MORRAL (Crawford County Now) — Opening games are rarely masterpieces. Rather they are works in progress.
Both Tyler Shade and Brad Gerfen would agree after host Ridgedale overcame a terrible start to defeat Buckeye Central 46-39 in a non-league game here on Saturday afternoon.
“We talked at halftime, and we thought Buckeye was being a lot more aggressive than us on both ends of the floor, kind of dictating what we were doing on offense by their pressure defense,” Gerfen said.
“We decided if we wanted to win this game we were going to have to be physical on both ends of the floor. For the most part we did that. We got open a little easier and into our set stuff which got us some easy looks at the bucket.”
Both teams turned the ball over, with the Buckettes committing 20 turnovers and the Rockets one fewer.
The game started out in BC’s favor with an 11-2 run. Six of the Ridgedale turnovers came in the first four minutes.
Aleyse Siefert scored a pair of baskets in that quarter. She finished with 14 points and two rebounds, the lone Buckette in double figures.
Ridgedale trailed at halftime 16-12, but the second half was a different story.
Shade, in his first season as head coach, knows his team has work to do.
“We saw on film they were going to get up and guard and be scrappy and physical,” he said.
“If we can’t control the basketball, it’s going to be a long day for us. We lost some composure. You can’t go on the road and have 20 turnovers.”
Three seniors form the nucleus of the Buckeye Central team, with Siefert, Macy Deppen and Ella Collene. Deppen had a team-high 10 rebounds and Collene hit two 3s and grabbed a pair of rebounds.
“They switched to that zone and took away some driving lanes. We did a good job at the end of the first half of getting to the paint, getting to the rim and to the free throw line,” Shade said.
“They go to a zone, and we struggled a little bit shooting the ball today. You’re going to have that, but we have to be better on the defensive end.”
Freshman Joslynn Hensley scored 8 points off the bench, and sophomore Jenna Cianflone chipped in with 5 points and 5 boards.
“We’re in a unique situation with a young team that returns six letterwinners. The seniors’ roles are increasing dramatically, but with those underclassmen we have 6-7-8 girls we’re comfortable with coming off the bench.”
Shade said the speed and physicality of varsity ball were apparent to the younger players.
“We got six kids back with a lot of experience, two of those being seniors,” Gerfen said. “We have those with a lot of our game experience, and I think that showed a little bit when things got tight.”
“We preach rebounding and free throws are going to win you games, and we hit some free throws down the stretch to kind of ice it.”
Indeed Ridgedale hit on 9-of-12 charity tosses in the fourth quarter.
“I was honestly a little bit shocked at our start. I think it was a little bit of nerves. But when you have that many kids with experience the nerves should go away fast — and I think they did,” Gerfen said.
“We were able to claw back a little bit and we did that.”
Maddie Makenzie led the way with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Hannah Murphy added 13 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.
Looking ahead to Northwest Central Conference play, Gerfen sees a pair of tough opponents, one in the Rockets’ backyard.
“Our league is pretty darn tough. We have Elgin, our rival here in Marion County. They got a 25-30 per game scorer in (Maycee) Muselin.
“North Baltimore has a 30-per-game player and she’s a sophomore. We have to be more competitive. We didn’t win a conference game last year,” Gerfen said
“Our goal is to just be competitive and to finish a lot better than we did,” he said.
Shade said blending the chemistry of the veterans and newcomers will develop as the season progresses.
“The good thing is this is game one. We need to tie this whole thing together.”
Even though this is his first season at the helm, Shade is far from a stranger in Dutchtown.
“It’s hard to put into words. It’s special any time you take over a program,” he said.
“Being a Buckeye alum, living in New Washington, having the path I’ve had at the jayvee level with the district title team, the state team and seeing the community support that goes along with this program. I think it makes it that much more special.”
Shade said he learned under “two great coaches” in Abram Kaple and Phil Loy.
“I want to carry on that tradition.”
Box score
Buckeye Central 8 8 7 16 — 39
Ridgedale 2 10 15 19 — 46
Buckeye Central (0-1): Shots 12-49; 3-pt. shots 5-27 (Aleyse Siefert 2, Ella Collene 2, Joslynn Hensley); Free throws 10-18; Rebounds 28 (Macy Deppen 8); Turnovers 20. Scoring: Jenna Cianflone, 2 1 5, Aleyse Siefert 5 2 14, Joslynn Hensley 3 1 8, Harper Kantzer 0 4 4, Megan Siefert 0 1 1, Ella Collene 2 0 6, Macy Deppen 0 1 1.
Ridgedale (1-0): Shots 16-33; 3-pt. shots 2-9 (Hannah Murphy, Jillian Slaughterbeck); Free throws 12-22; Rebounds 26 (Maddi Makenzie 10); Turnovers 21. Scoring: Hannah Murphy 5 2 13, Haleigh Townsend 1 0 2, Jillian Slaughterbeck 1 0 3, Richelle Gleespen 2 1 5, Maddi Makenzie 6 6 18, Kiley Slone 1 0 2, Camryn Thiel 0 3 3.