MARION — Pleasant girls basketball is in a position many programs aspire to be.
Add Bucyrus girls basketball to the list.
The Spartans used a 25-point second quarter and a stingy defense to race past the Lady Red, 54-23, in the season opener for both teams.
“They did a good job. They moved the ball real well against our zone,” Bucyrus coach Brian Seybert said of the Spartans. “They picked us apart inside. They were mismatched in the man (defense), and they took advantage of it with (post Whitney) Waddell inside. That’s a heck of a team.”
Waddell nearly outscored Bucyrus single-handedly with her game-high 20 points on nine field goals and two free throws. She also grabbed seven rebounds.
The Pleasant defense set the tone for the game which is what Spartans head coach Keriann Pratt stresses. It was what accelerated Pleasant to a 40-10 halftime lead after a modest start offensively that allowed the Lady Red to hang around, trailing 15-6 after one.
“We’ve talked to the girls about getting a fast start, getting comfortable in what we do,” Pratt said. “Our bread-and-butter has always been our defense. Once we start our press — but we always have to score first to press — so that’s what causes that (slow start).”
The Redmen scored first in the second quarter on two free throws by Brook Dennison to pull within 15-8. But from there it was all Spartans.
The 3-pronged Pleasant attack of Avah Steele, Emerson Williams, and Waddell combined for 23 of the 25 Spartans second-quarter points. Pleasant connected on 10 of 20 attempts from the field in the frame.
“They’re tough inside. Waddell was very physical,” Seybert said. “I underestimated her ability. We were concentrating on Steele, and we were concentrating on Williams.”
Bucyrus didn’t score again until Kimmy Burling hit an 18-foot jumper from the left baseline with 1:46 left in the half. It was the only field goal of the period for the Lady Red.
“We’re gritty on defense, we go after it,” Pratt said. “I joke that we score defensive points.”
Many a truth is said in jest. The Spartans’ press gave Bucyrus trouble, particularly in the second quarter, helping create seven turnovers.
“When we broke it, we were getting advantages, 2-on, 3-on-1,” Seybert said. “Once we did that, we weren’t executing passes. We kept trying to throw it over the top. They’re long and they’re athletic and they kept stealing it. We were getting looks. We just kept turning it over and turnovers killed us.”
Pleasant only added one point to its lead in the second half, in part due to the teams substituting liberally and the running clock that started late in the third quarter.
Steele seconded Waddell’s 20 with 15 points for the Spartans. Williams added 10.
Dennison topped Bucyrus with nine points and Kendra Blizzard added five. Addison Ricker pulled down four rebounds. The Lady Red were six of 31 from the field — with four of the six field goals 3-point shots — and seven of eight from the free throw line.
With four starters from last year’s Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference tri-champion team, Pleasant looks poised to make another run at a league title.
“The MOAC is so tough,” Pratt said. “It’s a very, very tough league. Shelby, River Valley, Highland, Clear Fork, they’ll all be tough. Galion’s got two post kids that are playing really well right now and you always have (Marion) Harding. Every game is a challenge. I do feel that prepares us for our tournament run.”
“They’re going to compete for the title in the MOAC,” Seybert agreed. “Then, they’ll probably go pretty far in the tournament too.”
“I think we’re going to be fun to watch this season,” Pratt said. “Next week we have four games in a week. We’re on the road to East Knox and Cardington and then we have two league games — Highland and then River Valley on the weekend.”
“We’ve got to come out better scoring wise,” Seybert said. “I told the girls if our outside shots aren’t going, we’ve got to find a way to get to the rim. We are a good free throw shooting team, so we need to take advantage of that when we get our opportunity.
“Our shots are going to start falling,” he added. “And we were a little reluctant to take shots, but we’ll get better at it.”
Box score
Bucyrus 6 4 6 7 — 23
Pleasant 15 25 10 4 — 54
Bucyrus (0-1): Shots 6-31; 3-pt. shots 4-19 (Kendra Blizzard, Brook Dennison, Addison Kemery, Malina Rowland); Free throws 7-8; Rebounds 20 (Addison Ricker 4); Turnovers 17. Scoring: Kimmy Burling 1 0 2, Kendra Blizzard 2 0 5, Brook Dennison 1 6 9, Addison Kemery 1 0 3, Marissa Middleton 0 1 1, Malina Rowland 1 0 3.
Pleasant (1-0): Shots 21-45; 3-pt. shots 7-21 (Avah Steele 4, Emerson Williams 3); Free throws 5-10; Rebounds 32 (Whitney Waddell 7); Turnovers 10. Scoring: Olivia Pratt 1 0 2, Taydon Obenour 1 0 2, Emerson Williams 3 1 10, Whitney Waddell 9 2 20, Nicole Robinson 0 1 1, Avah Steel 5 1 15, Adyson Foster 2 0 4.
JV: Pleasant 36-0.