Former Fort Frye basketball standout Taylor Buchanan playing professionally with Orlando Boom
LOWELL, Ohio — Taylor Buchanan had an auspicious pro basketball debut on the hardwood.
The 5-foot-9 forward recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds in a 91-43 Orlando Boom triumph over the Riviera Beach Heat Wave at Lake Mary High Saturday afternoon Aug. 14.
Buchanan, a former Fort Frye High and Palm Beach Atlantic University cager, also dished out four assists and had two “no look” passes.
“I was so nervous,” said the 26-year-old Buchanan, who started at a wing position for the Boom, the reigning 2019 national champion of the Women’s Basketball Development Association (WBDA).
Due to COVID-19, last season was cancelled. Saturday’s contest was the season opener for both the Mercedes Simons-coached Boom and Heat Wave.
“I’m on a really good team,” Buchanan said. “And, I’m loving the experience of playing basketball at this level.”
Not too long ago, Buchanan made a name for herself playing basketball at Fort Frye High in Beverly, Ohio, just a few miles west of Lowell on Route 60, where she was raised.
“My dad (Bob Buchanan) was my first coach,” Taylor Buchanan said. “He taught me everything I know about the game. I also played AAU and had real good coaches in Mark Lane and Glenn Dawson, Erica’s dad.”
When Buchanan reached the high school level, Dan Liedtke was the Cadets boss who helped guide Fort to state in her senior season of 2012-13. Buchanan was one of four seniors on the FFHS roster, and she played a pivotal role in the tournament run and Final 4 appearance at the Value City Arena, Jerome Schottenstein Center, on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus.
In an early March Ohio Division III district championship game against fourth-seeded West Muskingum in Steubenville, Buchanan knocked down a game-winning perimeter shot with 3 seconds remaining as top-seeded Fort rallied for a 47-45 triumph.
“Brooke (Borich) was dribbling, and just kind of handed it off to me,” remembered Buchanan. “I just shot it, and didn’t really think about it. I’m just glad it went in, and we won.”
Fort Frye then went on to defeat Frankfort Adena and Johnstown in the regional at Logan High to clinch a berth at state.Along with Buchanan, the Cadet roster also featured seniors’ Deidra Combs, Morgan Liedtke and Micayla Hupp; juniors’ Brooke Borich and Shawntell Parsons and sophomores’ Michelle Adkins, Megan Liedtke, Natalie Hart and Lexi Skinner.
“That’s one of the things about our team, we can all score,” Buchanan said at the time. “And I think that works in our favor.”
At state, Fort faced Columbus Africentric in a D3 semifinal and dropped a heartbreaking 43-40 decision. Afterwards, Buchanan and many of her Cadet teammates were teary-eyed. But with a 25-4 overall record, it had been a great season. As the team’s leading scorer, Buchanan was an All-Ohio honoree.
Academically, Buchanan graduated Cum Laude from Fort Frye in the spring of ’13 with an Associates Degree from Washington State Community College.
During the Fort basketball season, Buchanan signed a National Letter of Intent to continue her education and play basketball at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla. and that would be her next challenge on the hardwood.
At PBA, Buchanan majored in business with a minor in marketing. She was a Sailfish cager for four years.
As a true freshman, Buchanan worked her way into the starting lineup, and started 17 of 24 games. Against Edkerd College, she scored a season-high 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Buchanan suffered an injury in her sophomore campaign. But before she went down, she’d started in 13 games. Due to the injury, she redshirted her junior season, but came back in 2016-17, and was one of five players on the roster to play in all 26 games.
Buchanan graduated with her Bachelor of Science Degree Summa Cum Laude, Who’s Who Among American College Students and was tops in her class with a 3.93 GPA. Since receiving her PBA diploma, Buchanan has married (Eduardo Cruz) and is also currently employed at Universal Orlando Resort.
Her love of basketball has also never waned.
“Earlier this year, I was coaching younger kids, 3- to 5-years-old with a co-coach,” Buchanan said. “And, she told me about the Orlando Boom having tryouts. She suggested that I check it out. Anyways, I missed playing the game, and my husband encouraged me to go — so I went to the combine. And wouldn’t you know it, I made the team.”
Not only that, but she’s a starter.
“It’s so awesome,” Buchanan said.
Buchanan is the daughter of Bob and Melissa Buchanan of Lowell. She also has a younger sister Kasey, who was a standout volleyball player in her own right at Fort Frye.
This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.
