Siesel's big 2nd half fuels Buckettes

MASSILLON – Kennedy Deppen had it going early.Kate Siesel took over in the second half.But for the entirety of the game Thursday, Buckeye Central was locked in defensively.The Buckettes shut out Berlin Center Western Reserve for more than 10 minutes to start the game and that intensity remained the whole way as BC topped the Blue Devils 41-20 in a Division IV regional semifinal at Massillon Perry High School."We had a good week of practice in terms of knowing what they wanted to do," Buckeye Central coach Abram Kaple said. "They wanted to play though (Brooke Schantz). We did a good job of trying to limit her touches and her opportunities."The Buckettes improved to 23-3 and will face New Middletown Springfield (23-3) at 7 p.m. Saturday for the regional championship back at Perry."We didn't shoot the ball well, particularly in the first half," Kaple said. "Our mindset is defense travels. We can control that. We can control our effort and how we're defending things."Buckeye Central set the tone early. They kept WR off the scoreboard the entire first quarter. Deppen scored the Buckettes' first five points and last four points."I realized I needed to get to the basket," Deppen said. "I could get them in the air and that led to easy baskets around the rim. It led to a lot of fouls and got us in the bonus."The Blue Devils struggled to handle BC's in your face pressure. Western Reserve tallied six turnovers in the first quarter and missed all five shots it took."(The first quarter was) huge," Kaple said. "We've seen them on film get a lead and try to take the air out of the ball. Our message all week - and it has been all year - is the first three minutes of the game. You want to get a good lead. This is definitely a team where we don't want to try to have to play from behind."Buckeye Central certainly slowed down in the second quarter. The Blue Devils got on the board with 5:38 to go in the first half and ultimately got within 15-7 at halftime.The Buckettes' only made basket in 10 tries in the second quarter came from Sydney Wurm, who was playing for the first time in almost a month. She nailed a 3 to help BC maintain the lead."You hate to see any kid get hurt and Syd was having a great year for us," Kaple said. "Obviously limited minutes, which is good. Limited is better than zero. At the time where we couldn't score, that's what she does."Buckeye Central - particularly Siesel - got things back on the right track in the third quarter. Siesel went coast-to-coast after a rebound to score. Deppen added a bucket to make it 19-7 with 5:12 to go on the quarter.After an empty possession by the Blue Devils, Neveah Metzger tallied a three-point play to extend the lead. A driving layup by Siesel then made it 24-7.But then, Siesel caught fire from 3-point land. She hit back-to-back corner triples to give Buckeye Central a 30-11 lead after three quarters.She opened the fourth quarter with two free throws before a wild, acrobatic 3 on which she was fouled. She nailed the free throw for the four-point play to balloon the Buckettes' lead to 36-11."It's a matter of time," said Kaple of Siesel's shooting. "She got good looks in the first half and she just didn't make them. Our message to her was continue to shoot the basketball. They're going to go. That kind of snowballs things for her."Siesel splashed in one more triple while Deppen scored again. Siesel finished with 21 points including 19 in the second half."Once I make one, I get in a rhythm and it gets easier," Siesel said.Deppen tallied 14 points for Buckeye Central."We got some defensive rebounds and we found (Deppen) in transition," Kaple said. "She did a good job attacking the basket. She had two and-one's to start the game. That's her strength - being able to put it on the floor. We've been encouraging her to finish off two feet."The Buckettes will get the chance to defend what they won last year with an opportunity to advance to the state semifinals again."It's super exciting to be back in the regional final," Siesel said. "It's a really big opportunity for us. This is what we work for. Getting that chance is really important for us."New Middletown Springfield topped Dalton 44-33 in the night's first semifinal."The good thing about Springfield is we played them last year," Kaple said. "We had a chance to see them a couple times in January. We know their M.O. They're big. They're physical and they're really good on the offensive glass."