Galion spoils Bayless' record-tying night as Tigers blowout rival Bucyrus by 20
BUCYRUS — It took a total team effort to thwart a record night at the Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
Galion put three players in double figures and had nine players score Wednesday night in an impressive 86-66 win over rival Bucyrus, putting a damper on Malachi Bayless' record-tying performance for the hosts.
"It took us a little while to get going, but once we figured it out we were able to get up and go," Galion coach Ryan Stover said. "A tremendous team effort tonight top to bottom, everyone got to play. We spread the ball really well. We had Elijah Chafin and Cooper Kent do most of our scoring, but we also had role players contribute as well like Jack Hart, Nick McMullen, Steven Glew and Seth Staiger. Quinn Miller hit a few there late, too."
The Tigers (7-12) trailed 17-16 at the end of one quarter before taking over the game, outscoring Bucyrus 59-40 in the final three quarters, most notably a 46-25 margin over the second and third quarters.
"I thought our defense played well," Stover said. "We got sloppy in the fourth quarter letting Malachi get hot — he's a tremendous shooter who did a great job tonight. But outside of that, our defense sped them up, we were able to trap them and force a lot of turnovers."
Bayless had somewhat of a slow start with 13 points at the half before putting the team on his back in an attempt to mount a comeback. He added 10 more in the third and then exploded for 21 in the fourth to finish with a game-high 44 points, tying the program's single-game record.
"It was a shootout. Once I saw (Chafin) shooting I wanted to show that I could shoot, too," Bayless said. "We watched him and knew they were going to shoot, they'd get their points. It sucks we didn't shut them down like we wanted to, but it's hard to shut down shooters like that."
Chafin led the Tigers with 30 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Kent added 22 points, and Hart's 12 points, seven rebound, four assists and three steals gave the Tigers three double-digit scorers. They combined for 11 3-pointers, with two more 3s coming from Miller, who finished with six points. Glew (four points, eight rebounds), McMullen (four points), Coen Fuson (four points), Staiger (two points, four rebounds) and Brice Sherman (two points) all contributed.
"Give Galion credit — they hit their shots," Bucyrus coach Scott Gifford said. "If they don't hit those shots, with our transition it's a completely different game. But you have to tip your hat — they hit their shots. It was a 3-point clinic.
"When you shoot the ball like that, if you miss there's a long rebound and with our transition we can score off that. But when they hit 3s they can get in their press and force turnovers."
Bucyrus (4-15) had 20 turnovers to Galion's 10, which allowed the Tigers to attempt 22 more shots than their rival. Bucyrus, though, was more efficient, shooting 50.9% from the floor compared to Galion's 44%.
"We're so used to turning it over that 20 is nothing to us," Gifford said.
But on the other end, Stover was quite pleased with his team's control of the ball, especially considering the Tigers pushed the ball quick and played uptempo for most of the game.
"That's our goal — under 13 a game — and right now we're averaging 13 a game," Stover said. "Anytime we're under that is one heck of an achievement because we do play pretty fast.
"We always strive for our defense to lead to our offense because we have numerous guys who can knock down shots or take it to the rim."
Randy Banks added five and six rebounds, and Kavan Combs and Dylan Coppler four points apiece for Bucyrus. Kam Lewis (three points), Noah Burke (two points, 12 rebounds, three assist, three steals, two blocks), Brock Frost (two points) and Jackson Farrar (two points) rounded out scoring.
Both teams are back in action Friday night, with Bucyrus hosting Buckeye Central and Galion traveling to Marion Pleasant.
"It was a good night," Stover said. "We pulled the guys out early to let other guys contribute and get their time. We haven't had a chance to do that this year.
"We'll take it, learn from this and get ready for Friday night."
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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Galion boys blowout Bucyrus in annual rivalry game
