MONROEVILLE — Fostoria and Bucyrus had not met on the basketball court in 30 years.
Unfortunately for Bucyrus, the outcome on Tuesday was eerily similar to the one of three decades ago, a 68-62 loss, also in a sectional tournament.
The Fostoria Redmen overcame a six-point first-quarter deficit to their namesakes from Bucyrus to forge a 29-25 halftime lead then held on for a 66-63 victory in the opening round of the boys’ Division III sectional tournament at Monroeville High School.
“In that first quarter, we were our own worst enemy,” Fostoria coach Thom Loomis said. “Our defense was very suspect. We knew that (Bucyrus was) really good at dribble drive, penetrating, kicking and scoring.
“We needed to stop dribble penetration and we didn’t do a good job of that. Then we’d go down on the offensive end and we were very impatient.”
Bucyrus (3-20) took advantage in the opening period. Kyle Hamm scored six of his game-high 19 points and Harley Robinson-Koge added five as the southern Redmen built a 17-11 lead.
But the second quarter came calling and it has not been kind to Bucyrus for most of the season.
“We were scoring points — we had a bunch of turnovers (16) — but we still did a decent job of scoring (63) points, which is something we haven’t done the majority of the season,” Bucyrus coach Justin Mattix said. “It’s just that whole mindset that we had that one bad quarter again. The second quarter was bad — eight points in that quarter. We’ve had those quarters all season.”
It was the impetus Fostoria needed to reverse the field, scoring 18 points and taking the four-point lead to the locker room.
The southern Redmen got a pair of 3s from Dylan Goff to start the second half and were able to take the lead back at 35-33 on a basket by Robinson-Koge midway through the third quarter. The score was tied three times in the frame, but still Fostoria eased back to a 44-41 lead by period’s end.
“I thought we came together to start the second quarter, and we started to execute our offense, started to take things away on defense and that kick-started our running game,” Loomis said. “And that’s the way we like to play.”
But Bucyrus never went away, tying the game again at 45-45 on a Hamm basket with 6:46 left in the game. And though Fostoria (8-15) stretched its lead to nine, at 56-47, on a 3 by Dominique Settles with 4:56 remaining, the southern Redmen got within three four times, including the final score, but could not regain the lead.
“They did a really good job of matching us points,” Mattix said. “Fortunately for them, they were the ones that were being matched. I think if it were the other way, that were up and we were being matched, I think it would have ended a little differently.
“But with them, they just felt like they could score against our defense and they did. It’s a little easier when people are catching you.”
Three Fostoria players finished in double figures. Settles led with15 points, Alex Sierra had 14 and freshman Lakai Robinson added 13 — 11 of which came in the pivotal fourth quarter. Sierra and Dylan Sheets each had five rebounds.
It was Fostoria’s first basketball tournament win since 2013 and the team has lost several players recently, facts not lost on the coach.
“A motivating factor was how long it’s been sine we won a sectional game,” Loomis said. “We’ve been through a heck of a lot of adversity over the last week to 10 days. We were down another guy tonight and they just hung together, and we had some young guys who had to step up.
“Eleven points out of Lakai Robinson in the fourth quarter was huge, pretty good for a freshman in his first tournament game. But it was a team win, a total team effort and I can’t be prouder of this group of guys.”
Robinson-Koge seconded Hamm with 18 points and also grabbed nine rebounds. Jaylen Zehner and Goff each came in with eight points.
Hamm, Robinson-Koge, Goff, Kenton Lutz and Zane Seybert each played their last game in a Bucyrus uniform.
“It’s a good thing that we had them. We have five (seniors) and they’ll graduate,” Mattix said. “These guys are the reason I took the job originally. I’m sad to see them go, it’s really hard to watch that class go. I’ve had them for three years, this will be my first graduating class.
“I’m glad I had the pleasure of coaching them the last three years, being around them, watching them grow.”
“We didn’t have to care who scored (tonight),” Loomis said. “We just needed to play solid defense, take care of the basketball, run our offense well and that’s what we did.”
“We’ve got some talent coming,” Mattix said. “If they get after it — the offseason is very important — work out and work while you work, not just show up at the gym, we can close the gap on other teams in our league.”
With the win, Fostoria advances to the sectional final against No. 2 seed Upper Sandusky back at Monroeville on Friday at 8 p.m.
Box score
Bucyrus 17 8 16 22 — 63
Fostoria 11 18 15 22 — 66
Bucyrus (3-20): Shots 24-60; 3-pt. shots 6-14 (Harley Robinson-Koge 3, Dylan Goff 2, Nic Middleton); Free throws 9-17; Rebounds 35 (Harley Robinson-Koge 9); Turnovers 16. Scoring: Zane Seybert 0 0 0, Jaylen Zehner 3 2 8, Kenton Lutz 3 0 6, Mike Wise 0 1 1, Nic Middleton 1 0 3, Harley Robinson-Koge 7 1 18, Dylan Goff 3 0 8, Kyle Hamm 7 5 19.
Fostoria (8-15): Shots 28-46; 3-pt. shots 3-9 (Dominique Settles); Free throws 7-10; Rebounds 26 (Dylan Sheets 5, Alex Sierra 5); Turnovers 20. Scoring: Dylan Sheets 3 0 6, Alex Sierra 7 0 14, Bryan Stenson 4 1 9, Eli Ward 1 0 2, Maalik Tucker 2 0 4, Dominique Settles 6 0 15, Ke’Shawn Carter-Stokes 1 1 3, Lakai Robinson 4 5 13.