BUCYRUS — With the game on the line, Bucyrus’ defense and Alivia Lewis were just too much for the Crestline Lady Bulldogs.
With the Bulldogs holding a 50-49 lead with 5:55 left in the game, the Lady Red limited Crestline to just one-for-13 shooting the rest of the way in a 61-53 Bucyrus win.
Lewis was just too much for Crestline (1-5) to handle. The senior guard scored Bucyrus’ first 13 points of the fourth period, finishing with 15 in the frame, on her way to a game-high 26 points.
The Lady Red’s aggressive full-court and then half-court defensive setups wore the Bulldogs down late in the game.
“We did a nice job pressuring and rotating back, then to play half-court defense,” Bucyrus coach Taylor Tackett said. “We kinda got tired in our press and that kinda slowed us down a little bit.”
Crestline coach Kyle Strauch said his team’s shooting woes were partly due to his team’s failure to execute their game plan.
“We had some mental lapses going up for easy shots late in the fourth quarter,” Strauch said. “We just couldn’t make any layups. We missed some free throws as well and it ended up costing us the game.
“We’re still learning to try and execute our game plan,” he added. “We’re not there yet but we’re getting there little by little. We’ll get better each game.”
Lewis was simply too much for the Bulldogs. She went to the free throw line 16 times in the game, hitting 11. Her aggressive nature pleased Tackett.
“(Lewis) handles the ball well and she looks to drive to score so she looks to the basket at all times,” Tackett said. “That’s good someone wants the ball and wants to score. She does that very well.
“Even coming off after getting knocked down a little bit and coming back in, she scored some big points for us.”
Strauch said he was all too familiar with Lewis.
“We knew she shot 18 or 19 free throws on Saturday and made 15 of 16 of them,” Strauch said. “I told the girls beforehand we can’t foul them.”
Free throws were certainly another difference in the game. The Lady Red shot 27 for the game, hitting 14. Crestline went six-for-14.
After the Bulldogs took their final lead of the game in the fourth period, Lewis went to work.
The senior hit a pair of layups moments later, then added three of four free throws to give Bucyrus a 56-50 lead with 2:25 left. She hit two more free throws down the stretch.
Kennedy Moore led the Bulldogs with 16 points and Lauryn Tadda added 14. Hannah Delong tossed in nine more.
Strauch said that the physical nature of the game bothered his team.
“At the end of the day, we have to control what we can control,” Strauch said. “That’s what I just told them. Obviously, some calls didn’t go our way and that’s going to happen in basketball. We have to make our layups, controllable things that we just missed.”
Box Score
Crestline 17 12 14 10 — 53
Bucyrus 22 11 10 18 — 61
Crestline: (1-5): Shots 21-51; 3-pt. shots 6-14 (Kennedy Moore 2, Alandra Tesso 2, Hannah Delong); Free throws 6-14; Rebounds 31; Turnovers 26. Scoring: Hannah Delong 3 2 9, Kennedy Moore 7 0 16, Lauryn Tadda 6 2 14, Daija Sewell 2 0 4, Alandra Tesso 2 0 6, Brianna Briggs 2 0 4.
Bucyrus: (2-2): Shots 22-58; 3-pt. shots (Ni’Georia Floyd 2, Alivia Lewis); Free throws 14-27; Rebounds 34; Turnovers 24. Scoring: Ni’Georia Floyd 7 0 16, Caleigh Rister 3 2 8, Alivia Lewis 7 11 26, Lauren Kohler 1 1 3, Taylor Patterson 2 0 4, Jill Wise 2 0 4.
JV: Crestline 23-11.