BUCYRUS — Without her running mate, Ni’Georia Floyd, who was out sick, Bucyrus senior Alivia Lewis had her team’s scoring load fall to her.
The task was even greater since the Lady Redmen were facing a Colonel Crawford team that had beaten them 61-26 back in December.
Lewis held up her end of the bargain, scoring two thirds of Bucyrus’ points, but the result was similar to the first meeting as the Lady Eagles ran away with a 58-27 Northern 10 Athletic Conference win at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
“We’ve got to score. You take Liv away, so look ahead to next year, when she’s not in here and we score nine points combined between two other players,” Bucyrus coach Taylor Tackett said. “We need some younger players stepping up, ready to hit game shots. I think that will come, but it’s something they need to work on and know that I need out of them.”
The Eagles stopped a mini two-game losing streak and begin the work of positioning themselves for the tournament draw. Colonel Crawford coach Kyle Fenner cautioned about looking past the Redmen based on the first game’s outcome.
“It’s kind of a rivalry game, so we worry about that,” Fenner said. “After the last couple of games, it’s just nice to get a win. I told them, ‘We need to play well, we need to work on our different sets and run the floor and we need to get better.”
The motivational speech apparently worked as intended. Colonel Crawford (10-7, 6-7 N10) rolled out to an 11-0 start over the first four minutes to set the tone. Lewis broke the skein with a basket at the 4:01 mark but the Eagles kept the pedal to the metal and led 21-7 by period’s end.
“It’s a hard matchup,” Tackett said, referring to the Eagles’ size advantage. “That’s why we tried to start out in a zone and it just wasn’t working for us. We tried man-to-man and it went a little better. We started to play a little bit more aggressive. I thought that we played lazy in the beginning. I told them that at halftime.”
The Eagles tacked four onto the lead with an 11-7 advantage in the second quarter to go to the locker room on top, 32-14. The second half was just a matter of setting the final score.
Twelve different Eagles saw action and 10 of them scored. Danielle Horsley had 18 points and six rebounds to lead Colonel Crawford. Allison Teglovic added 10 points.
“We need five people on the floor that can score,” Fenner said. “It’s hard to guard when you’ve got five people who can score. It was nice to see some kids come off the bench and get some minutes and produce in those minutes.”
For Bucyrus (2-14, 0-12), it was a case of starting slow and lack of consistent offense that has haunted the Redmen most of the season.
“All the girls participate in practice and they’re ready and they all work together,” Tackett said. “I think they do a fine job stepping in. I know Ni’Georia wishes she could be here, and it would have made a big difference to have one of our scorers on offense.”
With the league title out of reach, the Eagles will prepare for the second season. The tournament draws are Sunday at 2 p.m. Colonel Crawford and Bucyrus both play in the Division III Shelby district.
“Right now, we’re playing for a seed in the tournament,” Fenner said. “We needed this win and we need to win Friday when we go down to Ridgedale to improve our seeding in the tournament.”
Lewis led the Redmen with 18 points and six rebounds. Taylor Patterson added seven points. Fenner recognized that Lewis was the crux of the Bucyrus offense.
“She was and we were trying to stop her, and she got the first 10 on us,” Fenner said. “She’s a great scorer. She can put the ball on the floor, and she gets herself to the free throw line. And then we kind of backed off of her a little bit and she hits two 3s. That’s a tough person to guard.”
“They were just out-hustling us on everything,” Tackett said. “Switching to man picked up the intensity a little bit. We’ve just got to learn to start right off the bat. The first quarter kills us every single time.”
Colonel Crawford made it a sweep on the night with a 31-14 win in the junior varsity game. Corin Feik led the Eagles with nine points, Taisha Spears and Hayli Stoffer had six each for Bucyrus.
Box score
Colonel Crawford 21 11 10 16 — 58
Bucyrus 7 7 9 4 — 27
Colonel Crawford (10-7, 6-7 N10): Shots 20-39; 3-pt. shots 3-6 (Theresa Dzugan, Hannah Pleasac, Kaylyn Risner); Free throws 15-23; Rebounds 32 (Danielle Horsley 6); Turnovers 14. Scoring: Danielle Horsley 8 2 18, Theresa Dzugan 3 0 7, Makenna Treisch 0 1 1, Rachel Ritzhaupt 2 0 4, Mariah Cotsamire 0 1 1, Jenna Maddy 0 1 1, Hannah Pleasac 1 0 3, Ciera Pfeifer 0 4 4, Kaylyn Risner 2 5 9, Allison Teglovic 4 2 10.
Bucyrus (2-14, 0-12 N10): Shots 9-32; 3-pt. shots 3-12 (Alivia Lewis 2, Taylor Patterson); Free throws 6-13; Rebounds 17 (Alivia Lewis 6); Turnovers 18. Scoring: Caleigh Rister 1 0 2, Alivia Lewis 5 6 18, Taylor Patterson 2 1 7.
JV: Colonel Crawford 31-14.