BUCYRUS — The final weekend of January is a big one for Northern 10 Athletic Conference girls and boys basketball teams as they jockey for position and prepare for tournament draws — girls this weekend and boys next week.

KEY GIRLS GAMES

The most critical contest will be in Dutchtown Friday night when Upper Sandusky visits Buckeye Central.

The Lady Rams 14-4 overall and 9-2 in the league, need a win to move into a tie for first place with the Buckettes, who sport a 15-3 and 10-1 record.

This game promises to be a dandy, based on the first meeting, which BC won 51-49. The Buckettes went on the road and built up a 14-point lead but had to hold on for the win on Dec. 22.

Kate Siesel, the leading scorer for Buckeye Central, poured in 27 points. She averages 14.7, tops in the conference. She hit 5-of-7 from beyond the arc that evening.

Upper Sandusky received a great performance from guards Grace Walton (15 points) and Kaidance Iles (13).

Head coach Abram Kaple’s team committed 15 turnovers, which allowed US to get back into the game.

“It comes down to effort and a will to win. We did a great job of that defensively,” Kaple said afterward.

Kaple relies on his starting 5 seniors that includes Siesel, Kennedy Deppen, Sydney Wurm, Ryley Kantzer (4.1 assists) and Paige Collene.

Kantzer and Siesel rank in the top 5 in 3-point shooting, both right around 38 percent.

Lady Rams head coach Jerry Vent said guarding Siesel presented match-up problems and that loss was a tough one to absorb on its home court. But his team responded, defeating Carey in its next outing before a tough 39-33 setback to Colonel Crawford to open 2023.

Upper topped Kenton 61-51 in a non-league outing on Monday. Iles leads the team with 11.4 points per game, followed by Walton at 9.2 and Velourea Stowers with 9 ppg and 7 rebounds.

Iles and Walton are both defensive ball hawks, averaging around 4 steals per game apiece.

· Wynford at Colonel Crawford meet in another game with N10 standings and post-season seeding implications.

This one is a 6 p.m. varsity only tip-off and features the Lady Eagles (13-4, 6-4) hosting the Lady Royals (8-8, 4-6). Allison Weithman is the top scorer for Crawford at 9 points per game. Mallory Plesac averages 6 rebounds per game.

Wynford relies on Grace Stucky (12.1 ppg) and Alexis Stevely (8.9 ppg) for its offense. Maradath Engler averages 3.5 assists per game, while Katie Wagner (9.3) and Stucky (7.5) handle the bulk of the rebounding chores.

· In other games, Bucyrus (6-11, 2-9) visits Carey (10-5, 6-5) and Seneca East (1-15, 0-11) invades Mohawk (12-5, 6-5). Those have junior varsity games starting at 6 p.m.

KEY BOYS GAMES

The spotlight here has the N10 championship on the line. Colonel Crawford comes off a 55-53 overtime loss at Wynford Tuesday night and travels to Carey.

The Eagles of head coach David Sheldon sit at 12-4, 7-2, while the Blue Devils come in at 11-3, 8-1.

“They are one of the best teams in the league when you look at what they’ve done,” Sheldon said. “There are no easy ones on the schedule from here on. Everyone is going to bring it every night.”

In the loss to Wynford the Eagles made just 7-of-17 free throws and missed several down the stretch.

Senior Braxton Baker (20.3 points and 6 rebounds) leads the team. Center Jacob Maddy adds 13.7 points and 11 boards per outing.

Maddy leads the league in shooting percentage (64 percent) and point guard Derek Horsley averages 4 assists per game.

Carey relies on a balanced scoring attack. Brayden Young leads the squad with 4 assists per game and Austin Niederkohr and Alexander Putnam are the leading scorer and rebounder, respectively.

Carey won the first meeting, 51-47, on Dec. 16, but also is coming off a loss this week, to Cardinal Stritch, 59-42.

· Other boys games feature Mohawk (14-2, 7-2) versus Lucasville Valley (at Smithville, 1 p.m.), Bucyrus (2-11, 0-9) at Wynford (10-4, 6-3) and Seneca East (11-5, 5-4) at Buckeye Central (5-10, 1-8).

Saturday games begin with JV action at 5 p.m., followed by the varsity.

· Kidron Central Christian is at Crestline (3-7, 3-2) in a girls game Friday.

· Galion (7-9, 3-7) visits Shelby (13-2, 8-1) in an MOAC tussle and Kidron Central Christian is at Crestline (5-9, 3-4) in boys action on Saturday.