Buckeye Central/Northern 10 Athletic Conference News
Buckeye
Blasts Bucyrus
Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Todd Messmer
Buckeye Central belted Bucyrus (11-1) in six innings in a division VI
district semifinal on Tuesday evening at Shelby High School.
They return to Shelby on Thursday to play Wynford, who demolished New
London (19-0) in the second game on Tuesday.
Buckeye coach Todd Messmer says his kids were ready to play.
“The girls are had a good practice (Monday) night.
They were definitely focused in what they had to do,” he said.
Buckeye score a couple runs in the second inning and then pretty much
put it on ice with six more in the third.
Messmer says the
just kept gaining confidence at the plate.
“They got more and more confidence as the game went on,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They started getting a read on what
the Bucyrus pitchers were trying to do to them.
Timing up the pitching and they've did a great job.”
Senior Grace Collene was outstanding on the mound allowing only one
hit while striking out 10. She
also collected two hits, including a home run.
Junior Leah Fields had four hits and three RBI.
Buckeye Central (17-5) beat Wynford (13-9) twice during the regular
season, both times (3-2).
Messmer sees another completive game on Thursday.
“It's going to be an exciting matchup.
They're a really tough team, but our girls are focused and we know we
have got to do. It should be a
pretty good challenge for us,” said Messmer.
Published 5/21/25
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source for All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Gets Some Momentum
Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Chad Jensen
Austin Ethridge had three hits and three RBI and Buckeye Central
outscored Riverdale (13-10) in a non-conference baseball game on Monday
evening.
Coach Chad Jensen says it was a win they needed to have.
“We were on a six game skid here and our league is bear.
We had six league games in a row and we really struggled hitting.
We faced some really good pitchers and we really struggled getting
hits. I mean we put the bat on
the ball and didn’t strike out that much.
We were able (Monday) night to get some hits and see the kids get
some success just by being patient and putting the bat on the ball and
making things happen,” he said.
Jensen says they faced some adversity in the game and kept battling
back. “With our league being a
meat grinder we were happy to get a nonleague game in.
We have a lot of respect for Riverdale and we knew that they would be
a similar team to us. It wasn't
easy. We were up 6-0 and then
pretty soon we were up at 8-5 and then pretty soon we were down 10-8.
Then we were able to put five runs up in the top of the seventh.
We were able to get a big two out, two strike hit from Austin
Ethridge that that tied it up for us. Then
were able to scratch three more across.
Anyway, it was definitely a good win for us,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central (12-13) will be at home for Lucas in a sectional
final on Friday night.
Jensen says he is excited about their prospects in the tournament.
“I've always been an advocate of seven divisions with us being a
small school in a league where everybody's bigger than us.
It's nice to be able to see less of your league opponents.
They're all division six other than Mohawk or with Upper,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We're excited about the tournament.
We're excited to get a chance to play some division VII schools.
We've only played six games all year against division VII, so we're
excited about that. We know we
made some mistakes (Monday), but I was happy that our kids at least kept
playing and kept grinding. I
think that a lot of things we did (Monday) I think will help us moving
forward. So, we're excited about
it and looking forward to hosting on Friday.”
Published 5/20/25
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source for All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Mohawk
Makes Big Plays; Beats Buckeye
Mohawk beat Buckeye Central (10-1) in eight innings in Northern 10
Athletic Conference action in one of the more unique baseball games this
reporter can remember on Monday evening.
The Bucks (7-5,3-3) led (1-0) scoring on an RBI hit by Jeremiah
Fishpaw in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Mohawk would tie it on a home run by Lance Frankart in the top of the
seventh. The Warriors would then
score nine runs in the eighth inning.
Mohawk coach Zach Hawkins says they made some big plays when they had
to. “Their pitcher did a
really nice job keeping us off balance and we didn't really get much going
against him. We had the bases
loaded in the first inning. He
walked three of us and we didn't convert on that opportunity and he kind of
settled in. From there it took
Lance Frankart to step up with a huge senior at bat and hit a home run for
us in the seventh inning to tie it up. Elias
Magallanes, who was our starting pitcher, did an awesome job keeping it at
1-0 for the whole game giving us a chance,” said Hawkins.
The Mohawk coach says it the eighth inning they took advantage of
some opportunities. “The (Cayden)
Jarvis kid got to his pitch max and they and they to bring in somebody else
and the wheels just kind of fell off for them there.
Credit to our guys for taking advantage of that, but also credit
Buckeye Central, especially the Jarvis kid.
He pitched the heck of a game,” he said.
Buckeye coach Chad Jensen says his kids gave it all they had.
“The final score doesn’t tell the story.
Our kids left it on the field and we were one bang bang play from
winning it. We will continue to
get better and be ready to go (Tuesday) against Mansfield Christian,” he
said.
The Bucks were thrown out at home in the bottom of the seventh in an
attempt to score the winning run.
Mohawk (12-2,6-1) shares first in the “N10” with Upper Sandusky.
Hawkins says they made the plays at the right time on Monday.
“I kept telling the kids (Monday) to keep plugging away and keep
getting guys on base and eventually good things will happen.
Luckily for us, it was a home run that that got us where we needed to
be,” he told Swankonsports.com on after the win on Monday evening, “In
the bottom of the seventh inning, they had a base hit with two outs and a
guy on second base and we basically threw him out at home.
So, we stepped up and made some plays where we needed to make plays.
I wasn't too overly happy with some of our at bats, but can never
complain about a win, so I'm not going to complain too much.”
Published 4/22/25
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source for All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Blanks Crawford
Buckeye Central battled the cold and the wind and blanked Colonel
Crawford (4-0) on Tuesday evening in action in the Northern 10 Athletic
Conference.
Cayden Jarvis went the distance for the Bucks and allowed just two
hits. He did walk six, but stuck
out eight Eagles in the game.
Coach Chad Jensen says Jarvis handled the elements and the Eagles
pretty well. “We got a great
outing from Cayden Jarvis (Tuesday) night.
He was really good. It
was a cold, blustery night and he didn’t let it phase him.
Crawford worked some walks and had some good at bats, but Cayden
really battled and got out of any jam and really pitched really well,”
said Jensen.
Jensen says when Jarvis had to make some big pitches he was able to
do it. “That's exactly what he
did. He would often get two
quick outs and then Crawford work a walk and then he would battle.
He battled all night long and we played really good defense behind
him as well and and it was really a good team effort,” he said.
The Bucks (7-2,3-1) trail Wynford by a game in the conference
standings. They lost a tough one
the Royals (4-2) last week.
On Tuesday, they only got one hit in the game, but Jensen says it was
a big one. “Hits were hard to
come by. We had one and Crawford
at two, so it was hard to come. We
were able to get some base runners. Jeremiah
Fishpaw had a big hit and scored run,” he told Swankonsports.com after the
win, “Late in the ball game we had an RBI from Blaise Metzger that really
added one in the seventh to give us a little bit more insurance.
We had really good situational hitting.
We were able to get runners on and then we're able to move them over,
which really helps getting runners in scoring position.”
Published 4/16/25
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source for All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Wynford
Rallies Past Buckeye
Wynford scored three times in the bottom of the sixth and they beat
Buckeye Central (4-2) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference baseball played
at Wynford on a blustery Wednesday evening.
Royals coach Tom Smith says they made some key plays late to get the
win. “In our last at bat in
the bottom of sixth we scored three and then held him.
In the seventh inning, they loaded the bases with no outs and we
brought in a relief pitcher and struck out the first guy and then got a
double play. So, it was a great
finish,” said Smith.
Drew Johnson was able to slam the door for the Royals (4-1,2-0).
Buckeye Central (5-1,2-1) put up two in the fourth inning to take a
(2-1) lead, but were unable to hold on.
Bucks coach Chad Jensen has confidence to his kids will battle back.
“I loved our guys fight and tenacity, but in the end, we didn’t
get the job done. However, are
our players are resilient and we know where we want to be and will continue
to work hard to get there. It’s
a long season and will work from this and get better,” said Jensen.
The game at Buckeye originally scheduled for Tuesday had to be
postponed. It has been moved to
April 25.
There were a total of eight errors in the game played on Wednesday,
five by Buckeye Central.
Smith says his kids were able to buckle down late in the game.
“With weather I think both teams defense with a little shaky
(Wednesday) night. We both made
errors in that weather and kind of helped the other guys out a little
bit,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Then at the end we were
able to make some plays in that seventh inning to get off the field and
secure the win.”
Smith says a lot of times in high school baseball it comes down to
who makes the fewest mistakes. “We
gave them two early. They
actually made an error and we tied it at 2-2.
Then they made an error and that's how we ended up winning on an
error. So, we just made one less
mistake than they did,” he said.
Published 4/10/25
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source for All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Central Gets Past Monroeville
Jeremiah Fishpaw gave up one hit over six innings and Buckeye Central
edged Monroeville (2-1) in a non-conference baseball game on Monday in New
Washington.
Fishpaw struck out 10 while walking three and coach Chad Jensen says
he was outstanding. “We got
great pitching (Monday) from Jeremiah Fishpaw, a junior pitcher.
He pitched his butt off and pitched a whale of a game.
He was truly dominating at times.
Just kept his composure and pounded the strike zone and just did a
really good job. He got himself
in a few jams, got out of it, just really handled himself really well.
It was a really great game for him and exciting for our for our
players,” said Jensen.
Jensen says they were able to push across runs in the first and third
innings. “We were able to get
some base runners. We only had a
couple hits, but we walked six times. I
thought our kids showed some patience to the plate and we were able to score
basically because of just hustle plays,” he told Swankonsports.com after
the win, “Jaden Jarvis gets on, steals second, steals third and is able to
score on a bad throw to third. Then
we were able to score again. Hunter
Caudill steals a base and gets moved up and scores again when they throw the
ball around a little bit. So, we
were able to get some base runners, put a little pressure on them to make
plays and that really helps.”
Buckeye Central (2-0) opens play in the Northern 10 Athletic
Conference games against Bucyrus (0-1) on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Jensen says they want to put some pressure on the other team and they
have some kids that can do that. “We
have a few guys in our lineup that we feel can run a little bit.
We've always wanted to do that. We
adjust every year to our personnel, but we want to put pressure on the
defense. We want to steal bases. We
want to bunt. We want to do
things like that to make the defense make same plays.
Really it’s a game by game situation and see what's best at that
moment to help us win a ball game,” he said.
Published 4/01/25
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source for All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Preparing With Tough Scrimmages
Buckeye Central, a division VII school, is really going to be tested
this week and that’s a good thing.
