BUCYRUS — After his team Seneca East shot just 28 percent in a disappointing 46-41 loss to Buckeye Central on Saturday, Tigers’ coach Chris Long was looking for an offensive spark.
He got it Friday night. Seneca East hit 31 of 62 shots from the field — including eight three-point shots — as the red-hot Tigers burned past Bucyrus, 80-44, in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
“This game is up and down,” Long said. “Last Saturday, we went 14 of 50 (from the field) and lost by five. I’ve always thought we had the capability of being a great shooting team. We have a plethora of shooters. If we can get the ball into the paint, it starts to open things up.”
On the other side, Bucyrus (0-5, 0-3 N10) struggled with mediocre shooting and turnovers — especially early.
The Redmen shot just 34 percent for the game and turned the ball over 20 times, 13 of which came in the first half as Seneca East built a 20-point halftime lead.
“We had nine turnovers in the first quarter,” Bucyrus coach Barry Egan said. “It just felt like we were playing uphill the entire time. When you don’t shoot good, you don’t look good. We got stuck in a rut and just couldn’t seem to get out of the rut at all.”
The Tigers scored the first six points of the game before the Redmen tied the game on a three-point play by Mike Wise and a 3-point shot from Gabe Higginbotham.
From there, it was all Seneca East. The Tigers finished the first period with a 17-8 lead and expanded that to 39-19 by halftime. Seneca East closed out the second quarter on an 8-0 run.
“I’ve got to give my players a lot of credit because we decided to make quite a bit of changes to our defense,” Long said. “After four days of practicing it and being able to come out and put it into a game plan was kind of exciting to see.”
Ironically, Bucyrus had only four fewer attempts from the field than did Seneca East, but eight fewer makes. The beat went on in the second half.
“We knew what they run and when you’re trailing cutters, you’re not in very good defensive position,” Egan said. “Chris is going to keep running the same thing until you stop it. Obviously, we didn’t stop it.”
The Tigers had their worst shooting quarter of the game in the third, hitting just five of 19 shots and were still able to stretch the lead to 56-27 by period’s end.
Ten different Seneca East players reached the scoring column — four in double figures. Andrew Kalb led the way with a game-high 18 points. Andy Bauman had 15, while Zane Gibbs and Turner Bridgford finished with 10 each. Brock Ferres had eight rebounds.
Bucyrus had three double-figures scorers but only five Redmen scored in all. Wise topped Bucyrus with 14 points and nine rebounds. Nick Middleton had 12 points and Grady Jackson added 10.
“The only difference between Barry’s team and my team is that we are a little bit older and some of that showed,” Long said. “I think we’re coming along. It’s not one of those things you change overnight, but you build on it. It’s a process, game after game.”
“For the first time, I’m very disappointed with our effort,” Egan said. “We practiced very, very hard this week. I’m not disappointed with our kids, I was disappointed with the effort displayed. I just think the people of this town deserve a little bit better than that.”
“We’re 2-1 in the league,” Long said. “The goal is still there. We’re going to have to beat some good teams, I’m not going to deny that. Any championship that’s won in any conference in this area, you have to beat good teams to get it done. Why not us?”
The Tigers will face one of those “good teams” Saturday when they host Colonel Crawford.
“We can’t use our age as a crutch,” Egan said. “Effort and attitude are two things you can control. We better come out with a really good effort and attitude (Saturday) or we’re going to have the exact same result.”
Seneca East made it a sweep on the night with a 54-43 win in the junior varsity game. Isaac Mason had 22 points to lead the Tigers and Cody Heibertshausen added 11.
Brady Rankins topped Bucyrus with 14 points and Karson Kimmel finished with 11.
Box score
Seneca East 17 22 17 24 — 80
Bucyrus 8 11 8 17 — 44
Seneca East (2-3, 2-1 N10): Shots 31-62; 3-pt. shots 8-18 (Andy Bauman 3, Turner Bridgford 2, Andrew Kalb 2, Jake forehand); Free throws 10-13; Rebounds 39 (Brock Ferres 8); Turnovers 12. Scoring: Jake Forehand 3 0 7, Zane Gibbs 4 2 10, Jake Siesel 1 0 2, Andrew Kalb 8 0 18, Austin Snay 1 1 3, Isaac Mason 0 1 1, Brock Ferres 3 1 7, Andy Bauman 5 2 15, Turner Bridgford 4 0 10, Pieter Wise 2 3 7.
Bucyrus (0-5, 0-3 N10): Shots 17-49; 3-pt. shots 5-14; Free throws 5-7; Rebounds 24 (Mike Wise 9); Turnovers 20. Scoring: Zach Delaney 1 0 2, Mike Wise 6 2 14, Grady Jackson 4 0 10, Nick Middleton 4 2 12, Gabe Higginbotham 2 1 6.
JV: Seneca East 54-43.