BUCYRUS — It’s not often a team can commit 21 turnovers and still win the game by 20 points.
The Upper Sandusky Lady Rams pulled off the feat against Bucyrus Saturday afternoon at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
The Rams used 62 percent shooting from the floor and put on a rebounding clinic to offset their turnover deficit. The result was a 62-42 Northern 10 Athletic Conference victory.
For Lady Red coach Brian Seybert, it was another installment of a recurring theme.
“We were tentative early on. I don’t know why we were playing that way,” Seybert said. “I think our girls are more aggressive than the way they played in the first quarter. Again, get buried and have to fight back and have to dig out of a hole. It just expends so much energy doing that.”
Upper Sandusky (5-5, 2-3 N10) set the tone for the day by hitting its first six shots from the field on the way to a 17-4 lead in the first quarter.
“We started the game exactly how we wanted to,” Lady Rams coach Jerry Vent said. “Obviously when you make shots, the game is just a little bit easier. And we did that pretty consistently throughout the day.”
That they did. The Rams finished the first quarter hitting six of eight shots on their way to a blazing 23 of 37 for the game. Their worst quarter was the third, when they “only” hit five of 11 tries.
After struggling early, the Lady Red found their footing, scoring nine points over the second half of the first quarter to close back to within 17-9 by period’s end.
Bucyrus (3-7, 0-5) continued its momentum into the second quarter, getting as close as six at 19-13 on a basket by Brook Dennison at the 5:27 mark. But Upper Sandusky went on an 8-0 run to finish the second period. The red-hot Rams connected on three of their last four shots in the frame to stretch their lead to 30-15 at halftime.
Grace Walton was the fuel to the Upper Sandusky scoring machine. The junior scored 11 of her game-high 19 points in the first half. In addition, she dished out eight assists.
“The game plan was to stop Grace, No. 4,” Seybert said. “We gave her space, and she knocked down some shots early. She doesn’t need much space and that’s what we reiterated through practice all week.”
“Bucyrus responded. They’re a solid team. They’ve got some solid players,” Vent said. “We made a couple shots at the end of the first half to extend our lead to 15.”
The Lady Red made one last run at getting back into the game in the third quarter. Bucyrus took a page from the Rams’ play book, hitting five straight shots in one stretch — including three consecutive three-pointers — and added a traditional three-point play.
But Upper Sandusky dropped in three straight treys at one point to mitigate the Lady Red’s barrage. The closest Bucyrus could get was 41-32 on a 3 by Kendra Blizzard. The Rams held a 43-32 advantage after three.
“We come out in the third quarter and we’re on fire. We have a chance to cut into it, but they’re on fire as well,” Seybert said. “They matched every shot we made. We made a little dent in it, but we didn’t make a big enough dent.”
“That third quarter was crazy,” Vent said. “There was like five threes back and forth. It just felt unreal.”
The Lady Red were still within 10 at 47-37, on a pair of free throws by Marissa Middleton. But The Rams’ scoring machine kicked in from there, ending the game on a 15-5 run. True to form, Upper Sandusky hit seven of 10 shots in the final eight minutes.
Madison Hart seconded Walton with 10 points for Upper Sandusky and Addy Newman added eight. Eight different Rams reached the scoring column.
“Other girls stepped up (in addition to Walton),” Seybert said. “Hart had a heck of a game with 10 points. That’s a big lift for them right there. Again, not being consistent in making shots on our own end.”
The Rams held a decisive advantage on the glass, 31-14, offsetting their 21-14 deficit in turnovers. Walton led with six boards.
“Credit Bucyrus a little bit. They were physical and got up into us some,” Vent said of the high turnover count. “But I thought we were sloppy within the volleyball court (lines). Those are turnovers I don’t like.”
Vent noted that 20 seems to be the turnover number no matter the opponent. He said that it needs to be reduced for continued success. But he was pleased with the number of possessions created by rebounds.
“The two things we focus on for our possession count is, obviously, turnovers and then rebounds, because if we outrebound a team, that’s creating possessions for you whether it’s defensive or offense.”
“That’s the hiccup we’ll have to fight all year long,” Seybert said. “We have to stay close in the rebounding category. We’re just not going to win that, I don’t think, unless we get tougher.”
Dennison topped the Lady Red with 15 points. Middleton finished with nine and Addison Kemery added eight along with three rebounds.
“I thought our girls did a good job staying focused on what we were trying to do and the spots we were trying to get the ball in,” Vent said. “We scored 62 points. That’s kind of the offense that we have when we distribute the basketball the way we want to.”
Box scores
Girls
Upper Sandusky 62, Bucyrus 42
Upper Sandusky 17 13 13 19 — 62
Bucyrus 9 6 17 10 — 42
Upper Sandusky (5-5, 2-3 N10): Shots 23-37; 3-pt. shots 9-15 (Grace Walton 5, Addy Newman, Bailey Fox, Brynn Cundiff, Madison Hart); Free throws 7-15; Rebounds 31 (Grace Walton 6); Turnovers 21. Scoring: Addy Newman 3 1 8, Grace Walton 7 0 19, Hope Morris 2 0 4, Bailey Fox 1 1 4, Brynn Cundiff 2 1 6, Brooke Finscally 2 3 7, Ellee Ham 2 0 4, Madison 4 1 10.
Bucyrus (3-7, 0-5 N10): Shots 14-42; 3-pt. shots 5-15 (Brook Dennison 2, Addison Kemery 2, Kendra Blizzard); Free throws 9-10; Rebounds 14 (Addison Kemery 3); Turnovers 14. Scoring: Kimmy Burling 0 1 1, Addison Ricker 2 0 4, Kendra Blizzard 2 0 5, Brook Dennison 5 3 15, Addison Kemery 3 0 8, Marissa Middleton 2 5 9.
JV: Upper Sandusky 30-11.