NEW WASHINGTON — Buckeye Central coach Tom Howell said that his team is still struggling offensively.
The Bucks, however, used their defense to get the shots they needed.
BC forced 33 New London turnovers, using a trapping defense in the halfcourt to end up with several easy baskets en route to a 60-25 win Tuesday night.
With the win, the Bucks improved to 4-3 overall. New London fell to 0-7.
Howell said that his team’s ability to trap the New London guards was the difference.
“We struggle offensively,” Howell said. “We just try and get some easy shots. Today, we got up, made some good traps, and got into the passing lanes and made some deflections and go forward.
“I thought we could do that (trap), our guys like to do it and we have to pick and choose, like when we play conference games. We have to be careful. But we might have to do it a little bit more so we can get some offense.”
The Bucks forced nine New London turnovers in the first four minutes of the game and grabbed a 13-0 lead, the last bucket coming on a Stephen Sostakowski layup with 2:16 left.
The Bucks held a 13-4 lead after one frame.
New London coach Randy Endsley felt that his team wasn’t as aggressive as it should have been against the BC trap.
“We wanted to execute, skipping the ball backside and looking backside but we just didn’t do that,” Endsley said. “We weren’t strong with the basketball. We got timid against them and weren’t strong against them.”
Sostakowski led the Bucks with a career-high 21 points and point guard Drew Rose had a career-high 11. Tyler Sanderson added 11 points.
“Stephen and Drew played well,” Howell said. “Tyler played well; he missed some shots in the paint, but people are going to try to take him away. But Stephen has been stepping up, and, if Drew can keep doing that, we’ll see what we can do.”
BC grabbed a 20-4 lead early in the second period on a Sanderson layup, but New London cut the lead to 20-9 on a Gavin Carruthers 3-point shot with 4:28 left.
From that point, the Bucks scored the final 11 points of the period and held a 31-9 lead at the break.
The rest of the game was anti-climactic. Howell played most of his bench in the second half, as BC held a 43-18 lead after three frames.
Buckeye pushed the lead to 50-18 early in the final frame on a Manny Mullins three.
From that point, the Bucks outscored the Wildcats, 10-7, to close out the win.
Howell said that, despite the last few games, his team is getting better.
“The last couple of weeks we struggled,” Howell said. “We struggled at Crawford offensively and against Mohawk, they exploited us a little bit offensively, too. They really took it to us a little bit. Our goal tomorrow is to get better, and Thursday get better and go to Seneca East on Friday.”
Endsley thought that the physical nature of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference helps the Bucks in non-conference games.
“We have been taking steps forward, the last few games we have been doing much better,” Endsley said. “Tonight was a struggle. Their intensity and their pressure really put us on our heels tonight.
“(BC plays) in a very competitive league,” Endsley added. “The Northern 10, with all those schools, is a tough league. They’re constantly seeing physical play and pressure all the time. Their coaches do very well.”
Buckeye Central won the junior varsity game, 23-20. Alec Phillips led the Bucks with five points. Gabe Sosa scored six points for New London.
Box score
New London 4 5 9 7 — 25
Buckeye Central 13 18 12 17 — 60
New London (0-7): Shots 11-37; 3-pt. shots 2 (Aiden Ruggles, Gavin Carruthers); Free throws 1-4; Rebounds 24; Turnovers 33. Scoring: Aiden Ruggles 1 0 3, Cameron Stevens 1 0 2, Gavin Carruthers 2 0 5, Brady Sword 2 0 4, Steven Justavick 0 1 1, Connor Byrd 3 0 6, Gage Carroll 2 0 4.
Buckeye Central (4-3): Shots 25-50 3-pt. shots 3 (Stephen Sostakowski 2, Manny Mullins); Free throws 7-10; Rebounds 28; Turnovers 14. Scoring: Drew Rose 4 3 11, Stephen Sostakowski 9 1 21, Heath Jensen 2 0 4, Devin Siefert 2 04, Trevor Kirgis 1 2 4, Tyler Sanderson 5 1 11, Manny Mullins 2 0 5.
JV: Buckeye Central 23-20.