By Dan Messerschmidt
BUCYRUS — Slow starts have been the bane of Bucyrus basketball most of the year.
The beginning of Saturday’s game against Mohawk was the poster child for the Redmen’s first periods.
The visiting Warriors raced out to a 20-6 first-period lead then held off a late Bucyrus charge to defeat the Redmen, 69-57, in a Northern 10 Conference contest at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
“We were looking at the stats and we have been outscored by 114 points in the first quarter,” Bucyrus coach Justin Mattix said. “It’s like it took us a quarter-and-a half to figure out the defense. That’s what preparation is for.”
The Warriors had hoped to jump on the Redmen early and got their wish.
“We wanted to start the game on a 6-0 or 8-0 run,” Mohawk coach Paul Dunn said. “That’s every coach’s dream.”
It was Bucyrus (2-13, 1-10 N10) that scored first on a jumper from Gram Dick. But Mohawk (11-5, 9-3) realized the coach’s dream and then some, scoring 12 unanswered to lead 12-2.
“(Mohawk) scored 69 points, 2.1 points per minute,” Mattix said. “We went (almost) six minutes without scoring a point.”
The Redmen finally got the offense started, scoring 17 points in the second period, but the Warriors dropped in 15 and the deficit was 35-23 at halftime.
Chris Klopp did damage in the first half, scoring nine of his 11 points before picking up his second foul. Zach Hayman also had 13 of his game-high 27 points by intermission.
“Chris got in foul trouble,” Dunn said. “But we were able to get through it.”
Hayman exploded for 11 more points in the third quarter to push the Mohawk lead to 56-38 by period’s end.
The Warriors registered the first four points of the fourth quarter to push go up 60-38 before the Bucyrus offense showed its potential.
The Redmen went on a 16-5 run to trim the margin to 65-54, with the last three points coming on a 3-point shot by Dylan Goff.
“We saw a lot of things to look at as being good,” Mattix said. “We hit some shots. But we can’t give teams 60 points on defense. Scoring 57 points should win games.”
Lucas Kozinski came off the bench to lead the Redmen with 11 points, all in the second half. Ryan Evans added 10 and Ben Seibert grabbed 10 rebounds.
Keith Jenkins seconded Hayman’s 27 with 12 points. Klopp finished with 11 points and five rebounds, while Kaiden Hammer had five boards.
“These guys (the Redmen) scare the heck out of me,” Dunn said. “They play hard and they can score quickly. But Zach Hayman made some shots you would never teach. He’s proven he can make them.”
“We have the players who are very good athletes,” Mattix said. “We have all the elements. We just have to turn it into wins.”
Bucyrus won the junior varsity game, 61-47. Lucas Kozinski led the Redmen with 21 points and Kenton Lutz added 13. Hunter Gottfried tossed in 18 for Mohawk.
Mohawk 20 15 21 13 — 69
Bucyrus 6 17 15 19 — 57
Mohawk: (11-5, 9-3 N10): Shots 25-48; 3-pt. shots 6-15 (Zach Hayman 4, Ryan Lacey, Kaiden Hammer); Free throws 13-17; Rebounds 24 (Kaiden Hammer 5, Chris Klopp 5); Turnovers 12. Scoring: Keith Jenkins 4 4 12, Kaiden Hammer 1 2 5, Austin Tusing 1 2 4, Zach Hayman 10 3 27, Kedryk Leeth 3 0 6, Ryan Lacey 1 1 4, Chris Klopp 5 1 11.
Bucyrus: (2-13, 1-10 N10): Shots 21-43; 3-pt. shots 9-21 (Gram Dick 2, Ryan Evans 2, Dylan Goff 2, Kade Slagle, Lucas Kozinski, Jaylen Zehner); Free throws 6-9; Rebounds 24 (Ben Seibert 5); Turnovers 18. Scoring: Gram Dick 3 0 8, Jaylen Zehner 1 2 5, Derek Heinlen 1 0 2, Ben Seibert 3 0 6, Ryan Evans 3 2 10, Lucas Kozinski 5 0 11, Kade Slagle 1 0 3, Dylan Goff 3 0 8, Kyle Hamm 1 2 4.
JV: Bucyrus 61-47.