HOLMES TOWNSHIP — Buckeye Central coach Abram Kaple not only said that he was sick all week, so were many of his players.
He said he wasn’t sure about how his team would respond Friday night at Wynford.
He need not have worried.
The Buckettes scored the first 10 points of the game and never led by less than double digits the rest of the way en route to a 59-47 victory.
Buckeye Central improved to 8-1 in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and 10-2 overall. The win kept the Buckettes one game behind Seneca East in the conference and the two teams meet January 19 in New Washington.
The Lady Royals fell to 5-4 in the conference, 8-5 overall.
Kaple said that he missed most of the week with illness, showing up only for the varsity game on Tuesday.
“We were definitely sick in practice yesterday,” Kaple said. “Yesterday we were sluggish, and I was super-nervous coming into this game, I didn’t know who would be here. I told the girls ‘let me know how you are feeling.’”
It was unnecessary worrying. Freshman guard Claudia Pifher knocked down a pair of 3-point shots and a layup in the first two minutes of the game. Her sister, senior Courtney Pifher, added a layup and BC held a 10-0 lead with 4:40 left in the opening stanza.
Courtney Pifher hit a 3 from the top of the key and junior Ally Green scored on a layup, giving the Buckettes an 18-6 lead after one period.
“Once I got to the school and realized that everyone was healthy and ready to go, I knew that we would be up for this type of game,” Kaple said. “It’s a Friday night at Wynford, it’s a rivalry game and it’s a huge game as far as keeping pace with Seneca East, so I never doubted our effort. One thing I quickly learned is that when there is a big game, we get up for it.”
Wynford coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon said that she was well aware of what the Buckettes could do.
“(The Buckettes) are great 3-point shooters, they were six of eight from three (in the first half) and we were 0-11,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “It’s one of those things if you play man, you will get posted up and if you play zone, they might get open.
“They’re just better than us right now, they’re better than most teams.”
According to Taylor-Sheldon, the game was the fourth in eight days for her team.
“This was one of our hardest stretches of the season probably,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “We played teams that had at least 10 wins and a winning record. That was going to be difficult, to be physically and mentally tough.
“We won one of those four and that should set us up for the rest of the season.”
The grind didn’t show in the second half as Wynford picked up the pace defensively. The Buckettes made 12 of 22 shots for 54 percent in the first half but managed to hit eight of 20 shots in the final two frames, for 40 percent. In the second half, the Lady Royals outscored the Buckettes, 32-25.
“We ramped up our intensity and I thought we rebounded well,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “We just weren’t able to score in the first half. We’re just trying to learn and get better and staying aggressive.”
“We talked at halftime and felt for (Wynford) to get back into the game they were going to have to throw a variety of presses against us. We didn’t handle it great, but we did what we had to do,” Kaple said. “When we looked up, we got easy baskets. We did turn it over, but we haven’t been in that situation, so it was good for me to work and good for the girls.”
Claudia Pifher led the Buckettes with 20 points and her sister Courtney added 18. Green tossed in eight.
Kaple said that his team’s hot start was the difference in the game.
“The start was great,” Kaple said. “Any coach would love that and to score 35 points in the first half and having a 19-point lead versus an 8-4 team is awesome.
“We struggled a little bit in the second half but to shoot the ball that well is awesome, and it bodes a lot of confidence going forward.”
Buckeye Central 18 16 11 14 — 59
Wynford 6 9 16 16 — 47
Buckeye Central (10-2, 8-1 N10): Shots 20-42; 3-pt. shots 7 (Claudia Pifher 4, Courtney Pifher 3); Free throws 12-16; Rebounds 30 (Lexi Evak 6); Turnovers 13. Scoring: Claudia Pifher 6 4 20, Taylor Ratliff 1 1 3, Ally Green 4 0 8, Courtney Pifher 6 3 18, Lexi Evak 1 3 5, Kyleigh Brown 0 1 1, Elizabeth Heydinger 2 0 4.
Wynford (8-5, 5-4 N10): Shots 16-48; 3-pt. shots 3 (Mia Leuthold, Averi McMillan, Lyndie Williams); Free throws 10-17; Rebounds 24; Turnovers 12. Scoring: Rylee Alspach 1 0 2, Mia Leuthold 2 0 5, Briley Pollock 1 2 4, Savannah Tobias 4 0 8, Averi McMillan 1 3 6, Lyndie Williams 3 1 8, Olivia Grove 5 4 14.
JV: Buckeye Central 33-30.