Coach Chad Jensen says they are in the process of figuring out who
can play. “The kids are really
working hard. We're still trying
to figure out roles. We have got
our first scrimmage against Shelby on Tuesday, so we'll get a kind of a look
at where we're at. We have a
mixture of veteran guys and some younger guys, so it's really so far it's
just about figuring out where people are going to play and who is going to
play where, people who are pitching and that kind of thing.
Luckily, we have four scrimmages and you're going to need them all
because we're going to kind of see where we're at and get ready for game
one,” he said.
They play New London is their opener on March 29 and then Bucyrus in
their Northern 10 Athletic Conference openers April 1 and 2.
Jensen says their first scrimmage is Tuesday Shelby of the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference, a bigger school. “We
talked about with our kids (Monday) and I've done this my whole career is we
don't play to win scrimmages. We
don't really keep score. It's
all about getting better. Trying
to see what pieces fit where and just work on us.
We don't worry about winning or losing the scrimmages because they
are practice,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “For our
guys I think they're excited to play somebody else and excited to see where
we're at. We always schedule
tough scrimmages. Our first two
are Shelby and Galion, bigger schools, and good programs, so it's a
challenge for us, but we want to be challenged, we want to see where we're
at.”
They also scrimmage Galion this week and Jensen says playing these
bigger schools is by design. “We
never scrimmage schools that aren't maybe going to help us all that much.
We always scrimmage up and it's a challenge and sometimes it's tough.
We play these bigger schools and it's tough, but it really shows some
weaknesses. So, then you can
recognize those weaknesses and correct them.
Like I tell our kids, we're not going to play anybody tougher in our
regular season schedule. So, our
scrimmages are really challenging and then it'll get easier once we play
games. We want to make practice
harder than the games and that's the whole point of it,” said Jensen.
Published 3/18/25
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source for All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
St.
Paul Blitzes Buckeye
Norwalk St. Paul overwhelmed Buckeye Central (68-35) on Thursday
night in a division VII district semifinal at Shelby High School.
The Flyers (19-5) will play Sandusky St. Mary’s (9-15) in the final
on Saturday night in Shelby. The
Panthers smoked Plymouth (46-25) in the nightcap.
Buckeye would score the first points of the game on a basket by
Hunter Caudill with 6:44 left in the first quarter, but St. Paul would score
the next 25 over the next 10 minutes of play and it was pretty much game,
set, and match.
St. Paul coach Steve Minor says they responded well to what Buckeye
threw at them. “It was a great
tone I thought we set. Really we
took what they gave us. They
came out in triangle two and it's something we haven't seen.
Even if you try to mirror that in practice, you're not going to do it
right if you don't usually do it,” he told Swankonsports.com after the
win, “It was nice that we saw it on the fly and we're able to adjust to
it. Now, we were going to see
all kinds of different things from them and we just basically had to go down
the checklist this week and go over every single possibility that we might
see. Unfortunately, the triangle
and two wasn't one of them, but fortunately they had to come out of it.”
Although everyone took part in the early explosion by the Flyers it
was sophomore guard Grant Kuhnle that did the most damage, scoring 15 of the
25 points to start the game, including three threes.
Minor says Kuhnle makes them a different team when he plays like he
did Thursday. “It makes it us
a totally different dimension, not like two dimensional almost like three to
four dimensional. When he's
feeling it too you just let him go with it.
Sometimes he takes some ill advised shots, but a lot of times full
those ill advised go in, so I’m fine with it,” he said.
The Flyers dominated the glass and 6’7” Nolan McCall block a
number of shots.
Buckeye coach Chris Moyer said going in that they were concerned
about the Flyers height and that forced them to alter their usual game plan.
“We jumped it up with the triangle and two just trying to deal with
it. Our worry was rebounding and
unfortunately it came to fruition. We
were getting stops early, but we were giving them second and third chances
and it just got away from us pretty early,” said Moyer.
Kuhnle finished with 18 points on the night to lead St. Paul.
Guards Korey Frazee and Lando Fries both had 10.
Hunter Caudill had 18 for Buckeye.
St. Paul had a big height advantage in the and Minor says that has
been the case on most nights. “Fortunately
for us that's something that that is something everybody's going to deal
with this year and it doesn't happen all the time.
A matter of fact it doesn't have very often our way, so when we have
it, we hope to make it a concern for people,” he said.
Published 2/28/25
© Swankonsports.com
There will be a special edition of
“Out of Bounds” this Saturday night
10-11 PM
The
Glass Big for Buckeye
Buckeye Central challenges Norwalk St. Paul Thursday night in a
division VII district semifinal at Shelby High School.
The Bucks beat South Central (65-61) in a sectional title game last
Friday.
Coach Chris Moyer says this is kind of rarified air for them.
“It's been 10 years since we've won a sectional title here at
Buckeye Central. Most definitely
it was a grind there and credit to South Central, they played very, very
well. Fortunately, we were at
home and I felt like that was kind of the difference in the game,” said
Moyer.
Buckeye Central (8-15) plays Norwalk St. Paul (18-5) on Thursday
night. The Flyers, to top seed in the district, downed Mansfield St.
Peter’s (53-41) last Friday to advance.
Moyer says the Flyers have a huge size advantage.
“First of all, they're very well coached.
Coach (Steve) Minor does a great job with them, always does.
We do a lot of things with them in the summer, so we're familiar with
them. You have got to you got to
talk size to start. They are
6’7”, 6’5”, 6’4”. It's
going to be challenging just the sheer size and the quickness of these
guys,” he told Swankonsport.com on Wednesday afternoon, “It's unlike any
team that we face in the regular season.
These guys are battle tested. They play a meat grinder.
You look at their five losses and four of them are to Margaretta,
Calvert, Perkins and Huron, all winning teams.
So, this team has definitely played not only a tough Firelands
Conference schedule, but they're non-league schedule it is really tough.”
Moyer says to compete in this game they have to be able to limit the
Flyers transition and they must compete on the boards.
“The key to the game is going to be number one not letting them get
out in transition. They're very,
very good at that. Number two is
our ability to rebound. We
cannot give up second chance points in bunches here or it's going to be a
long night for us,” he said.
Published 2/27/25
© Swankonsports.com
There will be a special edition of
“Out of Bounds” this Saturday night
10-11 PM
Buckeye
Central is Opportunities
Buckeye Central entertains Carey in Northern 10 Athletic Conference
action on Friday night.
The Bucks (6-12,3-9) lost (59-48) to Monroeville in a non-conference
game on Tuesday night.
Coach Chris Moyer says they have been far too inconsistent,
especially on defense this year. “To
say the least, we've been pretty inconsistent here.
We've talked a lot about that with the kids here we're not consistent
at all on the defensive end and obviously our record reflects that.
We just talked about it again (Wednesday) night for us to have any
success we have got to learn to compete on the defensive end.
We can make excuses that we've had injuries and had kids out, but
ultimately it comes down to us just not defending at a high level and our
record shows that,” said Moyer.
Carey (5-11,5-6) was smoked (55-18) by conference leading Colonel
Crawford on Saturday.
They beat Buckeye (58-29) on December 27.
Moyer says the Blue Devils have things to play too.
“The first time they boat raced us the first game.
They got out to a big start. We
didn't show up in first quarter and only scored two points.
Those kids compete. They're trying to find their way as well.
Getting ready to go into the tournament, this is a big game for both
of us. We're both looking to get
a win and get some momentum going into the tournament draw Sunday,” he
said.
The tournament draw is Sunday and Moyer thinks if they improve their
play a little they can do some things. “I
will be honest, we've talked to our kids about that.
We've got to have momentum going into the tournament because it is up
for grabs. St. Paul, obviously,
is 13-5 and significantly ahead of the rest of us,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “It is pretty open here.
We have an opportunity to potentially get a home game and to be able
to win a sectional here and go to a district and feel that we can compete
with everybody in our district.”
Published 2/06/25
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source for All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Has to Finish
Buckeye Central Entertains Bucyrus in a game in the Northern 10
Athletic Conference on Tuesday night.
The Buckettes are just (3-8,1-6) on season, but coach Phil Loy says
they have played a series of very close games, but they can’t get over the
last hurdle. “We need to put
four quarters of basketball together.
We are right there, but our last our last five games have all been
close games. The last one we got
off to a bad start. So, we got
down and kudos to our girls for hanging in there and fighting through
adversity there. We were turning
the ball over left and right the first quarter against Upper Sandusky and we
had every chance to get blown out there.
I give our girls credit then from the second quarter on we outscored
Upper by a point or two each quarter. So,
we settled in there and did a much better job and actually turned them over
instead of us turning it over,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday
afternoon, “The game before against Carey, these are all really good
teams, and we hung with them, but just couldn't get over the hump there.
It's just possessions down the stretch.
Seneca East was another one. We
lost in overtime, but unfortunately I had two starters foul out in the
fourth quarter and that hurt us. We
had a chance to win that at the end of regulation and we didn't and then my
third starter fouled out and so that kind of put us in a bind there.
Prior to that it was New London, they’re a really good team, and we
had them right down to the wire. We're
shooting two free throws to go up three in the last 30 seconds and we missed
them both they came down hit a three and they take the lead.”
Loy hopes they can start playing more consistent basketball.
“It's just been some bad luck of just not being able to finish some
of these games off. Hopefully, I
think we have got more experience than anybody in the state with close
games, but we just have got to get on the other side of the of the column
here and start winning some of these. Every
game that we've played this year has come down to the end of the fourth
quarter. Just being able to
execute and being able to find a way to win.
So, hopefully (Tuesday) night we can do some good things and get this
thing turned around,” he said.
Buckeye beat Bucyrus (44-42) back on November 26 and Loy says they
are going to have to play well to win. “You
look at their record they haven't won, but the first time we played them
they had a shot to beat us at the end of the game.
We a couple times in that game had a chance to pull away.
Go up nine, we went up 11 at one time. It
was our first game, it was like their first game.
We were very sloppy and we didn't execute down the stretch and we
almost lost that. So, Bucyrus is
going to come in here feeling pretty good that they can beat us because they
almost did. They have got some
nice players. Everybody on that
team likes to shoot threes, which makes the team dangerous.
Middleton the point guard and Rowland their shooting guard and they
have another girl Karlee Shull, they're all good three point shooters.
So, they can hurt you if we don't defend the way we need to and they
start making threes, we could be in for another battle down to the wire,”
said Loy.
Published
1/07/25
©
Swankonsports.com
Your First
Source for All Things Sports
“Out of
Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight
“Sports
Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM
Buckeye
Faces Tough Week
Buckeye Central is three for three so far this season, but things get
tougher this week as travel to Colonel Crawford on Thursday and host Mohawk
on Saturday in games in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
They rallied for 17 down in the third quarter to beat Wynford (67-62)
in overtime Friday in “N10” play and then gutted it out in beating New
London (46-34) in a non-league game Saturday.
