WILLARD — Claudia Pifher has been here before — a few times.
The Buckeye Central senior guard is tournament tested and she showed it with a team-high 19 points as her team cruised to a 69-16 win over Mansfield Christian in the Division IV district semifinals at Willard High School Thursday night.
“I think I feel more comfortable being in this atmosphere. Obviously, we have a great fan base even just in regular season games, whereas other teams aren’t,” she said.
The comfort level was evident as the Bucks (23-1) jumped out to a 15-7 lead in the first quarter, held the Flames scoreless in the second period and thoroughly controlled the game.
Head coach Abram Kaple emptied his bench for much of the second half.Pifher had plenty of help as Emily Siesel and Kate Siesel had 15 points each and Sydney Wurm added 6. Emily Siesel also had 6 assists.
“Going to regionals and being in the districts four years in a row that’s something that we take pride in and it kind of gives us an upper-hand advantage,” Pifher said.
Kaple was pleased with his team’s start, scoring the game’s first 7 points and putting pressure on Mansfield Christian, which finished the season at 14-5.
“We started off better. I thought Saturday we were a little unfocused. We had two really good practices Tuesday and Wednesday,” Kaple said. “We wanted to set the tone, get out and trap. Our biggest thing is we wanted to rotate out of our traps quickly. I thought we did a much better job of that this evening.”
The pressure forced the Flames to commit 26 turnovers to just 4 for Buckeye Central. The Buckettes managed 16 steals.
“I think the first couple of minutes we were being a little sloppy with the ball. But once we got set into our press and really dialed in, we were turning them over and getting easy shots,” Pifher said.
The game turned one-sided in the second quarter as BC outscored Mansfield Christian 26-0.
“That’s a testament to us on the defensive end. Any time you hold a team scoreless is beneficial. But then scoring 26 points is a lot for a girls’ high school team in a quarter,” Kaple said.
“I thought Kate and Syd really shot the ball well. Kate had five 3s and as of late she hadn’t shot it to her standards. So that’s really good for her to build some confidence. Syd hit two 3s in the first half, and then obviously Emily and Claudia do what they do.”
The balanced attack has worked for the Buckettes.
“Emily and Claudia are garnishing a lot of attention on the offensive end. So, a lot of help-side goes to them. So, the others’ job is to catch and shoot and be ready. That’s basically all they do in practice,” Kaple said.
“They like shooting in this gym. There’s a lot of history in this gym,” he said. “We hope that carries over to Saturday.”
Pifher, Kennedy Deppen and Ryley Kantzer had 4 rebounds apiece. Emily Siesel led the team with 6 assists.
Next up is Seneca East, a 43-38 winner over Mohawk in the other semi-final game.
“We’ve seen them two times during the season. But we feel confident with what we have. The work was put in in the off season. It comes down to who wants it more,” Pifher said of the 7 p.m. tipoff against the Lady Tigers.
Kaple said both teams know each other well from competing in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
“They’re familiar with us. We’re familiar with them and we’ll see what happens on Saturday.”
The team is well aware of the rich history of BC basketball.
“Tradition is huge here and that’s something we stress,” Pifher said. “Our community loves the tradition and they always come out and support us.”
Box score
Buckeye Central 15 26 17 11 — 69
Mansfield Christian 7 0 4 5 — 16
Buckeye Central (23-1): Shots 28-54; 3-pt. shots 10-24 (Kate Siesel 5, Claudia Pifher 3, Sydney Wurm 2); Free throws 3-6; Rebounds 18 (Claudia Pifher 4, Kennedy Deppen 4, Ryley Kantzer 4); Turnovers 4. Scoring: Emily Siesel 6 3 15, Kate Siesel 5 0 15, Claudia Pifher 8 0 19, Julia Evak 2 0 4, Kennedy Deppen 1 0 2, Ella Evak 1 0 2, Navaeh Metzger 1 0 2, Kimmy Biglin 1 0 2, Paige Collene 1 0 2, Sydney Wurm 2 0 6.
Mansfield Christian (14-5): Shots 6-26; 3-pt. 1-9 (Aubrynn Maiyer); Free throws 3-4; Rebounds 18; Turnovers 26. Scoring: Aubrynn Maiyer 1 0 3, Anna Sparks 1 3 5, Abby Little 1 0 2, Raegan Standridge 1 0 2, Alexis Rippel 1 0 2, Courtney Kissinger 1 0 2.