Jim Mashek

BUTTRY IS READY FOR A NEW ROLE AT EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

His eyes welled with tears, in the final moments, and he embraced his Bowling Green High School teammates one last time along the Purples’ bench at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Turner Buttry, the gym rat who can’t wait for his next challenge, is on his way to the next one, after graduation.

The Atlantic Sun Conference.

Eastern Kentucky University.

A new role, as a freshman with Coach A.W. Hamilton’s EKU Colonels.

Is he ready for it?

Absolutely.

Buttry did everything he could to send the Purples back to the KHSAA’s Sweet Sixteen, which was decided in the 4th Region championship game on Tuesday night on the Western Kentucky University campus.

He drove the ball to the hole.

Made a couple sensational passes that resulted in easy baskets for teammates.

Oftentimes, guarded one of his closest friends, Warren Central guard Jaiden Lawrence, who is about 4 or 5 inches taller than Buttry.

Hit his only two free throws. Grabbed a couple rebounds. Had just a single turnover despite playing nearly the entire game.

It was memorable for what he did on the court, how he conducted himself off the court,and how he earned the praise of his coach, DG Sherrill, in the immediate aftermath.

And 20, maybe 25 minutes after the final horn, after Warren Central completed its pulsating 58-50 victory over its crosstown rival, how he congratulated the Dragons for a job well done.

Sportsmanship is important in sports, but particularly at the high school level. I went to get some dinner after the game, in the bar area. (Natch.)

That’s where I met four or five thrilled Warren Central fans, good dudes, and they were absolutely mesmerized by the fight that broke out, in the stands, of the Northeast Conference Tournament in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

It was an ugly free-for-all that involved fans, players, almost everybody, before order was restored after an hourlong delay.

I’ve seen it all, in 40-plus years of covering sports at the three significant levels — high school, college and professional — and nothing brings me down like a sorry spectacle that was caught by the ESPN cameras in Rhode Island. I remember the Malice In The Palace, and how that affected Detroit’s reputation in general, beyond the conduct of the Pistons.

I was there for the pregame fight at the Egg Bowl, the 1997 football game between Ole Miss and homestanding Mississippi State, in Starkville. It was a modern-day “Braveheart.” Awful.

I.’ve been to enough National Hockey League games, in person, and a few in the East Coast Hockey League, too, to know when a hockey player wants to start a fight to fire up his team and their fans.

Hey, I get it.

It’s a competitive atmosphere. My three younger brothers were accomplished baseball players. I was more into football, and the adrenaline of making an open-field tackle, or blowing up an inside running play, is hard to get anywhere beyond the football field. I didn’t have to do too many interviews, but I did save a clip from the prestigious Washington Post when I actually came up with this gem:

“Mr. (Fred) Shepherd (my coach at Churchill High School in Potomac, Maryland) tells us that our defense can bend, but we can’t break, and that’s what we did.”

Somebody shoulda summoned the cliche police immediately.

Turner Buttry went out of his way to be accomodating, first when I was writing for a Bowling Green web site and magazine and now that I’ve started my own project. He was polite, he was thoughtful, he was as positive as he could be … most of the time.

Buttry was always complimenting his younger teammates. Encouraging them after practices and games.

The Purples’ do-it-all guard had to do just that in the 4th Region Tournament. He tried to light a fire under his teammates, offering some general criticism of the team’s effort in the quarterfinal round against Franklin-Simpson. He went off for 29 points, hitting 3-point shots all over the place, in the lopsided victory over Clinton County on Monday night.

And on Tuesday night, in the spotlight of E.A. Diddle Arena, Turner Buttry tried to will his team to victory.

He played his tail off. Hit some deep 3-pointers, just like he did against Clinton County. Guarded the likes of Warren Central’s Jaiden Lawrence or Izayiah Villafuerte or Kade Unseld, the 16-year-old son of the Dragons’ head coach, William Unseld.

Don’t think DG Sherrill didn’t notice.

“There’s a lot of class, and character, in our program,” Sherrill said when it was over. “We’ve shown that, time and time again. Turner’s been a great role model for our younger players, and we’ve got seven sophmores and some freshmen on our varsity roster. An 8th grader, Trevy Barber, too.

“Turner Buttry is the kind of kid you always remember. What a career.”

I found the Dragons’ Jaiden Lawrence after he did a television interview on the E.A. Diddle Arena floor, and before long, I asked him about Buttry, his AAU teammate during summer basketball over the last couple summers.

“That’s my boy,” Lawrence said. “He’s had a great career. Tough … it’s all ‘love’ at the end. Turner’s a great competitor.”

After a postgame shower and some quick pleasantries with a few BGHS parents and fans in the Diddle hallway, Buttry wandered on the court, first to find Lawrence, and then Warren Central’s gentle giant of a coach, William Unseld.

The erstwhile University of South Carolina forward, as intense a guy as you’ll find on the sidelines.

Unseld and Buttry embraced, congratulated one another on a well played, defensive game, and after a minute or two, they went their separate ways.

Sportsmanship is important. Buttry understands that, and then some.

Eastern Kentucky University is gonna be awfully happy, I’m thinking, that they’re bringing Turner Buttry on board. He’s left quite a legacy at Bowling Green High School, one that oughta be felt for years.

Thanks, Turner. Great run, man.