MASSILLON — Emily Siesel had reason to celebrate.
But Buckeye Central’s senior point guard was all business after Thursday’s 61-28 win over Springfield in the Division IV regional semifinals at Perry High School.
The Buckettes have their sights set on a trip to the Final Four.
Siesel scored her 1,000th career point late in the second quarter as Buckeye Central advanced to the Elite Eight with a workmanlike 61-28 win over Springfield.
“It’s special and it’s awesome to do that in our regional game,” Siesel said. “But the end goal isn’t that. That really mean’s nothing at the end of the day. We’re just glad we got the win and we’re going to take the next step to what our end goal is.”
Needing 12 points to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau, Siesel nearly reached the milestone in the first quarter. She scored nine points in the period as Buckeye (25-1) forged a 14-8 lead.
Siesel’s historic bucket came on a wing jumper with 38 seconds left in the second quarter and capped a stunning sequence that all but sealed the deal for the Buckettes.
Springfield (22-5) cut Buckeye Central’s lead to 27-13 on Ava Vecchione’s 3-pointer with just 15 seconds to play in the opening half. Siesel scored on a layup and was fouled with four ticks remaining and completed the conventional three-point play to push Buckeye’s lead to 30-13.
“As Springfield attempted to inbound the ball, Kennedy Deppen picked off the pass and was fouled as she scored with one-tenth of a second on the clock. Deppen connected on the ensuing free throw to push the lead to 33-13.
Buckeye Central scored 12 points in the final 1:29 of the first half, including six in the final four seconds.
“That two-minute stretch there … that was a big momentum swing,” Buckeye Central coach Abram Kaple said. “We were struggling at time to get shots and I thought we were a little stagnant and looked a little timid with the basketball.
“That was the monkey off our back. Once that happened, we were kind of rolling.”
Springfield coach John Matisi agreed.
“We made the 3 and I felt like we could have some momentum going in and then you’re down 20 in the blink of an eye,” Matisi said. “We knew what we were up against, but my kids battled.”
Siesel led four Buckettes in double figures with 19 points. Claudia Pifher, who became the program’s career scoring leader in Buckeye’s district final win over Seneca East, managed 10 points while being face-guarded much of the night. Deppen and Ryley Kantzer matched Pifher with 10 points apiece.
Jacey Mullen, Springfield’s 5-foot-10 junior forward, led the Tigers with nine points. Kaila LaMorticella added four points.
The Buckettes will play Dalton at 7 p.m. Saturday at Perry for the regional title and a berth in next week’s Final Four. Dalton beat Bristol 50-38 in Thursday’s late game.
“We had a talk Monday and circled back through our goals,” Kaple said. “Obviously the main goal everybody knows, but we talked about the little goals — those mini-milestones to get to where your ultimate goal is.
“These guys want at least one more.”