Coach Chris Moyer says they are pleased.
“It was a great weekend. The
first double weekend of the season to come out of it 2-0 obviously we're
very pleased. Saturday was just
a survival mode after the overtime game on Friday.
We didn't have real good legs. Didn’t
make a lot of good decisions and credit to New London.
Coach (Tom) Howell is always difficult to play because he's switching
defenses every possession and his kids played extremely hard and kept the
game close until late where we were fortunately able to put it away,” said
Moyer.
Buckeye Central (3-0,1-0) is at rival Colonel Crawford (2-1,1-0) on
Thursday night. The Eagles
rallied to beat Upper Sandusky (44-42) on Friday night in league play.
They downed Old Fort (52-39) in a non-conference game on Saturday
night.
Moyer says they just play outstanding defense.
“They have played some heavyweights here their first three games.
They played an extremely tough schedule to start the season.
They have got the new point guard in (Brayden) Holt and a returner
with Payne Degray. I mean those
are their two main guys. Coach
(David) Sheldon is going to get them shots.
They defend extremely well as always and that's the difficulty is
they are so good at taking your stuff away.
We have got to find a way to handle the physicality with them,” he
said.
Mohawk hasn’t played yet, but Moyer knows the Warriors are loaded.
“10 seniors on the roster that's something I haven't seen in a
long, long time. With (Boomer)
Cleveland and (Hunter) Haynes leading the way, just two really, really good
guards, but a lot like Crawford they're built on from the defensive end and
handling their physicality and not turning the ball over and be able to get
into your offense with the guys,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday
afternoon, “I'm sure their kids are raring to go here.
They play Bucyrus Thursday for the first game and then turn right
back around and play us on Saturday. So,
don't know much about them just we know all the kids they have, but I
haven't been able to watch any film on them yet.”
Published 12/10/24
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source for All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM
Buckeye
Focused on Improvement
Buckeye Central plays its first Northern 10 Athletic Conference game
on the road at Wynford on Friday night.
The Bucks (1-0) downed Plymouth (56-48) in a non-conference game last
Friday.
Coach Chris Moyer says it was a quality win for them.
“A great way to start off the season here, especially game one.
A lot of nerves and the lights come on you're always questioning
where if you're ready or not, but the but the guys were ready.
They played extremely well. A
lot of mistakes, but good enough to get out of there with the “W” on the
road,” he said.
Jack Phillips led Buckeye with 23 points.
Moyer says a win is good, but they have to keep getting better.
“It's driving that home to the kids.
Our goals aren't just winning one game.
We have got to continue to get better.
I always say that the first couple weeks of the season, once you
actually get to play the game, you know exactly what to work on and get the
kids better. They have got to
keep improving throughout the year, especially in our league.
Everybody continues to get better from game one to game 22,” said
Moyer.
This will be the opening of a new era at Wynford, but Moyer says they
will have some experienced talent. “New
coach with coach (Adam) Guinther there.
They have got two really good players coming back in (Weston) Prenger
and (Drew) Johnson. Pringer
averaged 18 points a game last year. Johnson shot 41% from the three point
line,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They got a
couple veterans leading a group of inexperienced guys.
This is going to be their first game, so we don't know much about
them, but we do know quite a bit about Prenger and Johnson and I'm assuming
they're going to be their focus offensively and how the young guys come
along with them.”
Published 12/05/24
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source for All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Needs to Get Better
Buckeye Central makes the short trip to Willard to face the Lady
Flashes in a non-conference game on Friday night.
They opened the season by beating Bucyrus (44-42) in a Northern 10
Athletic Conference game on Tuesday night.
Coach Phil Loy was a little nervous before the tip.
“Well, the first game wasn't our best.
I was a little nervous going into that because it was Bucyrus’
third game and playing at their place. We
don't typically play well there or shoot it well there, so I was a little
nervous even though they were 0-2 to start the season.
They're a dangerous team because everybody on the team shoots threes
and they have got some nice players. They
wanted it up temple and make it kind of ugly type of game.
So, I was a little nervous going in,” said Loy.
Then Loy says they had problems putting the game away.
“Our girls had a lot of opportunities.
I felt like we would kind of get a lead of seven to nine points and
then we just allow them to come right back into it.
They would tie it up, we stretch it out again, they tie it up, we
could just never pull away from them. Then
it was really too close for comfort down the stretch.
It's a win, the kids say a win is a win, we have just got to keep
getting better and that's exactly right,” he said.
Willard (1-0) got past Upper Sandusky (38-36) on Tuesday night.
Reese Bedingfield, daughter of the coach, had 15 for Willard.
Loy says Willard has a lot of length on their squad and that can
cause them some problems. “They
have got some size. They're got
some nice players. I’m
watching a little bit on them right now.
They have got a really nice player with Reese Bedingfield.
They present problems with their size,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Wednesday evening, “We don't have whole lot of size.
So, it's a game that we're going to have to make sure fundamentally
we're good. We box out, we have
got to do a better job of taking care of the basketball because every
possession is going to be so important against a team like Willard with
their length.”
Published 11/28/24
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source for All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Central Must Play Defense
For Buckeye Central to be a competitive basketball team this year
they are going to have to play really good defense.
Coach Chris Moyer says they do have some kids back that are familiar
with the varsity game. “We do
have some experience we're bringing back six lettermen that are all juniors
this year that all obviously played at the varsity level last year.
Plus, also we got another junior that moved back into the district
this year,” said Moyer.
Moyer says they have spent a lot of time this month getting in the
best condition they possible can. “Our
biggest thing right now is getting in shape.
We're with everybody else trying to get these football players into
basketball shape and just trying to develop some cohesiveness,” he said.
Buckeye opens the season next Friday at Plymouth in non-conference
play. Their first “N10” game
will be at Wynford on December 6.
Moyer says if they are going to be able to win more games this year
they are going to have to do it with defense.
“I'll be honest we’ve focused on defense the whole preseason.
That's got to be our bread and butter that to have success in the
“N10”, he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “If you can't
defend in the “N10” you're going to struggle as we struggled last
season. So, offense, it’ll
come. We're still shooting a
lot, but our focus has been entirely on the defensive end.”
Published 11/22/24
© Swankonsports.com
Follow our scoreboard Friday night
For constant updates beginning with the kick
Buckeye
Central Moving Forward
Buckeye Central has been one of the premier girls’ basketball
programs in the area and this year again the potential is there.
Coach Phil Loy says they have a good mix of players.
“So far, it's been it's been a good month.
We return five letter winners from last year, so we have got a good
base there. Our next group we're
going to be very young. Some
freshmen or sophomores that don't have any varsity experience and so we're
trying to bring them along. It’s
a good group of kids, but trying to bring them along.
I think the mix though has been good, our chemistry has been good,
our work ethic has been good. It's
just been a little bit of a learning curve for the younger ones.
We had several scrimmages so far and we're getting better, but we
have got to keep moving forward,” said Loy.
Loy says to be where they need to be they must continue to work hard.
“We have got to push through this grind.
The preseason can be long. So,
you have got to keep things mixed up a little bit so that the girls don't
get complacent in what we're doing. Our
first week of games was pushed back, so we don't open up until the 26th,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “The preseason can be a
little bit long, so you have to try to have the girls bring energy and
reward them by maybe shortening up drills or shorten up practice a little
bit from time to time. We're
trying to do a lot of conditioning and weightlifting and it can be a brutal
preseason. They're tired and
they're sore, but you have got to convince them it's going to pay off once
the season starts and the season gets going.”
Loy says at least at Buckeye success really does breed success in a
lot of ways. “Especially my
returners a couple have been a part of this as freshmen and sophomores.
They were they were part of all this success and been around it and
even the younger ones they remember. They
might have been in fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth grade, but they
remember all that. We went
through a long stretch there of winning districts and competing for league
titles and winning regionals,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
night, “They understand. They
kind of look up to a lot of those girls that were part of that run.
So, they know it's not easy and they have got to continue to keep
working hard,” he said.
Published 11/15/24
© Swankonsports.com
Follow our scoreboard Friday night
For constant updates beginning with the kick
Buckeye
Wants to be at its Best
Buckeye Central heads down 602 to face Colonel Crawford in a game in
the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night.
They won their second in a row when they pounded Bucyrus (42-24) in
their conference opener last week.
Coach Jordan Phillips says their performance made him pretty pleased.
“I was really proud of the guys.
We got up to a nice lead in the first quarter.
Kind of took our foot off the gas and went into the half up by six,
but they were getting the ball and they had all the momentum.
Our guys were able to make the adjustments and rally and take back
control of the game. So, I was
just really proud of their resilience,” said Phillips.
He calls the win a confidence builder.
“It's nice from a coaching perspective that there's stuff on film,
hey look when you execute, when you do your job, good things happen.
So, it's nice to get rolling that way and for the kids to be rewarded
for doing things right,” he said.
Buckeye (2-2,1-0) is at Colonel Crawford (3-1,0-1) on Friday night.
Crawford was thrashed (35-7) by Mohawk last week.
Phillips says he knows the Eagles are still really good.
“They're a really good football team. I
know a lot of people were surprised by that score, but mohawks Mohawk’s
the oldest team in the league it seems to me.
They're the only team that brought back their quarterback.
Certainly, they won't be overlooked anymore,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “Crawford is a really good team.
They're really sound, they're well coached, they play hard and
they're so deep too. So, we
absolutely aren't taking them lightly.”
Phillips their focus is really on themselves.
“They're going to be out for blood probably.
We're really worried about us. We're
trying to put our best football on the field and continue to grow.
If you worry too much about the opponent you kind of get away from
yourself and that's not something we want,” he said.
Published 9/17/24
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source for All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Has to Control the Ball
Buckeye Central looks for its first win on Friday night as they are
at Ada against the Bulldogs in non-conference action.
They lost last Friday to Crestline (44-27) in their opener.
Coach Jordan Phillis says big plays were a problem.
“We had to deal with a lot of adversity last week, a lot of
injuries, a lot of moving guys around. I
really was proud of the effort of some of our guys.
They really competed hard through that adversity and through some
nicks and bumps. We gave up too
many big plays and that's something we've addressed this week.
We feel like if we can make the corrections we need to make we're in
a position to play good football,” said Phillips.
Ada beat Upper Scioto Valley (15-14) last week.
Phillips says this is a team with a lot of key experience.
“They have a lot of experience there.
Their quarterback has taken a lot of snaps at the varsity level.
He just sees the field really well.
He plays with a comfortability that he can kind of play slow and
explode, which is dangerous and his experience just really jumps off of
tape,” he said.
