By Dan Messerschmidt

SYCAMORE — It was night of record individual performances for both teams.

Ryan Evans hit a Bucyrus school-record eight 3-point shots and Zach Hayman had a personal high of 33 points for Mohawk.

Hayman’s record trumped Evans’ as the Warriors kept the Redmen winless on the season, holding off a fourth-quarter rally for a 76-60 Northern 10 Conference victory.

“We did what we do most nights, play catch-up,” Bucyrus coach Justin Mattix said. “We had too many turnovers (early). But credit Mohawk. They have a good program that they’re building from the ground up.”

The Redmen stayed close in the first quarter despite six turnovers. Hayman gave a glimpse of his offensive prowess with eight points as Mohawk (3-2, 3-1 N10) built an 18-12 lead after one period.

“Zach has a drive to get to the basket,” Mohawk coach Paul Dunn said. “He opens up other shooters.”

But it was the second quarter that led to the ultimate demise of Bucyrus (0-5, 0-3). The Warriors scored 22 points — including nine from the free throw line — to build a 40-24 halftime lead.

It was a theme for the night, as Mohawk went to the line 23 times to just three for the Redmen.

“We shot three free throws and they shot 23,” Mattix said. “We need to take the ball into the paint and not try to avoid contact.”

The Warriors looked to put the game away in the third quarter, stretching the lead to 20 twice — the last at 53-33 on a stick-back by Chris Klopp with 1:57 left in the frame — but Bucyrus pared the deficit to 55-41 by period’s end.

The Redmen showed grit in the fourth quarter, pulling to within 58-51 on a 3 from Evans with 5:53 left in the game. But they could get no closer. Mohawk hit five of its last six shots from the field and five of six free throws in the last four minutes to hold on for the win.

“They scared us, there’s no doubt,” Dunn said. “After a timeout, we had a couple of steals and a couple of stops and we were alright.”

Evans hit an incredible eight of his nine 3-point attempts in scoring all of his team-high 24 points for Bucyrus. Harley Robinson, playing in his first game of the season, added 17 points. Ben Seibert grabbed nine rebounds.

“Tonight was the best we’ve played,” Mattix said. “We picked up the intensity.

“I’m proud of the guys for not giving up,” he added. “Mohawk is a good team. They only lost to Crawford by six and beat Carey at Carey.”

Klopp seconded Hayman’s 33 with 12 points for the Warriors. Klopp also pulled down 17 rebounds, 12 in the second half, helping the Warriors to a 38-25 advantage on the glass, including 14 offensive boards.

“That was my challenge tonight,” Dunn said. “We did not want to give them second-chance shots.”

Mohawk also won the junior varsity game, 47-31. Landen Snyder had a game-high 12 points for the Warriors and Bryce Daughenbaugh added 11.

Lucas Kozinski had eight points for Bucyrus, while Trevor Ley finished with 11.

Bucyrus         12    12    17    19 — 60

Mohawk        18    22    15    21 — 76

Stats

Bucyrus (0-5, 0-3 N10): Shots 25-54; 3-pt shots 9-16 (Ryan Evans 8, Harley Robinson); Free throws 1-3; Rebounds 25 (Ben Seibert 9); Turnovers 16. Scoring: Harley Robinson 8 0 17, Jaylen Zehner 2 0 4, Ben Seibert 3 0 6, Ryan Evans 8 0 24, Kade Slagle 1 1 3, Dylan Goff 1 0 2, Kyle Hamm 2 0 4.

Mohawk (3-2, 3-1 N10): Shots 28-57; 3-pt. shots 4-15; Free throws 16-23; Rebounds 38 (Chris Klopp 17); Turnovers 10. Scoring: Keith Jenkins 4 0 9, Kaiden Hammer 1 4 6, Austin Tusing 1 3 5, Zach Hayman 12 9 33, Kedryk Leeth 1 0 2, Ryan Lacey 3 0 9, Chris Klopp 6 0 12.

JV: Mohawk 47-31.