BUCYRUS — The Upper Sandusky Rams can beat teams in multiple ways, but the 3-point line has been their weapon of choice most frequently.
The Rams connected on 11 shots from behind the arc in overwhelming visiting Bucyrus, 79-35, in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game Saturday night.
“When we move the ball, we can be really good with the amount of shooters we have and the two bigs inside,” Upper Sandusky coach Jeff Winslow said. “When the ball sticks, not so good. The last few games, we’ve done a really good job of moving the basketball. You’re going to shoot a lot better when the ball finds a whole bunch of people’s hands.”
The Rams have now made double digit 3s in six of their 12 games, including five of their past seven. Five different players had a trifecta against the Redmen.
The two “bigs” — 6-foot-6 Gavin Carey and 6-6 Trent Beamer —also did their jobs, in spades. Carey finished with a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds. Beamer added 14 points and seven boards.
“Obviously, they’ve got great size,” Bucyrus coach Barry Egan said. “But I think our lack of positioning, lack of effort, lack of desire to get around and play harder — that is exceptionally disappointing.”
Upper Sandusky (8-4, 6-1 N10) put the game away early. The Rams raced out to a 22-8 lead after on period and expanded it to 46-14 by intermission. Bucyrus (2-7, 1-5) committed nine first-half turnovers.
“I think we did a good job of pressuring them into playing fast and making some mistakes that led to easy baskets for us without giving up layups,” Winslow said. “So, we made them take quick jump shots or got some steals and turnovers and they haven’t been doing that.”
The Redmen never got into any kind of offensive rhythm, hitting just 13 of 45 shots, including one of 11 from 3-point range.
“We’re not running anything (offensively) either,” Egan said. “We wanted to clear and curl and flash some guys in. It’s one thing to do it (in practice) and one thing to do it in a game and we obviously aren’t putting practice into the game.”
Cade Adams joined Carey and Beamer in double figures for the Rams with 15 points — all on his five 3s. The telling factor in the lopsided score was on the boards. Upper Sandusky held a 42-18 advantage on the glass.
“On the boards, we’ve got to dominate,” Winslow said. “We’ve got the definite size advantage, strength advantage. If we don’t dominate against that, it’s going to be very disappointing. I thought our big guys did a good job of rebounding and doing a lot of good things inside the paint.”
Nick Middleton and Grady Jackson each had 10 points to lead Bucyrus. Mike Wise had four rebounds.
“They’ve got a lot of basketball players,” Egan said of the Rams. “If you want to compare basketball players, they’ve got a number of them.”
“What I was a little concerned with is they’ve been spreading the ball on people,” Winslow said. “I think we did a good job of not letting that hurt us.”
“We’re trying to get our program where their program is,” Egan said. “But listen, learning, doing, and playing with effort, that should be ingrained into our kids. It’s very frustrating.”
Upper Sandusky swept the night with a 67-29 win in the junior varsity game. Malachi Bayless and Brock Frost had seven points each to lead Bucyrus. Ethan Kessler had 12 points for the Rams, while Holden Daris and Kaden Holman added 10 each.
Box score
Bucyrus 8 6 10 11 — 35
Upper Sandusky 22 24 22 11 — 79
Bucyrus (2-7, 1-5 N10): Shots 13-45; 3-pt. shots 1-11; Free throws 8-11; Rebounds 18 (Mike Wise 4); Turnovers 16. Scoring: Karson Kimmel 2 0 4, Mike Wise 1 2 4, Grady Jackson 3 4 10, Jake Hamm 1 1 3, Nick Middleton 5 0 10, Malachi Bayless 1 1 4.
Upper Sandusky (8-4, 6-1 N10): Shots 32-57; 3-pt shots 11-18 (Cade Adams 5, Levi Lamb 2, Owen Knapp 2, Holden Daris, Jackson Smalley); Free throws 4-6; Rebounds 42 (Gavin Carey 11); Turnovers 17. Scoring: Owen Knapp 3 0 8, Holden Daris 1 0 3, Jackson Smalley 2 2 7, Levi Lamb 3 0 8, Cade Adams 5 0 15, Trent Beamer 7 0 14, Gavin Carey 11 2 24.
JV: Upper Sandusky 67-29.