Lansing Christian was hoping to hand Buckley its first loss of the season in the boys Class D state championshp game on March 23 at the Breslin Center.
Instead, Buckley ended Lansing Christian’s season at 19-7 with a 68-61 win over the Pilgrims.
Buckley went on to lose to Powers North Central in the Class D title game two days later.
The Pilgrims got off to a slow start, shooting 30.8 percent from the floor in the first quarter and falling behind to Buckley 16-11. The second quarter was better with 10-of-15 for 66.7 percent and a 21-18 Lansing Christian advantage. Buckley led at halftime 34-32. Buckley had the 12-10 scoring edge in the third quarter and 22-19 in the fourth.
Lansing Christian was 25-of-54 from the floor but 4-of-21 in 3-pointers. Buckley had a 37-26 edge on the boards and was able to hit its free throws late in the game. Sixteen of Buckley’s rebounds were on offense.
Austin Harris was a handful for Lansing Christian. He was 11-of-18 from the floor and had 28 points and 10 rebounds.
Preston Granger had a solid game for the Pilgrims, shooting 6-of-8 from the floor for 15 points and adding eight rebounds. Forrest Bouyer had 13 points while Matt Havey added 10.