NEW WASHINGTON — Kennedy Deppen emerged from the locker room with a smile on her face Tuesday night.
And for good reason. Deppen, a 6-foot senior, had a big night, scoring 11 points and grabbing 5 rebounds as Buckeye Central (5-0, 2-0) remained unbeaten with a 38-33 win over Mohawk.
For the second time in four nights the Buckettes faced a fellow undefeated opponent in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference showdown.
“We knew they had some bigs in the middle. So, if we could pump and could get her (Lady Warriors post Emily Klopp) up in the air we could get looks at the basket,” Deppen said.
The 6-foot-3 Klopp led Mohawk (3-1, 1-1) with 16 points and 8 rebounds. She got 9 of her team’s 13 points in the final quarter.
Having 5 senior starters is an asset for Buckeye Central.
“That puts us in a really good position. We have a girl at every position on the floor who is able to have a really good game on any given night,” Deppen said.
“All of us are capable of doing anything and everything we put our minds to. We all can shoot the ball fairly decently and can get to the basket. That puts us in a really good spot.”
Kate Siesel led the way with 15 points, 3 rebounds and an assist. She hit 3 three-pointers and had 8 points in the first 8 minutes. Ryley Kantzer and Sydney Wurm combined for 12 points and 7 rebounds.
Buckeye Central head coach Abram Kaple acknowledged Deppen’s effort at both ends of the court.
“Kennedy did a phenomenal job. Our goal was to stay in front and provide ball pressure to their guards and make tough entry passes,” he said. “Paige (Collene) did a good job on backside help.”
“We limited Klopp’s touches. You’re not going to hold her below 15. It’s unrealistic with our roster lineup because of our size. We’ve got to make things tough, in terms of their guards, on post-entry passing and their vision throwing into there,” he said.
BC jumped ahead 15-8 in the first quarter. Klopp picked up two early fouls and the hosts went on an 11-0 run after trailing 11-4.
“It was good enough. The scoreboard says 5 (point difference). The majority of that game we were up by double digits,” Kaple said. “Overall, I was pleased. We attacked their zone and made some shots.
“I might have mismanaged the clock there. It’s like you don’t want to shoot yourself out of a 14-point lead, but in that situation, I probably took the air out of the ball a little too soon. Then we started to get lackadaisical and stopped playing on the offensive end.”
After leading 34-20 after three quarters, Mohawk outscored Buckeye Central 13-4 in the final period.
Mohawk head coach Bruce Hannam said one important aspect entering the game was not getting his key players in foul trouble.
“Joleigh (Hamilton) got three fouls in the first half and she was one of the answers we had to some of their pressure. She was one guard that could withstand the bumping all the way down the court,” he said.
“They were letting them play inside. It was grab, grab, grab, grab. She’s (Klopp) going to have to get more physical with that. We’re not talking about anything dirty, but she’s going to have to make sure she gets into them and make them call a foul or even an offensive foul.”
Hamilton added 8 points and 3 rebounds for the Lady Warriors.
“The good thing is we made some mistakes down the stretch, but those are things we can correct. Each game is a lesson for players and coaches,” Kaple stressed.
“We got stops in the third quarter and held them to 4 points. We got points in transition. It started on the defensive end and collecting defensive rebounds.”
Wurm’s three made it 34-18, the largest lead of the game, with 3:20 left in the third quarter.
Hannam liked his team’s fight at the end.
“The heart we had coming down the stretch, the last 5 minutes of the game. We really put some pressure on them, and we asked some kids to do some things that we normally don’t. We’re more of a physical team, not a guard putting pressure on you. But we had some kids step up and played their hearts out at the end.
“That’s a game that’s winnable for us. We just can’t make so many mistakes,” Hannam said.
“We talk about all of our goals still being in front of us. It comes down to being able to keep our composure and being sound defensively and playing with emotion without getting emotional and most of the time we did that. A couple of times we had a stretch where it kind of got away from us. We’ll get to see them again (Saturday, Jan. 14).”
Mohawk won the junior varsity contest 35-20 after being tied 13-13 at halftime.
Box score
Mohawk 8 8 4 13 — 33
Buckeye Central 15 6 13 4 — 38
Mohawk (3-1, 1-1 N10): Shots 13-36; 3-pt. shots 1-9 (Josie Granata); Free throws 6-13; Rebounds 26 (Emily Klopp 8); Turnovers 19. Scoring: Josie Granata 1 0 3, Bailey Sheets 0 2 2, Emily Klopp 7 2 16, Mia Miller 1 2 4, Joleigh Hamilton 4 0 8.
Buckeye Central (5-0, 2-0 N10): Shots 13-34; 3-pt. shots 5-18 (Kate Siesel 3, Sydney Wurm 2); Free throws 7-8; Rebounds 17 (Kennedy Deppen 5); Turnovers 15. Scoring: Kate Siesel 4 4 15, Sydney Wurm 2 0 6, Kennedy Deppen 5 1 11, Ryley Kantzer 2 2 6.
JV: Mohawk 35-20.