Bucks hold off Steers for first win of season

The Breckenridge Buckaroos hosted the Graham Steers at the right time. Looking for their first win of the season, they hosted a young team still looking for its identity. The Buckaroos faced a team with a new coach, one freshman and four sophomores. Using suffocating defense in the first half and the 3-point-shot, the Buckaroos picked up their first win of the season Tuesday night, 62-56.

Neither team could maintain possession of the ball through missed shots and turnovers in the opening game. While the Steers struggled from anywhere in the field, it was the Buckaroos’ Zeke Castillo doing the most damage. He hit three of four shots combined by either team. His three 3-pointers allowed an 11-3 advantage after the first quarter. Travis Anderle scored all three of the Steers’ first-quarter points. His two-point field goal with 50 seconds remaining in the quarter was the Steers’ first field goal of the game. The Steers shot 1-11 from the field in the first quarter.

“That was instrumental for us because that’s what we wanted to do. We watched a little video on them and knew that they get out of control but we do too,” Buckaroos coach Brent Lucas said. “I mean, to be fair, but that was our chance to wind up the pace because they are bigger than us and we got one like one or two big guys and that’s it. So we wouldn’t only one on plays lots of minutes. So that was real important for us to do that.”

In the second quarter, it was the inside presence of Jerry Lawson that the Steers struggled to maintain. While the 3-point shooting for the Buckaroos was not as much of a factor in the quarter, Lawson scored six points inside the paint to guide the hosts in extending their lead by halftime.

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