By Dan Messerschmidt

NEW WASHINGTON — Buckeye Central was a preseason co-favorite with Upper Sandusky and Carey to win the Northern 10 Conference girls’ basketball title.

The Buckettes have not disappointed to date and Bucyrus found out why.

With four players in double-figure scoring, Buckeye Central built an 11-point halftime lead then pulled away to a 59-39 victory over the Lady Redmen Saturday afternoon.

Bucyrus (9-6, 6-5 N10) made a concerted effort to stop the Buckettes’ 1-2 scoring punch of Courtney Pifher and Jenna Karl.

Enter Emily Stump and Kyleigh Brown. Stump averages 1.9 points per game but picked up the slack for the usual scorers, dropping 12 on the Lady Redmen. Brown, averaging just over five, came off the bench to add 10.

“I hope more people stop guarding Stumpy,” Buckeye Central coach Greg Moore said. “She’s the ultimate team player. She plays good defense and rebounds. I’d like to see teams do this all the way through the tournament.”

“I thought we did a good job defensively,” Bucyrus coach Taylor Whitaker said. “We held Pifher and Karl to 12 each. I’d rather take my chances with Stump and role players beating us.”

The Redmen hung around early. Caleigh Rister knocked down a 3-point shot from the right wing just before the buzzer to keep Bucyrus within 15-11 after one quarter.

Izzy Burling scored to start the second quarter to pull the Redmen back to within 15-13. But Bucyrus went nearly four minutes without scoring again and Buckeye Central (16-1, 10-1) took advantage.

The Buckettes forced four turnovers and the Redmen missed six consecutive shots from the field in that time. Brown — only a freshman — scored six of her 10 points in the second period and the combination resulted in a 28-17 Buckeye Central lead at intermission.

“Kyleigh did a nice job,” Moore said. “She gave us the spark we needed. At this point in the season, we’re not really young anymore. But we still have some young kids that are contributing.”

The Buckettes registered the first six points of the second half on baskets by Brown and Taylor Ratliff and a pair of free throws from Pifher to push the lead to 35-17 and Bucyrus could never recover.

The Redmen managed to get as close as 10 on two occasions in the frame but eight turnovers doomed any further progress and the Buckeye Central led, 48-32, by period’s end.

“We kept trying passes over the head,” Whitaker said of the turnovers. “We need to get away from that. We need to ball fake and do wrap-around passes.”

Stump’s six points in the final period was enough to negate any potential Bucyrus rally, allowing the Buckettes to coast to the 20-point win.

Even so, the coach was not complacent.

“We got lazy (on defense) and they got some easy baskets,” Moore said. “We have to play through tough games and we had some rotational breakdowns today.”

Karl, Pifher and Stump finished with 12 points each to lead the Buckettes and Brown added her 10. Pifher grabbed 11 rebounds.

Shaina Orewiler had a game-high 16 points for Bucyrus. Burling added nine and Alivia Lewis had eight. Orewiler had eight boards.

“I’m happy with the way (Shaina) is playing,” Whitaker said. “With our injuries, she’s taken on the role of post, going to the basket, making shots, and doing what she should.

“There are some good things we can take from this loss, especially on defense,” Whitaker added. “If we can play like that, it encourages the girls and limits offense possessions.”

Buckeye Central also won the junior varsity game, 47-14. Ally Green scored 13 points for the Buckettes and Zoie Lewis added 10. Taylor Patterson finished with seven for Bucyrus.

Bucyrus                        11      6    15     7 — 39

Buckeye Central         15    13    20   11 — 59

Stats

Bucyrus (9-6, 6-5 N10): Shots 13-41; 3-pt. shots 4-8 (Ni’Georia Floyd, Caleigh Rister, Alivia Lewis, Shaina Orewiler); Free throws 9-16; Rebounds 30 (Shaina Orewiler 8); Turnovers 23. Scoring: Ni’Georia Floyd 1 0 3, Caleigh Rister 1 0 3, Alivia Lewis 2 3 8, Izzy Burling 4 1 9, Shaina Orewiler 5 5 16.

Buckeye Central (16-1, 10-1 N10): Shots 21-49; 3-pt shots 3-8 (Jenna Karl 2, Taylor Ratliff); Free throws 14-18; Rebounds 32 (Courtney Pifher 11); Turnovers 13. Scoring: Jenna Karl 2 6 12, Taylor Ratliff 3 0 7, Emily Stump 5 2 12, Courtney Pifher 4 4 12, Kyleigh Brown 5 0 10, Lexi Evak 1 0 2, Elizabeth Heydinger 1 2 4.

JV: Buckeye Central 47-14.