HOLMES TOWNSHIP — With a key starter out of the lineup, Buckeye Central relied on one of its seniors and a trio of younger players to defeat Wynford here 40-25 Saturday afternoon in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference regular season finale.

Buckeye Central (18-3, 13-1 N10) was without Sydney Wurm, who sustained a right ankle injury this week.

“We preach the same thing every week. The first three minutes of the game are important for us,” BC coach Abram Kaple said. “Katie hits a 3-(point shot) right away, a tough shot out of a down screen. We got some offensive rebounds that gave us some second-chance opportunities.”

Kennedy Deppen had 22 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and an assist to lead the Buckettes and avenge the earlier loss. Wynford won the first meeting 45-39 on Jan. 6.

Lady Royals head coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon said BC came out determined, taking an 11-3 lead after a quarter and an 18-6 halftime advantage.

“We played hard. They played inspired today, so that was the big thing. They were playing inspired because of the first game. They were playing inspired because they need more scoring with a player out. They came in inspired and ready to play. Their defense hurt us of course.”

The hosts failed to hit a field goal until the third quarter when Reese McGuire drained a 3.

Wynford is now 12-10, 6-8 N10 as it heads into post-season play. McGuire finished with 11 points and Katie Wagner added 7.

Kaple liked his team’s approach, despite some mental errors.

“We held them to 6 free throws in the first half and some of them were not so smart fouls on our part in the second quarter, when we were in the double bonus.”

Buckeye Central employed some different rotations after Siesel got in foul trouble, picking up 3 in the first half.

The threesome of Nevaeh Metzger (starting for Wurm), Grace Collene and Ella Evak made significant contributions.

“The younger kids in there is a little abnormal for us. We had some mental mistakes, but we made adjustments at halftime,” Kaple said.

Metzger and Evak each grabbed 4 rebounds and Grace Collene 3. Buckeye Central won the battle of the boards, 31-17.

“Nevaeh does a great job of knowing her role, comes in and works hard defensively. Now she’ll get an opportunity to get more shots. From that standpoint, on the offensive end, she might have been a little nervous. She hit two shots in a row to start the third quarter.”

Metzger’s second shot put Buckeye Central on top 22-9 en route to a 31-15 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“She is extremely quick, both straight line and laterally, and that gives us an advantage to wear the point guard down,” Kaple said.

Deppen, the 6-0 post, scored 6, 4, 8 and 4 in each of the quarters.

Taylor-Sheldon said her squad was not consistent.

“We had a lot of bright spots for our defense. We got hurt on the boards. But in terms of trying to eliminate some of their strengths, I thought we did a good job of that. We limited (Ryley) Kantzer (4 points) and (Kate) Siesel (5 points), but their role players got to the boards and got to the foul line,” she said.

“They were solid, and we were a little inconsistent. It’s demoralizing, but that’s what good defenses do. We tried to look at some mismatches but it’s a new season. We always start 0-0 with the tournament. It’s season number two.”

Buckeye Central plays Keystone on Monday in a tune-up for the tournament. The Buckettes then face the winner of Crestline/Norwalk St. Paul in the Division IV sectional final at Ashland Crestview next Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

With Wurm out, Kaple is re-working his lineup to get the younger plays into the rotations.

“When Sydney got hurt, we were talking yesterday that we’ve got this game and Keystone on Monday as trial runs, if you will. We want to get these guys familiar with what we’re doing,” he said.

“This was a good opportunity to do that, and I saw all three of them did exactly what they are supposed to do. As time goes on and more reps and more minutes are had, they will get more and more confident in what they are doing.”

Kaple said his team will utilize the time off.

“We’ll go back to the drawing board a little bit. Until we get Syd back, hopefully, but we have four days of practice, and our kids will give it their best shot.”

Next up for the Lady Royals is Western Reserve in the Division III sectional semifinal at Monroeville. Tip-off is 6 p.m. Wednesday.

“They had a tough game against Mohawk (a 33-26 overtime loss). We’ll do everything we can to prepare and make some baskets,” Taylor-Sheldon said.

Box score

Buckeye Central       11         7       13         9 — 40

Wynford                          3         3         9       10 — 25

Buckeye Central (18-3, 13-1 N10): Shots 14-44; 3-pt. 3-11 (Kennedy Deppen 2, Kate Siesel); Free throws 9-14; Rebounds 31 (Kennedy Deppen 8, Paige Collene 6); Turnovers 7. Scoring: Kate Siesel 2 0 5, Grace Collene 0 3 3, Kennedy Deppen 8 4 22, Ellie Evak 0 1 1, Nevaeh Metzger 2 0 4, Ryley Kantzer 2 0 4, Paige Collene 0 1 1.

Wynford (12-10, 6-8 N10): Shots 8-29; 3-pt. shots 3-13 (Reese McGuire 2, Alexis Stevely); Free throws 6-12; Rebounds 17 Grace Stucky 4, Katie Wagner 4); Turnovers 13. Scoring: Maradath Engler 1 0 2, Reese McGuire 4 1 11, Grace Stucky 1 0 2, Alexis Stevely 1 0 3, Katie Wagner 1 5 7.