GALION — A rivalry game is always intense. Add in losing streaks by both teams and the intensity ratchets up exponentially.
Galion entered its game with rival Bucyrus on a 13-game losing streak. The Lady Redmen had lost six in a row and eight of their last nine.
The Lady Tigers built a five-point first-quarter lead and never relinquished it en route to a 48-44 non-conference victory over their cross-county rivals.
“We really needed this,” Galion coach Shani Rush said. “We had a close one Monday (a 48-44 loss to Crestline). We’ve had a long-game stretch here, so this kind of helped our morale.”
It was a repeat of frustration for Bucyrus (2-10). The Lady Redmen hit just 17 of 71 shots from the field. Entering the week, Bucyrus was third in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference in shot attempts, but dead last in field goal percentage.
On top of it, leading scorer Ni’Georia Floyd was held to two points.
“We told them we just need to knock three more down,” Bucyrus coach Taylor Tackett said. “Ni’Georia was getting pressured because they were face-guarding her. But she’s a good player and that’s what teams are going to do. We’ve got to have other players step up, which Caleigh (Rister) did tonight, but it wasn’t enough to get us through.”
Rister managed 13 points but with Floyd held in check, the Redmen could not sustain enough offense regain an early lead.
“We had a game plan (for Floyd) and I thought we did a really good job with the game plan,” Rush said. “We wanted to switch it up at the end to give them a little more pressure full-court, because I didn’t like the way the intensity was coming out in the second half.”
Bucyrus jumped out to a lead in the first quarter. Jill Wise scored all eight of her points in the first eight minutes and the Redmen had a 14-12 advantage with 1:34 left.
But Galion (2-13) scored the last seven points of the quarter to forge a 19-14 lead after one. The Lady Tigers took the lead for good on a 3-point shot by Gracie Groves and finished off the run on a buzzer-beater shot by Teanna Greter.
“This game and our last game with Ridgedale — it all comes down to the first quarter,” Tackett said. “We got outscored in the first quarter tonight, we tied the next two quarters and we were ahead the last quarter. We’ve got to come out strong and not play so lazy and (be) energetic right off the bat.”
Galion led by as many as 10, at 29-19 on a 3 by Mykenzie Deboard with 3:37 left in the first half. Bucyrus managed to get it back within one, at 41-40, on Rister’s basket with 2:54 left in the game, but the Redmen could never regain the lead.
Alivia Lewis led Bucyrus with a game-high 17 points and 13 rebounds. Rister added her 13 and Wise had nine rebounds.
Gabby Kaple came off the bench to lead the Tigers with 13 points and Groves added nine, all on 3s. Groves grabbed 10 boards.
“I thought our first half was the best basketball we had played,” Rush said. “Everyone contributed. We were getting layups, we were breaking their press. It looked like good basketball.”
“We were getting open shots, we just need to knock them down,” Tackett said. “We were getting the ball underneath (the basket) and it’s just like they were rolling around the rim and coming out. We just couldn’t finish.”
“All wins are good wins, no matter what they look like,” Rush said. “To close out a game gives them the confidence that they can do it.”
“We were hopeful (of a win) of this one. I told the girls, ‘We’ve just got to keep pushing through,” Tackett said. “We’ve got to show up every game and we’ve just got to fight. That’s the kind of team we have to be.”
Bucyrus gained a split on the evening with a 30-22 victory in the junior varsity game. Karmyn Blizzard and Claire Schifer each had 10 points to lead the Redmen. Mykenzie Debord and Natalie Perkins had five apiece for Galion.
Box score
Bucyrus 14 11 7 12 — 44
Galion 19 11 7 11 — 48
Bucyrus (2-10): Shots 17-71; 3-pt. shots 2-6 (Alivia Lewis, Caleigh Rister); Free throws 8-13; Rebounds 43 (Alivia Lewis 13, Jill Wise 9); Turnovers 12. Scoring: Ni’Georia Floyd 1 0 2, Caleigh Rister 5 2 13, Alivia Lewis 6 4 17, Lauren Kohler 1 0 2, Claire Schifer 1 0 2, Jill Wise 3 2 8.
Galion (2-13): Shots 18-43; 3-pt. shots 6-11; Free throws 6-19; Rebounds 46 (Gracie Groves 11); Turnovers 25. Scoring: Mykenzie Debord 3 1 8, Teanna Greter 3 1 7, Gracie Groves 3 0 9, Gabby Kaple 4 4 13, Natalie Perkins 2 0 5, Morgan Kimble 3 0 6.
JV: Bucyrus 30-22.