BUCYRUS — Bucyrus’ freshman-laden roster had played just three varsity games and Crestline had not played a game since November 24.
The first half showed as much. But the Lady Bulldogs broke open a two-point game at halftime with a 17-5 third-quarter advantage to pull away to a 56-39 victory in a girls’ non-league game at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
”It took us a little bit (to get started),” Crestline coach Kyle Strauch said. “The first half, we tried to press, and we just would not get back and match up. So, we had to take the press off at halftime to play half-court solid man-to-man and the girls really stepped up.”
The young Lady Redmen took advantage of the Crestline press in the first half despite committing 16 turnovers. Bucyrus (0-4) trailed just 11-9 after one quarter and 26-24 at halftime. The Redmen hit 11 of 22 shots in the first two periods.
“That was definitely a positive,” Bucyrus coach Britt Ulmer said. “We’re finally figuring out when to take good shots. It’s just putting it all together and they’re finding it.”
But with an already thin bench shortened further by the absence of sophomore Maddie Kimmel and early foul trouble, the Bulldogs began to wear down Bucyrus, especially in the second half.
Twelve first-half fouls on the Redmen wreaked havoc on Ulmer’s rotation and Crestline (2-0) was able to take control of the tempo.
“That was part of the plan,” Strauch said. “They had eight girls dressed. We were rotating maybe eight, nine, ten girls in and I told them we’ve just got to play fast — wear them out.”
After Bucyrus tied the score at 26-26 on a basket by Lily Neuman to start the second half, it was all Bulldogs for the rest of the third quarter. Crestline went on a 17-3 run to the end of the frame — with six different players — to push its lead to 43-29 after three.
The foul troubles continued and started to take its toll. The Redmen lost their point guard to her fourth foul early in the period and had sat much of the first half with three fouls.
“It hurt us early,” Ulmer said. “Layla Ellis got in foul trouble. She’s our point guard and kind of leads our team. Maddie Kimmel wasn’t there tonight and she’s a leader for us.”
A 13-10 edge for the visitors set the final score at 56-39.
“We came out and only gave up 15 points (in the second half) compared to 24, which is what we wanted,” Strauch said. “Our defense led to offense.”
Emma Tyrrell topped Bucyrus with 15 points and six rebounds. Neuman added 13 points.
“Our third quarter has been our worst quarter,” Ulmer said. “We didn’t come out ready. We kind of came out shy, scared. It’s not that they don’t want it in their heads. It’s wanted it out on the floor, want the basketball. I think a lot of 50-50 balls went (Crestline’s) way.”
Hannah Delong led the Bulldogs with 13 points while Ivy Stewart added 11 points and eight rebounds. Daija Sewell finished with 10 points. Eight different Crestline players scored.
“I love balance,” Strauch said. “Everybody’s contributing. We had some girls off the bench contribute really well. We’re still developing that depth.”
“All we can do is keep moving forward,” Ulmer said. “Luckily, basketball is a long season. We’ve got a long season ahead of us and we’ll keep moving forward and getting better every day.”
Box score
Crestline 11 15 17 13 — 56
Bucyrus 9 15 5 10 — 39
Crestline (2-0): Shots 17-39; 3-pt. shots 4-13 (Hannah Delong 2, Ivy Stewart, Jocelyn Morgan); Free throws 18-31; Rebounds 35 (Ivy Stewart 8); Turnovers 33. Scoring: Kennedi Snipes 1 0 2, Hannah Delong 5 1 13, Dalani Kiser 1 1 3, Ivy Stewart 2 6 11, Daija Sewell 3 4 10, Maddie Engler 1 1 3, Jocelyn Morgan 2 2 7, Brynn Cheney 2 3 7.
Bucyrus (0-4): Shots 16-42; 3-pt. shots 1-2 (Emma Tyrrell); Free throws 6-12; Rebounds 23 (Emma Tyrrell 6); Turnovers 35. Scoring: Layla Ellis 0 1 1 Addison Ricker 1 2 4, Emma Tyrrell 6 2 15, Kelsie Grady 1 0 2, Sierra Frost 2 0 4, Lily Neuman 6 1 13.