BUCYRUS — The Bucyrus Redmen have been undersized in nearly every game they have played so far this year.
Never more so than when they faced the Carey Blue Devils and their center, Hayden Stone.
Stone scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading a balanced attack that resulted in an 82-52 victory for the Blue Devils in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference encounter at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
Stone — who committed to the University of Findlay for next year — along with Ian Yeater, presented a matchup nightmare for the Redmen in the post.
“Hayden’s 6-8, 250, and Ian’s not small either at 6-2,” Carey coach Jamie Young said. “So, our emphasis is to get the ball inside because we have a size differential.”
Carey’s size advantage also impacted Bucyrus (1-11, 1-7 N10) offensively.
“We figured we wouldn’t scare them with our size,” Bucyrus coach Barry Egan said. “We knew it was going to be tough and we tried a couple of different things. Obviously, they know what to do with the ball when they get it and as long as they’ve got a little bit of space, they know where to go with it.”
Size as well as the Blue Devil’s defensive pressure, both full-court and half-court, stymied the Redmen offense and fueled the Carey (6-3, 5-1) offense.
The Blue Devils raced out to a 22-9 first-quarter lead and expanded it to 43-17 by halftime. Stone had 19 of his 23 by the break despite double-teams by Bucyrus in the post. Carey also scored in transition to end the half hitting 19 of 33 shot attempts.
“Our pressure really helped us out, especially in the middle of the first quarter and into the second quarter, where we got to build that lead,” Young said. “I thought they did a good job early on of breaking our (full-court) pressure and actually getting some good opportunities. They didn’t always convert on them.”
The Redmen hit just seven of 26 shots in the two quarters, preventing them from cutting into the deficit.
“The ball didn’t fall for us in the first half but at least we’re shooting the ball in our offense, taking good shots offensively,” Egan said. “They didn’t fall.
“The old adage is, ‘If you shoot good, you look good,’” Egan continued. “We had some balls go in and out on us. I think if we’d gotten off to a little bit better start, we could have kept the game a little more respectable.”
In the second half, the Bucyrus offense — particularly Lucas Kozinski — got untracked. Kozinski score 21 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, including all five of his 3-point shots.
“He’s a knockdown shooter,” Young said of Kozinski. “He took good, contested shots. He hit some good, contested shots. In that mind, you just have to tell him, ‘Good job’ and try to stop him the next time.”
Kozinski’s exploits kept the Blue Devils from significantly expanding their lead in the final two periods. While they did push it to 68-30 after three, Bucyrus trimmed it back to the 82-52 final.
“Lucas adjusted (in the second half),” Egan said. “And it’s a credit to our kids getting him the ball in scoring position. There are some things we can build on.”
Twelve different Blue Devils reached the scoring column. In addition to Stone, only Yeater with 11 points and Hayden Nash with 10 were in double figures.
Carey hit 36 of 70 shots including six of 16 from 3-point range, which pleased the coach.
“That’s been one of our bugaboos all season — our consistency from outside,” Young said. “We’ll shoot good one game and the next game it might go the other way. We just continue to try to shoot our shots with confidence, step up and shoot our shots.”
Mike Wise seconded Kozinski with eight points for Bucyrus and Kozinski had nine rebounds. The Redmen connected on 19 of 54 shots.
“The kids did a good job of finding the open person. We just didn’t make shots,” Egan said. “The effort was really good the whole game. They battled as best they could.”
“Bucyrus plays hard. They didn’t quit,” Young said. “Even when they were down a little bit bigger in the second half, they continued to play hard. Coach Egan’s got them doing the right things. It’s just a matter of time before he turns it around.”
“We’ve certainly got a tough row to hoe next week,” Egan said, “We have three tough games coming up. Hopefully we can get ready for that.”
Carey also won the junior varsity game, 79-37. Karson Kimmel had 12 points and Kolton Middleton had 10 for Bucyrus. Kemerle had 17 for the Blue Devils, while Hill finished with 16.
Box score
Carey 22 21 25 14 — 82
Bucyrus 9 8 13 22 — 52
Carey (6-3, 5-1 N10) Shots 36-70; 3-pt 6-16 (Hayden Nash 2, Bryce Conti, Peyton Young, Ashton Hill, Isaiah Hoepf); Free throws 4-7; Rebounds 44 (Hayden Stone 10); Turnovers 16. Scoring: Reece Billock 1 0 2, Hayden Nash 4 0 10, Bryce Conti 2 0 5, Peyton Young 2 0 5, Anthony Bell 1 0 2, Wyatt Hess 2 0 4, Ashton Hill 1 0 3, Hayden Stone 11 1 23, Isaiah Hoepf 2 0 5, Cade Crawford 3 0 6, Spencer Baldridge 3 0 6, Ian Yeater 4 3 11.
Bucyrus (1-11, 1-7 N10): Shots 19-54; 3-pt. shots 7-20; Free throws 7-12; Rebounds 28 (Lucas Kozinski 9); Turnovers 20. Scoring: Lucas Kozinski 9 2 25, Joe Rager 0 1 1, Zach Delaney 1 0 3, Mike Wise 4 0 8, Grady Jackson 1 1 3, Nick Middleton 2 2 6, Gabe Higginbotham 2 1 6.
JV: Carey 79-37.