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Poland outpaces Salem; Irish next for ’Dogs
By CHARLES GROVE
Boardman
The Poland Bulldogs qualified for their 13th district title in the past 16 years and ninth in the last 10 years with a 61-55 win over Salem in their semifinal matchup.
Nick Buccieri, who battled asthma issues all game, led Poland (20-4) with 16 points while Kyle Patterson, who has split time between varsity and JV this year, hit four 3-pointers and finished with 15 points. Jared Burkert added 13 in the win at Boardman High School.
Salem (17-8) found success in the first quarter as D.J. Pullie and Trey Toothman hit a combined four 3-pointers, but the duo only made three more in the final three quarters. Nick Rusyn scored 16 points, 10 of which came in the third quarter. Toothman ended the night with 14 points and Pullie had 12.
Poland head coach Ken Grisdale said his offensive gameplan was to find good looks early before Rusyn, Salem’s powerful center, could get position down low. That plan worked to perfection off the opening tip as Salem didn’t account for Burkert and within five seconds, he drained a 3-pointer from the corner.
“Transition is what we were worried about and it hurt us a little bit early,” Salem head coach Rich Hart said.
The teams played at a blitzing pace the first half with Poland pulling away with a 7-0 run toward the end to go into the locker room up 33-26. After the break, Hart said he noticed a mismatch on Rusyn and the Quakers exploited it as he cleaned up on the offensive glass and gave his side a 40-39 lead before a fast-break layup and foul gave Poland a 42-40 lead heading into the final quarter. Despite Salem’s dominance down low, Grisdale said he was happy to see the Quakers pound the ball inside because it took away from their deadly perimeter game.
“I was happy they went inside rather than their 3-point shooting,” Grisdale said. “They’re one of the best 3-point shooting teams that we’ve seen all year. By going inside I think that helped us in the long run because it took the ball out of their shooters’ hands. When they get a couple 3’s, they get rolling and we didn’t want to see that happen.”
Salem hit the offensive boards again to open up the fourth quarter and tie the game at 42, but then Patterson stepped into the spotlight.
The junior hit two 3-pointers and was fouled on another attempt, knocking down all three free throws to put Poland up 51-45. From there the Bulldogs extended the lead to 57-47 and while Pullie and Toothman were able to make it interesting in the final minute with long 3-pointers of their own, Mike Gajdos closed things out for Poland at the foul line and Salem ran out of time.
“[Salem] was running a 1-2-2 zone and Coach Grisdale made up a bunch of plays based off that to get us open looks at it worked,” Patterson said.
“I don’t think we win without him,” Grisdale said of Patterson. “He’s backed up Jared [Burkert] all year which doesn’t leave him a lot of minutes but he’s kept a real good attitude and did an amazing job.”
Salem, which had won 13 of 15 coming into the game and was 13-0 in decisions within 10 points, loses nine seniors for next year.
Poland will meet Ursuline in a district final at 4 p.m. Saturday at Boardman. The Bulldogs are 5-3 in district title games in the last decade.