the second quarter, the Buckets would regain a 10-point lead as Buckets guard Ke’Sean Christian had a key layup prior to that.
The Buckets would later go up 44-34 as Sherman Dean drained a three-point shot with 3:07 left to go in the second quarter.
Carter would continue to dominate and drew a foul and with his free throws, helped put the Buckets up 51-37 with 1:05 to go in the half.
After sloppy play by Team Network and four points by Ke’Sean Christian, the Buckets would take a 56-39 lead into halftime. Christian finished the half with 20 points.
The Buckets got off to a slow start in the third quarter but regained the momentum as former Edinboro player Anthony Coleman hit a three and a quick two to help the Buckets go up 63-47 with 8:50 left in the third quarter. Coleman would later draw a foul and sink his free throws to make it 65-47 at that point.
In a two-minute span, Team Network turned the ball over twice by being called for two seven-second violations and Coleman had 12 points for the Buckets during that stretch.
Coleman would eventually have 20 points next to his name on the stat sheet as the six-minute mark on the clock in the third quarter.
“(I was) being determined,” commented Coleman after the game. “I wanted to give coach Dylan a win. We had a conversation with him at halftime and he told us to pick it up.”
The Buckets maintained a double-digit lead for most of the third quarter against the frustrated Team Network.
A bright spot for Team Network was Kevin French had 20 points as third quarter came to a close.
The fourth quarter saw Ke’Sean Christian keeping the momentum for the Buckets with a thunderous dunk and a three-point shot to follow. Teammate Aaron Overby would sink consecutive shots to help put the Buckets up 100-76 as we had less than eight minutes to go in the game.
Team Network would eventually go on a run to cut the Buckets lead to 11 but the momentum was short lived.
A quick bucket and a steal by Anthony Coleman would put the Buckets up 110-95 with 4:30 left in the fourth quarter.
Ke’Sean Christian would reach 30 points on the night by sinking a three with less than three minutes to go. He would finish with the night with 34 points on the night to help the Buckets take down Team Network 134-102 for the victory.
This was the second time Dylan Contento had to coach the team this season.
“There’s a big difference when I’m on the floor (playing), Contento stated as what is different for him having to coach versus playing. “It’s different for me because I am a lot more intense on the floor. It is different but we found a way especially in the second half to pick it up a little more and getting the job done.”
With the victory, Contento is 2-0 when filling in as the head coach for the Buckets.
Player of the Game:
Ke’Sean Christian – 34 points
