WILLARD — It was familiar territory. And it ended with a familiar result.
Buckeye Central got out of the gate quickly and defeated Lakeside Danbury 39-21 for the Division IV district championship inside Robert L. Haas Gymnasium at Willard High School Saturday night.
It marked the seventh straight district championship for the Buckettes. They will play Berlin Center Western Reserve (17-8) in the regional semifinals at 8 p.m. Thursday at Massillon Perry High School. Dalton takes on New Middletown Springfield in the first game at 6 p.m.
Buckeye Central (22-3) took a 16-7 lead after one quarter as Kate Siesel scored 7 of her 15 points. Danbury finished its season at 19-5 after a second-place regular season finish in Sandusky Bay Conference’s River Division.
Head coach Joe Miller knew the Lakers needed to improve after a poor start.
“They got off to a really good start. I give them credit, our goal at halftime after going down 15 was to get it to single digits. We did that; at the end of the third quarter it was 27-18. We played tenacious defense,” he said. “We scored some baskets; it was like 8-2 in the third quarter.”
But after Danbury cut it to 27-20, Buckeye Central went on a 9-0 run.
“That was the backbreaker. Then the one girl (Grace Collene) hit a corner jumper and Siesel hit a corner jumper and that was the difference right there,” Miller said.
Kennedy Deppen and Paige Collene had 7 points each and Deppen pulled in 6 rebounds to go along with Ryley Kantzer’s 8 boards.
Head coach Abram Kaple was pleased with the team’s showing.
“We got some open looks. The biggest thing is we were sound defensively, not just in that second quarter. We limited them to one shot, and it gave us an opportunity for some transition baskets in the first half,” he said.
The Buckettes have been hampered somewhat with Sydney Wurm out with an ankle injury.
“With Syd out and Ry playing on one foot, we told Kennedy she had to be aggressive and hit a three here in the corner. The flow of the game changed a little bit, and they did a good job of limiting Kate’s looks,” Kaple said.
“They’ve been to a couple games of ours. We’ve seen them at Keystone and Kate played well and they were here the other night and she played really well. We understand moving forward it’s going to be difficult to get her shots.”
Siesel added a pair of assists and 4 rebounds.
Buckeye committed 6 turnovers while forcing a dozen on the Lakers.
“Credit to Danbury for making them as contested as possible. We got 2 points the whole third quarter (a Nevaeh Metzger basket). She hit a floater and Grace hit a mid-range jumper.”
Kaple had to shuffle things around due to the injuries.
“They’ve accepted their roles, with the injury bug. It’s a real cool feeling for those guys,” he said.
“This was a total team effort on both ends of the floor. We have tough kids. Four of the five seniors we have wanted to continue the streak, regardless of the obstacles in our way. They weren’t going to be denied. That goes to the legacy, the culture and name on our shirts.”
Kantzer’s lone basket was a big one coming after the Danbury rally in the fourth quarter.
“We really needed that. Everybody was getting a little worried. I’ve been here four years in a row, and I know how that feels to be down and get in your head a little bit,” she said. “After that shot, I tried to encourage everybody to play defense.”
To win four district titles in her career is special.
“That doesn’t happen. I’m so thankful to have four of these medals,” Kantzer said. “This is the last thing I have to do. I was like I have to win this. I can’t be the class to end the streak.”
There were doubters, she said.
“Nobody thought we’d be here. Nobody thought we’d win the league championship because we lost Emily (Siesel) and Claudia (Pifher). We just tried to prove everybody wrong.”
Maci Brown and Mia McDonald each scored 5 for Danbury.
“I’m really proud of our two seniors, Kamil Stephens and Natalie Rose. When a new coach comes in it would be easy to say I don’t love basketball, you know. But they are senior captains and did a good job leading us,” Miller said.
“Our future is bright. We have a lot of good kids coming back.”
Paige Collene knows her role and carried it out again, grabbing four rebounds and two steals to go along with her 7 points.
“This district championship means more to me. I’ve won four,” she said. “I dressed varsity as a freshman. But it means so much to this senior class to be able to win one. We’ve won 7 in a row. This one was finally ours. The others we were along for the ride.”
Aggressive play is her hallmark.
“I definitely feel like I do a lot of the dirty work and get into the grit. My job is to do that dirty work. I’m not the best shooter. I’m not the best driver. So, I love being the aggressive girl that does all that. I love that role.”
As the Buckettes move to the next round, Collene said the team needs to be prepared.
“It’s a whole different level at regionals. We’ve always played teams that are similar to us. But when we get to regionals, that’s a whole different ball game,” she said.
“More crowds. Bigger teams that do more stuff. We won’t be able to play the same basketball as we’ve played all year. We are going to have to dig deep, put our heels in the ground and play as a team.”
Box score
Danbury 7 3 8 3 — 21
Buckeye Central 16 9 2 12 — 39
Danbury (19-5): Shots 7-34; 3-pt. 2-11; Free throws 5-9; Rebounds 24 (Kelly Uhinck 6); Turnovers 10. Scoring: Kelly Uhinck 2 0 4, Kamil Stephens 1 0 3, Maci Brown 2 0 5, Maria Maringer 0 3 3, Natalie Rose 0 1 1, Mia McDonald 2 1 5.
Buckeye Central (22-3): Shots 15-43; 3-pt. 4-16 (Kate Siesel 3, Kennedy Deppen); Free throws 5-7; Rebounds 32 (Ryley Kantzer 8); Turnovers 4. Scoring: Kate Siesel 6 0 15, Grace Collene 1 0 2, Kennedy Deppen 2 2 7, Nevaeh Metzger 3 0 6, Ryley Kantzer 1 0 2, Paige Collene 2 3 7.