NEW WASHINGTON — They were the top two scorers in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and piloted Buckeye Central to the state tournament for the seventh time in program history, but the road to this week’s Final Four has been anything but smooth for Claudia Pifher and Emily Siesel.
The seniors have dealt with more than their fair share of misfortune during their high school careers.
That Pifher and Siesel both achieved scoring milestones during Buckeye Central’s extended postseason run is a testament to their perseverance in the face of adversity.
Pifher became the program’s career scoring leader in a 52-21 win over Seneca East in the Willard district championship game. She scored 21 points, supplanting Jenna Karl (1,546 points) atop Buckeye Central’s all-time scoring list and unofficially sits at 1,582 points going into Friday’s Division IV state semifinal game against Waterford.
The scoring mark appeared to be a foregone conclusion as Pifher, who scored a single-season record 490 points last year, needed just 279 points to surpass Karl entering the season. Things went sideways in a preseason scrimmage against Loudonville, however, as Pifher suffered a broken left wrist. She sat out the first 11 games of the season, including Buckeye Central’s lone loss to Shelby in early-January, but returned the following game and hasn’t looked back since — averaging 19.8 points a game.
“Claudia has meant a lot to this program,” coach Abram Kaple said after Buckeye Central’s regional semifinal win over Springfield. “She has worked so hard to get to where she is.”
The same goes for Siesel, who began her high school career at Seneca East before coming to Buckeye Central for her junior season. She scored her 1,000th career point in the regional semifinal win over Springfield despite missing her entire sophomore year because of an ankle injury.
“I never really had the best of luck with injuries,” Siesel said. “So for senior year, to come out and be healthy for it all, it’s special.”
The injury that cost Siesel her sophomore season occurred in January of her freshman year at Seneca East. She missed the entire summer and fall.
“The ankle sprain just never healed,” Siesel said. “In November of my sophomore year we went to an ankle specialist and I had to get surgery.”
Despite missing a handful of games at the end of her freshman year, all of her sophomore year and a sitting out the season opener as a junior, Siesel eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in the regional semifinal win over Springfield.
“Emily hangs her hat specifically on the defense end and ever since she came last year, she’s kind of rebuilt our identity from a defensive standpoint,” Kaple said. “She has a chip on her shoulder.
“She missed games at the end of her freshman year. She missed her entire sophomore year and she missed the first game last year. She’s a great two-way player.”
As good as Pifher and Siesel have been, Buckeye Central is in the Final Four for the first time since 2018 thanks in part to its supporting cast. Junior guard Ryley Kantzer scored 11 points while guarding Dalton’s speedy Addesa Miller for the better part of three quarters in a 48-32 win over the Bulldogs in the regional final. Kennedy Deppen had 10 points in the regional semifinal win over Springfield while Pifher was being face-guarded all evening.
“That’s a testament to being a team,” Kaple said. “We’re the Buckeye Central Buckettes and everybody who puts on a jersey … they’re on the floor for a reason.”
