BUCYRUS (Crawford County Now) — Bucyrus hosted 16-3 Mansfield Christian Tuesday night, and the Lady Red played basket-for-basket with the talented Flames. But, as has been the case in the past, miscues late in the game cost them.
The game was sent into overtime, and Christian came away with a hard-fought 47-44 win, on Phil A. Joseph Court at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
The Lady Red scored just four points in the third period as the Flames grabbed the lead.
Still, Bucyrus had chances to win the game in the final frame but couldn’t make a play.
Mansfield Christian led by six, 33-27, entering the final period and held a 37-32 lead halfway through the final period. But Bucyrus came storming back and had an opportunity to win the game in the last seconds.
The Lady Red missed five free throws in the final period, something that was a concern to Bucyrus coach Brian Seybert.
“The missed free throws kinda hurt,” Seybert said. “We shoot them every day. During the week we shoot between 80 and 100 free throws a day. Some of our percentages aren’t as high as I would like them to be, but we can make them. We can shoot them, and we can make them. It’s just trust for them, and they’ll get it.”
Mansfield Christian coach Megan Young said her kids made plays when they needed to the most.
“We were just pushing for them to play together and play like we know we are capable of playing” Young said. “We had a game last night at Northmor that we played close as well. So the girls were kinda gassed and their legs weren’t underneath them.
“We tell them to go out there and make the smart play, and if they don’t, go out and make the next play. We want them to go out and play our game.”
Bucyrus controlled the game in the first half. The two teams were tied at 10-10 in the first period and the Lady Red led 23-21 in the second. But it was the Bucyrus defense that made the difference, holding the Flames to just seven for 36 shooting in the first two periods.
But Bucyrus’ four-point third frame was turned the tide as the Flames came back.
“Credit to Mansfield Christian, they made some shots that they had to do to take the lead,” Seybert said. “They have some good players, too; they hit some shots there in the third period.”
Trailing 37-32 with 5:23 left in the game, the Lady Red came back.
Marissa Middleton dropped a layup and Malina Rowland canned a six-footer in the lane. After Karlee Shull dropped a three, the game was tied at 39-39 with 28 seconds left in the game.
Each team made one of two free throws, but the Lady Red had the basketball with 3.2 seconds left in the game. The play was run flawlessly, but a missed layup with one second left sent the game into overtime at 40-40.
“We did everything we needed to do to give ourselves a chance,” Seybert said. “We executed a great play in the last seconds of regulation. Marissa made a great move to the basket and Malina made a tremendous pass; we just didn’t finish. We go into overtime, and we still have a chance in overtime. We had a chance to win at the end there as well.”
As the coach noted, Bucyrus did have a chance to win the game in the overtime as well. Rowland scored four points in the extra frame but fell just short.
Young felt that her defense helped get the win.
“Usually, our game is our defensive side of the ball,” Young said. “We usually turn our defense into offense. We were just able to get chances off of our defense and helped us get the win.”
Middleton led the Lady Red with a game-high 17 points and Rowland added 12. Bucyrus was without starting freshman post Savannah Clark, but Seybert said that, while the lack of her presence was a loss, her backups did the job on Flames post Bailee Nelson, who scored just seven points.
Zy Davis led the Flames with 14 points and Brooklyn Rider finished with 11.
“You know, Tori Stang and Maddie Tyrrell, they worked their tails off inside against her,” Seybert said. “They executed the game plan beyond my expectations. They did things, too, that we didn’t even coach them up on. I told them that it was the best effort they gave us; it was the best effort they gave themselves.”
Box score
Christian 10 11 12 7 7 — 47
Bucyrus 10 12 4 13 4 — 44
Mansfield Christian (16-3): Shots 18-63; 3-pt. shots 4 (Zy Davis 2, Bella Young, Bailee Nelson); Free throws 7-16; Rebounds 27; Turnovers 17. Scoring: Brooklyn Rider 5 1 11, Zy Davis 5 2 14, Bella Young 3 2 9, Natalie Ricker 2 2 6, Bailee Nelson 3 0 7.
Bucyrus (1-17): Shots 16-40; 3-pt. shots 3 (Malina Rowland 2, Karlee Shull); Free throws 9-18; Rebounds 16; Turnovers 18. Scoring: Aubrie Kimmel 3 1 7, Karlee Shull 1 1 4, Victoria Stang 1 2 4, Marissa Middleton 7 3 17, Malina Rowland 4 2 12.
JV: Mansfield Christian 10-9 (2 quarters).