SPORTS

Bucyrus upset bid falls short in 48-40 loss to Rockets

Dan Messerschmidt
dmessers@nncogannett.com


Bucyrus' Gabby Seibert shoots during the Lady Redmen's sectional game vs. Oak Harbor at Port Clinton High School on Saturday night.

PORT CLINTON – Bucyrus was a decided underdog Saturday against third-seeded Oak Harbor, but with their size the Redmen stood a puncher's chance.

Unfortunately, they couldn't land the knockout blow.

Bucyrus overcame an early 6-0 deficit to take a 20-17 lead in the second quarter. But second-half foul trouble allowed the Rockets to pull away in the end, 48-40, to win the Division III lower bracket sectional championship at Port Clinton High School.

"We were down six early and that's not what we wanted," Bucyrus coach Bethany Guinther said. "But they kept working. At the beginning of the year, it would have been in our heads. But they worked through it."

The Redmen turned over the ball on their first three possessions. Oak Harbor (15-8) used them to convert three field goals. Kelci Simms finally got Bucyrus (12-12) on the board at the 5:37 mark of the first quarter.

After trailing 13-6, the Redmen went on an 8-0 run to take a 14-13 lead by quarter's end.

"Bucyrus was defending all of our players really well," Oak Harbor coach Tom Kontak said. "Most teams play zone (defense) against us. It's harder against man-to-man. You have to move more. It took us a while to adjust."

The lead changed hands several times in the second quarter. A basket by Gabby Seibert with 20 seconds left before halftime knotted the score at 22.

"You know who your go-to players are and so does everybody else," Kontak said. "I thought finishing the half tied at 22-22 was very important."

In particular, Kontak was referring to junior Andrea Cecil, who has more than 1,100 career points. As he was aware, his counterpart on the other bench knew who Cecil was.

"In the first half, we did exactly what we wanted," Guinther said. "We held Cecil to eight points."

The first half also was virtually foul-free, with four called on the Redmen and one on the Rockets. That trend would change in the second half, albeit in favor of Oak Harbor.

Four quick points by Torie Tanner to start the third gave Bucyrus a 26-22 lead, but Cecil scored seven consecutive points put the Rockets back on top before Ashton Hawkins hit a 3-pointer for the Redmen to tie it at 29.

Oak Harbor used a 10-5 run to forge a 39-34 lead after three. However, the fouls began to pile up on the Redmen and the Rockets took advantage.

Despite shooting three free throws in the final two quarters and watching Oak Harbor attempt 15, Bucyrus still was within 42-40 on a basket by Hawkins with 1:47 left in the game.

On the next possession, the Rockets were awarded four free throws — two made by Cecil on a double-bonus foul and then Maddy Rathbun hit two more when Simms was called for a rare foul on a box-out on Cecil's second shot.

That four-point swing was more than the Redmen could overcome. Oak Harbor scored its last seven points from the foul line.

"The game was physical," Kontak said. "Our style brings that out in teams."

Cecil finished with a game-high 26 points and 16 rebounds. Abby Dorbusch had eight points, with a pair of 3s, and Rathbun grabbed nine boards.

"Cecil is great player, take nothing away from her," Guinther said. "But not getting fouls to go our way hurt. The calls changed in the second half and went their way."

Simms had 13 points and 15 rebounds for Bucyrus. Tanner finished with 10 points, and Megan Flaherty pulled down 13 rebounds.

"Bucyrus has tremendous pride," Kontak said. "I think they said 'We're not driving 60 miles to play the team that knocked us out in the district last year to lose.' They played with incredible energy throughout."

It was Flaherty's and Jackie Gabriel's last game in a Bucyrus uniform.

"We talked about not ending the season with a feeling like this," Guinther said. "I told them the way not to feel like this depends on how much time you put in during the off-season."

Oak Harbor advances to the district tournament at Seneca East High School on Thursday, where the Rockets will take on Genoa at 6:15 p.m.

dmessers@gannett.com

Twitter: @TF_Schmidt

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