RICHWOOD — Left with just six players by game’s end, Bellefontaine’s boys basketball team mustered everything it had to keep pace with an unbeaten North Union team here Tuesday.
But the Chiefs simply didn’t have enough firepower down the stretch as the Wildcats closed the game on a 12-2 run to pull away for a 60-44 victory in a Central Buckeye Conference crossover game.
Bellefontaine is now 0-14 on the season, while the Wildcats move to 13-0.
The Chiefs closed within six points (48-42) with four minutes left in the game. However, the Wildcats’ full-court press resulted in several Chieftain turnovers that the home team quickly turned into points in transition.
“I am proud of the guys out there at the end,” said Bellefontaine head coach Jason Calton. “They played with a lot of fight. We just had a couple of lapses and turned the ball over too much late in the game and it got away from us.”
Bellefontaine dressed eight players and that number was cut to seven midway through the second quarter when Carter Sterling went down with an ankle injury.
The Chiefs’ Maverick Calton fouled out late in the third quarter, leaving only six players left to finish the game.
“We were hit with some adversity tonight, but our guys fought through it,” said Jason Calton. “Effort was not the issue tonight. The effort was there.”
Continuing what has become an ongoing issue for the Chiefs this season, Bellefontaine struggled at times getting the ball up the court against the press.
The Wildcats forced Bellefontaine into 16 turnovers.
“That has been something we have had trouble with all season,” said Calton. “At times tonight I thought we did a good job knifing through their press, but we also had times where we dribbled too much and didn’t move enough. We have to keep working on it because we will continue to see a lot of that.”
It took Bellefontaine over five minutes to get on the scoreboard Tuesday as they Chiefs fell behind 8-0.
But they warmed up in the latter stage of the first quarter. A Simon Stolly half-court shot at the buzzer brought BHS to within five at 15-10.
The Wildcats pushed their lead to 10 points (27-17) at halftime.
Bellefontaine opened the third quarter on an 8-2 spurt to cut North Union’s lead to four (29-25) with 5:53 left in the period.
The Wildcats answered with a 16-5 run to open up a 15-point cushion (45-30) at the end of the third quarter.
Bellefontaine came up with another burst in the fourth quarter to stay in the game. The Chiefs outscored the Wildcats 12-3 in the first four minutes to make it a 48-42 game.
That was as close as the Chiefs would get, though. North Union cranked up its pressure and Bellefontaine was unable to answer.
Declan Ashcraft led the Chiefs with 10 points. Kam Smith and Maverick Calton each tallied eight points and Simon Stolly and Brett Belser added five points apiece.
Preston Crabtree scored a game-high 11 points to lead the Wildcats.
In the junior varsity game, North Union won 68-52. Kaden Reames led Bellefontaine with 19 points.
Bellefontaine is back in action Friday at home against Kenton Ridge.
NORTH UNION 60, BELLEFONTAINE 44
BELLEFONTAINE (0-14)
3 1-2 8; Stolly 2 0-0 5; Ashcraft 2 6-7 10; Baughman 2 0-0 4; Calton 3 0-0 8; Belser 2 0-0 5; Warner 2 0-0 4. Totals: 16 7-9 44.
NORTH UNION (13-0)
Terrill 3 0-0 7; Webb 1 2-2 5; Vernon 3 3-4 9; Feasel 4 0-0 8; Davis 2 3-5 7; Krebehenne 1 0-0 3; Crabtree 4 1-2 11; Day 4 2-2 10. Totals: 22 11-15 60.
Chiefs 10 • 7 • 13 • 14 — 44
Wildcats 15 • 12 • 18 • 15 — 60
Three pointers: Bellefontaine 5 (Calton 2, Stolly, Smith, Belser); North Union 5 (Crabtree 2, Terrill, Webb, Krebehenne). Turnovers: Bellefontaine 16; North Union 9. Team fouls: Bellefontaine 13; North Union 9.