Phillips says to be more successful on Friday night, they have to
possess the ball more. “We
have got to eliminate the big play. We've
got to be more gap sound, fundamentally sound defensively.
Offensively, we have got to get two first downs every possession,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Even though we scored some
points we gave the ball away on a three and out a couple times.
The best way to stop momentum is to get a couple first downs and slow
the game down a little bit and let yourself kind of resettle back in
there.”
Published 8/30/24
© Swankonsports.com
Follow our scoreboard Friday night
For constant updates beginning with the kick
Buckeye
Making Progress
Buckeye Central will be at home for Crestline in their opener to the
2024 high school football season on Friday night.
First year coach Jordan Phillips says the players were kind of pumped
up at practice on Monday. “I
was really impressed with how dialed in the kids were.
They were you know very excited and very attentive.
We were practicing at a different time of day (Monday) too, so I was
concerned there would be some lethargy, but they were really focused,”
said Phillips.
Phillips is installing a new system for the Bucks and he feels the
players are buying in. “I
thought the jump from our first scrimmage to our second scrimmage was really
good. A lot more efficient
offensively. Defensively, we're
able to limit the big plays a little better.
So, yeah I think we've been making good progress,” he said.
Buckeye won this game easily (50-0) a year ago.
Phillips says this year the Bulldogs have some dangerous weapons.
“They're very athletic. They've
got several skilled kids that are a threat to score whenever they get the
ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “They do a great job
of moving guys around different spots, so it's hard to get a read on who's
getting it and what type of play, so our kids really have to be disciplined
in their assignments and really tackle well in space.”
Published 8/20/24
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source for All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Central Going to Attack
Buckeye Central has a new coach and an aggressive approach to the
game of football.
Former assistant Jordan Phillips is the new coach and he says he
looks forward to trying out his ideas. “I've
been an assistant for several years now.
Really, what I've been attracted to is being able to try out some of
the schematic ideas I had. Seeing
how successful it could be with the personnel that I saw coming up here,”
said Phillips.
Buckeye will scrimmage South Central on Friday night.
They kickoff the season on August 23 at home against Crestline in
non-conference play.
Phillips likes the way his kids have been progressing.
“They've had a really good first couple weeks of practice and a
really good offseason as a whole. The
kids have really picked up the scheme well,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Monday afternoon, “They seem comfortable in it and when they're
comfortable in it they can play faster, which is good.
So, really happy with our progress so far.”
When it comes to X’s and O’s, Phillips has some thoughts on how
the Bucks can be successful. “I'm
a big fan of the NFL, so I've tried to incorporate a lot of the Shanahan
tree of the zone runs, the play action and then trying to attack over the
middle of the field. Then
defensively we're running A 3-4,” he said.
Published 8/13/24
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source for All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Downs Crestline
Buckeye Central opened up tournament play with a (6-3) win over
visiting Crestline in the division IV sectional semifinals on Tuesday
evening.
The Bucks (8-13) scored three times in the fifth and two more in the
sixth to take a (6-0) lead.
Coach Chad Jensen says they were able to get ducks on the pound.
“Crestline’s pitcher pitched really well and really had a good
game. We were able to get some
base runners late. It’s a
tournament game and that's the bottom line you need to get base runners to
score runs and we were able to do that.
We knew Crestline would give us their best effort and that's what we
got,” said Jensen.
Issac Hiler had two hits and two RBI for the Bucks and also got the
win on the mound giving up two earned runs on three hits.
Jensen says he got out of a jam in the seventh.
“Issac Hiler pitched a great game for us.
He had 13 strikeouts and pitched really well.
He got a little bit of a jam in the seventh, but he's a gamer, he
battled and finished strong. That's
what we would expect that of him,” he said.
Buckeye makes the trip to South Central to face the Trojans,
co-leaders in the Firelands Conference, in the sectional final on Thursday.
Jensen says they are going to need to do a lot of good things.
“South Central is a good team you know and we know what to expect.
I got a chance to watch them and they are a really good team.
Our kids know what we have got to do,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday evening, “We have just got to continue to do the little things,
put the ball in play and throw strikes and make routine plays.
Again, I think our kids will be ready to go and I think we're excited
about playing another tournament game. We'll
give them our best shot.”
Published 5/15/24
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your
First Source for Everything Sports
Bucks
Get Two to Beat Crawford
In a suspended game that started last week, Buckeye Central scored
twice in the top of the eighth Thursday afternoon and beat Colonel Crawford
(9-7) in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
Coach Chad Jensen says they had some key performances on Thursday.
“When we started this game last week, we were up by five and in the
seventh and let it slip away. Crawford
was resilient and came back and it was 7-7.
Last week, we were able to get a couple runners on board.
Brent Jones had a double and Heath Jensen had a single.
We runners on second and third and a full count on Isaac Hiler.
We started (Thursday) with a full count on Isaac Hiler and he walked.
We got a big hit from J.J. Hiler that kind of got the ball rolling
and got a couple of runs across. Isaac
Hiler pitched a scoreless eighth and we're able to get it done.
We had some adversity, but I'm really proud of our kids for finishing
the game,” said Jensen.
Jensen says they had to be tough mentally on Thursday.
“We talk about with our kids all the time.
We talk a lot about the mental part of the game.
We really believe in that. We
talk about three facets, green when everything's going well, yellow when
there's some doubt, and red when you're really lost.
We always talk about our kids getting back to green.
We had some adversity before the game was suspended, but they came
back (Thursday) and were focused. We
were really proud of our kids, they were really focused and prepared as if
it would be longer than an inning and I think that was the key.
I think our preparation as if it would be a full game I think really
helped us,” he said.
With the game starting in the eighth inning, Jensen says they knew
there was no room for mistakes. “My
assistant Tyler Pope and I were talking about that (Thursday) that it was
just a different type of mentality and that's what we told our kids.
Guys it's the eighth and you have got to have that mentality right
now. There's no time to settle
in. If you give up three in an
inning then hey we have got the rest of the game to get it back.
There is nothing like that here, you have to start with the pedal
down right away,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Our kids
did that and I was really proud of them. I
mean it was if a tough situation and to make it more interesting is that we
were playing at Bucyrus, which was fine with us because Crawford ended up
playing a game against Bucyrus after that, so it was really unique and our
kids handled that adversity.”
Published 4/19/24
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your
First Source for Everything Sports
Wynford
Gets Past Buckeye
Wynford outlasted Buckeye Central (4-3) on wind day in suburban
Bucyrus in Northern 10 Athletic Conference baseball on Wednesday evening.
Spencer Miller went all seven for Wynford allowing six hits, but
walking none and striking out six.
Isaac Hiler also got the complete game for the Bucks.
He gave up two hits, but issued six free passes and struck out four.
Wynford made three errors while the Bucks made four.
Royals coach Tom Miller says his pitcher was efficient on a difficult
day. “It was a good
pitcher’s duel (Wednesday) night. It
was cold and windy, so it was rough on guys.
Spencer Miller I think threw 75 pitches in seven innings, so he was
pretty efficient,” he said.
Miller says they have been getting runners in scoring position, but
have not been getting the bit hit. “Offensively,
we seem to get guys on base, but we're having trouble getting those clutch
hits to drive them in,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night,
“Buckeye Central played really good. They
made some really nice plays (Wednesday) night, a couple double plays to keep
us from pushing them runs across.”
It was Wynford’s (2-3,1-2) first “N10” win of the season.
Buckeye Central (3-1,2-1) trails conference co-leaders Mohawk and
Seneca East by a game.
Buckeye coach Chad Jensen says his kids did a lot of good things,
just not enough. “I’m proud
of our kids. We have Wynford
everything that we had. Just a
couple of things here or there that made the difference.
We pitched well, hit well, it just wasn’t quite enough.
We believed we could win and just came up short.
We will learn from it,” said Jensen.
Published 4/04/24
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your
First Source for Everything Sports
Buckeye
Does Things Well
Buckeye Central held off Monroeville (4-2) in non-league baseball on
Monday.
Coach Chad Jensen says they got good pitching from three different
kids and they made the little plays that this team has to make to win games.
“We have a team with a mixture of veterans and young people.
So, we have some experience and then mixed in with you with some
inexperience. So, it was a good
start for us. We got a good five
innings that Jeremiah Fishpaw, he pitched well and then we got good relief
from Lance Cole and Austin Estridge finished up in the seventh.
It was one of those games where we hit the ball hard, but we hit it
right at them. It was a good
game to start with because we had a lot of situations just stuff that we
have to do. You have got to do
put the ball in play, getting bunts down and things you have got to do to
win for us. That's how we have
to play. So, it was good to get
that first game where we had a lot of those situations come up,” said
Jensen.
Jensen says it was good that they faced those kinds of situations and
were able to make the plays. “Non
league games you want to have situations.
We got two scrimmages in, but we only got two and seems like just
from my experience you could just never have enough game action to get ready
for games. So, only having two
scrimmages then because of the weather to me just wasn't enough, but we were
able to play well enough (Monday) night and get the job done,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the win, “It's 2-2 and we score two in the bottom
of the sixth. We got some clutch
hits, some really good base running. It
was good for our kids to do that. It
was good for us.”
Buckeye will play at Bucyrus in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference
game on Tuesday and then host the Redmen on Wednesday.
Jensen says they are going to have to do the same things to win.
“We’re at Bucyrus on Tuesday.
They're going to be ready to go.
They didn't play (Monday) night I don't think.
So, it's going to be their season opener.
Bucyrus always plays us tough and coach (Sean) Maudsley does a great
job over there. They're going to
be ready for us. It was good for
us to get this under our belts because we know we can win the close games.
We know what it takes, but the bottom line is (Tuesday) is a new day.
We have got two games against Bucyrus and our kids know that each day
is a new day and we're going to get after it because Bucyrus is going to
give us their best,” he said.
Published 3/26/24
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your
First Source for Everything Sports
Buckeye
Looking at Filling Roles
Buckeye Central has a mix of players as they prepare for the high
school baseball season that starts in just over a week.
It has been beautiful weather and coach Chad Jensen says that helps
them get ready for the season. “It's
nice that we got out (Wednesday) and it was great.
We scrimmaged Shelby (Tuesday), so that was a nice day for us to get
out there as well. Anytime we
can be out is great. On the
field there's so many things we could do.
So, anytime we can get out it's very helpful,” he said.
Jensen says they return some veterans, but they some inexperienced
kids that that will have to play too. “We
have got an interesting combination of veteran guys and inexperienced guys.
So, it's like we have seven returning letter winners, six returning
starters, but then then we have really some inexperienced, younger guys with
that. There really is no in
between. So, it'll be
interesting to see how they jell. A
lot of our older guys are playing different roles than they did last
year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “That's kind of
what we ran into (Tuesday) when we scrimmaged Shelby was that we moved some
people around to spots they haven't played at a competitive level yet.
