BUCYRUS — In a battle of youth versus experience, experience won convincingly in a non-league girls basketball game Tuesday night at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
A veteran Bucyrus team raced out to an early lead and held off a young Crestline team 54-21 behind seniors Brook Dennison’s 20 points and Addison Kemery’s 14. They are two of six seniors on the Lady Red roster.
In total, eight of the nine players reached the scoring column.
“That’s exactly what we were looking for. The one that didn’t score (sophomore Haylee Stratton) I was encouraging her to shoot when she had it inside in the middle of the zone. She’ll get one to go in for her. But that balanced scoring that’s what we’re going to need all year long,” said head coach Brian Seybert.
Bucyrus (1-1) got a solid rebounding effort from Kemery with seven. Stratton, Addy Ricker, and Adria Taylor each grabbed four caroms.
Dennison started out red-hot, scoring half of her team’s points as Bucyrus took a 14-3 lead after one quarter. She added eight steals.
Crestline falls to 0-2, and coming off a 9-14 season, has just two seniors.
“We’re four freshmen, two sophomores and two seniors,” said Lady Bulldogs head coach Mickey Spears. “One senior has never played before since biddy ball. My freshmen are young and they’re still learning. I’m just pleased that we’re actually improving every game.”
Mistakes are a part of that learning curve and Crestline committed 23 turnovers, many of them unforced in the first half.
Freshman point guard Jocelyn Noblit led the way with nine points and added four steals and two blocks.
“Jocelyn is very knowledgeable when she’s driving. She loves to drive. That’s her bread and butter. Her biggest issue is being patient. She can drive that ball, but she has to realize what’s in front of her and then dish it outside,” Spears said.
“Our biggest thing tonight was to control the boards. For the most part we did a good job, but offensively we have to step it up and keep moving.”
Bucyrus won the board battle, 31-25.
The Lady Red led 28-8 at halftime after going on an 8-2 run as Marissa Middleton got a steal and a basket, and Malina Rowland knocked down a field goal.
“Credit to our bench players because prior to Wednesday night none of them had any varsity time or even much jayvee time,” Seybert noted.
“Kimmy (Burling) comes in and she gets it and shoots it, which is what she’s supposed to do. Malina is coming in and learning the game again from being a couple of years out. And Adria (Taylor) the same way.
“Haylee is new to the game since seventh grade basketball. She’s doing what her role is, which is to rebound and defend and make good choices on her passes.”
The lead swelled to 42-16 after three quarters as Kemery hit one of her two three-pointers on a nice feed from Burling.
“Kemery did what she has to do, step up and be that leader for the rebounds this year. And Brook does what she does. She anticipates passes and can get those steals. She’s very active when she does it,” Seybert said.
“I thought Addy (Ricker) played very well tonight. She played very physical tonight and that’s uncommon for her. I was proud of her effort, too.”
Crestline never gave up even after falling behind by 30 points.
“When somebody comes out with a young team like we are and they are aggressive, it can be intimidating for these girls. They’re a little bigger than we are. We’re a small team, but once they get into playing, then they step it up,” Spears said.
The Lady Red host Vanlue in another non-league game Thursday. The Lady Bulldogs host Galion on Tuesday, Dec. 5 before conference play begins.
Spears is unsure about the Mid-Buckeye Conference this season.
“It seems like every conference game I get ready to have, it gets moved. Everybody’s down. St. Peter’s don’t have a team this year. Lucas has only got nine players. I don’t know what Central Christian has. Mansfield Christian is still going to be good. Loudonville is still going to be good,” he said.
“It’s about who shows up to play.”
Seybert is optimistic, with a strong nucleus back from a 9-14 season and just a 3-11 mark in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
“We have a lot of experience returning, which should pay off. I think the league is a little more balanced this year. Height-wise we are right there with everybody else. A couple of teams have a couple of 5-foot-10 girls.
“This should be the most competitive for the league this year. We played a very solid Pleasant team last Wednesday night and they’re going to compete for that MOAC title, I believe,” he said.
“A game like tonight was a chance to get back on the positive side of things and do what we needed to do. We wanted to apply some pressure, get some turnovers and some runouts. We got open looks and moved the ball really well, so I was happy with it.”
Box score
Crestline 3 5 7 6 — 21
Bucyrus 14 14 14 12 — 54
Crestline (0-2): Shots 6-30; 3-pt. shots 1-4 (Brooklyn Sargent); Free throws 8-21; Rebounds 25 (Jacelynn Miller 8); Turnovers 23. Scoring: Jocelyn Noblit 2 5 9, Brooklyn Sargent 2 0 5, Kennedy Sipes 2 0 4, Kylie Kelly 0 1 1, Jacelynn Miller 0 2 2.
Bucyrus (1-1): Shots 18-47; 3-pt. shots 6-18 (Addison Kemery 2, Brook Dennison 2, Kimmy Burling, Marissa Middleton); Free throws 16-21; Rebounds 21 (Addison Kemery 7); Turnovers 12. Scoring: Kimmy Burling 1 2 5, Addy Ricker 1 1 3, Kendra Blizzard 1 0 2, Brook Dennison 7 4 20, Addison Kemery 4 4 14, Marissa Middleton 2 0 5, Malina Rowland 2 0 4, Adria Taylor 0 1 1.
JV: Riverdale 33, Bucyrus 22.