NEW WASHINGTON — Buckeye Central head coach Abram Kaple said his team did enough to win against rival Colonel Crawford.
“They try to make things murky by how good they are defensively. They want to play a little slower than what we do. I thought we had some unforced turnovers but give credit to them for making things difficult.”
The hosts prevailed 35-32 in a tough Northern 10 Athletic Conference game girls game Tuesday night.
The Buckettes had 12 giveaways to 11 for the Lady Eagles. Eight of BC’s came in the first half.
“We did enough down the stretch and it doesn’t matter how you get it done at this point, as long as you get it done,” Kaple said.
Senior Ryley Kantzer led the way with 12 points and 5 rebounds. Kate Siesel added 8 as the Buckettes moved to 12-2, 7-1 in the N10.
Siesel and Kennedy Deppen scored first, and Allison Weithman answered with a 3-pointer from the right wing as the two rivals matched baskets in the first quarter, which BC led 8-6.
Mira Holt scored 10 and Weithman had 9 to lead the Lady Eagles.
Colonel Crawford (11-2, 5-2 N10) head coach Zac Bauer said his squad never gave up, even trailing 21-16 going into the fourth quarter.
“We talked about facing adversity and we’ve been in that spot, down late, and we didn’t waver. We didn’t blink in the face of adversity,” Bauer said.
“Tonight wasn’t our night. We told them this doesn’t mean we can’t still do great things. It’s not a no, it’s just a not yet. We’ve got to move on and pull together and improve.”
Buckeye Central won the first meeting on Dec. 2 decisively, 38-19.
“We struggled for the last two and a half quarters tonight and that shows the improvement we’ve made from December until now,” Bauer said.
Sporadic shooting (11-28 from the field) hurt the Lady Eagles at times.
“We work on our offensive skills day in and day out. You can’t control making shots. You have to have the confidence to take good shots and we took good shots tonight. Whether they fall or not, we can’t control that. You can’t ask them to be perfect and make every shot.”
Bauer again was appreciative of the effort his team put forth.
“We were getting stops and diving on the floor getting loose balls and offensive rebounds. We are always happy with our defense and our kids buying into the gameplan,” he said. “They’re ultra-focused. I haven’t walked into a locker room where 9, 10, 11 kids are as so locked in.”
Holt and Kantzer traded baskets to open the fourth quarter. Then Holt and Plesac got inside the BC defense and Weithman drained a deep 3 from the right wing to pull Crawford within a point at 26-25.
Kantzer put the game away with a pair of free throws before junior Lexi Rush hit a 3 for the Lady Eagles to make it a one-possession game with 1.3 seconds left.
“We’re in first place again and that’s where we want to be,” Kaple said. “I thought we did a good job defending our home court and answering a little bit of adversity we had on Friday night.”
In Kaple’s four years, coming off a league loss presented a new challenge after the 45-39 setback to Wynford.
“We talked about the competitive balance in our league and how you have to bring it every night. We weren’t totally mentally prepared on Friday, and a little bit of reality and gut-check time like what are you gonna do here,” he said.
Kaple said he talked with his team about the loss on Saturday and again on Monday.
“I thought we kind of answered the call here. From a defensive standpoint and a rebounding standpoint, we did really well. That’s where Crawford has some of their big wins, by just out working people. They had a ton of offensive rebounds against Mohawk and Upper Sandusky,” Kaple said.
Crawford was limited to just one offensive board.
“Each one of those 5 seniors made a play when they needed to. Ry had some drives and made free throws down the stretch. We had individual meetings with everyone yesterday and I said, ‘I need more from you.’ And she’s been giving everything that she can, so I kind of challenged her in that regard.”
Kaple also credited Nevaeh Metzger for her contributions in a reserve role. The sophomore had 4 points and a pair of rebounds.
“Nevaeh’s done a really good job as of late in terms of her intensity that she brings off the bench and is a little spark plug. She makes things tough on the other team and is disruptive with her speed and athleticism. She had a couple of buckets just running away from people. She’s played important minutes for us and she’s going to continue to play for us in the back half of the season.”
Bauer said his team is resilient.
“We have to see how these guys do from now till the end. We’re going to be tested again in the second half of the league. If there is anything I can count on, it’s the kids in that locker room.”
Buckeye travels to Mohawk on Saturday afternoon while Colonel Crawford visits Bucyrus in N10 play.
Box score
Colonel Crawford 6 6 4 16 — 32
Buckeye Central 8 10 3 14 — 35
Colonel Crawford (11-2, 5-2 N10): Shots 11-28; 3-pt. shots 4-9 (Allison Weithman 3, Lexi Rush); Free throws 6-9; Rebounds 14 (Mallory Plesac 5); Turnovers 11. Scoring: Gabby Roston 1 0 2, Mallory Plesac 1 3 5, Mira Holt 6 0 10, Allison Weithman 3 0 9, Lexi Rush 1 0 3, Lynae McKibben 0 3 3.
Buckeye Central (11-2, 5-2 N10): Shots 12-30; 3-pt. 1-5 (Ryley Kantzer); Free throws 10-14; Rebounds 22 (Paige Colleen 6); Turnovers 12. Scoring: Kate Siesel 4 2 8, Sydney Wurm 1 1 3, Kennedy Deppen 2 1 5, Nevaeh Metzger 2 0 4, Ryley Kantzer 4 3 12, Paige Collene 1 1 3.
JV: Buckeye Central 38-18.