SYCAMORE — Most basketball games have ebbs and flows. But Bucyrus and Mohawk took it to a new level.
The Redmen got down 7-0 to start the game, went scoreless in the second quarter and yet were within five points in the fourth quarter.
In the end, the Warriors defense and some Bucyrus miscues were enough to give Mohawk a 50-35 Northern 10 Athletic Conference victory.
“We cut it to five — we didn’t get a call,” Bucyrus coach Barry Egan said. “But we have to be better with the ball too. We can’t turn it (over) in key situations. And we have to be more aggressive offensively.”
The Warriors scored the first seven points of the game on a basket and a 3-point shot from Nathan Geary and a bucket by A.J. Hess.
The first Bucyrus (3-8, 1-7 N10) flow came in the person of Malachi Bayless, who scored the first nine points for the Redmen. His 3 tied the game at 9-9. Mike Wise finished Bucyrus’ scoring in the opening quarter with five points, forging a 14-14 tie by period’s end.
“Obviously, defensively I thought our kids did a good job,” Mohawk coach Paul Dunn said. “In the first quarter we got (our zone defense) a little too far extended out. I told them the second quarter to pack that thing back in. Three-point shooter-wise, we just had to make sure we found Bayless. We did a better job of that (later). He had nine in the first quarter.”
Then came the fateful second quarter for the Redmen. They missed all seven shots they took from the field. Mohawk (10-3, 6-2) took advantage, scoring 13 points to take a 27-14 lead at halftime. This, even though A.J. Hess and his 16.4 ppg. average, sat the entire second quarter with two fouls.
“He’s a real good player,” Egan said of Hess. “I thought that Joe (Rager) and Eddie (Dagher) did a real good job on him. But then we lost some guys on dribble drives. We’ve just got to stay in front. If we just stay in our stance and keep the ball in front of us, I think things would have been a little bit different.”
To Egan’s point, Hess was held to just six points even playing three quarters. But other Warriors filled in capably, according to Dunn.
“He’s going to draw the best defense from every team we play,” Dunn said. “People know what he is capable of. I thought (Bucyrus) did a good job of getting into him and being physical.
“I told (Hess) at halftime he knows better than to come down and get that second foul because we need him on the floor as much as we can. It kind of put us in a tough spot, but our kids responded — held them to zero points in the second quarter.”
Bucyrus chipped away at the deficit in the third quarter, outscoring the Warriors, 15-11, to get within 38-29. Grady Jackson scored six to lead the way.
The Redmen then scored six of the first eight points of the fourth quarter — the last on two free throws by Mike Wise with 5:41 left in the game — to pull within 40-35. But those were the last points Bucyrus would score.
“We cut it to five,” Egan said. “We didn’t get a tough call. But we have to be better with the ball too. We can’t turn it (over) in key situations, and we have to be more aggressive offensively.”
Six turnovers in the fourth quarter certainly contributed to Bucyrus’ downfall, particularly since the Redmen had only coughed it up eight times through the first three quarters.
Mohawk turned them into the final 10 points of the game. Hess scored on a stick-back and Bryce Hannam had a pair of baskets in the paint on back-to-back possessions to seal it for the Warriors.
Mohawk spread the wealth on offense. Bryce Hannam was the only one in double figures with 11. Geary added eight, but nine different Warriors scored. Hess had eight rebounds.
“We have a lot of shooters and when they’re open and get their feet set, they’re pretty lethal,” Dunn said. “We didn’t have a lot of chances to do that tonight.”
Bayless led Bucyrus with 14 points and eight rebounds. Wise added 11.
“Malachi’s got to realize that his defense can be his best offense,” Egan said. “Grady’s a perfect example of that. Joe’s the same way.”
“Offensively, I thought we left something to be desired,” Dunn said. “That’s a big credit to their defense. They really guarded us at the half-court line and our guards, for the majority of the game, weren’t able to get the ball entered into the wing. So, they made it really hard on us.”
“We’ve got to dig down defensively,” Egan said. “We’ve got to match the other team’s intensity even more because we don’t have a lot of room for error. But I thought our kids played with a lot of passion. We’re close. We’ve just got to kick that wall down to get through it.
“We have to keep trying and give it a great effort,” Egan added. “One of these nights, it’s going to pay off for us.”
“There’s a lot of things we can clean up,” Dunn said. “But to win a league game against a team we see a lot, it’s a good win, no matter what.”
Mohawk also won the junior varsity game, 65-20. Boomer Cleveland had 25 points for the Warriors and Kahne Hayman added 10. Noah Burke finished with six for Bucyrus.
Box score
Bucyrus 14 0 15 6 — 35
Mohawk 14 13 11 12 — 50
Bucyrus (3-8, 1-7 N10): Shots 15-34; 3-pt. shots 1-6 (Malachi Bayless); Free throws 4-8; Rebounds 23 (Malachi Bayless 8); Turnovers 14. Scoring: Joe Rager 1 0 2, Mike Wise 4 3 11, Grady Jackson 3 0 6, Malachi Bayless 6 1 14. Dylan Lanker 1 0 2.
Mohawk (10-3, 6-2 N10): Shots 20-53; 3-pt. shots 4-19 (Nathan Geary, Ryan Dietrich, Kahne Hayman, Brayden Chester); Free throws 6-9; Rebounds 31 (A. J. Hess 8); Turnovers 8. Scoring: Nathan Geary 3 1 8, Brayden Cleveland 1 3 5, Collin Barth 2 0 4, Ryan Dietrich 1 0 3, A.J. Hess 3 0 6, Kahne Hayman 1 0 3, Reese Hayman 1 1 3, Bryce Hannam 5 1 11, Brayden Chester 3 0 7.
JV: Mohawk 65-20.