BUCYRUS — Seneca East and Bucyrus entered their second meeting of the season with the same perspective.

With the idea of winning the Northern 10 Conference now highly unlikely, they each are thinking about their positions come tournament time.

Seneca East won the first meeting back in December, 50-46, and the Tigers made it a sweep on the season, defeating the Lady Redmen, 57-43, Saturday afternoon at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.

“We talked about that briefly,” Seneca East coach Don Vogt said. “Looking at our sectional alignment, Bucyrus was right there with us record-wise, league-wise. They’re right in our neighborhood.”

Bucyrus coach Taylor Whitaker thought her team never got into an offensive rhythm.

“Pressure does affect us, so does a zone (defense),” Whitaker said. “I don’t know why.  I think it is a mental thing with the girls. It’s a barrier we have to overcome.”

The Redmen had their only lead of the game at 6-4 on a basket by Brooklyn Spears with 2:09 left in the first period.

The Tigers scored the final seven points of the frame to lead 11-6 by period’s end.

Turnovers cost Bucyrus (7-5, 4-4 N10) despite scoring 18 points in the second period. Ten miscues in the first half allowed Seneca East (10-4, 6-4) to expand its advantage to 36-24 by intermission.

“The defense did what it is supposed to do — make every pass difficult, every reception difficult,” Vogt said. “It took them out of their rhythm.”

In the second half, the Redmen could not cut into the deficit. The closest they could get was 38-29 with 2:47 left in the third quarter when Shaina Orewiler hit the second of two free throws.

Seneca East eased out to a 46-31 lead after three quarters, despite the fact Bucyrus held the Tigers’ leading scorer, Jessica Bowerman, to eight points. Bowerman came in as the fourth leading scorer in the N10 at 17.3 points per game.

“Our goal was to hold her and Adachi down,” Whitaker said. “We did a better job on Bowerman.  (Marina) Adachi is really quick.”

Adachi ended with a game-high 21 points for the Tigers. Bonnie Bivens and Caylin Quiggle had 12 each and Quiggle added 10 rebounds.

“That was only the second game this season that Caylin has scored in double figures,” Vogt said. “We need others to step up when someone else has an off day.”

“Quiggle hit a couple of foul line shots she doesn’t usually hit,” Whitaker said. “She took advantage of our concentrating on their better players.”

Orewiler led the Redmen with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Alivia Lewis added 12 points.

“We were kind of taking the first shot instead of the best shot,” Whitaker said. “We’re not playing as a team as well now as we were.”

Seneca East also won the junior varsity game, 47-25. Megan Rife led the Tigers with 14 points and Tori Fritz added 12. Taylor Myers and Taylor Patterson had eight points each for Bucyrus.

Seneca East    11    25    10    11 — 57

Bucyrus            6    18      7    12 — 43

Stats

Seneca East (10-4, 6-4 N10): Shots 21-48; 3-pt shots 3-11 (Marina Adachi 3); Free throws 12-15; Rebounds 33 (Caylin Quiggle 10); Turnovers 16. Scoring: Jessica Bowerman 3 2 8, Marina Adachi 7 4 21, Bonnie Bivens 4 4 12, Caylin Quiggle 5 2 12, Alexis Hicks 2 0 4.

Bucyrus (7-5, 4-4 N10): Shots 16-44; 3-pt. shots 2-11 (Alivia Lewis, Shaina Orewiler); Free throws 9-15; Rebounds 27 (Orewiler 10); Turnovers 20. Scoring: Ni’Georia Floyd 2 0 4, Alivia Lewis 4 3 12, Izzy Burling 2 0 4, Brooklyn Spears 3 3 9, Shaina Orewiler 5 3 14.

JV: Seneca East 47-25.