MASSILLON — It was a defensive performance for the ages.
Buckeye Central limited Dalton to just four points during a 14-minute stretch bridging the second, third and fourth quarters and the Buckettes advanced to the Final Four with a 48-32 win over the Bulldogs in the Division IV Massillon regional championship game Saturday night at Perry High School.
Buckeye Central (26-1) will play Waterford in the state semifinals at 2 p.m. Friday at the University of Dayton.
The Buckettes trailed the Bulldogs (17-11) 18-11 after a steal and layup by Addesa Miller with 4:12 remaining in the second quarter, forcing Buckeye coach Abram Kaple to call timeout.
Whatever Kaple said hit home as Buckeye closed the half on a 9-0 run and took a 20-18 lead on a pair of Claudia Pifher free throws with 14.4 seconds remaining.
“They definitely disrupted us on defense,” Dalton coach Katie Miller said. “We got up 18-11 and then we had some bad possessions.”
The second half started much the same way the first half ended as Ryley Kantzer ignited a 13-4 Buckeye Central flurry via a 3-pointer, giving the Buckettes a 23-18 lead.
Dalton stopped the bleeding momentarily when Mia Weaver hit a pair of free throws to make it 23-20, but a traditional three-point play by Emily Siesel goosed Buckeye Central’s margin to 26-20 with 4:54 showing and the Buckettes took a 33-22 advantage to the final eight minutes.
“We kind of backed off the pressure in the full court. Addesa Miller is phenomenal. She’s super fast. Emily is an elite defender, but we just couldn’t keep (Miller) in front,” Kaple said of Buckeye Central’s defensive adjustments.
“With Emily’s two fouls we moved her off the ball and we moved Ryley to Miller to kind of contain her and we used Emily more like a rover. That really proved to be the difference.”
Buckeye Central opened the final period on an 11-0 spree that included a pair of 3-pointers by Kate Siesel. Dalton scored its first points of the quarter on an Ella Lunsford layup with 2:37 remaining, but by that time B.C. had an insurmountable 44-24 lead.
Emily Siesel paced Buckeye Central with 12 points. Pifher and Kantzer each had 11.
Miller topped Dalton with 11 points, including a pair of late 3-pointers after the outcome was decided.
Buckeye Central will be making its seventh appearance in the state semifinals and first since 2018.
“It feels awesome,” said Kantzer, a junior sharpshooter. “The three years I’ve been in high school this has always been our goal. We’ve always fell short but this year I’m so glad we could get it done.”
