Tigers end campaign with loss

Posted 2/22/17

Germantown Friends’ Mike Buckmire. (Photo by Jonathan Vander Lugt)[/caption] by Jonathan Vander Lugt Germantown Friends’ Mike Buckmire knew that last Tuesday afternoon’s game against the …

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Tigers end campaign with loss

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Germantown Friends’ Mike Buckmire. (Photo by Jonathan Vander Lugt)[/caption]

by Jonathan Vander Lugt

Germantown Friends’ Mike Buckmire knew that last Tuesday afternoon’s game against the Episcopal Academy had the chance to be the last time he donned a Tiger uniform.

He might have, in the back of his head, known that it was likely. The Churchmen were recently crowned co-Inter-Ac champs, and the Tigers—though not a bad team—were likely to be overmatched.

That proved to be the case. The 58-43 loss in a half-full gym—weekday afternoons aren’t prime basketball viewing time—put an end to the career of one of the better careers in GFS history.

“It’s definitely hard, but for me when we played ANC in our playoff game, that was the big moment,” Buckmire said, about the end of his career. GFS played the Academy of the New Church in the Friends Schools League playoff’s opening game (a play-in between the four-five seeds in the standings) on February 3. The Tigers lost, 43-39.

“I was ready—I wasn’t going to get emotional about it,” Buckmire said. “I knew that, eventually, this time would come.”

He delayed the reality, almost singlehandedly, for a while. His six first-quarter points kept the Tigers within three at the end of the first frame (11-8) and his seven more in the second—the team’s only points in that one—kept the game from getting out of hand at the half.

Episcopal pulled away in the third and fourth, only to see a GFS mini-rally to draw it to 11 with a minute and change left. It was enough to keep GFS from mailing it in for the game’s remainder, but not enough to truly threaten the Churchmen.

Buckmire finished with 30 in the loss. Dean Wang scored seven, and Pietro Berghella chipped in with six. Add that up and it comes to all of GFS’ scoring, which was what kept them from truly being competitive.

“Mike’s a really good player,” GFS head coach Shawn Werdt said. “It’s hard to stop him from getting his 20 a game.”

“They knew Mike was our guy,” he went on. “For us to win that game, we had to get more out of the other guys. Mike scored 30, and we only had 43. There were a lot of zeroes in the box score.”

That said, it’s now in the rear-view. For Buckmire and the rest of his team, the focus is on what’s ahead of them.

Buckmire won’t be playing ball at Duke come fall (unless he catches a break as a walk-on or as a member of the practice squad), but he’s comfortable with that.

“Not playing is going to be hard for me, especially after being on varsity for four years,” he said. “This has just been a part of my life, and a part of my high school experience.”

“It’s something I had to think about. Thinking about college and talking to my parents, it was always about my fit and academics,” Buckmire said. “I sent out my info to a bunch of schools—highlight tape, resume, everything.”

“They had to not only meet the basketball criteria, but academically as well—it had to be a school that I actually wanted to go to,” he went on. “Some schools pulled out, others came in. Duke was still a place that I knew I loved.”

So, that’s where he’s going to go. He’ll be missed—his 20-plus points per game will be tough to replace, as will his mark on the program.

“I’ve been thinking about that recently,” Buckmire said. “When I came in as a freshman, the GFS basketball program didn’t have much to show for it. We weren’t making the playoffs, and we were barely winning even seven games or so.”

“I came in, and was just looking to try to help in any way possible,” he went on. “That’s the mark I hope to leave on GFS—that I’ve put the program in a better place. I like to look at my career as winning as much as possible, and hopefully being known as a winner at GFS.”

Werdt knows it too, though he’s not without optimism for the guys that will be around next year.

“I’m looking forward to seeing who the next guy to step up is,” he said. “Someone will.”

“ Peter Gard didn’t even start on the seventh and eighth grade team—and he wound up leading the Friends League in three pointers made,” he went on. “Kids that invest in their games and put the time in—you see them get better every year.”

“It’ll be interesting next year,” Werdt said. “We’ll have an experienced front court, but a very inexperienced back court. In high school, you win with guards so we’ve got a lot ahead of us.”

“I’m looking forward to it though. I think there’s enough in the room to keep us competitive next year.”

Jonathan Vander Lugt can be reached at vanderlugt.chlocal@gmail.com

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