We learned a lot about our kids and so it's really going to be
growing. How much can we grow
during the scrimmage season. Where
do kids fit into their roles and that's going to be a coaching and learning
situation for everybody.”
Buckeye Central is scheduled to start the season against New London
on March 23. They play Bucyrus
in their opening “N10” series on March 25 and 26.
Jensen says their scrimmages are going to be important in terms of
finding how the puzzle fits together. “We've
been outside several times, but just not quite enough with our full team.
We just got our basketball players last week, and our wrestlers last
week, so we're just kind of putting that together and didn't have as many
reps really before a scrimmage that I would have liked.
So, we kind of threw our guys into the fire and saw some things and
that's okay. Then those things
that we saw (Tuesday) we corrected (Wednesday) or attempted to correct
(Wednesday). So, it was good
that's the beauty of coaching is that you see what you have got to improve
on and coach them up and then you move on to the next thing,” said Jensen.
Published 3/14/2024
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your
First Source for Everything Sports
Buckeye
Has to Find a Way to Score
Buckeye Central makes the short trip to Plymouth to meet the Big Red
in a division IV sectional semifinal on Wednesday night.
The winner will play at the top seed Colonel Crawford on Friday
night.
Coach Chris Moyer says playing in the very competitive Northern 10
Athletic Conference has prepared them well for the postseason.
“In the “N10” the top six teams are just so balanced this year
and every night. Going into the
tournament, I feel like the kids have been seeing everything that they're
going to see in one of the best conferences in our area this year and
they’ve seen it for 14 games. So,
they're definitely ready and prepared for the physicality.
Do we handle it well? I
don’t know that, but they understand it and they are prepared for it,”
he said.
Buckeye (4-18) lost to Plymouth (9-13) in their season opener (40-29)
on December 1.
Moyer says they know the Big Red personnel very well and he knows
their coach Eric Picklesimer very well too.
“We know them well. We
opened up the season with them. I
know Eric (Picklesimer) well from coaching with him as his assistant for
three years at Buckeye and also coached with him at Plymouth,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They have had a lot of same
struggles we have. They have
more wins on the year, but they've struggled to put the ball in the basket,
but they defend like crazy. They
would fit well in the “N10” with just their physicality and they're
going to defend every night.”
Scoring has been difficult for both teams this year and Moyer says
they team hat can make some shots, especially early can gain an advantage.
“If somebody can get out to an eight, 10 point lead, Eric would
probably say the same thing I'm getting ready to, that feels like a 20 point
lead just because scoring is a challenge.
So, either one of us, we're both going to be looking to try to get
some cheap buckets and just rebound the basketball, but the bottom line is
it's going to come down to whoever can get to probably 45 first is probably
going to be the winner of this one,” said Moyer.
Published 2/28/24
© Swankonsports.com
Don’t miss a special “Out of Bounds”
This Saturday night 10 PM to 11 PM
Your
First Source for All Things Sports
Buckeye
Playing Good Basketball
Buckeye Central has been playing good basketball heading into their
division IV sectional final game at Danbury Lakeside on Saturday night.
The Buckettes have won four of their last seven and been right there
in the three games they have lost against a very good schedule.
Coach Phil Loy says he is very proud of the progress they have made.
“Especially our last seven games.
We were right there down the wire either won them or lost on the last
possession or two. Very proud of
our girls because they have improved a lot.
We lose at Carey, who ends up winning the league, we're up four going
into the fourth quarter and the games actually tied with a minute to go and
they hit a big shot. We go to
Crawford, who was winning the league at the time, and beat them by seven at
their place. We lose to a really
good Cardington team and double overtime,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday night, “Upper Sandusky, who won 10 of their last 11, we have a
two point lead, we're down seven, we have a two point lead on them and their
best player, who got player of the year in Division III, Grace Walton, hits
a huge three at the buzzer to win that.
Went to Lucas and we won that game.
We beat Bucyrus by 30. So,
our girls have played really well down the stretch, so hopefully we're
peaking at the right time.”
Buckeye Central (8-14) opens tournament play against Danbury-Lakeside
(21-2) on Saturday. The Lady
Lakers laid waist to Lucas (57-6) on Wednesday in a sectional semifinal.
Loy says they are very athletic.
“They split with Gibsonburg in the regular season and then they
also lost to Lakota. They're the
number one seed in our district. They
are very athletic. We played
them last year in the district finals and they graduated two nice seniors
off of that team, but they return a lot of athletic girls.
The (Maria) Maringer girl is their best player probably, she is very
athletic. I think one through
five, one through six, they're just a very athletic bunch.
They play well together, you can tell they have been playing together
for a while. They run the floor
well, they rebound well and they defend well,” said Loy.
Loy knows its going to be a tough task.
He says they have to shoot it well and avoid a lot of turnovers.
“We'll have our hands full. We're
going to continue to play better and we're going to have to shoot it well
and take care of the basketball if we want to get out of there with with a
“W,” he said.
Published 2/23/24
© Swankonsports.com
Don’t miss a special “Out of Bounds”
This Saturday night 10 PM to 11 PM
Your
First Source for All Things Sports
Buckeye
Has to Control the Pace
Buckeye Central hosts Wynford in a key early season match-up in the
Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Tuesday night.
The Buckettes (2-0) have wins over Ridgedale (52-23) and Riverdale
(54-41) in non conference games.
Coach Phil Loy says they have been playing hard and at the end of the
Riverdale game they found a way. “Well,
I'm proud of the way that the girls have played as far as the effort.
They're playing really hard. We're
young, so there's some inexperience there and we're learning as we go.
We were fortunate Thursday on the road at Ridgedale.
That can be a tough place to play.
It's a long drive. But,
our girls came out and played really well and shot it well, so that was good
for their confidence. Then we
come home and we don't shoot it so well, that doesn't make sense to me.
We don’t shoot it very well and we're in a dog fight and we're down
four going to the fourth quarter, but we made free throws down the stretch
and made some key buckets,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening,
“That team was a little better I think than our first game, so it was a
little tougher match up for us. I
thought overall we played good, we're learning, trying to figure out who we
are here a little bit. We have
got a tough week now because we don't get a whole lot of prep.
When you get one day of prep, you play, you get another day of prep,
you play, another day of prep, you play and that's that makes it tough.
We're trying to take it easy for the girls with their legs and
everything to make sure we have energy going through the week.”
They also play Willard in a non-league game on Thursday and Colonel
Crawford in an “N10” game on Saturday.
Loy says on Saturday they just found a way and that’s good.
“To be able to fight through that adversity when things aren't
going your way, nothing's going our way, we can't make free throws, it was
horrible, we're missing easy shots, missing perimeter shots, we're turning
the ball over. I just felt like
on the defensive end we did the job when we had to and we kept fighting,
kept fighting and good things happen. So,
it's a great learning experience, but I'm really proud of how they put their
head down, they had that winning attitude that you know we're going to get
this. It was tough, it wasn't
fun to watch, but it's a “W” and we're not giving it back,” he said.
Wynford (2-0) has beaten East Knox (45-33) and Centerburg (54-48),
two teams out of the “KMAC”.
Loy says they Lady Royals have been aggressive defensively in their
play. “Obviously, they are
very well coached. They play
with a lot of energy. They have
a young team also. They're
starting two freshmen and starting a sophomore and they played well.
You watch them on film, they don't look like freshmen sophomores as
far as how they play with confidence and they look like they've been in the
system for a while. Of course,
the (Caroline) Sheldon girl, she has been in the system for a while because
she was the ball girl for the previous 12 years.
So, those three primarily are dangerous.
The other ones are good athletes, good role players, they have a nice
team. They want to get up and
they want to pressure you defensively and get after you and force you into
some turnovers. So, it's a game
that we have to control the tempo and we have to take care of the
basketball,” said Loy.
Published 12/05/23
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your
First Source for Everything Sports
Buckeye
to Face Aggressive Plymouth
Buckeye Central will entertain Plymouth in a non-conference game to
start the season in New Washington.
Coach Chris Moyer, in his first year as the head coach of the Bucks,
says the kids want to play a game when the score counts.
“it's a long month of practice with a few scrimmages sprinkled in
there. I think the kids are
itching to get out and compete for real at this point,” he said.
Moyer says varsity basketball is a new experience for most of his
team. “There's an unknown from
a coaching staff and the kids themselves.
It's going to be for five of the seven it's the first time under the
bright lights of a varsity game. So,
we're definitely going to be looking to establish an identity in game
one,” said Moyer.
When it comes to Plymouth, Moyer says they have a battalion of
seniors and they are going to be aggressive on defense.
“They are very experienced. They
have seven, eight seniors. Coach
(Eric) Picklesimer, I coached with him for six years and I know he'll have
them ready to play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening,
“They're going to be aggressive on the defensive end and that's going to
be a staple of what they do and they're going to be athletic as well.”
Published 11/30/23
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your
First Source for Everything Sports
Buckeye
Central Very Young
Buckeye Central will likely field one of the youngest, and less
experienced, boys’ basketball teams in this area this season.
First year coach Chris Moyer says they will have a varsity team
consisting of only seven kids. “We’re
a pretty young team here. We're
seven deep at the at the varsity level here and only two of the seven have
any experience at the varsity level. So,
we're breaking in five young kids with very limited experience,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “So, we've used the preseason here
to try to get these guys up to speed number one and number two used to the
physicality and speed of varsity basketball in our scrimmages.”
Moyer says the kids are going to have to get used to that speed and
physicality at the varsity level pretty quickly.
“Especially, I think of speed, I think of us on the defensive end
and those guys getting used to being able to guard the ball at the varsity
level where not only are they physical, but the speed is significantly
different and the amount of effort that you have to put in on the defensive
end to be a good defensive team,” said Moyer.
Buckeye opens the season with Plymouth at home December 1.
Wynford comes to New Washington for the first Northern 10 Athletic
Conference game for both on December 8.
When it comes to playing hard, Moyer says that’s up to the kids,
they have to understand they have to play very hard.
“We preach as a staff we're not going to coach effort.
Effort comes from you as an individual player and that's what the
kids have to learn. To be a
varsity basketball player you have to learn the internal part of just giving
the effort to be able to compete at that level,” he said.
Published 11/23/23
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your
First Source for Everything Sports
Buckeye
Girls Making Progress
Buckeye Central has just over a week to get ready for the girls’
basketball season and they are making good progress with a young team.
They were supposed to start the season against Willard on Saturday,
but that game was pushed back due to Buckeye’s run in the volleyball
regional final.
