BUCYRUS — A quick start by Bucyrus and a balanced scoring attack gave the Lady Red a 49-17 victory over rival Galion in non-league girls play Tuesday night on the Phil A. Joseph Court at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
Despite taking a 16-1 lead after one quarter, Bucyrus head coach Brian Seybert wasn’t totally pleased with the start.
“They didn’t come out ready to play,” he said. “I’ll take all the heat on that. That goes on me as a coach. We talked about it at halftime and were lucky to be up (19).”
Bucyrus added 20 in the third quarter and cruised to the win.
“At the start of the third quarter we started out with a little more intensity, a little more focused. We didn’t shoot well. We had to press and tried to get some turnovers and easy buckets to get that separation,” Seybert said.
Mistakes plagued Galion (3-15) the entire game as the young squad committed 22 turnovers, due in large part to Bucyrus’ press and tough defense.
Three Lady Red players — Kendra Blizzard, Addison Kemery, and Marissa Middleton — each scored 9 points. With the win Bucyrus moves to 6-10 overall.
Blizzard added 5 rebounds, a steal and an assist, Kemery 4 rebounds, an assist and 3 steals. Middleton contributed 7 assists and 5 steals in a strong all-around performance.
Galion head coach Carson Early started three freshmen and two juniors.
“We’re young. We have no seniors this year and a junior who is in her third year. We’re very inexperienced. It’s just trying to get the girls to build their confidence up, believe in themselves and just learning the program,” he said.
“It’s a lot different than middle school ball. But we’ve come a long way from day one. They don’t give up and keep fighting and I’m very proud of that. We keep saying win some small battles and the big ones will come.”
Junior Cameron Eckert led the Lady Tigers with 6 points, 8 rebounds and a steal.
“We’re in a tough league in the MOAC. There’s a lot of great teams there and they’ve all got juniors and seniors. Our girls are getting there. They just gotta keep their heads up and believe in themselves,” Early said.
Seybert was happy with the way his team adapted to Galion’s defense.
“They started out in a triangle-and-two, and they took Brook away and they took Addison Kemery away. Marissa, Kendra, and Addy Ricker stepped up right off the rip and got us a good lead to start it,” he said.
Blizzard scored 7 in the first quarter, including a three-pointer.
“Kimmy Burling did a nice job when she came in. She got a couple of quick buckets. Good balanced scoring. We’ll take that every night.”
Bucyrus has back-to-back games upcoming.
“We got a tough one at Upper Sandusky Friday night and then Saturday morning going down to Mount Gilead. That’s two tough teams,” Seybert said.
“We are going to worry about Upper Sandusky first because they are in our district. They’re sitting fourth. We’re sitting seventh. A win up there can really propel us up a little bit and secure us a home playoff game with a vote on Sunday.
“It’s going to be a tough challenge. They’re playing really well right now and they’re really in synch.”
For Early’s team it’s back to work as the Lady Tigers visit River Valley on Friday.
“We have built up the numbers. We’ve had over 20 girls and then had a few season ending injuries. We actually had a freshman team this year. Good things are coming. We’ve got to keep getting in the gym and putting in the hard work and it’ll come,” he said.
Box score
Galion 1 7 6 3 — 17
Bucyrus 16 11 20 2 — 49
Galion (3-15): Shots 6-31; 3-pt. 0-5; Free throws 5-18; Rebounds 17 (Cameron Eckert 8); Turnovers 22. Scoring: Miley Harsh 1 0 2, Cameron Eckert 2 2 6, Jaiden Jones 0 1 1, Kaitlyn McKee 1 0 2, Audrey Glew 2 1 5, Maryssa Scott 0 1 1.
Bucyrus (6-10): Shots 20-48; 3-pt. shots 3-19 (Addison Kemery, Kendra Blizzard, Malina Rowland); Free throws 6-7; Rebounds 28 (Marissa Middleton 8); Turnovers 13. Scoring: Kimmy Burling 3 0 6, Addison Ricker 4 1 9, Kendra Blizzard 3 0 7, Brook Dennison 3 0 6, Addison Kemery 4 0 9, Marissa Middleton 2 5 9. Malina Rowland 1 0 3.
JV: Galion 32-29.