BUCYRUS — The basketball season has taken on a different look for the Bucyrus Lady Redmen since the first of the year.
On January 6, the Redmen won their first league game in three years. Saturday afternoon, they took another step forward.
Colonel Crawford held a five-point lead going into the fourth quarter, but Bucyrus rallied for a 43-39 Northern 10 Athletic Conference victory at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
It was the first time Bucyrus had beaten Colonel Crawford since Jan. 26, 2018.
Redmen coach Brian Seybert has been waiting for a four-quarter effort from his team.
“We finally got it today,” Seybert said. “It was a good time to get it — on our own court against a very good Crawford team, well coached. I’ll take it. The girls will take it. They absolutely deserve it.”
The Eagles had been riding near the top of the N10 standings after an 11-1 start to the season. But coach Zac Bauer was not surprised at the tug-of-war his team got at the Kish.
“We’re going to get everybody’s best. And we’ve got to give our best too,” Bauer said. “Credit Bucyrus. They gave us their best and we didn’t look our best. That’s just a credit to Bucyrus. They took us out of what we wanted to do.”
It was back-and-forth throughout, featuring seven lead changes.
Bucyrus (5-8, 2-7 N10) managed a one-point lead after on quarter. Addison Kemery scored seven of her 11 points in the period for the Redmen.
Colonel Crawford (11-3, 5-3 N10) returned the favor when Allison Weithman hit a 3-point shot late in the half to put the Eagles on top, 21-20, at intermission. It was one of six 3s for Weithman in the game.
“Give credit to the girls,” Seybert said. “They bought in, stayed true to the 2-3 (zone defense), worked their tails off. We lost Weithman a few times. Credit her. She’s a heck of a shooter.”
The Eagles appeared to gain control of the game in the third quarter, easing out to a five-point lead, at 34-29, by period’s end. Weithman hit three more 3s to fuel a 13-9 Colonel Crawford advantage.
But the fourth quarter proved disastrous for the Eagles. Turnovers, which had plagued CC most of the game, became a major factor. The visitors had five miscues and four missed shots before they scored their first points in the final period with 1:20 left in the game.
“The frustrating thing about today is we kind of hang our hat on being a good defensive team, getting stops, frustrating teams, and that wasn’t us today,” Bauer said. “That was them. Their defensive intensity was good. They frustrated us and when push came to shove, Bucyrus came out and made plays.”
The Redmen took advantage of the fourth quarter scoring drought, getting points from four different players to flip the lead to 39-34 Bucyrus. The Redmen also got four offensive rebounds in the run.
Mallory Plesac stopped the skid for Colonel Crawford to make it 39-36, but Bucyrus was able to milk the clock and make enough free throws — six of 12 after having shot only one free shot in the first three quarters.
“We started the fourth quarter down five and kept the game plan going,” Seybert said. “The game plan was to get to the lane, attack the rim when we had opportunities. We weren’t getting much at the free throw lines early, but it came back to our side at the end.”
Pleasac hit a 3 with 3.2 seconds left that cut it to 41-39. But the Redmen sealed it with a Maddie Kimmel layup just before the buzzer.
“Their aggressiveness across the board makes them dangerous,” Bauer said of the Redmen. “The perimeter players can score. Maddie Kimmel giving them good minutes today — a leader in the program that they can count on. We can’t give them extra possessions on turnovers. We can’t give up offensive rebounds.”
Bucyrus won the turnover battle 18-10 and had 11 offensive rebounds to seven by the Eagles. The result was 10 extra shots from the field for the Redmen.
Kimmel led Bucyrus with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Kemery added 11 and Marissa Middleton finished with seven.
Weithman had a game-high 19 for Colonel Crawford. Plesac had eight points and 10 rebounds.
“We were cognizant of the cutters on the baseline and high post,” Seybert said. “I’m just proud of the girls. That’s what we’re very capable of. But we just need four quarters of it, not 2-and-a-half, not three. It finally paid off today.”
“You look at our stats early in the year. We were consistent throughout the game,” Bauer said. “And what did we get in the fourth quarter, five points to their 14? That was a credit to their making free throws and making plays, offensively and defensively. We talked about starts to quarters and bringing intensity. We didn’t do that today.
“We had a nice first round,” Bauer added. “We snuck up on some teams. Now teams know what they’re going to get when we come to town. How are we going to respond to that? Are we going to give them our best shot?”
“I told the girls we need a couple more wins before the tournament draw at the end of January,” Seybert said. “Today was the first step of that.”
Colonel Crawford won the junior varsity game, 31-10. Karlee Shull had 10 points for the Eagles and Rylee Hoepf added eight. Leah Sheets had five for Bucyrus.
Box score
Colonel Crawford 11 10 13 5 — 39
Bucyrus 12 8 9 14 — 43
Colonel Crawford (11-3, 5-3 N10): Shots 12-33; 3-pt. shots 8-18 (Allison Weithman 6, Mallory Plesac, Lexi Dure); Free throws 7-12; Rebounds 27 (Mallory Plesac 10); Turnovers 18. Scoring: Gabby Roston 0 2 2, Mallory Plesac 3 1 8, Mira Holt 0 2 2, Allison Weithman 6 1 19, Lexi Dure 1 0 3, Ayla McKibben 1 1 3, Lynae McKibben 1 0 2.
Bucyrus (5-8, 2-7 N10): Shots 17-43; 3-pt. shots 3-14 (Addison Kemery 2, Maddie Kimmel); Free throws 6-13; Rebounds 27 (Maddie Kimmel 11); Turnovers 10. Scoring: Addison Ricker 1 0 2, Maddie Kimmel 7 1 16, Brook Dennison 2 1 5, Ady Rister 1 0 2, Addison Kemery 4 1 11, Marissa Middleton 2 3 7.
JV: Colonel Crawford 31-10.