OLIVESBURG — Bucyrus coach Brian Hargis knew that taking on Ashland Crestview was going to be a tall order — literally.
The Cougars have seven players on their roster between 6-2 and 6-5. That size took its toll on the Redmen.
Bucyrus (7-17) missed four of its first five shots and committed seven first-quarter turnovers. Crestview took advantage to build a 23-8 lead after one en route to an 84-43 victory in the Division III sectional final game.
“We matched them (size wise) down low,” Hargis said. “But it was the perimeter size we knew was going to be a problem, mixed with our youth.”
It was 6-4 junior Justin Thompson who inflicted most of the damage on the Redmen. Thompson scored 24 of his game-high 30 points in the first half as No. 1 seeded Crestview (22-1) — ranked eighth in the state in the Division III Associated Press poll — rolled to a 47-24 halftime lead.
The one bright spot for the Redmen was Malachi Bayless finishing his historic career at Bucyrus with 21 points. He ends, not only as the school’s first 1,000-point scorer, but with a record shattering 1,306 points.
“Really, they didn’t do anything special with Malachi,” Hargis said. “They kind of let him play. They hit shots. We did not hit early.”
The Cougars connected on 20 of 40 shots in the first half and ended at 35 of 67 (52 percent).
Even with its size, Crestview preferred to push the ball in transition and volume-shoot from the perimeter rather than go against the Redmen’s twin towers of Noah Burke and Jackson Farrar (both 6-7) and 6-5 Dylan Coppler on the block.
The Cougars were good on eight of 25 from 3-point range. But more importantly, they had 15 offensive rebounds of their 36 total, and they won the turnover battle, 21-5.
“We were cold early. I knew we would get the shots we wanted,” Hargis said. “We weren’t hitting early and that’s just a recipe for disaster with these guys.”
After the slow offensive start, Bucyrus ended with a respectable 17 of 42 from the field for 40 percent. But the turnovers and Crestview’s offensive boards gave the Cougars 25 more shots at their 52 percent conversion clip.
“We didn’t think the pace would bother us,” Hargis said. “The faster the pace, the better for us, because they’re just a little tougher, a little more physical than us.
“They’re so good that, I don’t want to say they get lazy, but they’re not grinding us as hard,” Hargis said. “We could space them out. The more downhill action, the better. We had some silly turnovers. And we came out cold.”
The Redmen managed 16 points in the second period, hitting all four of their 3s in the frame. But they couldn’t keep up with the prolific Cougars, who registered 23 or more points in each of the first three quarters.
“They play well. They’re under control. They don’t force anything. They all know their roles,” Hargis said. “We knew it would be a tough matchup. We had to pick our poison. We tried to pick the right guys to help off of.”
Jack Ringler supported Thompson’s 30 with 14 points and Karter Goon added 10. Nine different Crestview players scored.
“We had Coppler on (Thompson), a sophomore on a third team all-Ohio last year,” Hargis said. “I thought Coppler did well, and the help was OK. He’s just a tough guard.”
Demarius Munn-Page seconded Bayless with eight points for Bucyrus. Georgie Floyd had a pair of threes. Burke grabbed eight rebounds and scored four points in his last game. Classmate Farrar finished with four points and three rebounds.
Hargis found it difficult to say goodbye to Bayless, Burke, Farrar, and Tyrone Mass.
“I’ve been with them since the eighth grade. It was a little emotional in (the postgame locker room),” Hargis said. “But they’re all going to do great things. Of course, we’re going to miss Mali, we’re going to miss Noah and Jack on the boards and Tyrone.”
The first-year head coach remains optimistic.
“We’ve got a lot of potential in the room. We’ve got kids coming up,” Hargis said. “I think we’ll actually be harder to guard next year because we’ll be a little more balanced offensively. The future’s bright here. We just need a good summer — a good off-season — out of these guys.”
Crestview advances to the district semifinal at Norwalk on Wednesday where the Cougars will face No. 2 seed Margaretta, a 74-39 winner over Oregon Cardinal Stritch in its sectional final.
Box score
Bucyrus 8 16 13 6 — 43
Crestview 23 24 26 11 — 84
Stats
Bucyrus (7-17): Shots 17-42; 3-pt. shots 4-15 (Georgie Floyd 2, Malachi Bayless 2); Free throws 5-10; Rebounds 26 (Noah Burke 8); Turnovers 21. Scoring: Georgie Floyd 2 0 6, Demarius Munn-Page 4 0 8, Noah Burke 2 0 4, Jackson Farrar 2 0 4, Malachi Bayless 7 5 21.
Crestview (22-1): Shots 35-67; 3-pt. shots 8-25 (Justin Thompson 4, Grayson Burgess 2, Daniel Wells, Sam Wells); Free throws 6-6; Rebounds 36; Turnovers 5. Scoring: Tyson Ringler 4 0 8, Dylan Bruner 3 0 6, Daniel Wells 1 0 3, Justin Thompson 13 0 30. Karter Goon 4 2 10, Sam Wells 1 0 3, Jarek Ringler 7 0 14, Grayson Burgess 2 0 6, Carter Bowman 0 4 4.