BUCYRUS — The look on Bucyrus coach Justin Mattix said it all. And it reflected the feelings of his players.

Mattix’s broad grin was the result of the Redmen’s dramatic 50-46 Northern 10 Athletic Conference win over archrival Wynford at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.

“It feels great,” Mattix beamed. “Going into it, the kids wanted it. It was an emotional game for both teams. We both believed it was a winnable game.”

Bucyrus (3-13, 3-8 N10) won despite having the Royals’ Josh Crall, only a junior, score his 1000th career point on a basket at the 5:17 mark of the second quarter. Crall becomes the 13th player in Wynford history to reach 1000 points.

“Josh is an efficient scorer,” Wynford coach Steve Mohr said. “I don’t think I’ve coached a player who’s had more asked of him, both scoring and rebounding.”

Crall finished with a game-high 22 points — 14 in the second half — and grabbed 10 rebounds. But it was not enough on this night.

The Royals had the early lead, jumping out to a 5-0 lead and still had an 8-3 advantage on a 3-point shot by Matt McBride at 5:19 of the first quarter.

However, the Redmen ran off the last six points of the period to lead 9-8 after one. Bucyrus never trailed again.

The Redmen shot the ball well from the field, hitting 19 of 37 shots, something they had been struggling with in recent games.

“Our coaching staff came up with a good game plan for our offensive strategy to make sure we could get shots and get good looks,” Mattix said. “Lately, we’ve had good looks but tonight, it went in.”

Wynford (4-12, 4-8) hit only three of 13 shots in the second quarter and lost two points to the deficit, trailing 19-16 by halftime.

The third quarter was key to victory for Bucyrus as it pushed the lead to as many as 13 at 33-20 on a basket by Zane Seybert midway through the frame. The Royals chipped away and got it back to 39-31 by period’s end.

“We didn’t shoot it well, we didn’t convert,” Mohr said. “We had good scoring opportunities early and that set the tone for the game. The ball didn’t fall and on top of that, our defense, when we had to get stops, we gave up dribble penetration. That’s what was most disappointing to me.”

Inside the last two minutes of the game, Wynford got to within three points on three occasions, but were unable to tie or retake the lead. A pair of Crall free throws made it 49-46 with 55 seconds left, but three missed shots by the Royals and a free throw by Nic Middleton sealed it for the Redmen.

“Nic hit a bunch of shots down the stretch,” Mattix said. “As a sophomore, he just got a hand problem, he pulled his thumb. For him to step up and hit those shots, those free throws, down the stretch was big from a sophomore.”

Middleton hit five of six free throw attempts in the fourth quarter to help hold Wynford at bay. He shared team scoring honors with Dylan Goff, both of whom had 12 points.

“Dylan stepped up in the first half, got a couple of good looks, which opens up a lot of things for our other guys,” Mattix said. “Those things you don’t understand from an outsider’s, from a fan’s perspective. That opens up the floor for Harley (Robinson-Koge), opens up the floor for Kyle (Hamm), opens up some driving lanes for our other guys.”

Goff also pulled down nine rebounds for Bucyrus. Robinson-Koge finished with nine points and seven boards, while Hamm, saddled with foul trouble, had eight points.

Only six Royals scored. Gavin Leffler had eight points to second Crall’s 22. Gunnar Coffman had six rebounds.

“As proud as I have been of this basketball team with the progress that we’ve made this year, I’m bitterly, bitterly disappointed with our effort tonight,” Mohr said. “I just didn’t think the intensity and the commitment and the passion was there that we need to have.”

It was just the ninth time the Redmen have beaten Wynford in 86 tries in their 55-year backyard rivalry.

“It just feels good for us to go out and get one against Wynford,” Mattix said. “It feels good to split with them this year.  It’s always a good one when our win at least one rivalry game. We won it tonight.”

“Despite our won-loss record this year, beating Wynford still means a lot to a lot of people,” Mohr said. “Watch the (Bucyrus) celebration at mid-court. I challenged the kids like I have all year long to come back get back at it tomorrow and try to right the ship.”

“We had (freshman) Mike Wise come in, make a good look, a great look to Kyle Hamm in the post that gave us a (five-point) lead,” Mattix said. “We had our underclassmen stepping up and our upperclassmen led the way.

“We had a team victory,” he added. “When we play as a team and guys step up, we play really well and tonight, we did that.”

“You’ve got to give credit to Bucyrus,” Mohr said. “They played with a lot of passion, the executed their game plan very well and they deserved to win the game. This wasn’t surprising when you look at how they performed. They performed their game plan to perfection.

“As disappointed as I am, I still believe in these kids, I still love these kids. We’ll get back at it.”

Wynford gained a split on the night with a 47-31 victory in the junior varsity game. Dustin Brady led the Royals with 12 points. Tod Spurlock topped Bucyrus with 10.

Box score

Wynford        8      8     15     15 — 46

Bucyrus         9    10     20     11 — 50

Stats

Wynford (4-12, 4-8 N10): Shots 15-55; 3-pt shots 3-19 (Isaac Sterrett 2, Matt McBride); Free throws 13-17; Rebounds 35 (Josh Crall 10); Turnovers 9. Scoring: Matt McBride 1 0 3, Isaac Sterrett 2 0 6, Khylee Davis 2 0 4, Josh Crall 6 10 22, Caleb Rausch 1 1 3, Gavin Leffler 3 2 8.

Bucyrus (3-13, 3-8 N10): Shots 19-37; 3-pt. shots 5-11; Free throws 7-16; Rebounds 30 (Dylan Goff 9); Turnovers 13. Scoring: Zane Seybert 1 0 2, Kenton Lutz 2 1 5, Mike Wise 1 0 2, Nic Middleton 3 5 12, Harley Robinson-Koge 4 0 9, Dylan Goff 4 1 12, Kyle Hamm 4 0 8.

JV: Wynford 47-31.