BUCYRUS — Bucyrus knocked on the door to victory in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference Friday.

The door slammed shut on the Redmen in the waning minutes as the Upper Sandusky Rams salvaged a 54-47 win at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.

Despite 21 turnovers and being on the short end of 19-7 in offensive rebounds, the Redmen held a 38-35 lead with 5:38 to go in the fourth quarter.

But the Rams’ Holden Daris scored 13 of his 19 points from there as the visitors overtook Bucyrus.

Missed front ends of three one-and-one free throw opportunities in the final frame doused the hopes of a Redmen victory.

“We work on free throws every day. It’s a mind thing,” Bucyrus coach Scott Gifford said. “We let some things distract us that we couldn’t control. I tell these kids every day about staying focused on the game, don’t focus on anything other than that. But we let some things distract us and it showed.”

The Redmen managed to hold a 12-10 lead after one, limiting the Rams to three of 17 from the floor. Upper Sandusky (3-15, 3-8 N10) took a 20-19 halftime lead despite shooting a lackluster seven of 28 — 13 more shots than Bucyrus (4-13, 0-11) took.

“Going into a week ago, we were the leading 3-point shooting percentage team in the league,” Upper Sandusky coach Jeff Winslow said. “And so you’ve got to kind of count on making those shots and we didn’t. So, we have to find another way to win. I’m very proud of my guys for figuring it out.”

The Rams were two of 13 from 3 in the first half and just six of 25 for the game even with Daris’ fourth quarter outburst.

“They knew we were going to zone them,” Gifford said of his team’s staple 2-3 zone defense. “They had that great play down the middle, dish it backside. We couldn’t guard it. We couldn’t guard much tonight.”

The main recipient of the drive-and-dish was Ethan Kessler, who scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, mostly on the low block.

Malachi Bayless scored seven points in the third quarter as the Redmen flipped the one-point advantage to their favor, leading 34-33 after three.

Bucyrus was able to convert a number of Rams’ turnovers along with some defensive rebounds into transition baskets, which pleased Gifford.

“That’s our bread-and-butter,” Gifford said. “We work a lot on that, especially early in the season. Everybody knows that’s what we do. It’s kind of hard to guard if you don’t practice it every day.”

But five turnovers and two of five free throw shooting along with allowing four offensive rebounds spelled doom for the Redmen in the final five minutes.

Daris hit a 3 to tie the game at 38-38 then connected on two more from long range to put Upper Sandusky up 46-40 and Bucyrus could not recover.

“The difference was there in the fourth quarter,” Winslow said. “Holden stepped up and made some 3s. That’s what you have to do to loosen up a little bit and then you get some inside stuff.”

Brock Montgomery added eight points to Kessler’s 20 and Daris’ 19 for the Rams. Montgomery and Kessler had seven rebounds, including a combined eight on the offensive end.

Bayless topped Bucyrus with 14 points and Blayne Barto added 12. Noah Burke grabbed seven rebounds.

“Their heads were down,” Gifford said of his team. “This is a game we thought we could win. When you’re there in the fourth quarter and don’t pull it out, you have to hold yourself accountable and see what you did wrong and what you could have done better. That’s the only way you get better.”

“They’re gotten a lot better,” Winslow said of the Redmen. “Coach Gifford has don a good job with them. They’ve switched to that 2-3 zone. Anytime a team plays a zone and you don’t shoot it well, that’s what it’s going to look like.”

“I’m proud of our guys,” Gifford said. “ They come to practice and work hard. They’re starting to believe in it when nobody else does. I’m proud of their effort, but I’m disappointed we lost.”

Upper Sandusky also edged the Redmen in the junior varsity game, 46-43. Josh Heilman had 18 points to lead the Rams and David Gibson added nine. Jackson Farrar had 12 points for Bucyrus and Demaris Munn-Page finished with 10.

Box score

Upper Sandusky     10      10       13       21 — 54

Bucyrus                       12        7        15      13 — 47

Stats

Upper Sandusky (3-15, 3-8 N10): Shots 20-59; 3-pt. shots 6-25 (Holden Daris 5, Brock Montgomery); Free throws 8-15; Rebounds 33 (Brock Montgomery 7, Ethan Kessler 7); Turnovers 9. Scoring: Holden Daris 6 2 19, Brock Montgomery 3 1 8, Sam Smith 0 2 2, Kaimen Iles 1 3 5, Ethan Kessler 10 0 20.

Bucyrus (4-13, 0-11 N10): Shots 18-36; 3-pt. shots 4-15 (Malachi Bayless 2, Kam Lewis, Blayne Barto); Free throws 7-14; Rebounds 30 (Noah Burke 7); Turnovers 21. Scoring: Kam Lewis 2 1 6, Blayne Barto 5 1 12, Noah Burke 2 3 7, Jackson Farrar 0 2 2, Kavan Combs 1 0 2, Malachi Bayless 6 0 14, Randy Banks 2 0 4.

JV: Upper Sandusky 46-43.