AKRON, Ohio – It is no secret that there is a sometimes heated rivalry between Buchtel and East in the Akron City Series. But on Tuesday night at Buchtel, there was peace among the rivals as Buchtel came away with a 78-34 boys basketball win over East to move to 8-3 overall and 8-0 in the Akron City Series.
The harmonious nature of the evening was a far cry from what has happened a few times in the past 23 months when these two teams got together – or were even scheduled to play one another – in boys basketball or football.
It all started at a boys basketball district final on March 2, 2022 at North Ridgeville when the game was stopped in the final seconds of the third quarter after fights broke out between players, and fans came onto the court to get involved. With Buchtel leading the game 53-32 at the time of the stoppage, the OHSAAA determined the next day that the Griffins would be declared the winners and move on to the regional semifinals, but with several players being suspended.