BUCYRUS — For most of the season, the Bucyrus Lady Redmen have relied on their Big 2 — Maddie Kimmel and Emma Tyrrell — for their scoring.
On Wednesday, they got contributions from eight players, and weathered a rally by Galion in the second quarter on their way to a 55-44 win over the county rival Lady Tigers at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
The first quarter set the tone for the game as the Redmen had perhaps their best eight minutes of the year.
“We had great energy coming out in the first quarter,” Bucyrus coach Brian Seybert said. “Then Galion started making a run. I called the one timeout, and I told the girls, ‘We’re doing our spell again and we’ve got to get out of it.’ It carried on through the quarter, but we were able to finish there pretty tight. Aside from the second quarter, that was our best three quarters we’ve had all year.”
Bucyrus (3-16) jumped out to an 11-2 lead on the strength of a pair of 3-point shots by Karmyn Blizzard. The Redmen retained that momentum through the quarter to build a 19-8 lead by period’s end.
However, in the second quarter, the Tigers reversed course. Galion (5-14) got four 3s in the frame from four different players, resulting in a 16-4 advantage and a 24-23 halftime lead.
“I thought our comeback was great,” Galion coach Shani Rush said. “But our effort didn’t match their effort in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter. We fell below the line, and they didn’t, and we didn’t have the fight to come back again.”
The third quarter was back-and-forth, with four lead changes and a tie. Bucyrus was able to score the final six points of the period to gain a 40-35 advantage, even with one of the Big 2, Tyrrell, on the bench with foul trouble.
“Claire Schifer’s back from her injury, she’s full go when we need her, fully available,” Seybert said. “She stepped in and gave us good minutes, gave Emma, when she got in foul trouble, a good spell. Kelsie Grady came in and gave us some good time.”
Seybert’s use of his bench helped wear down the Tigers in the fourth quarter. Galion hit just three of 13 shots from the field in the frame, all 3s, in the last eight minutes. One of the Tigers’ Big 2, Natalee Perkins, was under the weather according to the coach.
“Natalee’s sick tonight. That doesn’t help when she’s off,” Rush said. “It just wasn’t a very good night. We had great looks. It just wasn’t falling.”
Bucyrus took advantage, hitting seven of 19 shots. A big contributor to the Redmen’s success was their massive 53-31 edge on the boards, including 18-9 on the offensive glass.
“One of the points of emphasis today was to box out, limit them to one shot,” Seybert said. “I thought we did a pretty good job most of the game. There was a spell there when I call another timeout. We weren’t finding any bodies, just boxing out air, and (the Tigers) were able to crash and get some extra put-backs.”
“Especially in the fourth quarter, they wanted it more and were getting the boards and we were just not boxing out,” Rush said. “They’re physical. They’re a lot more physical than we are. Not that we don’t see that (in the MOAC). I don’t know that we were expecting it as much.”
The Tigers were still as close as 40-38 on a 3 by Perkins to start the fourth-quarter scoring. From there it was all Bucyrus. Kimmel scored six points in an 11-3 Redmen run that opened a 53-41 lead.
The Tigers did not shoot the ball well, hitting just 15 of 52 from the field — six of 27 in the second half. Rush said that fatigue was part of the problem.
“That’s kind of been a problem all year,” Rush said. “We play (mostly) five girls. I ask a lot from them. They do show good grit. I know it’s hard. We played Monday and we played Friday. They don’t get a break.”
Perkins led Galion with 15 points and the other half of the Tigers’ Big 2 — Teanna Greter — had 12 points and nine rebounds. Only four Galion players reached the scoring column.
“There in the second half, Perkins hit a couple 3s — she was open on a couple of them,” Seybert said. “Then she hit one we closed out on, hand in the face. And same thing with Greter — she hit one too. They’re good shooters, they’re good players and our focus was on those two mainly.”
Tyrrell led Bucyrus with 15 points. Kimmel had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Adacyn Rister grabbed 11 rebounds and received praise from the coach.
“We had her for 11 (rebounds) and six assists and she hit a 3,” Seybert said. “She took shots — she took about 10 shots. I wanted her to take more. I thought there was a few times she drove the baseline, got under the basket, was initially looking to pass, and I thought she could have shot. Other than that, she played a whale of a game. She’s physical, she’s tough. This is just her first year back since seventh grade. So, she’s playing well.”
“We knew they were scrappy. They’re a good, scrappy, hard-working team,” Rush said of the Redmen. “Emma Tyrrell and Kimmel, they’re good players. We knew we had to stop them. Our two had to play better than their two and our two did not.”
“We need more scoring from other players,” Seybert said. “Kendra Blizzard was looking for her shot. She got a shot. She got an offensive rebound put-back. We work on that in practice. It showed up tonight.”
The coach was elated with the win.
“It was important. It gets tough when you get on that (eight-game) losing streak,” Seybert said. “Everybody maybe starts doubting everything. We stressed this was a good chance. Galion can put up points — they’ve been putting up points against good teams, the Pleasants, and the River Valleys. So, we knew we had to play pretty solid, we had to score, which has been an issue for us, putting the ball through the hole. Tonight, was a good night.”
Box score
Galion 8 16 11 9 — 44
Bucyrus 19 4 17 15 — 55
Galion (5-14): Shots 15-52; 3-pt. shots 8-19 (Natalee Perkins 3, Teanna Greter 3, Cameron Eckert, Dezi Lester); Free throws 6-12; Rebounds 31 (Teanna Greter 13); Turnovers 19. Scoring: Cameron Eckert 2 3 8, Dezi Lester 4 0 9, Natalee Perkins 6 0 15, Teanna Greter 3 3 12.
Bucyrus (3-16): Shots 23-66; 3-pt. shots 4-12; Free throws 5-11; Rebounds 52 (Maddie Kimmel 10, Adacyn Rister 10); Turnovers 20. Scoring: Addison Ricker 1 0 2, Maddie Kimmel 6 0 12, Kendra Blizzard 2 0 4, Emma Tyrrell 7 0 15, Adacyn Rister 2 0 5, Marissa Middleton 2 3 7, Claire Schifer 0 2 2, Karmyn Blizzard 3 0 8.