GREEN CAMP — The Bucyrus Lady Redmen struggled with their shooting in a narrow win at Vanlue on Friday.
On the road at Elgin on Saturday, they flipped the script. Bucyrus hit nine of 19 shots from the field in the first half and nine of 13 free throws to build a 20-point lead at intermission.
The shooting cooled in the second half, but by then the young Comets were overwhelmed as the Lady Red cruised to a 52-29 victory.
“We finally got some shots to fall,” said Bucyrus coach Brian Seybert, whose team started a season 2-0 for the first time since 2017-18. “We were active again. We moved the ball around and we were getting into the lane, getting some shots. When we get the ball in the lane, suck the defense in, get some kickouts, you get some open set shots.”
Elgin (0-1) was able to hang around in the first quarter. The Redmen ran out to a 7-0 lead, but the Comets trimmed their deficit back to 10-6 by period’s end.
It was not a bad quarter considering the number of new faces in Elgin coach Bob Douds’ lineup.
“We had three freshmen on the court at a time,” Douds said. “It was a big stage for them in their first game. You can only go up from here.”
Bucyrus put the game away, for all intents and purposes, in the second quarter. The defense held the Comets to two of 13 from the field in the frame.
In the meantime, the offense continued the hot shooting, connecting on five of nine action shots and seven of 10 from the line. The result was a 20-4 run by the Redmen and a 30-10 halftime lead.
Addison Kemery hit a pair of 3-point shots and Brook Dennison added a 3 in the frame to help fuel the run.
Seybert also credited his defense with holding Elgin to lower percentage shots.
“Our ultimate goal is don’t give them standstill, catch-and-shoot shots,” Seybert said. “Don’t give them open, direct line passes for layups. Force them to dribble or force them to shoot over our hands.”
The Comets showed a spark to start the second half. Jordan Wall hit a 3 and then got a basket off an offensive rebound. Addie Holland converted a Bucyrus turnover into a basket and Elgin had cut its deficit to 30-17.
But that was as close as the hosts could get. The Redmen went on a 13-2 run to the end of the quarter to lead 43-19 after three.
“They came out and made a run to start the second half,” Seybert said. “We called timeout, came out and put our press in. It created what we wanted it to create — steals, turnovers, and some easy layups — and it got the momentum back on our side too.”
Douds was pleased with his team’s effort after being down by 20.
“That’s what it comes down to,” Douds said. “We challenged them at halftime that they needed to come out and represent a little bit and they did.”
Balanced scoring for the Redmen pleased the coach.
“Five of them around eight, nine, 10 points,” Seybert said. “That’s awesome. We’ll take that every night.”
Dennison led the way with 11 points. Adacyn Rister had 10, Marissa Middleton nine, and Kemery and Maddie Kimmel added eight each. The only other scorer for Bucyrus was Addison Ricker with six. Rister, Kimmel, and Dennison had six rebounds apiece.
Halie Leonard topped Elgin with eight points and Wall added six. Madison Hill and Leonard had eight rebounds each.
“Halie Leonard, a freshman who came off the bench, was the leading scorer for us,” Douds said. “About a week-and-a-half, two weeks from now, they’re not considered freshmen anymore.
“We didn’t get hit any shots tonight,” Douds added. “Those shots will fall eventually. We got behind by 20 in the first half and only three in the second half. It’s an improvement.”
“We missed easy, open layups that we should not miss by players that know how to make them,” Seybert said. “So, that’s got to get cleaned up and can get cleaned up.”
Elgin won the junior varsity game, 49-12. Delainey Boles led the Comets with 12 points and Halie Leonard had 10. Kimmy Burling had six to lead Bucyrus.
Box score
Bucyrus 10 20 13 9 — 52
Elgin 6 4 9 10 — 29
Bucyrus (2-0): Shots 17-49; 3-pt. shots 5-15 (Addison Kemery 2, Brook Dennison, Marissa Middleton. Adacyn Rister); Free throws 13-25; Rebounds 35 (Adacyn Rister 6, Brook Dennison 6, Maddie Kimmel 6); Turnovers 26. Scoring: Addison Ricker 3 0 6, Maddie Kimmel 2 4 8, Brook Dennison 4 2 11, Adacyn Rister 4 1 10, Addison Kemery 2 2 8, Marissa Middleton 2 4 9.
Elgin (0-1): Shots 12-51; 3-pt. shots 1-13 (Jordan Wall); Free throws 4-11; Rebounds 42 (Halie Leonard 8, Madison Hill 8); Turnovers 38. Scoring: Sam Girton 2 1 5, Addie Holland 1 0 2, Delainey Boles 1 0 2, Jordan Wall 2 1 6, Halie Leonard 3 2 8, Emily Bishop 2 0 4, Taylor Schoen 1 0 2.
JV: Elgin 49-12.