BUCYRUS (Crawford County Now) — The young Bucyrus Lady Red have yet to win a game. But the determination hasn’t faded.
Bucyrus trailed Mohawk by 16 midway through the third quarter, but fought back to get within six, before falling to the Lady Warriors, 47-38, in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium on Phil A. Joseph Court.
“We went from the 1-3-1 (zone) where we allowed (Sam) Yarger to hit three 3s — I didn’t expect that to happen,” Bucyrus coach Brian Seybert said. “Kudos to her for knocking them down. Then we went to a 2-3 zone and put in a little halfcourt trap and tried to get a few turnovers. It was effective in the second half. We cut it to (six).”
The first quarter was typical of two teams scrambling for wins. Mohawk (2-6, 1-3 N10) eased out to a 13-11 lead. But the turning point of the game came in the second quarter.
After taking a 17-15 lead on a 3 by Karlee Shull, the Lady Red went scoreless over the next 6:24 of the second period, allowing the Warriors to 29-18 lead by halftime.
As Seybert mentioned, Yarger led the Mohawk charge with her three trifectas. She finished with 12 points.
Lady Warriors coach Natasha Mullholand noted that her charges were following the practice plan.
“I told the girls they’re doing the stuff we’ve been practicing in practice, which is our defense and boxing out and limiting turnovers,” Mullholand said. “I had nothing to complain about at halftime.”
In building the halftime cushion, Mohawk committed just six turnovers and held a 23-18 edge on the glass. The Warriors ended with a 48-35 advantage, including 22 offensive rebounds.
“Probably the one stat I’m not happy with is the offensive rebounds,” Seybert said. “We’ve got to cut that in half. If we do, it gives us a chance to win a game at some point in time.”
An 8-3 run to start the second half by Mohawk left Bucyrus (0-9, 0-4) with a 37-21 deficit. But it was then that the Lady Red began to ship away.
The hosts created a 7-2 run of their own to the end of the third quarter to get the differential back to 37-28 by period’s end.
Bucyrus was able to ratchet up the defense to force five Warriors turnover in the third quarter after just six in the first half.
“We’ve been kind of struggling in the turnover section,” Mullholand said. “That was our number one goal this game, limit the turnovers. We wanted to go below 12.”
The Warriors came close to the coach’s goal, finishing with just 13 miscues after only two more in the fourth quarter.
The Lady Red were within six twice, the last with 1:34 left on a pair of free throws by Lillyan Butchko. But they missed their final four shots from the field and could get no closer.
“Mohawk went on a run there at the end of the second quarter,” Seybert said. “They just kind of ramped up their effort and we didn’t really change that, and we didn’t do anything to affect that.”
Ni’Cia Floyd led Bucyrus with a game-high 15 points and 14 rebounds. Savannah Clark added eight points, and Tori Stang had seven boards.
“(Ni’Cia) only had two shot attempts and (five) points in the first half,” Seybert said. “She’s got to get looks, so she started going at it in the second half.”
Katie Woodland matched Yarger with 12 points for the Warriors. Chloe Miller added eight points and 10 rebounds.
“Katie’s one of my leaders and I really appreciate the hard work she’s doing,” Mullholand said. “She can’t get down on herself because she creates a lot of plays for us even if she doesn’t have the ball.”
“I’m just happy with the effort the girls are giving even though we still haven’t got a win in the win column,” Seybert said. “They’re not quitting. They continue to fight, continue to battle.”
The coach remains optimistic.
“We did a good job of moving the ball on offense,” Seybert said. “Sure, we made some errors on cross-court passes that they jumped and got turnovers out of. If we cut those down, again, it gives us another chance to try to get the first win of the season. It’s coming up.”
Box score
Mohawk 13 16 8 10 — 47
Bucyrus 11 7 10 10 — 38
Mohawk (2-6, 1-3 N10): Shots 16-62; 3-pt. shots 4-20 (Sam Yarger 3, Katie Woodland); Free throws 11-22; Rebounds 48 (Chloe Miller 10); Turnovers 13. Scoring: Summer Haubert 2 0 4, Sam Yarger 4 1 12, Mara Haynes 1 3 5, Mara Lease 2 0 4, Katie Woodland 3 5 12, Chloe Miller 3 0 8, Roxanne Tiell 1 0 2.
Bucyrus (0-9, 0-4 N10): Shots 10-40; 3-pt. shots 2-13 (Karlee Shull, Savannah Clark); Free throws 16-23; Rebounds 35 (Ni’Cia Floyd 14); Turnovers 20. Scoring: Ni’Cia Floyd 4 7 15, Macie Hubble 0 2 2, Karlee Shull 1 3 6, Tori Stang 2 1 5, Lillyan Butchko 0 2 2, Savannah Clark 3 1 8.
JV: Mohawk 21-11 (2 quarters).