BUCYRUS — It was the much anticipated first game of the season and the Redmen didn’t disappoint.
Bucyrus broke open a close first quarter to build an 11-point halftime lead, then cruised to 55-35 victory over visiting Elgin at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium on Phil A. Joseph Court.
The Redmen used a full-court press to help force 23 turnovers and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds that gave the hosts 18 more shots than the Comets had.
“We thought we could get good ball pressure with Charlie (Randall) up front and we really did,” Bucyrus coach Brian Hargis said. “We did a good job of making them shoot from the left side of the court and that was the game plan.”
By comparison, the Redmen only turned the ball over eight times and gave up but four offensive boards.
“I’ve never been here and kept the turnovers under 10,” Hargis said. “So, that’s a great sign. And we really haven’t done that in practice. We kind of haven’t valued possessions as much as I like. In front of the crowd, first game of the season — we took care of the ball.”
Elgin (0-3) has youth at some key positions, something Comets head coach Layne McElroy pointed to as a factor in his team’s high turnover rate.
“We’re playing some young guards,” McElroy said. “We have a freshman and sophomore doing a lot of our ball handling. That (the pressure) was kind of a shock for them.”
The Comets held their own through the first quarter plus. The visitors connected on six of 11 shots in the first period, including a pair of 3-point shots, to trail just 16-14 after one.
The last tie of the game came at 18-18 on a basket by Peyton Zempter at the 6:41 mark of the second quarter.
From there, Bucyrus (1-0) went on a 13-2 run to halftime to build a 31-20 advantage at the intermission.
The Redmen were able to attain the lead despite mediocre shooting, something that continued throughout the evening. Bucyrus was two of 22 from beyond the arc for the game and 20 of 63 (31%) overall.
“The good news is, most of our sets produced an open look,” Hargis said. “We drove and kicked pretty well. Sometimes the ball doesn’t go in the hole.
“We talked about that at the beginning of the season — don’t let the inability to put the ball in the hole affect our defense, and it really didn’t. We had kind of a rocky first quarter. We gave up 14 points, but we followed it up with six in the second quarter.”
The defense continued in the second half as well, as the Redmen held the Comets to 15 points in the final two frames combined.
“Good pressure, for sure,” McElroy said. “It got us a little out of sorts and (made) more bad decisions. I thought (Bucyrus) did a really good job of offensive rebounding. They created a lot of second chances there.”
The advantage on the offensive glass was glaring. The Redmen had 16, five by Dylan Coppler alone. Coppler hauled down 10 total boards. Elgin had only four offensive rebounds. Along with the 23-8 differential in turnovers, Bucyrus had 27 more possessions.
“Everything was a battle and that was kind of the point on defense,” Hargis said. “Let’s make them work for every inch, every foot on the court and turn them over as many times as we can.”
Floyd led the Redmen offense with 19 points and five rebounds and Randall added 14 points.
“He crashed the boards very well, George did tonight,” Hargis said. “He kind of got away from that a little last year. He crashed very well as a sophomore. He did a very good job tonight.”
Owen Creps topped Elgin with 13 points and freshman Colton Leonard added nine. Landon French had five rebounds.
“We’ll go back to the drawing board,” McElroy said. “We have two more games this week. It’s a quick turnaround to Friday and Saturday. That will be five games in 10 days.”
Bucyrus swept the 3-game night. The Redmen freshmen won, 40-26. The junior varsity was victorious, 56-46. Kayden Baxter had a game-high 25 points and 14 rebounds. Brody Corman added 13 points.
Braylon Stone led the Comets jayvees with 15 points.
“We have a lot of learning and a lot of growing to do,” McElroy said.
“Everybody played tonight, which we love,” Hargis said. “It’s still some silly stuff on defense — not stepping in the gaps, not closing out on shooters. But, overall, the game plan worked out, the execution was good.”
Unlike Elgin, Bucyrus will have some rest until its next game.
“Everybody contributed tonight, 3-0 on the night,” Hargis said. “It’s eight days before we play Buckeye Central, so we are in a good position to be ready for them.”
Box scores
Boys
Bucyrus 55, Elgin 35
Elgin 14 6 6 9 — 35
Bucyrus 16 15 15 9 — 55
Stats
Elgin (0-3): Shots 15-45; 3-pt. shots 2-12 (Colton Leonard, Gabe Williams); Free throws 3-4; Rebounds 33 (Landon French 5); Turnovers 23. Scoring: Owen Creps 6 1 13, Peyton Zempter 4 0 8, Colton Leonard 3 2 9, Gabe Williams 1 0 3, Caleb Holman 1 0 2.
Bucyrus (1-0): Shots 20-63; 3-pt. shots 2-22 (Lincoln Blizzard, Charlie Randall); Free throws 13-17; Rebounds 40 (Dylan Coppler 10); Turnovers 8. Scoring: Charlie Randall 6 1 14, Lincoln Blizzard 1 0 3, Georgie Floyd 6 7 19, Dylan Coppler 2 2 6, Carson Wirtten 4 0 8, Dashawn Cosey 1 1 3, Chris Freed 0 2 2.
JV: Bucyrus 56-46.