NEW WASHINGTON — The Bucyrus Lady Redmen have made great strides in the program this year.
Their performance against Willard in the Division III sectional tournament at Buckeye Central High School gave further evidence of their progress.
Bucyrus — the No. 10 seed in the district — trailed the No. 8 seeded Flashes by four points at both halftime and the third-quarter break, evening leading briefly in the third period.
But poor shooting and Willard’s size proved to be the Lady Red’s undoing as they fell, 47-36, to end their season.
“Nine wins for Bucyrus girls — and I think the culture is changing right now,” Bucyrus coach Brian Seybert said. “They believe, they didn’t quit any game this year. We’ll take nine wins, but we’re not satisfied.”
The Redmen (9-13) haven’t had this many wins since 2017-18 and nine exceeds the combined total of the previous four years combined. And they approached the tournament game determined to add at least one more to the total.
After falling behind the much bigger Flashes by as many as nine, at 13-4, in the first quarter, the Redmen settled down and trailed, 16-8, by period’s end.
But when Bucyrus scored the first five points of the second quarter on a basket by Maddie Kimmel and a 3-pointer from Kendra Blizzard, it was game on. By intermission, the Lady Red were within four, at 22-18.
“Aside from a few runouts in the first half, it could have been our favor at halftime,” Seybert said. “(Willard) started to pull away in the first quarter. But the girls stuck to what our plan was, and we worked our way back into it, down four at halftime. I thought it was a great chance for us right there.”
Willard (10-13) didn’t fully use its height advantage in the first half. The Flashes held a slim 17-15 edge on the boards and only had three offensive rebounds. And point guard Sy Sivongsak was held to three points in the first two periods.
“We were having trouble getting the ball past traps because of Sy being so short,” Willard assistant coach Ashley Bond — filling in for ailing veteran head coach Barry Pfahl — said. “Once we made the switch and put Sy on the wing, it changed. We were able to get it into the post. With Sy so short, they were trapping her at the top and we couldn’t do anything. Coach (David) Wiers was instrumental in that. He said, ‘Let’s get her off the point.’”
The Lady Red made their run of the night to start the third quarter, scoring the first seven points. Addison Kemery hit two free throws, Brook Dennison completed a 3-point play and Kimmel scored to give Bucyrus a 25-22 lead.
But Sivongsak hit a 3 to tie it at 25-25 and another one to tie it at 28-28 before Cassidy Hamons scored for the Flashes to give them the lead back for good.
“Third quarter, we came out and actually got the lead and held it for a while,” Seybert said. “Then, I think, Sy hit a 3 for them and got (the lead) back. I’m super proud of their effort. I couldn’t ask any more out of them.”
The Redmen stayed close until the final two minutes of the game, being as close as six, at 41-35, on a basket by Kimmel with 3:20 left. But they could never tie or take the lead.
“We told the kids in the locker room, ‘Three weeks ago, if things got tight, you would have folded, you would have lost by 20,’” Bond said. “’Tonight, you put it down and you won by (11).’ That’s the difference in the game right there, the mental difference.”
Sivongsak scored 11 of her game-high 14 points in the second half. Natalie Slone added nine points and freshman post Reese Bedingfield grabbed 11 rebounds. The Flashes ended up with a 40-27 advantage on the glass.
“The girls really dug down deep, really trying to move them back because they were taller than us (especially) when they extended their arms,” Seybert said. “5-11, 5-11, 5-10. It’s hard to compete with 5-9 girls. The only way to do it is get low and try to drive them back. And they were doing it. Their length got some tips and a few offensive rebound opportunities.”
Kimmel played her last game for Bucyrus, scoring 11 points and grabbing five rebounds to lead the Redmen. Kemery added eight and Dennison added seven points and five boards.
Besides Kimmel, Seybert said goodbye to Adacyn Rister and Leah Sheets.
“Maddie Kimmel, Ady Rister, Leah Sheets,” Seybert got out while choking back tears. “Ady Rister came back last year after not playing since the seventh grade. And she’s just a workhorse inside for as little as she is in stature. But she’s got a heart of gold and she’s just going to work her tail off for us.
Kimmel is the main leader,” he added. “Four years, captain, four-year starter. It’s going to be hard to replace her. I think that we will have a few seniors that can help. There’s talent coming that can replace it.”
“We treated it like just another game,” Boyd said. “But Sy was calm, calm enough to take leadership. She took charge and that’s what we want out of a senior.”
The Flashes will play for a sectional title against No. 2 seeded Upper Sandusky Saturday at noon back at Buckeye Central.
Box score
Bucyrus 8 10 12 6 — 36
Willard 16 6 12 13 — 47
Bucyrus (9-14): Shots 9-44; 3-pt. shots 2-16 (Kendra Blizzard 2); Free throws 16-26; Rebounds 27 (Maddie Kimmel 5, Brook Dennison 5); Turnovers 12. Scoring: Addison Ricker 1 0 2, Maddie Kimmel 4 3 11, Kendra Blizzard 2 0 6, Brook Dennison 2 3 7, Addy Rister 0 1 1, Addison Kemery 0 8 8, Marissa Middleton 0 1 1.
Willard (10-13): Shots 17-43; 3-pt. 5-19 (Syana Sivongsak 4, Camryn Wiers); Free throws 8-16; Rebounds 40 (Reese Bedingfield 11); Turnovers 19. Scoring: Camryn Wiers 3 0 7, Syana Sivongsak 5 0 14, Reese Bedingfield 2 1 5, Makinley Schaffer 0 2 2, Moriah Slone 2 1 5, Cassidy Hamons 1 3 5, Natalie Slone 4 1 9.