CRESTLINE — For most of the season, Bucyrus coach Barry Egan has praised his team for their hustle and effort, even after difficult losses.
He could not do that after the Redmen dropped a 20-point decision at Crestline Monday night.
The Bulldogs blew open a two-point halftime lead with a 26-point third quarter en route to a 62-42 non-league win over Bucyrus.
“The third quarter was definitely the difference,” Egan said. “Absolutely, a pathetic display of effort at the defensive end in the second half — giving up straight-line dribble drives — just a terrible effort.”
On the other sideline, Crestline coach Tyler Sanders sees a pattern developing with his Bulldogs.
“We seem to be a second-half team,” Sanders said. “We’re outscoring our opponents pretty handily in the second half this year.”
Not that the coach is unhappy with the methodology. His team is using it as a means to an end.
“Credit to the guys, they’re finding ways to win,” sanders said. “Like I said, they’re a second-half team. I guess I just need to chill out till the second half.”
Crestline (11-6) looked like a first-half team in the first quarter. The Bulldogs held on to a 10-7 lead after a back-and-forth first quarter. They then started the second quarter on an 11-0 run to push the lead to 21-7, the last on a basket by Isaiah Perry with 4:03 left in the half.
Bucyrus (3-12) finally got the offense back in gear, reeling off a 13-0 run in response to climb back into the game. Crestline got a free throw from Lucas Cochran to end the skein, but the Redmen were within 22-20 at intermission. Kolton Middleton came off the bench and hit a pair of 3-point shots to help fuel the charge.
“I thought we matched up with (Cochran) pretty good (in the first half),” Egan said. “I was disappointed with our positioning, effort, our lack of going and getting loose balls, not getting on the ground for things.”
“If you watch us, you know we will always allow (the other team) to come back in in the first half,” Sanders said. “We’ve done that, now, this game, Mansfield Christian, and Mount Gilead. So, the last three games, we’ve been up almost double digits and allowed teams to come back at halftime.”
But the Bulldogs’ second-half magic would prevail again. Connor Lusk led the resurgence, scoring 10 for his 14 points in the third quarter. Crestline started the frame on a 19-4 run to open a 17-point advantage and the Redmen never recovered.
“I understand we’re not a pretty team,” Egan said. “But if we’re not going to be gritty and we’re not going to play hard, this is the result we get.
“We played with no sense of urgency,” Egan continued. “We just go out and do whatever we please at times. That’s a recipe for disaster and that’s exactly what we got tonight. It was nothing short of disaster.”
The Bulldogs also solved Bucyrus’ zone defense, which had been effective in the first half.
I think this year, looking back to the Kidron game when we got blown out — they are the king of the 2-3 (zone) — we’ve done a pretty good job of getting the ball into the interior,” Sanders said. “We just haven’t done a great job of finishing. I thought tonight it started to get a little bit better. Once you hit the outside shot, it opens it up even more.”
Crestline hit three of their four 3s on the night in the pivotal third quarter, forcing Bucyrus out of its zone defense.
The fourth quarter was only a 14-13 edge to Crestline, but for the Redmen, the damage had been done.
Malachi Bayless led Bucyrus with 19 points. No one else scored more than six. Grady Jackson had six rebounds.
Cochran and Lusk shared scoring honors for the Bulldogs with 14 each. Perry came off the bench to add 11 R.J. Johnston grabbed eight rebounds.
“I feel bad for the people who actually paid money to get in here from Bucyrus, and we should probably give them their money back,” Egan said. “That’s how disappointed I am because if there is one thing our team should be able to do is they should always be able to come in and give us a great attitude and effort. I think we kind of short-changed ourselves tonight and we short-changed our fans too.”
“Obviously, Lucas is a handful in there,” Sanders said. “R.J. is a handful on the offensive glass. With them crashing the boards and getting the ball inside, I always like our chances.
“(A record of) 11-6 — I don’t think Crestline’s been able to say that in a long time,” Sanders added. “It’s a credit to these guys, a credit to our coaches, and the guys just grinding it out day to day.”
Bucyrus earned a split on the night with a 54-27 win in the junior varsity game. Kavan Combs had a game-high 16 points for the Redmen, and Kam Lewis finished with nine. Karter Koge had eight for Crestline.
Box score
Bucyrus 7 13 9 13 — 42
Crestline 10 12 26 14 — 62
Bucyrus (3-12): Shots 15-46; 3-pt. shots 4-11 (Malachi Bayless 2, Kolton Middleton 2); Free throws 8-11; Rebounds 27 (Grady Jackson 6); Turnovers 16. Scoring: Joe Rager 1 2 4, Mike Wise 1 2 4, Grady Jackson 1 2 4, Kolton Middleton 2 0 6, Malachi Bayless 8 1 19, Noah Burke 2 1 5.
Crestline (11-6): Shots 24-47; 3-pt. shots 4-18 (Trevor Shade 2, Connor Lusk, R.J. Johnston); Free throws 10-18; Rebounds 33 (R.J. Johnston 8); Turnovers 12. Scoring: Connor Lusk 5 3 14, R.J. Johnston 2 2 7, Trevor Shade 2 0 6, Isaiah Perry 5 1 11, Josh Hall 3 0 6, Lucas Cochran 5 4 14, Jake Bruce 2 0 4.
JV: Bucyrus 54-27.