NEW WASHINGTON — Victories have been few and far between for both Bucyrus and Buckeye Central this season.

So, when facing each other, both believe that elusive ‘W’ is possible.

The two met for the second time this season and the Redmen were able to hold off the Bucks, 52-46, in a Northern 10 Conference game in front of a large senior night crowd.

“We knew it was going to be a tough one,” Bucyrus coach Brian Hargis said. “I think the first time we won by 11 (68-57 on Jan. 12) with Malachi (Bayless) having mid-40s. Our other guards did not handle the ball well in the first matchup.”

The focus of Buckeye Central (4-18, 0-14) defensively was Bayless, the leading scorer in the N10. The Bucks double teamed him and helped off screens.

“I thought we did a great job on Malachi,” Buckeye Central coach Chris Moyer said. “He had four points going into the fourth quarter, after torching us for the school record 45 last game.”

Bayless finished with 11, well below his 18.6 ppg. average. But the price for that attention was that the Redmen were able to exploit their significant size advantage in the post.

Noah Burke finished with a game-high 22 points and had a double double with 13 rebounds. Dylan Coppler came off the bench and added 11 points.

“Noah Burke had 22 and (13),” Hargis said. “There were other rebounds he had a hand on that somebody else ended up with. I’m happy to see him have some success.”

Moyer also pointed to the mismatches in the post as a difference in the game.

“Burke has 22, Coppler has 11. We knew the size was going to bother us,” Moyer said. “But we didn’t want Malachi to get going, because all their kids feed off Malachi and rightfully so. He makes the game easier for everybody. I think he did a good job of being patient. It shows Malachi’s maturity as a player. He didn’t force it.”

Bucyrus (6-16, 2-12) never trailed in the game, and it was only tied once at 2-2. The Redmen jumped out to a 10-2 lead after the first quarter, but they also never led by more than 11 and the differential was single digits most of the game.

“For stretches, I thought they played harder than us. That’s what kind of kept it close,” Hargis said. “Demar (Demarius Munn-Page) played well and Coppler showed up big minutes off the bench. It was probably his best game of the year.”

The Bucks had problems shooting the ball, hitting just 12 of 45 shots overall, six of 21 from 3-point range — an ongoing issue according to the coach.

“We don’t shoot the ball very well,” Moyer said. “We got some really, really good looks. Looking at it, for the game, our (stat) kids had us 12 for 52 from the field. You’re not going to win any games when you cannot put the ball in the basket.”

Bucyrus paid a lot of attention to BC leading scorer, Jack Phillips, who had 10 points in the first half but finished with 12 for the game.

“They did a better job this time around screening for him,” Hargis said of Phillips. “They set a lot more stagger screens. He runs off them well. He hurt us with a 4-point play early.”

Jeremiah Fishpaw did yeoman’s work on the block against the bigger Redmen. Despite giving up as many as four inches to Burke and Jackson Farrar and two to Coppler, Fishpaw scored a team-high 14 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

“I have no problem with the effort,” Moyer said. “Effort is No. 1. That’s non-negotiable and the kids played their hearts out. Bottom line, they’re not trying to miss (33) shots. The ball’s just not going in the hole, and it makes the game hard.”

Bucyrus attempted a season-low five shots from 3-point range. It was a combination of game plan and the Bucks’ determination to slow down Bayless.

“When we went into halftime, I told them, no 3-pointers,” Hargis said. “You shoot the 3 and you’re done. We’ve got to shoot layups; we’ve got to pound it on the block. For the third quarter, they trusted the game plan.”

The only Redman to attempt a 3 in the second half was Bayless, who hit one with 6:47 left in the game to put Bucyrus up 42-33 at the time.

“Their guys kept feeding the post and we struggled to guard the post,” Moyer said. “We are an undersized team. But we’ve got to learn to be more physical down there. We gave up too many offensive rebounds.”

The rebounding disparity overall was 43-21 in Bucyrus’ favor, 15-9 on the offensive end.

The Bucks got as close as five, 50-45, on two free throws by Hunter Caudill with 29 seconds left but could get no closer.

Devin Siefert was the third Bucks’ player in double figures with 10 points, including 3 threes. Caudill finished with nine.

With the regular season schedule concluded, each team will turn its attention to the sectional tournament. Buckeye Central, seeded No. 9 in the Division IV Willard district, will travel to backyard rival, No. 7 Plymouth on Wednesday.

The teams met once in the regular season, with Plymouth pulling out a 40-29 win, so there are no secrets in the upcoming game.

“We both struggled all season to score points, so this is going to be a low-scoring game,” Moyer said. “Whoever can execute in the half court and get some cheap ones, I think, is going to have the advantage.”

Bucyrus, the No. 11 seed in the Division III Norwalk district, will make the trek to No. 10 Northwood on Tuesday.

“It’s kind of a like size matchup, Northwood and Buckeye,” Hargis said. “Northwood just shoots it a lot better. They’re a better shooting team than us, but I think we’re bigger and stronger. We’re faster, we’re more athletic. The team that plays harder is going to win up there.”

Box score

Bucyrus                     10      17       10      15 — 52

Buckeye Central        2      19         9      16 — 46

Stats

Bucyrus (6-16, 2-12 N10): Shots 19-46; 3-pt. shots 1-5 (Malachi Bayless); Free throws 13-2; Rebounds 43 (Noah Burke 13); Turnovers 17. Scoring: Georgie Floyd 1 0 2, Demarius Munn-Page 2 2 6, Noah Burke 9 4 22, Dylan Coppler 4 3 11, Malachi Bayless 3 4 11.

Buckeye Central (4-18, 0-14 N10): Shots 12-45; 3-pt. shots 6-21 (Devin Siefert 3, Hunter Caudill, Jeremiah Fishpaw, Jack Phillips); Free throws 16-23; Rebounds 21 (Jermiah Fishpaw 8); Turnovers 11. Scoring: Hunter Caudill 2 4 9, Heath Jensen 0 1 1, Devin Siefert 3 1 10, Jeremiah Fishpaw 4 5 14, Jack Phillips 3 5 12.

JV: Buckeye Central 20-15 (2 quarters).