Achieving a number one ranking in Division III doesn’t happen frequently for Bison basketball.  In fact, this is the first time such a feat has ever happened in Beachwood history, according to the AP Ohio State Basketball Poll.

“A ranking is nice for the kids,” Head Coach Matt Miller said. “They’ll be able to remember that when they leave high school and for the rest of their lives. It’s good for the community. It’s good for the school.”

 A tight game ending in loss to Lake Catholic on Feb. 24 left the Bison with a 19-3 record, undefeated in conference play.

After beating Independence 85-57, the Bison earned the Chagrin Valley Conference Metro Division title for the first time since 2009, accomplishing one of the team’s biggest goals of the year, and raising the record to 18-2 overall and undefeated in conference.

Senior and captain John Davis says he owes the success to “working hard, staying in the gym [and] having the people around me…that compete with me every day.”

Varsity point guard and sophomore Dassan Rhodes said that one of his goals for the season was“try and get all the way.”

The bison are well on their way to this goal, starting the season by blowing out Orange on December 6, which was one of the biggest wins according to Coach Matt Miller.

But the Orange win was only an indicator of what was to come.

“One of our big wins was Hawken,” Rhodes said.  “We were up by a little bit, and then they came back.” In the end, the Bison won 63-56.  Davis led the team in scoring 22 points, while  senior Julio Stevens scored 17 and sophomore Tyrone Gibson added an extra 12, according to Beachwoodbison.org.

“We had a good win against LaBrae,” Davis said. In this game, the Bison avenged their loss last year at the regional finals with a 67-41 win. The Bison were up 40-24 at the half this time and never slowed down, according to the Beachwoodbison.org.

“We wanted it real bad,” Davis said after the game, in an interview with the Beachwoodbison.org.  “To get [LaBrae] back on the schedule was a good experience for us.”

After winning 16 games this season, Miller sees the winning streak as continuing. “[We’ve got a really good senior class, [and an] outstanding sophomore class to go along with that,” Coach Matt Miller said. “I came in to a really good situation. We’re very lucky to have the players we’ve got.”

On Feb. 28, the Bison play Elyria Catholic for the district semifinal game.