GFS's Mike Buckmire passed 1,000 career points in a win over Palumbo. (Photo by Jonathan Vander Lugt)

By Jonathan Vander Lugt

For going on four years, Germantown Friends’ senior guard Mike Buckmire’s play has been all about the team.

The ultimate purveyor of the “team-first” mantra, he’s led his Tiger teammates with one overarching goal: to win.

But on Friday night, for once—just once—the spotlight got to shine on him. Buckmire headed into the Tigers’ tilt against the Academy at Palumbo with 979 points, needing just 21 to eclipse the standard mark of high school excellence.

“That’s one of the few individual goals that I’ve set for myself,” Buckmire said, of the milestone. “Everything else has been team-centric—winning games and winning championships, but it felt great.”

“My team’s been supporting me the whole way,” he went on. “They wanted to see me do it as well.”

Against the Griffins, Buckmire came out like a man on fire. He scored eight in the first quarter and each of the team’s nine in the second. The Tigers led at each juncture, though by no more than single digits.

Buckmire knocked down a two early in the third, putting him just one basket away. He was visibly anxious on the court—a rare sight—but that’s understandable, considering the personal gravity of the situation.

After one minute and thirty-six frantic seconds of third quarter basketball, Buckmire sunk that layup that gave him his thousandth point. Play stopped, and his teammates swarmed him with congratulations.

Palumbo spent the remainder of the second half inching toward GFS’ lead, but the Tigers held serve. Buckmire finished the night with 31, and Dean Wang chipped in with 13 in what wound up being a 55-46 Tiger win.

Each team was sloppy throughout—turnovers and missed rebound opportunities were abounding—but for now, those mistakes will be glossed over. The night belonged to Buckmire and the rest of the team’s seniors.

Head coach Shawn Werdt led off prior to the game with a ceremony honoring the team’s twelfth-grade quartet: Quentin McKnight, Preston Choe, Sam Istvan, and Buckmire. McKnight starts more often than not, supplying size and rebounding to a team that needs it. Choe hasn’t seen much playing time this year due to some injuries, and Istvan, who’s going to Haverford College to play ball, is the team’s requisite sharpshooter.

Buckmire is the focal point of the team, and unquestionably its heart and soul. He’s been starting since his freshman year, but last year was the first that the team was really his.

“He’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever coached,” Werdt said. “Not only is he a phenomenal talent on the basketball court, but he’s always picking up his teammates and showing them the way.”

“He’s a dedicated, focused athlete and always seems to be doing the right thing,” Werdt went on. “Really, he’s like a coach on the floor. He’s been a joy to coach, and is one of those guys that doesn’t come around often.”

Buckmire won’t blow you away with raw athleticism, but he always seems to fill the stat sheet. He’s about six-foot-one or two, and lanky. He doesn’t take bad shots. He knows the right place to be at the right time, and knows how to set his teammates up. He’s an ace from the charity stripe.

Add it up, and you get one of the better players in the Friends League.

“It’s just his consistency,” Werdt said. “He’s always there. When I took this job four years ago, I took some advice: that I need to find a champion for the program—someone that’s going to bring other kids in.”

“Lucky for me, Mike Buckmire was sitting here in the freshman class,” he went on.

Buckmire spent his first year as mostly a last-option in the Tigs’ offense—there to “just get out of the way,” as he put it. His sophomore year saw a little bit more action, but it wasn’t until his junior season that he had to shoulder the load of leading the team.

This year has featured more of the same, and as of this writing, GFS is 15-6 with a 3-2 record in the Friends League.

“The biggest thing is making sure I can tell [my teammates] what I’ve learned, and being able to point out when they make mistakes,” Buckmire said. “Knowing that it’s okay to make the mistakes too—it’s not just telling them that they’re wrong, but telling them in a positive way and showing them how to get better.”

“Coach talks about leadership, and it’s about being able to talk to the team in ways that they’ll respond,” Buckmire said.

It’s clear that without him, the Werdt and the Tigers would be missing more than just his 20 some-odd points per game scoring average.

“He’s left his footprint, and the program is better because of him,” Werdt said. “We’re going to miss him when he’s gone.”

Fortunately, for Werdt and GFS faithful, the team has a few more weeks before that becomes reality.