BUCYRUS — Brian Hargis is no stranger to “The Kish.”
Hargis has been on the Bucyrus High School boys’ basketball staff for four years. But Friday night marked his first game as head coach of the Redmen. His team responded in his debut, gaining a 60-37 win over Vanlue in a non-league contest at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
“It really wasn’t an uphill climb as far as the chemistry with the team. I know everybody and their strengths, so I didn’t feel like a first-year coach in terms of that. I knew everybody’s roles. It’s more about having four seniors and a lot of young faces,” Hargis said.
“We’re trying to get that to mesh, and I think we did a little bit of that today.”
Senior Malachi Bayless, who entered the game with 846 career points, led the way with 24 points. That allowed him to pass Jim Kirkham, who had 847, on the school’s all-time scoring list. He sat out part of the first half with foul trouble and exited early with the outcome decided.
Bayless got plenty of support as Demarius Munn-Page added 11 points, Noah Burke chipped in 6 points and 7 rebounds and Georgie Floyd grabbed a team-high 10 boards.
Hargis took over a team that is coming off a 6-17 record and 1-13 in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
“We wanted to press early, get up and get the young guys into the game and we’re trying to get those two classes to mesh,” Hargis said.
It worked to perfection as Bucyrus ran out to a 21-6 lead after one quarter and was in control the entire way against a young Vanlue squad comprised mainly of sophomores and juniors.
A Burke dunk ignited the crowd and gave the Redmen a 41-19 lead in the third quarter as both teams rotated players into the game.
Wildcats head coach John Kloepfer admitted his team lost a lot and is in a major rebuild.
“When you lose your only returner from a district team that really makes us young. We played freshmen and sophomores, and I thought their effort was outstanding. They never give up,” he said.
“They still kept working and I know that time will let us get better by the end of the year.”
One of those sophomores, Owen Roszman , scored 22 points for the Wildcats.
“He had a nice game,” Kloepfer said. “We tried to get him to get involved and run stuff to try and get him open. He does a nice job offensively and defensively. And our little (5-foot-4) Cam King does everything. He harasses,” he said.
King added 4 points, along with Bryce Wallen. Langston Miller contributed 5 and 6 rebounds.
With a game Saturday at Mansfield Christian, Hargis was able to rest his starters for a good portion of the second half.
Bucyrus had 52 rebounds to Vanlue’s 32. But both teams were sloppy, as the Redmen committed 17 turnovers and the Wildcats 22.
“You saw a lot of mix-and-match out there. We’re trying to find out who’s who in the zoo and what works and what doesn’t,” Hargis said. “We gave up 10 offensive rebounds and had limited turnovers, but most of them were unforced.”
Bucyrus shot 44% from the field but was 6-of-28 (21%) from beyond the arc, an area that needs improvement before the Northern 10 Athletic Conference season opens next Friday against Seneca East.
“We give them the freedom to play. They’re not robots out here, but a three-point shooting performance against a zone that really doesn’t close out … there’s a lot of work to do,” Hargis said.
Building a winning culture is a task that Hargis and his squad are focused on doing.
“I think it starts with energy. I tell these kids, these fans want to see a good game, see a hard game. For a long time, they haven’t seen fun basketball. So that’s what we’re trying to bring.”
A team effort is what helps build that excitement around the program, he said.
“Noah has had a little bit of a back issue, so when he threw that dunk down, I was a little surprised because it’s been super tight and he’s been limited in practice,” Hargis said.
“We got the big guys, but I don’t think we did a good enough job of getting it down in the ring. Our goal was 20 post touches and I think we got 13 or 14. It’s getting those guards to trust the post players.”
‘Demarius Munn-Page played well in both games and Georgie is a better shooter than he showed tonight,” Hargis said. “He crashes. He’s my best guard rebounder. He’s always in there and does a great job, and for a sophomore.”
Christian Neal just joined the team four days ago and he and freshman Carson Witten added a combined 9 rebounds for the Redmen.
“Christian barely knows the offense. It’s just energy. Carson is one of my more coachable players and that’s why he’s getting minutes.”
Finishing is paramount to success, according to Hargis.
“We struggled here for 10 years on ending possessions. We give a lot of extra ones away and we don’t end the ones we should. That’s kind of been the focus of the summer.”
Looking ahead to league play, Hargis knows it will get tougher and it starts with a date with the Tigers.
“A lot of good coaches and they have experience with their teams. Seneca East is going to be a good team. A lot of good guards and the (Luke) Mason kid and good kids that were down on the jayvee last year.”
Box score
Vanlue 6 10 12 9 — 37
Bucyrus 21 15 18 6 — 60
Vanlue (0-1): Shots 31-51; 3-pt. shots 4-21 (Owen Roszman 3, Cameron King); Free throws 7-12; Rebounds 32 (Owen Rozman 6, Langston Miller 6); Turnovers 22. Scoring: Cameron King 1 1 4, Owen Roszman 8 3 22, Langston Miller 1 3 5, Bryce Wallen 2 0 4, Tre Miller 1 0 2.
Bucyrus (1-0): Shots 24-55; 3-pt. shots 6-28 (Malachi Bayless 4, Georgie Floyd, Christian Neal); Free throws 6-14; Rebounds 52 (Georgie Floyd 10); Turnovers 17. Scoring: Georgie Floyd 3 0 7, Demarius Munn-Page 3 5 11, Noah Burke 3 0 6, Jackson Farrar 1 0 2, Malachi Bayless 10 0 24, Christian Neal 3 0 7, Carson Witten 1 1 3.
JV: Bucyrus 51-13.