BUCYRUS — It was the first time in the 60-year rivalry that both teams entered the game winless.
Something had to give.
Wynford took the initiative, using a 15-8 surge in the third quarter, then holding on for a 66-56 Northern 10 Athletic Conference win at Phil A. Joseph Court at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
“We talked a lot about keeping your composure,” first-year Royals coach Adam Guinther said. “I thought our kids did a great job of that tonight.”
Wynford (1-4, 1-3 N10) would need that composure down the stretch. The Royals used the third-quarter advantage to build a 50-40 lead by period’s end.
But Bucyrus (0-6, 0-4) chipped away in the fourth period. The Redmen went on a 12-4 run over the first four minutes of the final frame to trim their deficit to 54-52 on a 3-point shot by Georgie Floyd with 4:37 remaining.
However, Bucyrus could not convert three opportunities to at least tie the game. Wynford was then able to close it out. Two free throws from Dawson Pelter and three consecutive baskets — the last by freshman Drew Stanek with less than a minute left — pushed the lead back to eight.
Twenty-one turnovers were the ultimate undoing of the Redmen. Disappointed head coach Brian Hargis pinpointed the reasons.
“We’re going to play how we practice,” Hargis said. “You saw it tonight. That’s how we practiced. We turned the ball over. Everything starts in practice. It really transitioned tonight.”
Another major discrepancy was at the free throw line. The Royals converted on 23 of 27 attempts — 85 percent — to just seven of 11 for the Redmen.
“If you shoot 75-80 percent from the line and you get enough attempts, that’s good,” Guinther said. “I took one timeout and said I didn’t want another 3 to go up. Let’s get to the line. Let’s force it.”
It was the opposite of the vision that Hargis had for the game.
“We fouled too much,” Hargis said. “We sent them to the line (27 times). We fouled two 3-point shooters in the first half. I can’t remember the last time I’ve ever seen that.”
The game was a crowd pleaser from the start. Bucyrus grabbed a 20-17 lead after the first quarter when Demaris Munn-Page banked in a 3 at the buzzer, giving him nine of his game-high 23 points in the first eight minutes.
The second period was highlighted by eight lead changes and two ties before Wynford took a 35-32 into the halftime locker room.
Sophomore Carson Witten — who missed the first four games — started for Bucyrus and came up big in the first half, scoring 15 of his 17 points.
“I wasn’t very familiar with him,” Guinther said. “He was a little more effective than I knew. I needed to do a little more homework. He did a nice job.”
Guinther made the needed adjustments at halftime to slow the Bucyrus post presence in the second half.
“They did a better job in the second half of coming down and making us kick it out of the post,” Hargis said.
Prenger led a balanced scoring attack for the Royals with 20 points. Jaxson Vance had a double double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Stanek added 14 points and Drew Johnson finished with 13.
“We have four guys in mid-double figures,” Guinther said. “That’s a tough out for anybody. That’s tough for an opponent because that’s 60 points.”
Only four Redmen scored. Munn-Page with 20 points, Witten with 17, and 10 for Dylan Coppler who also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
“There were moments we didn’t stick to the game plan. There were moments we didn’t stick to the defensive game plan,” Hargis said. “There were moments when we were guarding shooters that weren’t shooters, but we treated them like shooters.”
“We missed a lot of bunnies, easy layups and that can really demoralize you,” Guinther said. “But the kids pushed through that.”
“We just did a lot of silly stuff tonight,” Hargis said. “We’re getting technical fouls. We’re fouling guys 25 feet from the hoop, we’re fouling guys 85 feet from the hoop. We thought we could get them in foul trouble, and they got us in foul trouble.”
“The kids listen — they do — and they are working hard, they’re doing what I’m asking,” Guinther said. “But they’re still kids. They still do things an inexperienced team does. You look at our roster and we have a lot of seniors, but not a lot of (varsity) experience and it shows.”
“The game plan was there, and I should have coached a slightly better game,” Hargis said. “Shouts out to Wynford. They played hard. I think their experience with those guards and their seniors showed tonight.
“My kids fought to the end,” Hargis added. “I can’t fault them for that. We’ll see (Wynford) again.”
Bucyrus gained a split on the evening with a 45-40 win in the junior varsity game. DeShawn Cosey led all scorers with 16 points for the Redmen and Lincoln Blizzard had 10.
Gavin Koehler topped Wynford with 14 points and Owen Prenger added nine.
Box score
Wynford 17 18 15 16 — 66
Bucyrus 20 12 8 16 — 56
Stats
Wynford (1-4, 1-3 N10): Shots 20-57; 3-pt. shots 3-20 (Drew Stanek, Weston Prenger, Drew Johnson); Free throws 23-27; Rebounds 29 (Jaxon Vance 10); Turnovers 10. Scoring: Drew Stanek 4 5 14, Dawson Pelter 1 2 4, Weston Prenger 6 7 20, Jaxon Vance 6 3 15, Drew Johnson 3 6 13.
Bucyrus (0-6, 0-4 N10): Shots 23-47; 3-pt. shots 3-8 (Georgie Floyd 2, Demaris Munn-Page); Free throws 7-11; Rebounds 33 (Dylan Coppler 12); Turnovers 21. Scoring: Demarius Munn-Page 9 4 23, Georgie Floyd 2 0 6, Dylan Coppler 4 2 10, Carson Witten 8 1 17.
JV: Bucyrus 45-40.