MANSFIELD — With a new coach and a young roster, the Bucyrus Redmen are looking to find their way.

The path came into better focus, despite a loss at Mansfield Christian Saturday night.

The Flames built a 20-13 first quarter lead and never trailed in the game, holding off the Redmen, 74-60.

Bucyrus coach Brian Hargis, in just his second game at the helm, was optimistic, nonetheless.

“I told the guys before the game, ‘This team, Mansfield Christian, is going to leave a mark. How well are you going to play against the good teams,’” Hargis said. “I’m proud of their effort. They fought to the end. That’s something we would not have done here in the past three years.”

Christian (1-1) used its modus operandi to create 32 turnovers — 16 in each half — which was the obvious difference in the game.

“That’s what we’re trying to do — speed up the pace, get people in trouble,” Flames coach Cary Craner said.

Christian created six turnovers in the first quarter to go out to the seven-point lead. While adding 10 Bucyrus miscues in the second, somewhat amazingly, the Flames only increased their margin by three, to go to the locker room with a 37-27 advantage.

“They went on a little run there and some guys were hanging their heads. But really, it was the 32 turnovers,” Hargis said. “They sped us up and it really starts in practice. I keep preaching game speed, game speed, game speed. They come out here and see real game speed and they haven’t been doing it in practice.”

Bucyrus (1-1) was able to exploit their significant height advantage inside to stay within shouting distance. The two 6-foot-7 posts Noah Burke and Jackson Farrar combined for 21 rebounds and Burke added 16 points.

“We’re kind of small, our starting lineup,” Craner said. “They go inside. That’s OK, but we’ve just got to figure that out — something else we have to work on.”

The Redmen complemented that with some transition baskets, enabling Malachi Bayless to score his team-high 20 points without a 3-point shot. Demarius Munn-Page added 12 and Georgie Floyd finished with 11.

“We got four guys in double digits, which is good for us,” Hargis said. “We’re kind of a one-headed snake, maybe a second gets 10. I think it’s what we’ve been preaching, move the ball, move the ball, move the ball, share it, and everyone’s buying in. A lot of progress was made tonight.”

The Redmen could not get the deficit under double digits. The closest they got was 57-45 on a free throw by Farrar early in the fourth quarter. Bucyrus had to gamble to try to offset the athleticism of Christian.

“We ran the 1-3-1 (defense) because we were playing the percentages,” Hargis said. “We usually get carved up right at the rim. Let them shoot the 22-footers, which we knew they would want to, they were going to let it fly, and I think they had an off-night shooting.”

Christian showed its depth. Davion Mack led the Flames with a game-high 22 points, but Amarr Davis added 16 and eight different Flames reached the scoring column.

Mack used six offensive rebounds to fuel his scoring. While the Redmen were virtually even in total rebounds, the Flames had a 17-8 edge on the offensive end.

“We’ve got super athletic kids, kids that can jump out of the gym,” Craner said. “Still, I’m not satisfied with fundamentals, boxing out.”

“We gave one of the top teams in Richland County 32 extra chances to score on us,” Hargis said. “And we lost by seven buckets.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect, coming into a little smaller gym, a hyped-up team,” Hargis added. “I’ve got some young guys and I’m beyond pleased with how they handled the pressure.”

Christian also won the junior varsity game, 63-35. Landis Cyphers led the Flames with 17 points. Dylan Coppler had 10 for Bucyrus.

Box score                                                                            

Bucyrus                            13     14      17      16 — 60

Mansfield Christian      20     17      20      17 — 74

Bucyrus (1-1): Shots 23-46; 3-pt. shots 1-9 (Georgie Floyd); Free throws 13-20; Rebounds 34 (Noah Burke 11, Jackson Farrar 10); Turnovers 32. Scoring: Georgie Floyd 5 0 11, Demarius Munn-Page 4 4 12, Noah Burke 7 2 16, Jackson Farrar 0 1 1, Malachi Bayless 7 6 20.

Mansfield Christian (1-1): Shots 26-63; 3-pt. shots 4-19 (Brock Rentzel 2, Connor Loose, Evan Hager); Free throws 18-33; Rebounds 35 (Davion Mack 9); Turnovers 15. Scoring: D’Andre Martin 3 1 7, Davis Wushinske 1 4 6, Connor Loose 3 0 7, Brock Rentzel 3 0 8, Amarr Davis 4 8 16, Gabe Westfield 1 1 3, Davion Mack 9 4 22, Evan Hager 2 0 5.

JV: Mansfield Christian 63-35.