BUCYRUS — Coach Scott Gifford knew what to expect when he took his Bucyrus Redmen to Vanlue Thursday night.
The Wildcats are led by returning Blanchard Valley Conference Player of the Year Jerome Kloepfer.
Kloepfer didn’t disappoint. The 6-foot-3 senior guard went off for 44 points to help Vanlue hold off the Redmen, 79-67.
“That kid’s amazing,” Gifford said of Kloepfer. “I watched him the entire time he came out (pregame). He missed four shots in warmups, and he was shooting from everywhere on the court.”
Kloepfer was consistent in his scoring, with at least nine points in a quarter. Coach John Kloepfer likes the security blanket his nephew provides.
“That helps that he is there,” Coach Kloepfer said. “We can kind of count on him. We try to run offenses, but everybody’s defense against us is kind of crazy, a lot of junk.”
Bucyrus (0-2) was able to weather Kloepfer’s 21 first-half points, trailing only 40-32 at intermission. The Redmen hit a respectable 14 of 31 shots in the first half after struggling from the field in their season opener against Mansfield Christian on Saturday.
“Our gameplan — we ran it to perfection in the first quarter, wide open layups,” Gifford said. “Everything we drew up was layups. Our gameplan was perfectly executed in the first quarter.
“Then the kids started going back to their old habits, old ways , doing things the way they used to do it,” he continued. “They were shooting the shots they knew they shouldn’t shoot, which lead to long transition baskets, layups for them.”
The breakdown was particularly evident in the third quarter. Even though the Redmen hit five of 11 shots in the frame, they also committed 11 turnovers — the same number they had for the entire first half.
That led to Vanlue (2-0) getting 19 shot opportunities, converting nine and expanding the lead to 60-44 after three quarters, despite playing shorthanded.
“We played hard for what we’ve got,” Coach Kloepfer said. “We’re trying to play with 10 kids right now. Tomorrow we’ll be up to 11. Hopefully, next week we’ll be up to 12.”
Bucyrus appeared left for dead, but a furious rally in the fourth quarter almost saved the day. Malachi Bayless scored 13 points in the period to help cut the Redmen deficit to eight — 71-63 — with 2:36 remaining.
Almost lost in the Jerome Kloepfer onslaught was the team-high 26 points by Bayless, who has been nursing an injury. But time ran out on Bucyrus and the Wildcats eased out to the 12-point victory.
“The good thing is, we got it down to eight,” Gifford said. “And (if) we get a stop, that’s six, it’s two possessions. At least they’re learning, we don’t quit. I don’t care what the score is, we’re not giving up. If they can take anything away from that, it’s we’re never out of a ball game.”
While eight Redmen scored, only post Noah Burke finished in double figures with 15 and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. Gifford was happy with the improvement with his posts, Burke, Jackson Farrar, and Dylan Coppler, but noted that more work is needed.
“We’re getting them passes,” Gifford said. “They’re not catching the ball and when they get it, they immediately fold over. They need to be strong with the ball, go up to the basket. All you have to do in high school basketball id catch the ball, power drop step, lay it in, and smile at the camera.”
Vanlue only had five players score, but four were in double figures. Landon Saltzman had 11 points and 10 rebounds. T.J. Rickle and Owen Roszman scored 10 each in support of Kloepfer’s monster night.
“I thought we should have kept cruising and we didn’t,” Coach Kloepfer said. “We did that the last game. We get a little nervous. I think we get a little tired. But we hung on. We did what we have to do. We take some shots we shouldn’t take that drive me nuts.”
“Malachi got back on track,” Gifford said. “He was hurt. The confidence that Malachi will gain from this will help in the long run.”
“Basically, we only have two kids that have played varsity,” Coach Kloepfer said. “The other kids are all freshmen and sophomores. (Alex Secord) is a senior but he missed all last year with a broken leg. Like I told them, we still won.”
“It’s very disappointing,” Gifford said of the loss. “It’s a game I felt we had to win to have the season we want to have. The season’s not over, but we’ll get better from it, we’ll learn from it.”
Bucyrus (2-0)
won the junior varsity game, 39-25. Jackson Farrar topped the Redmen with 12 points and Dylan Coppler added 6. Owen Roszman had nine for Vanlue.
Box score
Bucyrus 16 16 12 23 — 67
Vanlue 21 19 20 19 — 79
Bucyrus (0-2): Shots 29-62; 3-pt. shots 2-9 (Malachi Bayless 2); Free throws 7-12; Rebounds 40 (Noah Burke 10); Turnovers 27. Scoring: Blayne Barto 2 1 5, Noah Burke 7 1 15, Kameron Lewis 2 1 5, Jackson Farrar 0 1 1, Kavan Combs 3 1 7, Dylan Coppler 1 0 2, Malachi Bayless 11 2 26, Tyrone Mass 3 0 6.
Vanlue (2-0): Shots 29-67; 3-pt. shots 3-11 (Jerome Kloepfer 3); Free throws 18-28; Rebounds 34 (Landon Saltzman 10); Turnovers 13. Scoring: T. J. Rickle 4 2 10, Landon Saltzman 3 5 11, Jerome Kloepfer 16 9 44, Owen Roszman 4 2 10, Alex Secord 2 0 4.
JV: Bucyrus 39-25.