NEW WASHINGTON — According to Seneca East coach George Parks, his team hasn’t been shooting the three ball well in recent games.
“We’ve been hot and cold in games,” Parks said. “We’ve had a couple of games where we shot like that. We put the 3s up and today we were hitting them. I know we’ve been struggling the last few games, but we really hit the offensive boards if we’re missing.”
Buckeye Central coach Phil Loy agreed with his counterpart.
“This reminded me of when we played Crawford the other day,” Loy said. “Both teams we felt that we could compete with, and it would be a huge challenge. But when those teams wanted to shoot the ball the way they did, I mean, Seneca East has not been shooting the three ball well at all.
“Our game plan has been protecting the drive,” Loy added. “They are so good, especially Izzy Stockmaster; she is really good at going downhill and finishing. And Snay is a really good post player that you have to pay a lot of attention to. So, our focus is on that and having a lot of help. That’s how they beat us the last time. And a team that is going to shoot 20 percent from three; you have to take a chance with that.”
The Lady Tigers were shooting the long ball well in the first half Saturday afternoon, making seven of 19 threes in the first two periods to take a 29-16 lead at the half.
Buckeye Central came back in the final two periods, cutting the lead to 10 on two occasions. But Seneca East held on for a 49-35 win.
With the win, the Lady Tigers improved to 13-4 overall and 9-2 in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference. The Lady Tigers are still a half-game back of Colonel Crawford, tied in the loss column. Buckeye dropped to 7-11 and 3-9.
Seneca East set the tone of the game early, getting two threes from Alexa Snay and a three from Izzy Stockmaster to take a 13-6 lead after one, before getting threes from Madi Smith, Karli Foos and two more from Stockmaster to take that 13-point lead at the break.
“They were knocking down shots five or six feet from beyond the arc,” Loy said. “Everybody was knocking down shots. Uncharacteristic of them, they shot 19 threes in the first half. And to knock down seven threes; that’s crazy.
“So, we buried ourselves in a hole, and I honestly felt that we were in a decent position to only be down 13 at the half.”
Buckeye Central’s Aleyse Siefert came alive in the second half, hitting a pair of threes and scoring 10 of her team-high 15 points.
But Stockmaster was equally hot for the Lady Tigers. She scored all eight of her team’s points in the third period and finished with 22 points while Snay scored seven of her 15 points in the final frame.
After Seneca East held a 37-24 lead entering the final frame, the Buckettes cut the lead to 42-32 on a Siefert three, 43-33 on a Grace Collene free throw, and 45-35 on a Siefert basket with 1:30 left in the game.
“Credit to the girls for stepping up in the second half,” Loy said. “We had to make some adjustments and now we have to guard the three a little better and it opens things up.
“We just have to have the ability to make shots,” Loy added. “Sometimes that can be a struggle.”
Parks agreed with Loy.
“To Buckeye’s credit, they came out and played hard,” Parks said. “I told the girls that we were not going to shoot like that all the time and we had to win the game with defense. Our defensive intensity picked up; I think we gave up less than 10 points in three of the four quarters and that’s our goal.
“When we shoot the ball like that, we’re tough to beat.”
Box score
Seneca East 13 16 8 12 — 49
Buckeye Central 6 10 8 11 — 35
Seneca East (13-4, 9-2 N10): Shots 15-35; 3-pt. shots 9 (Izzy Stockmaster 4, Alexa Snay 3, Madi Smith, Karli Foos); Free throws 12-17; Rebounds 18; Turnovers 8. Scoring: Cami Lantz 0 3 3, Alexa Snay 5 2 15, Madi Smith 2 0 5, Karli Foos 1 0 3, Izzy Stockmaster 5 7 21, Luella Burkholder 1 0 2.
Buckeye Central (7-11, 3-9 N10): Shots 11-30; 3-pt. shots 3 (Aleyse Sifert 2, Grace Collene); Free throws 8-12; Rebounds 19; Turnovers 8. Scoring: Jenna Cianflone 1 0 2, Aleyse Sifert 6 1 15, Grace Collene 1 4 7, Megan Siefert 1 0 2, Nevaeh Metzger 2 3 7, Macy Deppen 0 2 2.