BUCYRUS — Since the first meeting with Wynford in December — a 79-48 Royals’ win — Bucyrus has been coming together as a team.
While the wins don’t reflect it, the score of the second meeting is a barometer.
The Redmen went toe-to-toe with the high-powered Wynford offense for most of the night before falling, 82-73, in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Phil A. Joseph Court at Aelx Kish Memorial Gymnasium Saturday night.
The fireworks on offense likely gave the fans in attendance their money’s worth.
“That was a defensive struggle, wasn’t it,” Wynford coach Mike Smith quipped. “I have no idea. I don’t know what happened.”
The combined 155 points was the highest in the N10 this season.
“We don’t defend real well. I don’t understand us defensively,” Smith said. “I don’t know if we just want to outscore people, but you can’t do that. I’m not saying Bucyrus is a great team, but they’ve improved enough. They’re good offensively. You can’t do that.”
The tone was set early. Bucyrus (4-12, 1-10) took a 5-2 lead — its only one of the night — before the Royals raced out to a 20-11 advantage. As if on cue, the Redmen closed out the first quarter on a 9-0 run to knot it at 20-20 after one.
“They didn’t have (Sam) McMillan tonight, so we had the size advantage,” Bucyrus coach Brian Hargis said. “We knew it would be a little bit of a risk on the defensive end. But we thought offensively, we could win the battle at the rim. We did that, then they started putting (Grant) McGuire on the block. That gave us a few problems early and we had to go to zone.”
That paved the way for Wynford’s perimeter game, led by Ashton Warren, who scored a team-high 25 points, including four 3-point shots. The Royals drilled eight threes on the evening.
“He’s been good the past four weeks,” Smith said of Warren. “I think he’s been mid-double digits all games the last six or seven games. His average has gone up a couple times in that time, so you know you are scoring a lot of points if you can do that, especially this time of year.”
True to form, Wynford (13-5, 6-5) scored the first seven points of the second quarter. However, again, the Redmen battled back to tie the game a 33-33 — the second and last tie of the game — on a basket by Malachi Bayless with 1:19 left in the half. The Royals took a 38-35 advantage into halftime.
“I was worried because we’ve been in this boat before and the guys buckled down,” Hargis said. “Malachi played his butt off. I thought our post players had their best game rebounding. The progression’s there. I’m not into moral victories, but the kids are still bought in.”
A familiar nemesis came back to visit Bucyrus in the third quarter, and it proved to be the turning point in the game. After committing no turnovers in the second quarter, the Redmen coughed it up eight times in the third and Wynford took advantage.
After Bucyrus cut its deficit to 38-37 on a basket by Jackson Farrar, the Royals went on a 7-0 run to take a 45-37 lead and the Redmen never got closer than four from there.
“We let some early leak outs on long rebounds,” Hargis said. “(Wes) Prenger was down there and made us pay three straight possessions in the third.”
Bucyrus stayed even with the visitors from there, but still trailed by eight, 56-48, by period’s end.
“My kids are trying to band together without Sam,” Smith said. “It’s hard to do. We’re so used to having that 6-6 person in the middle. I’m not real sure we’ve quite figured out how to put it together. We seem a little dysfunctional sometimes.”
The Redmen continued to chip away and got to within 66-62 on a basket by Noah Burke with 4:11 left. They were still within six with 1:17 left when Bayless scored to make it 76-70.
But Warren scored 14 points in the final period and Wynford converted 12 of 16 free throws in the frame to hold of the hosts.
McGuire — who dropped 30 on the Redmen in the first meeting — was hampered by fouls throughout the game and eventually fouled out. The Royals’ bench picked up the slack.
“I thought Drew Johnson stepped up and hit some good shots,” Smith said. “I thought our bench, for the most part, came in and gave us some decent minutes. In reality, we played this game without Sam and Grant, for the most part, and that does hurt.”
“When McGuire went out, their kids responded,” Hargis said. “There were a few previous situations this year when they haven’t.”
Prenger finished with 23 points for Wynford in support of Warren’s 25. McGuire and Johnson added 13 each. Warren also grabbed nine rebounds.
Both teams shot the ball well. The Royals were 30 of 55 from the field for 55 percent. Bucyrus was 27 of 60 for 45 percent.
Bayless — the leading scorer in the N10 — led the Redmen with a game-high 28 points, including five threes. Georgie Floyd added 13 and Demarius Munn-Page had 12. Dylan Coppler had eight boards.
“It’s one of the few times we’ve had more shots — definitely in a loss,” Hargis said. “That kind of was our goal. Let’s just get equivalent (shots). We’re as good as anybody (shooting), but we’ve given too many turnovers up the first half of the year.”
“We have to move on,” Smith said. “We’ve got a week of practice before Mohawk. We’ll see what we can do against them.”
“I’m just proud of my guys. They fought all the way to the buzzer,” Hargis said. “We’re just trying to crescendo at the right time. We’re seventh in the league, but we’re dangerous. If you come in and take us lightly, we might trip you up. I think the best moments of the season are ahead of us.”
Box score
Wynford 20 18 18 26 — 82
Bucyrus 20 15 13 25 — 73
Stats
Wynford (13-5, 6-5 N10): Shots 30-55; 3-pt. shots 8-22 (Ashton Warren 4, Wes Prenger 2, James Rindfuss, Drew Johnson); Free throws 14-21; Rebounds 31 (Ashton Warren 9); Turnovers 14. Scoring: Ashton Warren 8 5 25, James Rindfuss 2 1 6, Wes Prenger 9 3 23, Anthony Evans 1 0 2, Grant McGuire 6 1 13, Drew Johnson 4 4 13.
Bucyrus (4-12, 1-10 N10): Shots 27-60; 3-pt. shots 7-21 (Malachi Bayless 5, Georgie Floyd, Demarius Munn-Page); Free throws 12-15; Rebounds 21 (Dylan Coppler 8); Turnovers 15. Scoring: Georgie Floyd 5 2 13, Demarius Munn-Page 4 3 12, Noah Burke 2 1 5, Dylan Copper 3 1 7, Jackson Farrar 2 2 6, Malachi Bayless 10 3 28, Tyrone Mass 1 0 2.
JV: Wynford 47-35.