Coach Phil Loy says they heading in the right direction.
“So far, it's been a work in progress.
We have low numbers, so this is probably the first year in school
history that I do not have a JV team that seems to be becoming the norm
unfortunately with schools in our area where kids aren't playing.
We have 11 kids and right now I only have 10 that have been
practicing consistently because we have one that's out with some health
issues,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “It's tough a lot
of days when you are practicing with eight, you're practicing with nine, you
might practice with seven, but lately now that the volleyball kids are back
we've been having ten. Things
are starting to get better as we go. The
late start hurts, but I like the direction we're heading right now.
Our goal everyday is just to keep getting better and hopefully better
things are coming.”
Loy says with a lot of girls tasting varsity action for the first
time, they just lack consistency at this point in the season.
“Well, just consistency. This
is a big change for the role that a lot of these girls that are going to
have to play. We lost five
starters. We return three
lettermen, who saw I would say some limited minutes last year.
They're all good girls. We
have some good, talented girls, but they just don't have that varsity
experience. So, this is a big
change for them to step up and play at the varsity level, so just having
that consistency is the big thing.
Everybody understanding their roles now at this level and
understanding the speed of the game is a little different going against
varsity girls than it is going against JV level girls.”
The Buckettes now open the season at Ridgedale, in non-league play,
on November 30.
Loy says they are getting better and they just have to continue to do
that as they get to next week. “Our
scrimmages, I felt like got better as we went and we became more aggressive
or more comfortable. We have got
nine more days yet to get to Ridgedale and hopefully by that time we're
getting a lot closer to where we need to be,” he said.
Published 11/22/23
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your
First Source for Everything Sports
Buckeye
Central Adjusting
Buckeye Central has been one of the dominate girls’ basketball
programs in North Central Ohio over the last decade and it will be
interesting to see if they can continue that success.
They have a new coach, but a very good one in former boys’ coach
Phil Loy, who replaces Abram Kaple.
Loy says they certainly have some potential, but a lot to replace as
well. “We lost a lot last
year. We lost five starters,
return three other letterman, who are all back.
I think though that this group of girls, added with what we have with
the JV's, could be a decent team. Who
knows if we'll be as strong as we've been in the past because we've been
really good in the past, but I think we could be competitive in all of our
games and it should be a good year for us,” he said.
Loy says with the volleyball team in the regional semifinals on
Thursday practice has been a challenge.
“It's especially tough right now because our volleyball team is in
the regional, so I'm missing you know a handful of girls yet and few of them
are key players for us. So,
right now I'm only working with seven sometimes eight girls and practices
can be tough when you can't go five on five or even four on four half the
time, but I think it should be an interesting year for us,” said Loy.
Now, Loy says they have to get creative to get some things
accomplished here early in the preseason.
“You try to do a lot of three on three stuff, you try to break down
the offense or your transition to just one side of the court, so you can
just kind of go live three on three with some things.
You throw in assistant coach here and there if you need to to get
10,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “There's
sometimes we're hoping some of the girls who are still around alumni come
back in and you might get a body here or a body there and you try to piece
things together. Right now, it's
a lot of working one-on-one type things two on two you know and like I said
before breaking down things three on three or four on four or adding
coaches.”
Published 11/02/23
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your
First Source for Everything Sports
Buckeye
Has to Play Well in Trenches
Buckeye Central likely closes out its season on Friday night when
they host the rival Colonel Crawford Eagles in a Northern 10 Athletic
Conference game in New Washington.
They earned their first conference win of the season last week when
they demolished Bucyrus (55-14) on Friday.
The Bucks (3-6,1-5) scored 34 points in the second half and coach
Chad Jensen says once they calmed down a little they played very well.
“Our kids played really well. We
were excited to play and really emotional in the first half, really wanted
to do well and that led to some careless mistakes, but once we settled down
and calmed down we really had a good halftime.
We came out really focused, other than the first drive of the second
half, I thought that we really played flawless in the second half and put
them away,” said Jensen.
Buckeye had almost 400 yards of total offense.
Colonel Crawford (8-1,5-1) buried Mohawk (41-12) last week in
“N10” action. They trail
Carey by a game in the league standings.
Jensen says they aren’t fancy, they want to run the ball and be
physical. “Crawford is a
really good team. They're really
well coached Jake (Bruner) and his staff do a great job.
It's smash mouth football. They
run it right at you. You know
what they're going to do, it's old school, it's almost like in the 80s,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “You know what to expect
and everybody runs the ball. So,
we know what they're going to do. It's
just a matter of stopping it. They're
a really good team and one we respect a lot.”
The Eagles have three of the top rushers in the league.
Outside of a loss to Carey, Colonel Crawford has been able to
dominate opponents at the line of scrimmage.
Jensen says they must compete at the point of attack.
“In this game it's definitely won in the trenches. I
mean Crawford is really good up front. We’ve
tried to talk about that all week in practice.
We know it's going to be a challenge.
It's senior night at our place and the last home game for our
seniors. Our kids are going to
give their best effort and that's all we can ask,” he said.
Published 10/20/23
© Swankonsports.com
Our scoreboard updated every five minutes
On
Friday night at www.swankonsportshosting247.com
Buckeye
Central Ready for Bucyrus
Buckeye Central makes the trip to Bucyrus to face the Redmen in a
Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
Both will be looking for their first conference wins of the season.
Buckeye (2-6,0-5) almost got theirs last week, but lost (48-42) to
Upper Sandusky.
Coach Chad Jensen says the Bucks gave it all they had.
“It was a heck of a game. We
were down 21-14 at halftime. It
was back and forth and we ended up tying it up 42-42 with about a little
over three minutes to go. They
drove it down the field and scored with 19 seconds left.
It was just a heck of a game. I
was really proud of our kids for us to be in the ball game at that point
against Upper. Obviously,
they're a much larger school. So,
our kids left everything on the field, gave it all they had, but
unfortunately it wasn't quite good enough,” said Jensen.
Jensen says Buckeye kids always give great effort no matter what the
situation. “Our kids give
everything they’ve got. They
play hard every week. They
practice hard every week. We
couldn't ask for a better group of kids that gives forth great effort week
after week. We play in a very
challenging league and they take that challenge and bring their best every
week,” he said.
Bucyrus (0-8,0-5) was trashed (63-0) last week by “N10” leader
Carey. The Redmen also scored 42
points on Upper Sandusky, losing (68-42) a month ago to the Rams.
Jensen says this is a game both sides really believe they can win.
“With Bucyrus don't be fooled by their record.
They played a tough non league schedule.
Obviously, they play in our league, so we know how tough that is.
They have got athletes. They
have a good quarterback and they have got kids they can throw to.
On defense, they have nice linebackers.
So, they are a team that we're definitely not taking lightly,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We know that they're going
to play their best, they always do against us. It's
going to be homecoming over there and they're going to be fired up.
Both teams have this game circled on their schedule as a game that's
winnable. We're going to get
their best effort and they're going to get ours.
So, it’s going to be heck of a game and our kids are looking
forward to it.”
Published 10/13/23
© Swankonsports.com
Our scoreboard updated every five minutes
On
Friday night at www.swankonsportshosting247.com
Buckeye
Central Preparing for Balanced Upper
Buckeye Central entertains Upper Sandusky in a Northern 10 Athletic
Conference game on Friday night.
Last week, rival Wynford beat them (45-0) in an “N10” game.
Coach Chad Jensen says Wynford is just very good.
“Our kids played really hard. The
kids gave everything they had. Wynford
is a really good team. They're
really good on defense and they're tough to move the ball consistently. I
thought at times we moved the ball running the ball, which I was happy with.
Offensively, they just come right at you.
We got ourselves in some short fields against them, which isn't a
good thing, but they're really good and I was pleased with our effort,”
said Jensen.
Buckeye (2-5,0-4) plays at home against Upper Sandusky (3-4,2-2) on
Friday night. The Rams lost
(41-6) to Colonel Crawford last week in conference play.
Kaden Holman has thrown for 1,700 yards and 21 TD’s this year for
the Rams, but Jensen says Upper will run it too.
“Actually, when you look at it they're pretty balanced.
They are balanced. I
mean it do does look like on paper that they throw the ball a lot with Kaden
Holman and his eye popping stats, but he runs it well too.
They want to be balanced and they and they do want to throw it around
to their athletes but, they'll run Holman to keep you honest and we have got
to be prepared for everything,” he said.
Upper’s offense is based on Holman and Jensen says you must know
where he is at all times, but they have other explosive players too.
“Everything centers around him.
It’s basically what I said a couple weeks ago with Blake Foos from
Seneca East. Everything that
Upper does is run through Holman and the same thing with Seneca East.
Everything that they do is runs through Foos.
I mean he's the straw that stirs the drink and I mean he is a legit
stud and he plays the game well. He's
a great passer, great runner, great athlete, plays well on defense, he's a
really great player,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon,
“They have got more than just him. They
have all kinds of division IV athletes that they can throw the ball to and
guys fly around on defense. They
present a lot of problems, but our kids are excited to play them.
The kids are going to play hard and they've prepared so far this week
and then they'll be ready to go on Friday.”
Published 10/04/23
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your
First Source for Everything Sports
Buckeye
Needs Physicality
Buckeye Central plays one of it’s oldest rivals when travel over to
Wynford to meet the Royals in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on
Friday night.
Last week, they were downed (42-14) by Seneca East in an “N10”
game.
Coach Chad Jensen says it was the big play that beat them.
“Our kids played really hard. We
got down quite a bit early, but scored on two straight possessions, one to
end the first half and one to start the second and we cut it to a two score
game. We gave up a couple of
defensive touchdowns and a long pass play. So,
really three big plays that really hurt us, but you take those away and
we’re right in the game. The
kids played really hard and did the best they could, so definitely some
positives to build on,” he said.
Jensen says in football, no matter what the level, the big play is a
big factor. “It's not easy to
put sustained drives together, it really isn't.
So, what we try to do as a defense to try to create turnovers and we
did stop Seneca East in the red zone with an interception, so that that that
helped us. At the same time, we
gave them two defensive scores,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
afternoon, “You saw a couple weeks ago you know Browns versus Steelers and
you can't do that. It was
evident to me that the Browns were a better team, but you can't give them
two extra touchdowns like that. That's
kind of what happened with us, but it wasn't lack of effort and our kids
play hard and we just want to get better.”
Buckeye (2-4,0-3) is at Wynford (3-3,2-1) on Friday night.
The Royals took Bucyrus to the woodshed (70-18) in “N10” play
last week.
