BUCYRUS — With just one win each, both Bucyrus and Buckeye Central looked at their first matchup of the year as a potential second win.
Only one could realize it.
Bucyrus seized the opportunity, leading for most of the evening, to secure a 55-42 Northern 10 Athletic Conference win at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
“We knew going in that this was going to be a tough game,” Bucyrus coach Justin Mattix said. “I didn’t even feel comfortable when we were up (12) with like 58 seconds left. They don’t care what the score is, they’re going to battle till the final buzzer.”
Buckeye Central (1-9, 1-6 N10) grabbed the early lead on a 3-point shot by Brady Biglin, one of only two 3s for the Bucks on the night. It was, in fact, poor shooting that ultimately led to their demise. Buckeye Central was good on just 15 of 57 shots, including two of 19 from beyond the arc.
“They were good looks. We missed 15 or 16 in the paint,” Buckeye Central coach Eric Picklesimer said. “And the rest — I don’t think we shot a bad shot. Everything was open, uncontested, good looks. The ball just didn’t go down.”
The Bucks held the lead until Dylan Goff hit a jumper for Bucyrus (2-9, 2-5) with 3:53 left in the first period to give the Redmen the lead for good at 8-7.
“Tonight, they didn’t hit some shots,” Mattix said of the Bucks. “I think, in part, (that was) because we mixed and matched some defenses and ran a string of good defense together today and I think that’s where it started.”
Bucyrus hit four shots on four consecutive possessions midway through the second period to stretch its advantage to 10 points before Buckeye Central whittled back it to five, at 28-23, by intermission.
“We got behind, and I think we threw every defense we had — half-court, full-court, quarter-court — and we got the people with the ball where we wanted it,” Picklesimer said. “We sped them up, got them to take rushed shots and we just can’t convert on the other end.”
Kyle Hamm led the offense for the Redmen in the first half, scoring nine of his 13 points in the first two periods. It continued a trend for the senior post.
“Kyle Hamm had one bad game, against Galion,” Mattix said. “He has put on a run here the last 8-9 games, a nice stretch where he’s a 6-5 post and that’s what he’s playing like. He’s attacking the boards right now, he’s being an aggressor and he’s turning into a stud.”
Bucyrus went on a 12-3 run over the first five minutes of the third period to stretch the advantage to 14 points, at 40-26, its biggest on the evening. The Bucks got no closer than seven after that.
Biglin led Buckeye Central with 12 points, while Tyler Rose and Darren Wurm added 10 each. Mason Stahl had seven rebounds. However, Picklesimer got only six total points from his three post players.
“I was a little disappointed in our big guys,” Picklesimer said. “Three of our big guys had two points each. They missed 15 shots in the paint. We got the ball into the paint when we had size mismatches at times. But if you can’t make a shot, you can’t make a shot.”
Harley Robinson-Koge topped Bucyrus with 14 points to go with Hamm’s 13. Jaylen Zehner added 12 and Hamm grabbed 10 rebounds.
Mattix had praise for Bucks’ point guard, Rose.
“Tyler played a really good game tonight,” Mattix said. “He didn’t make too many mistakes, he took care of the ball and he hit his shots in the first half.”
Picklesimer bemoaned the fact that defensive specialist Zane Seybert came off the bench to hit s corner 3 and a two during the Redmen’s second-quarter run that stretched the lead.
“We’re 1-9. That (sort of thing) happens quite a bit to us,” Picklesimer said. “But it (the 3) was a good look. I think he was one for three from 3-point range. It just happened to go down.”
“Zane Seybert hit a 3 and then he felt it, so he hit that floater,” Mattix said. “He brings the intensity defensively. He’ll give their posts a look and be physical with them and if we want to put him on a guard, he’s fast enough to match up with anybody.”
“Our kids were looking at (this game), kind of pinning their ears back, ready to go and I’m sure their kids were too,” Picklesimer said. “It’s disheartening for the kids to put that kind of effort into it for two-and-a-half months now and one win to show for it. We’re tired of being in games.”
“The kids put together four quarters,” Mattix said. “We had guys take care of business tonight. We didn’t have on kid who played a bad game. The kids did their roles, they hit shots they were supposed to, took care of the ball and they defended.”
Bucyrus (2-9, 2-5) made it a sweep on the night, edging the Bucks, 44-43, in the junior varsity game. Gabe Higginbotham led the Redmen with 16 points and Karson Kimmel added nine.
Aiden McDougal had a game-high 18 points for Buckeye Central (0-10, 0-7) and Alex Kanney finished with 10.
Box score
Buckeye Central 11 12 11 8 — 42
Bucyrus 18 10 16 11 — 55
Buckeye Central: (1-9, 1-6 N10): Shots 15-57; 3-pt. shots 2-19 (Brady Biglin, Darren Wurm); Free throws 10-14; Rebounds 34 (Mason Stahl 7); Turnovers 12. Scoring: Damian Dean 1 0 2, Tyler Rose 5 0 10, Darren Wurm 3 3 10, Brady Biglin 3 5 12, Mason Stahl 1 0 2, Brady Kerschner 1 0 2, Jacob Heefner 1 0 2, Adam Krebs 0 2 2.
Bucyrus (2-9, 2-5 N10): Shots 22-46; 3-pt. shots 3-10 (Zane Seybert, Harley Robinson-Koge, Dylan Goff); Free throws 8-14; Rebounds 14 (Kyle Hamm 10); Turnovers 14. Scoring: Zane Seybert 2 0 5, Jaylen Zehner 5 2 12, Kenton Lutz 3 0 6, Harley Robinson-Koge 4 5 14, Dylan Goff 2 0 5, Kyle Hamm 6 1 13.
JV: Bucyrus 44-43.