UPPER SANDUSKY — This one had a tournament atmosphere, complete with a nail-biting finish.
In a game where Buckeye Central led by as many as 14 points, it had to withstand a furious fourth-quarter rally to hold off Upper Sandusky 51-49 in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference battle here Thursday night.
“Good thing we did make some shots beforehand to be able to hold them off at the end,” Buckeye head coach Abram Kaple said. “It’s hard to duplicate that in practice — in terms of that environment and being up like that — to create that sense of urgency.”
The hosts started off well and built an 18-12 lead after one quarter, relying on its size inside. Kaidance Iles, a 6-foot wing, had 7 of her 13 points in the opening quarter.
Kate Siesel, countered with 6 of her own on her way to a game-high 27 points. She connected on 5-of-7 from 3-point range.
“It was a good shooting night, for sure. But we had to do good on the defensive end that leads to good offense,” she said.
A pressure-packed game can bring out some nerves, Siesel said.
“You’ve just got to stay calm and know you can pull through and win. We put in some new plays, and we knew we were going to have to shoot good shots to win.”
The Buckettes remain unbeaten at 9-0 and 5-0 in the league. The Lady Rams slip to 8-2 and 4-1.
Buckeye Central caught fire in the second quarter, scoring 21 points with Siesel accounting for 13 of them and a 33-24 halftime lead.
“I mismanaged a timeout along the sidelines. At the end of the day, it gives us ideas and things to work on to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Kaple said.
“We need to work on some things and that’s 100 percent on me as a coach. We did a really good job. We made shots. We defended well and rebounded the basketball better than we have been.”
Ryley Kantzer added 12 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
“It’s a really good win against a really, really good team, on the road, with no school and in a tough environment.”
Kaple attributed the early success to good ball movement.
“We made the extra pass and got some open looks. Obviously, Kate shot really well. We didn’t do a very good job last week against Carey about giving her open looks, so that was kind of our focus in practice to get her some more looks,” he said.
The defensive efforts of Paige Collene, Kennedy Deppen and Nevaeh Metzger helped stop Upper’s inside game.
“Paige works her tail off. We mix it up with three-quarter and fronting trying to do the best we could. Our backside help was better in the second half. Paige and Ken and Ella Evak have to work hard, because almost every game we play teams who are going to have more size than us,” Kaple said.
Deppen added 5 points and she and Metzger had 2 rebounds each. Sydney Wurm netted 7 points and snagged 3 boards.
Deppen’s basket gave BC its largest lead of the game at 45-31 late in the third period.
“It comes down to effort and a will to win. They did a great job of that defensively. Nevaeh, phenomenal. Her plus-minus was off the charts. We were struggling defensively in the first quarter. She comes in and gives us a spark and provides energy for our offense. She does a great job giving us spot minutes when her number is called.”
It was Buckeye Central turnovers — an uncharacteristic 15 — that allowed the Lady Rams to chew away at the double-digit lead.
A 16-6 fourth quarter advantage for Upper made the game close as Iles hit two big baskets Grace Walton a 3-pointer.
Walton scored 15, Iles 13 and Velourea Stowers 11 for Upper.
“We run a lot of sets and we have got to take care of the basketball. We’ve got 5 seniors on the floor, and we were good enough to win. We had a good stop on our last possession, and we made our free throws (6-of-6).”
That senior leadership has helped in four contests, Kaple said.
“Against Ashland, Mohawk, Carey and in this game. It’s huge. These guys have been through a lot and know what to do.”
Walton’s 3-point shot with 11.2 seconds left to play cut it to 51-49. The Buckettes turned the ball over, but Siesel partially blocked the shot attempt by Walton and Kantzer grabbed the ball as the horn sounded.
Lady Rams head coach Jerry Vent liked the fight his club showed in coming back from a big deficit.
“I’m pretty proud of the effort we gave, particularly in the fourth quarter. We just weren’t real good consistently trying to guard Siesel tonight … no matter what we did,” he said.
“We talked all week about it, and how you can’t give her any space at all. Some girls can be at the 3-point line, and you have a hand up and you’re gonna be OK. Not with her. She made five 3s and got to the rim a lot tonight too.”
Vent said his team showed a lot of heart against a school that has won 38 league games in a row.
“Two-time league champion. It’s going to be hard to take it from them. We tried tonight, but we just fell a little short. I’m not sure if we got tired or what, but in the second quarter we weren’t pushing the pace like we did in the first quarter,” he said.
“We came out to start the game, raced to our spots and started our offense. We got some good ball-screen action. Their pressure picked up and it took us a little out of rhythm. We slowed down the pace because we didn’t know what they were trying to do.”
The league schedule will only get tougher come January.
“Jerry and I were talking before the game. The back half of our season in league play is going to be pure chaos, so we’re thankful right now that we’re in this positive position. It’s a step in the right direction,” Kaple said.
Vent agrees with his coaching counterpart.
“We have some really big league games coming up against tough opponents. You can’t rely on hey, we got the Buckeye Central game out of the way. We’ve got to take care of business to get back to that game, and then give ourselves a chance to get back in the league race.”
Upper Sandusky won the junior varsity contest 33-32. Grace Collene had 16 points for Buckeye Central. Madison Hart paced the Lady Rams with 13.
Box score
Buckeye Central 12 21 12 6 — 51
Upper Sandusky 18 6 9 16 — 49
Buckeye Central (9-0, 5-0 N10): Shots 18-36; 3-pt. 9-16 (Kate Siesel 5, Ryley Kantzer 2, Sydney Wurm, Kennedy Deppen); Free throws 6-6; Rebounds 16 (Ryley Kantzer 5, Paige Collene 4); Turnovers 15. Scoring: Kate Siesel 10 2 27, Sydney Wurm 2 2 7, Kennedy Deppen 2 0 5, Ryley Kantzer 4 2 12.
Upper Sandusky (8-2, 4-1 N10): Shots 18-36; 3-pt. shots 4-17 (Addy Newman 3, Kaidance Iles); Free throws 9-13; Rebounds 17 (Velourea Stowers 6); Turnovers 16. Scoring: Addy Newman 5 2 15, Grace Walton 3 0 6, Ellee Ham 2 0 4, Kaidance Iles 5 2 13, Velourea Stowers 3 5 11.
JV: Upper Sandusky 33-32.