ATTICA — The two-game winning streak Bucyrus enjoyed was cut short by Senior Night at Seneca East.
The Tigers blew open a close game with a 19-point second quarter, then cruised to a 74-45 Northern 10 Athletic Conference game. It was the regular-season finale for both teams.
Both coaches thought the energy of the night fueled the hosts.
“It was their senior night. We knew they were going to come out tough,” Bucyrus coach Scott Gifford said. “They were tougher than we were. They wanted it more than we did tonight.”
After a first quarter, which ended with Seneca East (15-7, 8-6 N10) leading 17-15 — and in which Bucyrus (6-16, 1-13) led briefly, at 13-12 —the Tigers outscored the Redmen, 19-6, in the second to 36-21 advantage at halftime.
Isaac Mason dropped in nine of his game-high 20 points in the frame to lead the way.
“Our whole energy for the game is a testament to the seniors,” Seneca East coach Anthony Langhurst said. “They gave us a boost and made sure this was one game we were going to play from start to finish.”
The Tigers’ defense held Bucyrus leading scorer Malachi Bayless to 15 points — three below his average — six of which came from the free throw line. The Redmen could not find a rhythm on offense, committing 21 turnovers.
“We didn’t run our offense,” Gifford said. “One or two passes, take a drive in, three guys surround you, throw up a prayer. We just kind of went back to our old ways. We didn’t run any offense tonight.
“Everybody’s been face-guarding Mali,” Gifford added. “When we run the offense, he gets wide-open shots, wide-open layups. I get it, (Malachi) is aggressive, he wants to win. But you have to play under control, you have to run the offense, you have to let the other guys screen for you. The game was just too hard for him tonight.”
“If you had told me that (holding Bayless under his average) yesterday, I would have probably shook my head and said you’re probably thinking about the wrong game,” Langhurst said. “He’s very explosive. But we’ve got defensive-minded guys. They see a matchup like that and they start licking their lips. Sometimes they are begging me to get matchups like that. It’s good to coach guys like that.”
The Tigers stretched the lead in the third quarter with 20 more points. Freshman Luke Mason (Isaac’s younger brother) came off the bench to hit three 3-point shots and the rout was on. Seneca East connected on 11 3s on the night.
“They’re loaded. Their record doesn’t indicate how good they are,” Gifford said of the Tigers. “They’ve got the school’s leading scorer (Isaac Mason), his younger brother coming and killing it. (Lucas) Bordner comes in, he didn’t play the last time. They’re streaking right now. This is where you want to be going into the tournament.”
Randy Banks supported Bayless’ 15 with eight points and also had 10 rebounds for Bucyrus. Blayne Barto added seven points.
Luke Mason added 12 points to his brother Isaac’s 20. Aiden Hines and Cody Heibertshausen had eight each. Isaac Mason grabbed nine rebounds.
“You get the Masons open and Cody was hot tonight starting,” Langhurst said. “If they can get their feet set and it’s an open pass, it’s nice to see it (shooting) come to fruition.”
The Redmen will look to right the ship heading into the Division III sectional tournament on Wednesday, where they face Northwood at Monroeville.
“It’s OK, when you’re in a fight, to get punched,” Gifford said. “We got punched. I didn’t beat the kids up afterward. We kept it positive. We move on. We’ve got a very winnable game coming up on Wednesday.”
Seneca East will begin tournament play also on Wednesday in the Division IV sectional at Ashland Crestview where it takes on N10 foe Buckeye Central. The Tigers are down from Division III last year, but the coach is taking nothing for granted.
“Every team on Monday is 0-0,” Langhurst said. “So, great regular season. We’ll close the book on it and start practice tomorrow. Momentum is great and it will hopefully give us some energy at practice. But Buckeye Central has the same record as us on Monday as far as I’m concerned, so we’ve got to have that mindset.”
Seneca East held on to win the junior varsity game, 46-40. Jacob Bowerman had 15 points for the Tigers and Keeno Ruffing had nine. Georgie Floyd had a game-high 16 points for Bucyrus and Chris Neale added 10.
Box score
Seneca East 74, Bucyrus 45
Bucyrus 15 6 14 10 — 45
Seneca East 17 19 20 18 — 74
Stats
Bucyrus (6-16, 1-13 N10): Shots 13-42; 3-pt. shots 4-15 (Malachi Bayless 3, Kam Lewis); Free throws 14-20; Rebounds 29 (Randy Banks 10); Turnovers 21. Scoring: Kam Lewis 1 0 3, Blayne Barto 1 5 7, Chris Neale 1 0 3, Noah Burke 1 1 3, Brock Frost 1 0 2, Kavan Combs 2 0 4, Malachi Bayless 3 6 15, Randy Banks 3 2 8.
Seneca East (15-7, 8-6 N10): Shots 27-58; 3-pt. shots 11-27 (Luke Mason 4, Isaac Mason 3, Bryler Beamer, Lucas Bordner, Cody Heibertshausen, Blake Foos); Free throws 9-15; Rebounds 35 (Isaac Mason 9); Turnovers 16. Scoring: Kadin Snay 1 1 3, Bryler Beamer 2 0 5, Luke Mason 4 0 12, Isaac Mason 7 3 20, Aiden Hines 3 2 8, Lucas Bordner 2 2 7, Cody Heibertshausen 3 1 8, Blake Foos 2 0 5, Lucas Hicks 1 0 2, Keeno Ruffing 2 0 4.
JV: Seneca East 46-40.