NEW WASHINGTON — So far, Buckeye Central has had to play without their three-time All-Ohioan, guard Claudia Pifher.
But with Emily and Kate Siesel on the floor, the Buckettes have had more than enough firepower.
Emily, who is averaging better than 25 points per game, knocked down a pair of 3-point shots and finished with 25, while her sister, junior Kate, dropped four 3s in a decisive first period and set a school record with six 3s and 20 points as the Buckettes raced past Colonel Crawford, 69-43.
With the win, Buckeye Central improved to 1-0 in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, 4-0 overall, while the Eagles fell to 0-1 in the conference, 3-1 overall.
The fact that the Siesel sisters outscored the Eagles showed their dominance Friday night.
“Kate’s a very capable shooter and we did a good job with our dribble penetration of getting her looks,” Buckeye Central coach Abram Kaple said. “I thought we executed today better than what we did Monday night.
“I feel like we have good sets to be able to get those guys looks and we talked about it on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we just have to be better offensively, in terms of execution,” Kaple added.
It was Kate Siesel’s ability to shoot the 3 in the first period that set the tone for the game.
After Colonel Crawford’s Kaylyn Risner scored, cutting the BC led to 4-2 early in the game, Siesel hit a 3, Emily Siesel scored on a drive into the lane, and Kate Siesel knocked down a 10-foot jumper to increase the lead to 11-2.
From that point, Kate Siesel hit three more 3s and Ryley Kantzer drained a 3 as the Buckettes grabbed a 24-9 lead after the first period and held a 40-16 advantage at the break.
“Kate knocked down shots, and she has that capability to do that, and she can score them in a hurry,” Kaple said. “And, obviously, we saw that tonight with 14 in the first quarter. She spends a lot of time shooting the basketball in the summer and we got a lot of shots up this week as well.”
Emily Siesel said that her coach helped the team this week after a tough 55-43 win over Riverdale Monday night.
“Coach Kaple really helped prepare us and he wants us to go out there with a positive mindset and go out with high energy and playing with confidence really helps out,” Emily said.
“We’ve had a really good start to the season,” she added. “This year, especially, we’ve really been more intense in practice, and I think it led to some early success and we’re just hoping to carry it over into more.”
Kate said that she is playing with confidence.
“Coach Kaple does a lot of shooting in practice so that helps us a lot during the games,” Kate said.
“We did have a lot of aggression coming out and showed that during practice, too, so we were able to translate it to the game.”
Colonel Crawford coach Kyle Fenner said that, while the Siesel sisters are difficult to defend, they have a lot of pieces.
“They made shots,” Fenner said. “They’re a tough guard because then they can put it on the floor and take the ball to the basket, too.
“There are other parts, too, that go with it,” she added. “It’s tough to guard them.”
Kaple felt that his team needed to play better Friday night, considering the way his team played against Riverdale.
“It kinda goes back to Monday,” Kaple said. “Our effort was unacceptable against Riverdale, and we had a few tough practices and we kinda talked about what it means to have Buckeye Central across your chest. We didn’t play like that Monday and we kinda got into them that we hold ourselves to a different standard.
“We wanted to come out and play fast and play with energy on the defensive end. Just our effort was better.”
The young Eagles did a better job on the offensive end in the second half. Risner led Crawford with 15 points and Mallory Plesac added 11.
“Kaylyn’s tough,” Fenner said. “Mallory had a pretty good second half. We just have to go back to the drawing board.”
Colonel Crawford won the junior varsity game, 25-16. Cecelia Chase led the Eagles with 12 points and Nevaeh Metzger scored eight for the Buckettes.
Colonel Crawford 9 7 15 12 — 43
Buckeye Central 24 16 16 13 — 69
Colonel Crawford (3-1, 0-1 N10): Shots 11-52; 3-pt. 4 (Kaylyn Risner 2, Emma Valentine, Allison Weithman); Rebounds 22; Turnovers 19. Scoring: Emma Valentine 1 3 6, Mallory Plesac 4 3 11, Allison Weithman 1 2 5, Corin Feik 1 0 2, Kaylyn Risner 2 9 15, Lynae McKibben 1 2 4.
Buckeye Central (4-0, 1-0 N10): Shots 23-41; 3-pt. shots 10 (Kate Siesel 6, Emily Siesel 2, Sydney Wurm, Ryley Kantzer); Free throws 13-19; Rebounds 24 (Emily Siesel 8); Turnovers 15. Scoring: Emily Siesel 9 5 25, Kate Siesel 7 0 20, Julia Evak 1 2 4, Kennedy Deppen 1 2 4, Ella Evak 1 0 2, Ryley Kantzer 2 4 9, Sydney Wurm 2 0 5.
JV: Colonel Crawford 26-15.