OLIVESBURG — Buckeye Central head coach Tom Howell knew the opponent very well Tuesday night.

It was his former school, and the Bucks were less than hospitable in his reunion with a 79-44 beating in a Division IV sectional semifinal at Crestview High School.

“I know a lot of people over there … great people, great community, great school and it still is a little bit weird.”

Buckeye Central (8-15) shut down the Wildcats, running out to a 22-9 lead after one quarter and limited Jamil Arnold early in the game.

“Our goal was to give him limited shots. We doubled down on him every time he was in the post. We were running people at him at times and making it tough.

“He got some points in the end. You ain’t gonna hold a player like that down all the time,” Howell said.

Arnold finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead New London. Conner Byrd, a 6-7 junior, added 10 and Gavin Carruthers 9.

The Bucks’ hot hand belonged to Aiden McDougal.

“Aiden. I told him I wanted 12 and 12. He’s a hard guard. He’s very athletic. He can do a lot of different things, put it on the floor, shoot it a little bit. He played very well tonight.”

The 6-2 senior had 15 points and 6 rebounds.

Tyler Sanderson and Alex Kanney contributed 13 points apiece and Logan Niese added 11.Sanderson, Damian Dean and McDougal started out strong as BC took a commanding 11-2 lead and was never challenged.

New London hit on 18-of-56 shots, while the Bucks made 28-of-52 from the field. The Wildcats close their season at 1-22.

The Bucks got 11 players in the scoring column, including all three Geissmans who combined for 18 points with Casey getting 10, Elliot and Graham 4 each.The big lead allowed Howell to empty his bench.

“It’s great to get those guys who practice all year and don’t get to play that much, especially in a tournament game. That don’t happen a lot,” he said.“They play hard. They come out and do some good things. They got some rebounds. I’m proud of all those kids who work their rear ends off all winter and not get to play that much.”

The Bucks have a tough order on Friday night returning to this site for a date with top-seed Castalia Margaretta. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.

The Polar Bears are 19-3 and will be plenty to handle, according to Howell.

“We got the number one seed in the district. We can’t play that game unless we won this game. We’re going to lace ’em up, put the ball on the floor and see what happens,” he said.

“It’s not gonna be easy. I know it’s not gonna be easy. They’re stinkin’ good. But we’re gonna see what we can do.”

Box score

Buckeye Central     22     21      19     18 — 79

New London              9     10      13     12 — 44

Buckeye Central (8-15): Shots 28-52; 3-pt. shots 8-16 (Logan Niese 3, Casey Geissman 2, Alex Kanney 2, Tyler Sanderson); Free throws 15-22; Rebounds 35 (Aiden McDougal 6); Turnovers 10. Scoring: Logan Niese 4 0 11, Drew Rose 0 1 1, Stephen Sostakowski 0 4 4, Casey Geissman 4 0 10, Elliot Geissman 1 2 4, Graham Geissman 1 2 4, Aiden McDougal 6 3 15, Tyler Sanderson 4 4 13, Damian Dean 1 0 2, Alex Kanney 5 1 13, Kenny Utz 1 0 2.

New London (1-22): Shots 18-56; 3-pt. shots 3-17 (Cameron Stevens, Gavin Carruthers, Jamil Arnold); Free throws 5-9; Rebounds 32 (Jamil Arnold 11); Turnovers 21. Scoring: Jamil Arnold 6 3 16, Conner Byrd 5 0 10, Gavin Carruthers 4 0 9, Mason Russell 1 1 3, Cameron Stevens 1 0 3, Jacob Bilton 1 0 2, Gage Carroll 0 1 1.