BUCYRUS — After 16 minutes of basketball against Ridgedale, the Bucyrus Lady Red appeared washed up and left for dead.
A change of mind and an aggressive second half full-court press breathed new life into them. The Lady Red rallied from a 10-point deficit to defeat the Lady Rockets, 55-42, in a non-league game at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
“That’s kind of what we wanted to do in the first half, but we were lethargic in doing what we were trying to do,” Bucyrus coach Brian Seybert said. “Ridgedale made some shots, and they had some hope and confidence there, so they kept shooting them and they kept making them.”
Ridgedale (4-4) hit seven of ten shots from the field in the first quarter to ease out to a 15-8 lead by period’s end. Five different Rockets scored. The defense held Bucyrus (3-5) to three of 14 attempts in the frame.
The visitors cooled off a little in the second quarter, making just three of 11 shots, but the Lady Red remained stagnant, so Ridgedale was still able to add to their advantage, taking a 24-14 lead to the locker room at halftime.
“That’s probably the most complete half of basketball that we’ve played this year, defensively, offensively, and all things considered,” Rockets coach Brad Gerfen said. “So, it’s something to hang our hat on there.”
However, Bucyrus woke up in the second half from its offensive slumber thanks to its defense. The pressure forced 13 third-quarter turnovers by the Rockets — they had 30 for the game — and set the Lady Red up for a 20-0 run over 3:05 of the clock to flip the script and give Bucyrus a 39-29 lead.
Ridgedale stopped the bleeding with a 5-1 run to the end of the period to get back to within 40-34 after three.
“The one way we got that 20-0 run is by starting with the (full-court pressure and man-to-man defense with pressure,” Seybert said. “Credit to our girls. They changed their mindset at halftime. Reat props to Addy Ricker — Addy finished with 11 points, had some real nice moves on the inside, played with a lot of confidence and she needed that.”
The Rockets made a final charge in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. They got within one, at 41-40, on a basket by Callie Comer at the 6:00 mark.
“Maybe previous groups wouldn’t have fought as hard to stay in the game,” Gerfen said. “This group has done that a couple of times this year.”
But the Lady Red closed out on a 14-2 run to win going away. Brook Dennison scored seven of her game-high 22 points in the final frame to help secure the win.
Addison Kemery was next with 12 points to go with Ricker’s 11 and Marissa Middleton added eight. Dennison grabbed six rebounds.
Comer and Camryn Thiel shared honors for Ridgedale with eight points each. Lauren Leslie finished with seven and nine rebounds. Eight different Rockets scored in all.
“We got deflections and quick steals out of the trap and pressure, and we turned it into layups,” Seybert said. “The adrenaline starts coming through and you start playing with confidence. You’re enjoying the game at that point.”
“That’s pretty much what happened,” Gerfen said of the pressure changing the complexion. “We’re going to have to work on coming back to passes and being strong with the basketball. It’s something we’ve struggled with a little bit.
“We weren’t very physical,” Gerfen added. “They were a lot more physical than we were coming out to start the third quarter and the tide kind of turned.”
“We were getting open shots (in the first half), but our threes weren’t falling,” Seybert said. “So, we tried to change it up and get the ball inside a little more against the zone and try to get to the basket.”
The Bucyrus mentor was impressed with the Rockets’ effort.
“They’ve got good size inside and those girls were doing some good things,” Seybert said. “They’ve got some good shooters. Brad’s in good position with the girls he has.”
Ridgedale won a two-quarter jayvee game, 23-7.
Box score
Ridgedale 15 9 10 8 — 42
Bucyrus 8 6 26 15 — 55
Ridgedale (4-4): Shots 18-37 3-pt. shots 2-10 (Lilly Ruth 2); Free throws 4-12; Rebounds 34 (Lauren Leslie 9); Turnovers 30. Scoring: Hannah Murphy 1 0 2, Hannah Cook 2 0 4, Lauren Leslie 1 1 3, Lilly Ruth 2 1 7, Maddie McKenzie 2 1 5, Brenda Scott 2 1 5, Callie Comer 4 0 8, Camryn Thiel 4 0 8.
Bucyrus (3-5): Shots 19-37; 3-pt. shots 6-24 (Brook Dennison 4, Addison Kemery, Marissa Middleton); Free throws 11-17; Rebounds 27 (Brook Dennison 6); Turnovers 14. Scoring: Kimmy Burling 0 1 1, Addison Ricker 5 1 11, Brook Dennison 7 4 22, Addison Kemery 4 3 12, Marissa Middleton 3 1 8, Haylee Stratton 0 1 1.
JV: Ridgedale 23-7 (2 quarters).