BUCYRUS — The Carey Blue Devils entered Tuesday night’s game at Bucyrus as the lone unbeaten team in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
The Devils left Bucyrus still unbeaten but were pushed by the unheralded but improving Redmen.
Bucyrus gave the Devils all they could handle for three quarters, trailing by just five before Carey took control in the fourth quarter and came away with a tough 49-35 win.
With the win, the Devils improved to 8-0 overall, 6-0 in the Northern 10, while the Redmen fell to 0-6 in the conference, 2-8 overall.
“League wins are tough, especially on the road, give all credit to Bucyrus, they played hard, they were excited,” Carey coach Jamie Young said. “When we hit those first two shots at the beginning of the game, I thought we might blow it open, but (Bucyrus) fought back, and we didn’t have our A game today.”
Bucyrus coach Scott Gifford felt that his team played its best game of the season.
“That’s probably the best we’ve played all season,” Gifford said. “We finally put some things together. I loved the kids’ effort and how they played.”
The Redmen simply didn’t permit the Blue Devils into the lane on offense, extending their 2-3 zone defense and putting tremendous pressure on the wings.
As a result, Carey was forced to try to score from outside the arc and wasn’t able to do it consistently. Carey was four of 20 from 3-point range in the first half and hit just eight of 36 from 3 for the game. Overall, the Devils made just 17 of 57 shots from the floor.
“This was one of those games where we didn’t play our best game today,” Young said. “Offensively, we didn’t shoot the ball well and defensively, we had to rely more on that in the second half.
“It wasn’t anywhere where we needed to be,” he added. “I think Malachi (Bayless) had 20 points and he was getting the ball wherever he wanted it. Our help really wasn’t where it needed to be most of the time. He scored 20 of their 35 points. That wasn’t where we needed to be.”
It was Bayless who kept the Redmen in the game. The junior guard scored 12 points in the first half, as Carey held a 12-9 lead after one period and the game was tied at 22-22 at the half.
The Blue Devils held a 32-24 lead halfway through the third period on a Carter Smiley 3 but couldn’t shake the Redmen. Dylan Coppler scored on back-to-back layups and Bayless added a three-point play with 1:21 left in the quarter to cut the lead to 35-31. Carey held a 36-31 lead after three.
“Malachi is getting better every game,” Gifford said. “He would be the first one to tell you that it was his teammates that are setting the screens, making good passes to him.
“Our offense is designed for everyone to touch the ball, but Malachi is a special player, so he does good things when he gets the ball.”
Young ramped up his team’s defense in the fourth period, permitting the Redmen to score just four points.
For three quarters, Bucyrus was 14 of 29 from the field but made just one of six shots in the final eight minutes as the Blue Devils pulled away.
Gifford thought his team’s defense kept Bucyrus in the game.
“We switched some things up on them; we showed some things, stuff we haven’t done on film,” Gifford said. “We’re trying to find an identity for our team, and I think we may have found it.
“We had to hope they didn’t make many shots tonight and they didn’t make a lot of shots,” Gifford added. “They made some in critical moments, but, obviously, for most of the game, they didn’t. For most of the game, they weren’t the usual Carey.”
Other than Bayless, the rest of the Bucyrus team scored just 15 points.
Austin Niederkohr led the Devils with 12 points and Carter Smiley added 10.
“They did that extended zone and we didn’t look to get inside; I think the pressure bothered us on the wings. We were quick to not look down low,” Young said. “And we tried to get to the high post, and they collapsed on us, and it caused more problems. We never did find the guy underneath.”
Carey won the junior varsity game, 60-42. Wyatt Kinn led Carey with 12 points. Tyrone Mass topped the Redmen with 12 points and Georgie Floyd added 11.
Box score
Carey 12 10 14 13 — 49
Bucyrus 9 13 9 4 — 35
Carey (8-0, 6-0 N10): Shots 17-51; 3-pt. shots 8 (Carter Smiley 3, Bryce Young 2, Alexander Putnam, Nic Putnam, Brayden Young); Free throws 6-8; Rebounds 30; Turnovers 12. Scoring: Carter Smiley 3 1 10, Alexander Putnam 2 2 7, Nic Putnam 1 0 3, Dominic Yeater 3 0 6, Bryce Young 2 0 6, Austin Niederkohr 5 2 12, Brayden Young 1 2 5.
Bucyrus (2-8, 0-6 N10): Shots 15-35; 3-pt. shots 2 (Malachi Bayless 2); Free throws 3-7; Rebounds 19; Turnovers 15. Scoring: Blayne Barto 1 1 3, Noah Burke 1 0 2, Kam Lewis 1 0 2, Kavan Combs 1 0 2, Dylan Coppler 2 0 4 Malachi Bayless 8 2 20, Randy Banks 1 0 2.
JV: Carey 60-42.