BUCYRUS — Winning a season opening game is a priority for any basketball program. But it has special importance for Bucyrus.
The Redmen haven’t won more than four games in a season since the 2014-15 season, which was also the last time they won an opener.
Until Monday night, that is.
Bucyrus used a 26-point fourth quarter to overhaul Ridgedale, 59-53, at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
The significance was not lost on Redmen coach Barry Egan.
“Winning is something we don’t take for granted here,” Egan said. “We know we have to work a little bit harder than most teams and we have to continue doing that.”
The Redmen struggled out of the gate, as Ridgedale looked every bit the team that had a game under its belt. The Rockets ran out to a 13-6 lead after one quarter, aided by Bucyrus hitting just three of 12 shots and missing all six free throws.
The Redmen offense got in gear in the second quarter, outscoring Ridgedale (0-2) 17-6 to take a 23-19 at halftime. Bucyrus hit seven of 17 tries in the period, with Joe Rager scoring eight of his team-high 18 points in the frame.
The Rockets were slowed by early foul trouble, especially Kaden Lester, who picked up three fouls in the first half and spent portions of the second quarter on the bench.
“He’s an important player with what we’re trying to do, and he went out,” Ridgedale coach Mike Mathey said. “But the guys who went in there stepped up and played good minutes. But him going out definitely hurt us.”
Nonetheless, the Rockets did not go away. Behind balanced third-quarter scoring — six different players reached the scoring column — Ridgedale used a 16-10 advantage to take a 35-33 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
But to their credit, the Redmen did not fold. They started the final period on a 10-0 run to take a 43-35 lead. Four Ridgedale turnovers aided the run.
“The kids did an excellent job of executing down the stretch when they needed to,” Egan said. “We’ve got some things to work on tomorrow and the rest of the week.
“We got some really good steals on our pressure and that really helped us in the second half,” Egan added. “The fact that we were able to get some turnovers and then convert on a breakaway was huge for us. We’ve got to continue to work on that.”
The spread stayed between six and eight points most of the second half of the fourth quarter. The Rockets got within 57-53 on a basket by Gavin Parish but only five seconds remained. Bucyrus got a fastbreak bucket to set the final score.
“It was just turnovers — they really killed us,” Mathey said. “Give Bucyrus credit. They forced them. We just kept turning the ball over and then we got down too much and we just ran out of time.”
The Redmen got balanced scoring on the night. Grady Jackson’s 13 points seconded Rager’s 18. Mike Wise had 11 and Jake Hamm added 10. Wise and Hamm grabbed eight and seven rebounds, respectively.
“That shows you that the kids — they’re sharing the ball,” Egan said. “I’m proud of their effort and certainly proud of the fact they want to come back and work tomorrow and the rest of the week to get ready for a game Saturday.”
Luke Strine led Ridgedale with a game-high 20 points, 10 coming in the fourth quarter. Parish added 12 including a pair of 3-point shots. Strine and Alec Gordon had 12 rebounds each.
“Luke’s a tough player, plays hard, and he can score for us,” Mathey said. “I thought Alec did some good things as well.”
Despite hitting just 14 of 28 free throws, the Redmen survived which impressed Egan.
“It’s not pretty but we’re not a real pretty team at times,” Egan said. “I thought our kids gutted it out. They made some free throws down the stretch (10 of 15 in the fourth quarter), because we certainly didn’t make them early.”
“We’ve still got a lot of work to do,” Mathey said. “It’s early in the season. These kids are pretty resilient. They’ll bounce back and we’ll get ready for Elgin.”
“It was a good start, but we’ve got a long way to go to where we want to be,” Egan said. “I think it’s a huge challenge for our seniors and we’ll see where they want to take us from here.”
Bucyrus also won the junior varsity game, 53-48. Blaine Stewart-Barto led the Redmen with 24 and Noah Burke added 13.
Jakob Gibson topped Ridgedale with 15 points and Landon Murphy had 12.
Box score
Ridgedale 13 6 16 18 — 53
Bucyrus 6 17 10 26 — 59
Ridgedale (0-2): Shots 19-40; 3-pt. shots 2-8 (Gavin Parish 2); Free throws 13-15; Rebounds 36 (Luke Strine 12, Alec Gordon 12); Turnovers 20. Scoring: Kaden Lester 2 0 4, Preston Long 1 0 2, Luke Strine 8 4 20, Nathan Thiel 1 5 7, Alec Gordon 4 0 8, Gavin Parish 3 4 12.
Bucyrus (1-0): Shots 22-52; 3-pt. shots 1-11 (Malachi Bayless); Free throws 14-28; Rebounds 30 (Mike Wise, 8, Jake Hamm 7); Turnovers 10. Scoring: Joe Rager 7 4 18, Mike Wise 5 1 11, Grady Jackson 5 3 13, Jake Hamm 3 4 10, Malachi Bayless 2 1 6, Dylan Lanker 0 1 1.
JV: Bucyrus 53-48.