UPPER SANDUSKY — Bucyrus coach Brian Hargis knows the key for his team to begin winning.
The Redmen offense has made progress — matching the high-powered Upper Sandusky offense point for point in the second half.
But the defense allowed 46 first half points resulting in a 21-point deficit and the Rams went on to an 83-62 Northern 10 Athletic Conference win Friday night.
“The only thing improving for us right now is offense,” Hargis said. “We can score. We’ve known we can score. It’s the same story — giving up too much penetration.”
Shooting was the theme of the night. Bucyrus (0-8, 0-5 N10) connected on 57 percent of its shots from the field — 38 percent from 3-point range — which can win many games.
But the Rams raised the ante, hitting 62 percent from the field, including a sizzling 56 percent from 3 on a whopping 25 attempts.
“The reason we’re shooting so well right now is we’re moving the basketball and passing up a good shot for a great shot,” Upper Sandusky coach Jeff Winslow said. “When we do that, our guys are really good shooters. Our kids are getting a lot better at that as we get through the year.”
The shooter of shooters for the Rams was sophomore Luke Schoenberger. The 6-foot-2 forward may not look like the prototypical 3-point shooter but looks can be deceiving.
Schoenberger hit six 3s in the first half — five in the second quarter — on just seven attempts as Upper Sandusky (6-2, 3-2) built a 46-25 lead by intermission.
“He is a gym rat, works his tail off in the weight room,” Winslow said of Schoenberger. “He made over 75,000 3s (in the offseason). His goal next summer, next offseason is 100,000. He’s got his little brother pushing him because he’s made just about that many.”
“That kid shot 75,000 3s over the summer as a sophomore,” Hargis said. “If you’re a young kid reading this in the paper, it translated to the court tonight.”
While the Redmen were staggered by the first half onslaught, the Rams could not deliver a true knockout punch. Georgie Floyd scored 20 of his team-high 24 points in the second half, hitting four 3s.
“When he gets an easy look, he’s going to make it,” Winslow said of Floyd. “He can really put the ball in the basket. We didn’t make it hard enough for him. We’ll watch film. We’ll have to clean that up. In a close game, you can’t do that. We got away with it tonight.”
The Redmen got within 17 several times in the second half but could get no closer. The teams scored 37 points each in the final two quarters to keep the final difference at 21.
Hargis was as concerned with transition points allowed as he was with the long-range damage the Rams’ inflicted.
“We gave up 8-10 layups, fast-break layups, off our makes,” Hargis said. “You look at the difference in the game — 16-20 points difference right there. And we’re not even talking about some of the unforced turnovers we did.”
“It’s been one of our goals,” Winslow said of the transition success. “We haven’t been running the floor well enough. The emphasis we had all week was sprint corners in transition and throw the ball ahead. We did a really good job of that tonight and got some good layups off it.”
Schoenberger led Upper Sandusky with 27 points and finished with seven 3s. Brock Montgomery seconded Schoenberger with 14 points and Kaimen Iles grabbed five rebounds.
“I was a little disappointed with our defensive effort in the second half,” Winslow said. “But you’ve got to give them some credit too. They were moving the ball and made some shots.”
Demaris Munn-Page seconded Floyd’s 24 points with 14 for Bucyrus. Carson Witten added nine points and Dylan Coppler finished with eight points and six boards.
“I’ve got a bunch of fighters in there,” Hargis said. “I challenged them at halftime — win the third, win the fourth. Let’s get on the bus with some momentum. I thought they did that for me.”
“We can’t give up 37-points in second halves,” Winslow said. “That was a little disappointing. Other than that, a little bit sloppy in the second half a few times there. But 83 points — a pretty good game.”
“It’s not a mystery,” Hargis concluded. “If we’re going to win games, we’re going to have to start defending and valuing our possessions more.”
Upper Sandusky also won the junior varsity game, 58-28. Zeke Baldwin and Ethan Smith led the Rams with 10 points each. Carter Bierce had a game-high 12 points to top Bucyrus.
Box score
Bucyrus 17 8 17 20 — 62
Upper Sandusky 23 23 19 18 — 83
Stats
Bucyrus (0-8, 0-5 N10): Shots 25-44; 3-pt. shots 6-16 (Georgie Floyd 4, Demaris Munn-Page, Lincoln Blizzard); Free throws 6-8; Rebounds 18 (Dylan Coppler 6); Turnovers 19. Scoring: Demaris Munn-Page 6 1 14, Lincoln Blizzard 1 0 3, Georgie Floyd 9 2 24, Dylan Coppler 3 2 8, Carson Witten 4 1 9, DeShawn Cosey 2 0 4.
Upper Sandusky (6-2, 3-2 N10): Shots 32-52; 3-pt. shots 14-25 (Luke Schoenberger 7, Brock Montgomery 2, Jonathan Craig 2, Jacob Romich, Josh Heilman, David Gibson); Free throws 23-27; Rebounds 29 (Kaimen Iles 5); Turnovers 10. Scoring: Jonathan Craig 3 0 8, Justin Heilman 2 0 4, Jacob Romich 1 0 3, Brock Montgomery 4 4 14, Josh Heilman 5 0 11, David Gibson 3 0 7, Kaimen Iles 4 1 9, Luke Schoenberger 10 0 27.
JV: Upper Sandusky 58-28.