BUCYRUS, OH (MARION COUNTY NOW)—The weather outside was icy.

Ridgedale’s defense created a slippery condition inside that led to a Bucyrus fall.

The Rockets used 20 Redmen turnovers and a 39-31 rebounding advantage to come away with a 50-38 non-league win on Phil A. Joseph Court at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.

“That’s one of the things we write on the board every game — win the rebounding and win the turnover battle,” Ridgedale coach Mike Mathey said. “If you do those two things, you’re going to put yourself in a really good position to win.”

The Rockets did win both battles, committing 12 turnovers — just three in the second half. That was good news for Mathey, who indicated they had 27 miscues at Cory-Rawson Friday night.

Bucyrus coach Brian Hargis said that Ridgedale’s defense had much to do with his team’s struggles.

“They guarded with a little more pride than we did,” Hargis said. “They trapped well, and we didn’t do a good job of coming to the ball at times. We didn’t do a good job of ball faking or splitting the trap.”

Bucyrus (1-19) only led once on a 3-point shot by Georgie Floyd to make it 7-6. The score was only tied twice, the last at 9-9 on Demaris Munn-Page’s basket at 3:25 of the first.

Billy Wren scored on a put-back on the next position as the Rockets registered the last six points of the frame to hold a 15-9 edge by period’s end.

Ridgedale (15-5) led by as many as eight early in the second before the Redmen rallied late to pull back within 21-19 at halftime. It is notable that the hosts had just one turnover in the second quarter.

Mathey agreed with Hargis that the Rockets’ defense set the tone, especially in the second half.

“I thought our defense was a factor in the third quarter,” Mathey said. “It kind of separated things early, but they clawed their way back in it late. They cut it to five at the end of the third.”

True enough, Bucyrus had pulled back to a 36-31 deficit after the Rockets had led by up to 11, at 34-23, on a basket by Brayden Townsend. It was Townsend who inflicted the most damage on the Redmen, scoring a team-high 21 points.

The falling behind and furiously catching up eventually took a toll on Bucyrus. Ridgedale used a 12-4 run over the first half of the fourth quarter to push the lead to 48-35 and the rally tank was on empty for the Redmen.

“Credit them. They carved us up on the inside offensively in the post,” Hargis said. “They work good post-to-post. (Evan) Ricketts is a monster. Brayden Townsend had 21. We only had one guy in double figures and only five guys scored.”

Townsend was the only Rocket in double figures with his 21 points, but seven of his teammates scored. Ayden Salyer was next with eight points. Ricketts had 10 rebounds and Townsend added nine.

“That was the message at halftime — turn up the defense a little bit, use the defense to create some offense,” Mathey said. “We were able to do that.”

In fact, Ridgedale scored 18 points following Bucyrus turnovers.

“We didn’t play with enough pace. That was the message before the game,” Hargis said. “And don’t let the trap sit on you. Let’s get it middle. Let’s get it behind the top four guys. When we did it, we got to the paint, and we had some success.”Floyd was the lone Redman in doubles figures with a game-high 22 points. Dylan Coppler grabbed 12 rebounds.

“There are so many times we game plan to stop the main scorer and sometimes it’s best to stop everybody else,” Mathey said of Floyd. “The main scorer’s probably going to get his points regardless. Our thought process was if he’s going to score, he’ll score, but let’s contain everybody else. I thought we did a good job of that.”

Hargis noted that the Rockets were able to penetrate his team’s 3-2 zone.

“We were putting so much focus on Ricketts,” Hargis said. “He did a good job of deferring. A couple of those other guys did a good job of catching in the middle and getting it to Townsend. We knew once they got it in there, it’s not coming out.”

“Our defense just helped wear them down,” Mathey said. “They don’t have a whole lot of depth. Our depth showed. We attacked middle. Brayden Townsend had a heck of a night in there. Him, Evan Ricketts, and (Kayden) Kraviec were working well together down low.”

“We’re a little jumpy right now. Everyone is a little sick,” Hargis said. “But there are no excuses. We got outworked in the second half. That’s the difference.”

Ridgedale also won the junior varsity game, 49-30. Logan Oliver led all scorers with 17 points for the Rockets. Lincoln Blizzard and Da’Shawn Cosey had six each for Bucyrus.

 

Box score

Ridgedale     15         6      15     14 — 50

Bucyrus          9       10      12       7 — 38

 

Stats

Ridgedale (15-5): Shots 22-60; 3-pt. shots 1-14 (Ayden Salyer); Free throws 5-9; Rebounds 39 (Evan Ricketts 10, Brayden Townsend 9); Turnovers 12. Scoring: Ayden Salyer 3 1 8, Isaac Lust 0 2 2, Brayden Townsend 10 1 21, J.J. Slaughterbeck 1 0 2, Billy Wren 1 0 2, Brogan Weston 2 0 4, Kayden Kraviec 2 0 4, Evan Ricketts 3 1 7.

Bucyrus (1-19): Shots 15-46; 3-pt. shots 4-22 (Georgie Floyd 3, Lincoln Blizzard); Free throws 4-5; Rebounds 31 (Dylan Coppler 12); Turnovers 20. Scoring: Demarius Munn-Page 1 1 3, Lincoln Blizzard 1 0 3, Georgie Floyd 8 3 22, Dylan Coppler 2 0 4, Carson Witten 3 0 6.

JV: Ridgedale 49-30.