Jensen says Wynford wants to be physical and that have to be able to
match that. “Wynford is a
really good team. They play a
really tough non conference schedule. They
did get beat up on a little bit by Carey, but they have played really well
since then. They do what they do
and they do it well. There's no
secrets, they're going to get up and they’re going to run football.
They're going to be physical and they're going to run right at you.
There's not going to be any secrets.
You know what they're going to run.
The bottom line is you have got to step in and stop it.
That's their identity, they want to be more physical than you. So,
for us to be successful we have to match their physicality at the point of
attack and be aggressive on both sides of the ball,” said Jensen.
Published 9/27/23
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your
First Source for Everything Sports
Bucks
Need to be Physical
Buckeye Central plays at Seneca East in the “Battle for the
Paddle” game on Friday night against the Tigers in play in the Northern 10
Athletic Conference.
In playing the defending “N10” champ Carey, the Bucks lost (41-0)
last week.
Coach Chad Jensen says he thought they gave tremendous effort.
“We were pleased with our kids effort.
Carey is a really good football team and we knew that, but I thought
we gave a lot of effort on both sides of the ball.
I was pleased with how well our defense played from the respect that
we didn't give up big plays,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
afternoon, “They had to earn everything that they got and they're a really
good team, but I think we made improvements from week four to week five and
that's all you can ask for. Offensively,
we're able to move a little bit, but Carey is a really good team.
I was happy with our progress despite the score we did get better.”
Buckeye Central (2-3,0-2) plays up at Seneca East (2-3,1-1) on Friday
night. The Tigers lost (29-14)
to Colonel Crawford in league action last week.
Jensen says on offense everything goes through the quarterback.
“It’s Blake Foos, he's a straw the stirs the drink, everything is
through him on the offensive side, he's a really good football player, just
a playmaker and we need to know where he is. Then defensively, they're
really solid like they normally are, they are well coached and they do a lot
of good things. They have got
athletes. Our kids are excited
to play and we've had a good week of practice and we're going to give them
our best shot,” he said.
Foos leads the “N10” in rushing yards this year.
Jensen hopes they can contain Foos and he says they have to match the
Tigers physicality. “I mean he
leads them in rushing, he's carried the ball a lot, you know obviously
passing he's thrown for a lot of yards.
I mean he's just a really good player our focus this week has been to
contain him. We're not going to
necessarily take away every play, but we're just cognizant of what he can do
and we respect him a lot. We
have just got to be physical, match their physicality.
They want to run the ball. They're
spread team, but they run the ball and match their physicality and just give
it everything we got on every play,” said Jensen.
Published 9/22/23
© Swankonsports.com
Our scoreboard updated every five minutes
On
Friday night at www.swankonsportshosting247.com
Buckeye
Central Must Attack
Buckeye Central has a big challenge on its hands this week as host
the Carey Blue Devils, the defending campion in the Northern 10 Athletic
Conference on Friday night.
They got off to a promising start last week, but lost (56-15) to
Mohawk in an “N10” game.
Coach Chad Jensen says they battled hard all night.
“We were up 8-7 after a quarter.
We were a couple scores down in the second quarter and you know we
just kind of let it get away from us. I
mean kids played hard, but Mohawk’s a good team.
We had trouble stopping them. They're
really talented and they cause a lot of problems defensively.
We had trouble with some of the things they did to us.
Our kids battled, our kids played hard and we've dealt with some
adversity last couple weeks and our kids keep battling and we'll continue to
do that,” said Jensen.
Buckeye (2-2,0-1) hosts Carey (2-2,1-0) on Friday night.
The Blue Devils pounded Wynford (34-0) in their league opener last
week.
Jensen says they are a team with the characteristics of another solid
Carey team. “They don't look
much different on film. I mean
offensively they want to run the football.
They want to line up in their stack “I” and run the ball, but
they also spread you out. They
can throw it and they have athletes all over the field on offense,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Defensively, they're really
aggressive, they bring people, they try to confuse you.
They're really sound in what they do, really well coached, and we
know we're going to have to be fundamentally sound ourselves to handle
them.”
Carey wants to just blast you at the point of attack and Jensen says
they have to be up to that challenge mentally and physically.
“If they get second and fives, second and fours, they're in their
wheelhouse. If we can give them
some longer second and 10 or third and eight, something like that, make them
uncomfortable. I think that's
what we need to do. Even then I
mean if you look on film and I saw a fourth and six and they ran to
football. The bottom line is
that we're going to have to match their physicality if we want to have any
chance. We have to match their
physicality and go right at them and attack,” he said.
Published 9/12/2023
© Swankonsports.com
Join us this week at the
Bellville Street Fair
Come say hi at our booth
Buckeye
Begins League Play With Mohawk
Buckeye Central, looking for its first Northern 10 Athletic
Conference win since 2020, plays at Mohawk in a league game on Friday night.
The Bucks (2-1) fell to Ada (41-25) last week in a non-conference
game.
Coach Chad Jensen says they never quit.
“We did compete, but the bottom line was that Ada was pretty good
football team and they out physicaled us.
It was something that we were concerned about.
I was happy with the fact that our kids didn't quit. We
were behind, but it was only by a touchdown at the half and we got behind a
couple scores, but we didn't quit. We
had a couple of injuries and we were able to come back and still score,
still put some points on the board. So,
we definitely were out physicaled and that's something we're going to work
on this week in practice. I was
happy with the way that we didn't quit in the end,” he said.
When it comes to being physical, Jensen says that means for them
giving 100 percent on every play. “That's
kind of hard for us because we just don't have very many guys to be able to
go physical a lot of time to practice. So,
basically it's a mentality. You
have got to play hard. You can't
take plays off. That's the
biggest thing that we do. With
playing so many kids both ways sometimes our kids take a play or two off
because they’re tired,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon,
“We talk about how do you maintain physicality is going each play 100%,
can't take plays off, and if go 100% and need a break you know we can get
you out. We can't be taking
plays off. So, that's how kind
of we handle it. We can't hit a
ton in practice, but it's give 100% every play and don't take plays off.”
Mohawk (0-3) is coming off a (17-12) loss to Margaretta.
Jensen says despite their record, he feels the Warriors have an
excellent team this year. “Mohawk
is definitely a very, very good 0-3 team. I
mean we're definitely not fooled by their record.
They play a really, really tough non league schedule.
They're a really good team. They're
nice players on both sides of the ball, they have a nice quarterback in
(Benjamin) Bogner and they have a real nice player in the (Kahne) Hayman.
They put him everywhere, kind of like what they did with Zaiden Fry
last year. Defensively, they're
really disciplined in what they do. They're
really well coached. So, we know
we're going to get. There's no
secrets in league play, so our focus this week in practice is like every
week, practice better and we'll be ready to go for Friday.”
Published 9/06/23
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your
First Source for Everything Sports
Buckeye
Central to Play Solid Ada
Buckeye Central attempts to make it three in a row as they host the
Ada Bulldogs in a non-conference game in New Washington on Friday night.
Last week, they crushed Fremont St. Joe (67-0) in a non-league game.
Quarterback Derex Dean threw three TD passes and ran for two more in
the win.
Coach Chad Jensen says they were prepared to play well in that game
and it showed. “Our kids were
really prepared. I think they
put a lot of time in during the week to be very familiar with St. Joe and
understanding the scouting report and understanding film. I
think that our kids were ready to play, so there wasn't any surprises when
our kids stepped on the field and I think it really helped us execute,”
said Jensen.
Jensen says the Bucks (2-0) want to continue to build on what they
have done this season and that is accomplished by practicing and preparing
hard during the week. “We
talked about this week there is a reason why we did really well last week
was because of our preparation. We
have to continue that it's not just a one week thing we have to continue to
do that and this week is no different,” he said.
Ada (1-1) lost last week (40-27) to Riverdale in a non-league game.
The Bulldogs have been able to score points.
Jensen says they play with an aggressive attitude.
“They're a pretty good football team.
They've had two close games. They
lost last week to Riverdale, who's a really good team.
They present some problems. They
have a real nice quarterback and a real nice running back.
On defense they have really good linebackers, who are aggressive,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They play aggressive
they play confident and it's going to be a challenge for us.
So, we just told our kids to continue to prepare and be familiar with
Ada. We know we're going to have
a challenge this week and I hope we're ready for that challenge.”
Published 8/31/23
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your
First Source for Everything Sports
Buckeye
Central is a Team
After a big win one week one, the Buckeye Central Bucks are looking
to put together another good performance as they host Fremont St. Joe in a
non-conference game on Friday night.
Quarterback Derex Deam threw five touchdown passes and the Buckeye
defense held Crestline to 68 total yards in a (50-0) win over the Bulldogs
last week.
Coach Chad Jensen was pleased. “Our
kids really did a great job. We
executed the game plan very well. We
had a great week of practice going up into that game.
The kids were ready to go and played really well.
It was really team effort. Everybody
chipped in somewhere along the line and I was really, really proud of our
kids,” he said.
The biggest thing that has put a smile on Jensen’s face this year
has been the team comradery that the players have been showing.
“That's one of the things that I was really proud of in that game
and I've seen so far in practices that is we're really a team.
This is probably the closest team we've had in just team unity that
we've had. Everybody understands
that that he's got a role,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night,
“Our receivers were blocking down field and doing those little things
like. Everybody's running their
routes even though they might not be the main target, but they understand
that the role in that play is for them to do whatever they're supposed to
do. So, it's really, really a
team effort and our kids are really bought into that.
Everybody has to do his job for us to be successful.”
Fremont St. Joe got waxed (41-6) by Cardinal Stritch in their first
game of the season last Saturday.
Jensen says it’s clear they want to run the ball.
“They want to run the football.
They're old school. They’re
in the “I” formation, pro con, and twins.
It looks like a throwback team, but they do what they do and they do
it well. On defense they are
going to bring some pressure and try to cause some problems.
They're definitely a team that is going to be ready to go.
They're going to be confident. We
had a close game last year, so they're going to be ready to go and we
definitely have to be up to the challenge,” said Jensen.
Published 8/23/23
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your
First Source for Everything Sports
Buckeye
Central Improving; Ready for Crestline
Buckeye Central opens the 2023 campaign at Crestline against the
Bulldogs in non-league play on Friday night.
Crestline will be honoring longtime coach John DiPietro, who passed
away this summer.
For the Bucks, it has been a preseason marked by improvement.
“We have seen a lot of improvement from our first scrimmage to our
second one. After the first
scrimmage we focused on being more aggressive on defense.
Going after the ball more, just being more aggressive and that kind
of thing and we certainly did that in the second scrimmage,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “That was an improvement.
We worked on sustaining our blocks as well from the first scrimmage
the second scrimmage on the offensive line and the receivers and so on the
offensive side of the ball we did that as well.
So, we are definitely making progress.
