Peace in Akron: Buchtel and East showing sportsmanship when teams do battle
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.
"To be honest with you, our team and their team never had anything personal between them," Buchtel head coach Rayshon Dent said. "That unfortunate event that happened, I just think people got caught up in the moment and everybody reacted negatively. I think each individual incident has its own life, so to speak. When we played that one time in the districts I think guys just got caught up in emotions and stuff just went sideways for some reason."
Akron Public Schools Director of Athletics Joe Vassalotti believes the familiarity between the squads that season played a major role in the incident.
"That was their fourth time playing that season between two regular season games, our city championship, and then in the district tournament," Vassalotti said. "So they knew each other well. It was high intensity and things got a little out of hand in the fourth quarter."
Following that game, the next few issues were because of fans, not players.
In the fall of 2022, the football game between the two schools had to be postponed from Thursday to Saturday because of a threat of violence circulating on social media. Akron Public School made the switch so they could get more security in place at the game.
Just a few months later, another incident between fans impacted a game between the schools, as the boys basketball regular season game was halted just a minute into the fourth quarter because of a fight in the stands. What people didn't understand at the time was that the incident had nothing to do with either of the two teams on the court.
"It was the two kids that got into a little skirmish and it wasn't even either one of our students," Dent said. "Both of our teams were up in the locker rooms together just laughing and joking."
But when it comes to the games on the court or on the field, the teams have shown nothing but mutual respect for one another, even if the competitive juices were flowing.
At the boys basketball City Series championship game last season between the two teams at Firestone High School, Akron Public Schools put tighter security measures in place, such as limited tickets, no students from other schools unless accompanied by a parent and extra police presence at the game, which led to a mostly peaceful night other than some playful trash talk.
This past football season, East defeated Buchtel in what was a de facto City Series championship game. In the final minutes, things ramped up for a moment on the field but cooler heads prevailed and the teams were able to get through the postgame handshake line without incident. The message from Buchtel athletic director and football coach Bryan Williams to his players was clear - be competitive while also staying within the lines.
"These guys that you're playing against now may be your college teammates, so the biggest thing is don't go create bad energy," Williams told his team. "We all come from the same place. Most of you guys play with each other on the pee-wee level, so you’re friends. Continue to be friends obviously, but between the white lines or on the court is a little bit different. Be competitive but at the end of the game, shake hands."
And then this basketball season, the two teams have played a pair of games without incident, either on the court or in the stands, as Buchtel won Tuesday night and also picked up a 77-45 road win at East on Dec. 15.
"With us traveling back and forth to each school and having good games, I think both coaches have done a great job with building the culture and making the student athletes understand that what we're doing here is bigger than basketball," Williams said. "And one day we can come together and do something in the community."
Buchtel and East basketball players stand in unison for the national anthem prior to a game on January 23, 2024. Photo credit: Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports
Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports
Coming together was a theme of a dinner the Akron Public Schools had with its coaches after the district final incident, and it was there that one of the city's assistant coaches spoke up with an idea. His suggestion was having the two teams at each game stand together at center court for the national anthem. And not just together, but intertwined with one another.
"We had an assistant coach at Garfield, Ed Smith, who suggested that girls and boys basketball teams before the game should stand in unison for the national anthem just to set a tone of unity for the game and sportsmanship," Vassalotti said. "And a small suggestion like that has proven to do just that. I think it has really improved everyone's attitude before tip-off. Not only the players on the court playing, but the people in the stands who are watching too. "
Consider Dent a fan of the change, as he takes that time before and after the anthem to talk to the players from the opposing team.
"It shares into respect for one another and having fun for a change before we even get started," Dent said. "So I think that was a good thing that kind of takes the air out of the balloon if there is any. I always try to laugh and joke with the (other) team because I want the players to always be comfortable around me because it is nothing but good fun competition for me."
Speaking of competition, the game on Tuesday night had a moment where in the past, people might have held their breath to see what happened, as Buchtel's Dakota Taylor went up for a dunk early in the second quarter and was fouled on what was deemed by the officials as an intentional foul by East. Instead of the teams getting after each other following the play, they each picked up their own teammate and play resumed.
"It was just a good, hard foul," Dent said. "Both of those guys that collided were football players, so go figure. I didn't feel any kind of ill will from the players, just a good hard basketball play. Our guy got up and shook it off and he was able to knock down one of the free throws. So I think that in itself was just a microcosm of how everything has been going."
Both sides have noticed a change in the sportsmanship between the players this season, including East head coach Christopher Munford, who is in his first year as the head man for the Dragons after being an assistant the past two seasons.
"The sportsmanship is definitely a lot better this year," Munford said. "I know a lot of the Buchtel kids, I have coached a lot of them. So I think the respect level keeps a lot of that emotion out of it. As well as both games this year were lopsided, so it doesn't really cause a lot of emotion in the games when it's going that way."
Another reason for change at East has been one of the key principles Munford has been trying to instill into his players.
"I'm big with respect, of the game, of others," Munford said. "I tell kids all the time you can't go to the next level if you’re just fighting all the time, doing this negative stuff."
He has also used his past experiences in life to teach kids lessons that will help them not only in their high school years, but beyond.
"Attitude is a big focus for us and I tell the kids all the time, if you're going to be negative, and as they say, look ghetto or like a hood team, I tell the kids that's not something I'm here to coach," Munford said. "That's just not a representation of who I am. I came from that, but I changed my life around. And so I'm encouraging the kids to not have negative reactions every single time just because something goes wrong. In reality when they enter the real world, things get hard and it's about how you react to it."
Munford also believes the players for both East and Buchtel learned a lesson on that day in March, 2022 when things got out of hand at the district tournament.
"I think a lot of kids realize that there's no need to go that far," Munford said. "At the end, it’s just a rivalry game. Let’s just play good, clean ball and you're good to go."
Dent has put that district tournament in the rearview mirror, as he chalked it up to two teams playing hard and the heat of the moment getting to people as they had seen each other four times that season, as Vassalotti suggested. He is enjoying coaching in these games now.
"It's been a blast, really, and I mean that in a good sense," Dent said. "From that point on (at the district tournament), we didn't have anything but just sportsmanship. Our teams, our fans are from two great communities that are passionate about our schools and tradition."
And the effort being made by the schools, teams, players and coaches is not going unnoticed with the leaders at the Akron Public Schools.
"Our teams are working hard and taking care of their own business and not letting the rivalries get out of hand as far as sportsmanship goes," Vassalotti said. "And so we're really proud of these two teams, how they've improved. And it's a credit to their coaches too."
-- Ryan Isley | ryan@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveoh
