SYCAMORE — Bucyrus runs a perimeter-oriented offense. Scoring inside and rebounding have been problematic.
It was more of the same Saturday afternoon. Mohawk grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and scored all their points inside the arc to pull away to a 47-39 Northern 10 Athletic Conference win.
“We did amazing on offensive rebounds. I’m really, really proud of our girls with that,” Mohawk coach Natasha Mullholand said. “We’ve been working on our bunny shots, which were a little better. But I feel that’s where a lot of our second chances came from, so I’m glad they gave the effort for the rebounding.”
The Lady Red stayed close by hitting six of 14 from 3-point range, which is their calling card. However, they only had six offensive rebounds and 25 total boards. The Lady Warriors had 46 total rebounds.
“We’re passive on the offensive side of things too much. We’re not crashing the glass offensively,” Bucyrus coach Brian Seybert said. “That’s what we talked about in (the locker room). We get one shooter, and we get four other people standing around watching it happen, hoping it goes in, so we don’t have to crash.”
Bucyrus (0-5, 0-3 N10) started the game well enough, grabbing a 9-2 lead fueled by 3s from Malina Rowland and Savannah Clark. But the Warriors chipped away and eventually tied the game at 12-12 within seconds of the first quarter buzzer.
Mohawk (2-2, 1-1 N10) eased out to a 21-18 at halftime, thanks, in large part, to a 14-6 rebounding advantage in the second quarter. Indicative of the dominance in the paint, post players Jaedyn Hamilton and Aubrey Gottfried combined for 15 of the Warriors first-half points.
“What I really like about this team is there is no selfishness,” Mullholand said. “They pass the ball really well, at the inside, inside-outside passes. We always look for the open person and it’s not just one person we look for.”
The third quarter proved pivotal to the outcome. After the Lady Red had cut their deficit to 27-26 on a runner by Karlee Shull, Bucyrus had two opportunities to retake the lead. But a missed shot and a turnover squelched the chance.
Mohawk took advantage, going on a 10-3 run to the end of the period to stretch its lead to 37-30.
“I can’t say that every single time we aren’t working on the defensive end to box out. We actually are,” Seybert said. “They still get them. They’re bigger. That’s going to be the challenge every game for us.”
The Warriors’ lead ballooned to 43-30 on a basket by Allison Russell with 5:21 left. The advantage remained at double digits until Bucyrus’ Marissa Middleton hit a 3 from the left corner with five seconds left to set the final score.
Gottfried and Katie Woodland led Mohawk with 12 points each and Anna Russell added 10. Gottfried also had 16 rebounds and Hamilton grabbed 10.
Rowland led all scorers with 13 points for the Lady Red, including three 3s. Clark finished with nine points. Reese Garvin and Shull had five rebounds apiece.
“She’s a very good shooter and the girls knew that,” Mullholand said of Rowland. “It was on our scouting report. At all times, we knew where she was on the court.
“We knew who their shooters were,” she added. “There were a couple of times we lost the shooters, but we always say we have to get the hands up on the shooters.”
Seybert stressed the need for his team to get to the basket on offense more often.
“We’ll still be able to get the 3s we want to shoot, and we’d be able to kick it out if they take that shot away,” Seybert said. “We had eight baskets inside and (Mohawk) had 20.”
As frustrating as the early close losses have been, Seybert remains positive.
“We’ll prepare on Monday and Tuesday and get ready for Edison on Wednesday,” Seybert said.
Mohawk also won the junior varsity game, 37-19. Sam Yarger had 10 points to lead the Warriors. Aubrie Kimmel and Macie Hubble had six each for Bucyrus.
Box score
Bucyrus 12 6 12 9 — 39
Mohawk 12 9 16 10 — 47
Bucyrus (0-5, 0-3 N10): Shots 14-42; 3-pt. shots 6-14 (Malina Rowland 3, Karlee Shull, Marissa Middleton. Savannah Clark); Free throws 5-16; Rebounds 25 (Reese Garvin 5, Karlee Shull 5); Turnovers 13. Scoring: Karlee Shull 3 0 7, Reese Garvin 0 3 3, Marissa Middleton 2 1 6, Lilyan Butchko 0 1 1, Malina Rowland 5 0 13, Savannah Clark 4 0 9.
Mohawk (2-2, 1-1 N10): Shots 20-57; 3-pt. shots 0-9; Free throws 7-11; Rebounds 46 (Aubrey Gottfried 16); Turnovers 14. Scoring: Allison Russell 2 0 4, Anna Russell 4 2 10, Chloe Miller 1 0 2, Katie Woodland 5 2 12, Jaedyn Hamilton 2 3 7, Aubrey Gottfried 6 0 12.
JV: Mohawk 37-19.