HOLMES TOWNSHIP — In a game of wild swings between backyard rivals, Wynford survived.

The Royals started the game hot from 3-point range, but Bucyrus heated up when the hosts cooled off. Wynford then had to overcome a 16-point third-quarter deficit to rally past the Redmen, 56-53, in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.

“They play to their strengths so well and that caused us some trouble,” Wynford coach Adam Guinther said of the Redmen. “We got hot (early) and I call it fool’s gold sometimes of getting complacent, relying on those shots.”

The Royals came out firing, hitting six of their first seven from 3 to build an 18-10 lead. But Bucyrus (2-5, 1-4 N10) weathered the storm by scoring the last four points of the opening frame to trail just 18-14 after one.

“We were hitting (3s) and we had good ball movement, so they were good shots. That’s why I was OK with it,” Guinther said. “But we talked in the huddle, attack the rim some, have some balance to the game. We didn’t do a very good job of that in the second quarter. Late in the second quarter we did, and they started turning us away, blocked some shots.”

Wynford (3-5, 2-3) went from six of 12 in the first quarter to two of 13 in the second, including 0 of 5 from 3. The Redmen were a steady 7 of 11 in both quarters, allowing them to go to the locker room with a 33-22 lead.

Georgie Floyd had 12 of his game-high 20 for Bucyrus in the frame ­— all on 3s, to take a page from the Royals’ book.

The Redmen lead ballooned to 44-28 on a basket by Dylan Coppler at 3:52 of the third before Wynford started its slow comeback.

Bucyrus went scoreless for the rest of the third period and the Royals’ modest four points got them back within 44-32 by period’s end.

“We made a change. We started to pressure Floyd more,” Guinther said. “We tried not to let them go to him with the ball on the inbounds so easily and we started to face-guard him a little more.”

Floyd was held to three points in the third and three free throws in the pivotal fourth quarter. Bucyrus coach went with a six-man rotation for the entire game.

“We played up until about six minutes of the fourth,” Bucyrus coach Brian Hargis said. “Everybody got tired.”

Wynford chipped away at its double-digit deficit until a Reed Johnson basket tied it at 47-47. Bucyrus took a brief 48-47 lead on a free throw by Floyd, but Jaron Vance hit a 3 to give the Royals’ the lead, 50-48, their first since midway through the second quarter.

Wynford was then able to close the game out from the foul line, hitting six of 10 in the last minute. The Royals were 10 of 14 from the line for the game, compared to four of 11 for the Redmen.

“For the majority of the game, we stuck to the game plan,” Hargis said. “But we got outscored 24-9 in the fourth quarter. Not to take anything away from Wynford, but we kind of choked that one up.”

Drew Stanek led the Royals with 17 points. Vance and Johnson finished with 12 each. Braylon Wells had seven rebounds.

“Our stats look like we’re all Stanek and Reed scoring. We are more than that,” Guinther said. “Other kids are capable. Those two are very unselfish players. They take shots when they are available, but they’re not afraid to find the open guy.”

Coppler seconded Floyd’s 20 with 19 points for Bucyrus. Coppler also grabbed six rebounds.

“They did a nice job of getting it to Coppler, getting it to Witten, and to Floyd,” Guinther said. “They were screening for (Floyd) and getting him freed up for shots.”

“We gave them every opportunity to catch and shoot, which they love to do,” Hargis said of the Royals.

Hargis reiterated that fatigue was a major factor.

“It’s hard to blame the kids. We took their best shot there in the first and we hung around,” Hargis said. “I think they worked so hard early that they were gassed at the end. (Wynford) did a good job of doubling down and making things tough. We got pretty stagnant in our 41 (offense). Every post feed, there should be cutters and we got to ball watching the post player, not cutting.”

Guinther explained his team’s ability to recover from its deficit.

“This team is very young and inexperienced, but they’re very coachable,” Guinther said. “They’re not emotional. The difference for us is we kept our composure.

“We’ve been beaten badly, but we’re still not rattled in some of these games,” he added. “I like our composure.”

Wynford also won the junior varsity game, 43-36. Troy Miller scored 23 for the Royals. Micah Spears topped Bucyrus with 14.

Box score

Bucyrus      14        19      11       9 — 53

Wynford     18          4      10     24 — 56

Stats

Bucyrus (2-5, 1-4 N10): Shots 21-41; 3-pt. shots 7-10 (Georgie Floyd 5, Lincoln Blizzard 2); Free throws 4-11; Rebounds 25 (Dylan Coppler 6); Turnovers 7. Scoring: Lincoln Blizzard 2 0 6, Georgie Floyd 6 3 20, Dylan Coppler 9 1 19, Carson Witten 3 0 6, Quin Ross 1 0 2.

Wynford (3-5, 2-3 N10): Shots 18-50; 3-pt. shots 10-20 (Jaron Vance 3, Drew Stanek 3, Gage Massey, Reed Johnson, Jace Stuckman, Owen Prenger); Free throws 10-14; Rebounds 30 (Braylon Wells 7); Turnovers 4. Scoring: Braylon Wells 2 0 4, Gage Massey 1 0 3, Jaron Vance 4 1 12, Reed Johnson 3 5 12, Jace Stuckman 1 0 3, Drew Stanek 6 2 17, Owen Prenger 1 2 5.

JV: Wynford 43-36.