BUCYRUS — According to Bucyrus coach Barry Egan, his Redmen knew what Elgin was going to do offensively Tuesday night.
Stopping them was a different story.
“(Elgin’s) a good team. It’s a young team,” Egan said. “They’re gonna be good for a while. And we knew exactly what they were going to do. They predicate everything on the three (point shot) and they ran things really well.
“They shot the ball awfully well. And we didn’t,” he added.
The Comets controlled the tempo and got out in transition, knocking down eight 3s in a 58-42 win over the Redmen.
With the win, Elgin improved to 11-3 overall, while Bucyrus fell to 3-10 on the season.
Elgin coach Bill Clem said that his team did a nice job of getting out in transition.
“We try to play fast, and I thought we did that tonight,” Clem said. “We got some push-outs, and we got some 3s in transition. We got some layups and some drives and kick-outs for 3.”
The Redmen never led in the game, as Elgin guard Carson Rife scored 11 of his 14 points in the first half. The Comets led 17-12 after one and 30-20 at the break.
In the second half, guard Isaac Dillon scored 16 of his game-high 22, as the Comets did a nice job of spreading the wealth.
“We have a great point guard in Carson and some other guards that can take care of the basketball,” Clem said. “And we have experienced players that kinda know what’s going to happen before it happens. We anticipate well, so we don’t turn the ball over much.
“We have four guys that average double figures, so Isaac went big tonight,” Clem added. “Carson had a big first half with 11, so they share the ball really well. They’re not selfish, so they don’t care who scores tonight, who scores Friday night, they just want to get the job done.”
Elgin held a 38-28 lead after three periods and Dillon scored 12 in the fourth period. Stephen Castillo contributed 11.
Bucyrus’ Mike Wise scored seven points in the first period and finished with 12, while Grady Jackson added 11. Guard Malachi Bayless was in foul trouble in the first half and finished with eight.
“It was a good defensive effort,” Clem said. “Bucyrus has several weapons that can score so to hold them to (42), we defended them pretty well.
“Bayless got in foul trouble in the first half, and I thought we did a good job taking advantage of that,” Clem added.
On the night, the Comets hit 24 of 58 shots from the floor, and held a 33-23 lead on the glass, while committing just six turnovers.
“They’re big inside and they just go rebound the ball,” Egan said of the Comets. “Rebounding and shooting have kinda been an Achilles’ Heel for us all season.
“We just have to go get the ball,” he added. “We’re good enough athletes we can go get the ball. It doesn’t take much to stick your hand in there and turn on them and move them out.”
The Redmen struggled a little shooting the ball, hitting just 17 of 48 shots for 35 percent. They committed 10 turnovers on the night.
“We had good looks,” Egan said. “We had more shots out there, but the ball didn’t fall. It’s an ongoing problem, it seems. We just have to keep working and we have a tough game ahead on Saturday and we’ll go from there.”
Clem said his team prides itself on playing defense.
“If you can’t get stops, it’s hard to get into scoring position,” Clem said. “You need stops and rebounds and get organized and get into transition.”
Bucyrus won the junior varsity game, 48-35. Noah Burke scored 12 points and Blayne Stewart-Barto added 11 for the Redmen.
Box score
Elgin 17 13 8 20 — 58
Bucyrus 12 8 8 14 — 42
Elgin (11-3): Shots 24-58; 3-pt. shots 8 (Carson Rife 4, Isaac Dillon 3, Stephen Castillo); Free throws 2-6; Rebounds 33; Turnovers 6. Scoring: Harrison Sager 3 0 6, Stephen Castillo 5 0 11, Isaac Dillon 9 1 22, Carson Rife 5 0 14, Nate Grim 2 1 5.
Bucyrus (3-10): Shots 17-48; 3-pt. shots 1 (Mike Wise); Free throws 7-9; Rebounds 23; Turnovers 10. Scoring: Eddie Dagher 1 0 2, Joe Rager 0 3 3, Mike Wise 4 3 12, Grady Jackson 5 1 11, Jake Hamm 1 0 2, Malachi Bayless 4 0 8, Dylan Lanker 1 0 2, Noah Burke 1 0 2.
JV: Bucyrus 48-35.