NEW WASHINGTON — It started off as a clinic. But by the second half it became a competition.

The Buckettes raced out to a 9-2 first quarter lead but held off a scrappy Carey team in the second half for a 44-35 Northern 10 Athletic Conference win on Friday night.

Buckeye Central (15-2, 10-1 N10) was led by Kate Siesel’s 22 points and 5 rebounds. Senior teammate Ryley Kantzer added 15 and 2.

“We got a little careless, had some unforced turnovers. We picked up our dribble in some silly spots and it looked like we really didn’t want the ball,” BC head coach Abram Kaple said of the second half.

The hosts pushed it 19-4 midway through the second period and held a 21-12 halftime lead.

“We have 5 seniors on the floor the majority of the time. We tell them, like hey, you’re coming to the end of your season, your basketball career. You’ve got to want the basketball and be ready to make those plays when the game’s on the line. This is your chapter and you got to be able to want it,” he said.

But Carey (10-5, 6-5 N10) chipped away at the Buckeye Central lead in the third period with Julia Brodman and Riley Yost scoring baskets. Yost led her team with 10 points. Blue Devils leading scorer Ady Stewart was held to 7 — and didn’t score until the 2:45 mark of the third quarter.

Paige Collene and Kennedy Deppen led the board work with 8 and 6 rebounds, respectively.

“Paige had 8 rebounds and 4 offensive. She’s a kid who knows her role, her job and is a total team player. She is very confident with that role,” Kaple said.

Carey head coach Keith O’Flaherty knew his team faced a tough challenge.

“This team gets into a hole here and there, but never gives up. Buckeye Central is a good team. You know, they’re leading the league for a reason,” he said.

“They’re hard to stop. The first half we were a little tentative, shy, both defensively and offensively. We weren’t attacking anything in the first half. The second half we did a better job at that, but just came up on the short end.”

O’Flaherty said the Blue Devils made some halftime adjustments.

“We were stagnant in the first half. We changed up and went to that four-low offense, passing it and looking to shoot and I think that’s what made a big difference. That number 1 (Siesel) and that number 23 (Kantzer) are pretty hard to stop. They’re good players.”

Siesel scored 13 of her points in the second half.

“We knew we had to win this game just to keep everything rolling. We had good ball movement tonight,” Siesel said. “We have to do it for the N10 title.”

Some sloppy play (14 turnovers by each team) kept the scoring low for both teams.

“There was a little bit of nerves. We just had to be stronger with the ball,” she said.

“Keeping the ball moving is always good, and we have 5 good people on the court that can score and that always helps too. We knew we had to start out really good because it was a closer game last time. We knew we had to come out and be aggressive from the start.”

BC won the first meeting 48-41 at Carey.

“The N10 is pretty even right now. This win is super big,” Siesel said.

Kaple thought despite the lapses that “we did a really good job” and said Siesel played well.

“I had her as 9-of-14 (field goal shooting). We are trying some different actions to try and get her the ball when there is face guarding or full denial. She made the most of her opportunities tonight and continues to be aggressive. She made some really tough shots,” he said.

Siesel had 3 steals and converted a pair into transition baskets, one coming late in the third quarter to push it a 10-point lead.

“Her energy on the defensive end has gotten better. She’s doing a really good job playing on both ends of the floor,” Kaple said.

Sophomore Nevaeh Metzger contributed 3 rebounds and a steal off the bench.

“We throw Nevaeh into the fire, and we need her to produce immediately and it’s tough to do when she comes off and is a little cold. She’s doing a good job learning to play the speed and the pace and the intensity at the varsity level,” he said.

The Blue Devils are still in the fight in league play.

“We’re not sitting too bad. Upper is ahead of us. Us, Crawford and few others are stacked toward the middle. I know we can get some wins of the games we have left. I hope to be near the top and get prepared for our tournament run.”

Kaple knew with its win over Wynford that Carey would come in with confidence.

“They should have beat us at their place. We got outrebounded 41-19 there and were 2-of-16 from three. Statistically, we should have lost that game.

“The difference tonight was rebounding the basketball and setting the tone physicality-wise. We came out in the first quarter and landed that first punch, and made them play to us,” Kaple said.

Buckeye Central hosts Shelby from the MOAC on Monday night. Carey is off until Friday against Bucyrus.

Carey won the jayvee contest, 39-34. Parker Vackert had 10 and Emily Brodman 9 for the Blue Devils. Aleyse Siefert led BC with 15 and Grace Collene added 11.

Box score

Carey                            2          7        16        10 — 35

Buckeye Central      9       12        14           9 — 44

Carey (10-5, 6-5 N10): Shots 13-38; 3-pt. shots 2-12 (Macy Wentling, Megan Littlejohn); Free throws 7-9; Rebounds 25 (Julia Brodman 5); Turnovers 14. Scoring: Rylee Row 1 0 2, Macy Wentling 1 0 3, Julia Brodman 3 0 6, Megan Littlejohn 2 0 5, Lexi Plott 0 1 1, Riley Yost 4 2 10, Ady Stewart 2 3 7, Kynlee Phillips 0 1 1.

Buckeye Central (15-2, 10-1 N10): Shots 14-31; 3-pt. 5-13 (Kate Siesel 4, Ryley Kantzer); Free throws 11-19; Rebounds 25 (Paige Collene 8); Turnovers 14. Scoring: Kate Siesel 9 0 22, Sydney Wurm 0 1 1, Kennedy Deppen 0 4 4, Ryley Kantzer 4 6 15, Paige Collene 1 0 2.

JV: Carey 39-34.