The kids are implementing the changes we've talked about in film and
in practice and that's all you can ask for.”
With the emotion associated with the first game it’s a little
different than the rest of the regular season and Jensen says his kids are
ready to go play. “The first
week is always a little nerve wracking for coaches because we're not sure
what we have. I mean you see
things in practice, you see things on film, but until you play a game that
means something you really don't know. So,
it's always that uncertainty, but at the same time it's excitement.
There is nothing that quite beats game one because you're really
excited to get out there and play and I think that's the category where our
kids are. Our kids are excited
about playing, excited to playing a county rival and they're ready to go,”
said Jensen.
Crestline has had their struggles the last several years winning
games. Buckeye beat them (53-8)
a year ago.
Jensen says Crestline will be ready for them.
“Crestline is going to play hard.
They have a nice quarterback Carter Giesige, who is a quick, nice
athletic kid and their offense centers around him.
I mean everything goes around him.
They're hardnosed kids, they’re going to be physical, they are
going to be excited to play us and they're going to be really motivated.
So, our job is to go over there and implement what we talked about in
practices and make those changes and you know that we're going to be in for
a heck of a game,” he said.
Published 8/16/23
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your
First Source for Everything Sports
It
Starts in Practice for Buckeye Central
For Buckeye Central to be a better football team, they have become a
better practicing team and that is starting to happen.
Coach Chad Jensen is impressed by the work ethic they have seen so
far this year at Buckeye. “We
have a good group of kids. We
don't have a ton of numbers, but our kids that are here are working hard.
They really had a great offseason.
Our kids worked hard all offseason and you know we're excited about
our group. They come every day
and we're looking forward to seeing how they continue to improve,” he
said.
They begin the season on August 18 at Crestline in non-conference
play followed by games with Fremont St. Joe and Ada.
The Bucks will have some talent back this fall including quarterback
Derex Dean (15 TD passes in 2022) and Jensen says they can surround him with
some talent too. “We have got
some kids back. We have our
quarterback back Derex Dean and we have got some guys around him. So,
we have some key parts there. We
have some parts we have to fill as well.
Like I said, the kids are working hard and they're excited and
they're looking forward to the season,” said Jensen.
Buckeye was (3-7) overall and winless in the league last year.
Jensen says to improve on that they have been more consistent and
that begins with their performance in practice.
“I think we just have to be more consistent all the way around.
Most of our kids are playing both ways, so we don't have a ton of
depth. So, I think one of the
things we've talked about at the beginning of this year is that we need to
be better in practice,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon,
“I think that there were times in the past where you know we would
practice okay, but sometimes okay is not good enough. So,
we really stressed to our kids that that we need to practice better every
day and we've done that so far. Our
practices so far have been great and I think that's the biggest thing we
need to do. We need to be more
consistent in practice and I think that help us in games.”
Published 8/02/23
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Your First Source for Everything Sports
Buckeye
Central Wins; Will Play Rival Crawford
Buckeye Central rode strong pitching to (3-1) win over Mansfield
Christian in a division IV sectional semi in New Washington on Tuesday
evening.
They will play at rival Colonel Crawford in a sectional final on
Thursday afternoon.
Austin Estridge went the distance striking out eight and allowing
only three hits.
Jensen says Estridge and their defense were the difference.
“Austin Estridge pitched a great game for us (Tuesday) night.
He scattered three hits and just pitched a gem. He
had 22 pitches in the first inning and then 66 the rest of the way. So,
he was just really efficient. He
got out of a jam in the first, bases loaded, J.J. Hiler in right field made
a great play, but then really after that he just cruised and just pitched
really, really well,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win Tuesday,
“We needed that because we didn't hit the ball well.
It wasn’t a lack of effort or anything. I
mean their kid was just wild enough to be effective and he pitched well,
their pitcher Hillman. I mean it
wasn't anything that we did, it was just one of those things that we were
able to tack on three early and that's all we needed.”
Jensen says in a low scoring game like this you have to be on your
toes on defense and they were Tuesday night.
“We played really good defense and we've been playing defense
pretty well the last the last few weeks.
We made the plays when we had to.
It was a pretty clean game on both sides.
It was just when we're not hitting we have got to be strong on
defense. We were able to get
that lead, which was huge, and Austin pitched great and we had really good
defense behind him and we did enough to get to the “W,” he said.
Buckeye Central (7-15) plays at Colonel Crawford (13-11), the top
seed in the district, on Thursday. They
played twice back in March with Crawford winning (8-6) and (8-0) early in
the year.
Jensen says both teams have improved since then.
“They're a really good team, they're really well coached,
obviously, I have a ton of respect for coach (Dan) Gorbett and his staff and
they do a great job over there. We're
familiar with them, but we haven't played them since game one and two, so
it's been awhile. I think both
teams are different now, both teams have improved, and it's going to be a
great game. Obviously, we know
their kids and they know ours and it's going to be a great matchup. Our
kids are going to be exited to play and we're looking forward to the
challenge,” said Jensen.
Published 5/17/23
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports
Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM
Buckeye
Central Gets First League Win
Buckeye Central got their first win in Northern 10 Athletic
Conference play on Wednesday evening beating Carey (3-2) at home in New
Washington.
Coach Chad Jensen says it was their best overall effort of the
season. “We've been so close
so many times this year and we finally put a complete game together.
I was so proud of our kids because we've never put a complete game
together. Yeah, we’ve won a
couple of times. We've been so
close in some of our league games. If
we hit well, we wouldn’t play great defense or if we pitch well maybe we
would have some breakdowns, whatever. We
have never been able to put it all together, but (Wednesday) we finally put
everything together, clutch hits, great pitching, great defense, we finally
put it all together,” said Jensen.
Jacob Hiler had a two run hit for the Bucks.
Isaac Hiler was again strong on the mound for Buckeye.
He went the distance, allowing only one earned run and six hits.
Jensen says he battled and made some big pitches.
“Isaac had his fifth complete game of the season and earned his
second win. He has been a hard
luck loser several times this year. He
battled all night and made huge pitches when needed,” he said.
Now, defense has been a issue for the Bucks at times this year,
probably costing them a chance to get some more wins.
However, on Wednesday, Jensen says they did a very good job.
“We're really young. We
have got a lot of younger players and some playing at different positions
and still learning how to play the speed of the varsity game.
We've been plagued by defensive issues and it's not just one type of
error or one kid and it's just it's been kind of a problem that we we've
tried to address we've worked on it,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday night after the win over Carey, “I've just told our kids we're
going to continue to work on it, continue to get better.
We just got a great defensive game (Wednesday) night.
Our shortstop Derex Dean just played a played such a great game at
shortstop and he finally put it all together for us it did really great.
We just had some great plays from everybody. I
mean I think everybody defensively made a play for us (Wednesday) and it
hasn’t always been the case, so I'm really proud of all of our kids.”
Published 4/20/23
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports
Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM
Colonel
Crawford Gets Past Buckeye Central
Colonel Crawford used a six spot in the third inning to propel them
to an (8-6) win over Buckeye Central in the first Northern 10 Athletic
Conference game for both teams in North Robinson on Tuesday.
Buckeye scored three in the top of the second, but coach Crawford
coach Dan Gorbett says they got something for everybody in that third
inning. “We were up 1-0 and
then they came back and scored three and were down 3-1.
We are a really young team, as Buckeye Central is, so it's nice to
respond with the big inning and we had people contributing one through nine,
which was another concern of mine so, everybody one through nine had good at
bats,” said Gorbett.
Brennan Hamilton and Micah Thomas both had two hits for the Eagles
(1-0,1-0) and Thomas had 3 RBI. Rod
Rike had 2 RBI as well.
Gorbett says it was big that they were able to respond Tuesday,
something they didn’t do very much last spring.
“We've talked a lot about that preseason because last year we
didn't do as good a job as we should have responding when bad things happen
or the other team strings some hits together like Buckeye did (Tuesday)
night and that was nice yes bounce back and have a big inning,” he said.
It was also Buckeye Central’s (0-1,0-1) first game of the season.
“I thought we hit the ball well and Isaac Hiler pitcher really
well, but we had six errors. We
aren’t going to beat anyone giving them six extra outs.
With that being said, I thought our kids competed and really had some
great at bats. We do need to
sure up of defense, but there can be a lot of positives to take from it.
(Wednesday) is a new day and we will be ready to go,” said Buckeye
coach Chad Jensen.
The two teams meets again Wednesday, this time in New Washington.
Hiler went six innings, striking out eight and walking four.
Heath Jensen and Jeremiah Fishpaw had two hits for the Bucks.
Fishpaw and David Siefert had two RBI.
Nick Eachus went the first five and two-thirds for the Eagles,
allowing 11 hits, striking out five and walking two.
Gorbett says they had to also get big efforts from Hamilton and
Thomas on the mound. “They are
a good team, they kept battling and we hung on.
I had to bring in (Wednesday’s) pitcher for one batter the get us
out of the inning. We got
ourselves in a situation where we didn't have a pitcher warmed up and that's
on me as the head coach,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “I
should have had somebody ready. When
Nick got in trouble, we had to bring in somebody cold, which I eventually
had to, but Brennan Hamilton came in and got the third out and then Micah
Thomas came in and got the save for us.”
Published 3/29/23
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports
Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM
Buckeye
Central Will be Inexperienced
Buckeye Central will at least start the season inexperienced and will
hope to get better as the season progresses.
Baseball coach Chad Jensen says they don’t have a lot of guys with
varsity innings, but they do have a lot of players that want to get on the
field. “We're pretty
inexperienced, but we have some talented players, younger kids, that have
played a lot of baseball, travel ball, and whatnot.
We do lack experience, we only have three returning letter winners
and that's only three seniors, so we do lack some experience.
The kids are practicing hard and playing hard and doing what we're
asking them to do. We had a
veteran group last year and we have a lot of holes to fill, but the kids are
hungry, they want to play. So,
what we've seen so far is that kids will do will do anything to get on the
field,” said Jensen.
When you don’t have experience, Jensen says that shows up in the
mental part of the game. “It
usually shows up maybe we don't know what our bunt defenses are or maybe we
don't look back a runner at second because we're just wanting to get the out
at first and we don't take that next step.
That's what I see from a lot of young teams or not familiar with the
varsity strike zone and swing at balls about the belly button.
There isn’t a pitch above the belly button that is a strike in high
school baseball. I see a lot of
younger guys that will swing at higher pitches and those are balls.
So, those things off the top of my head.
It usually has to do with the mental part of the game more than
anything,” he said.
Jensen, a veteran coach in the “N10”, says his opinion the league
this year goes through Wynford and Upper Sandusky.
“I think honestly, it's pretty easy.
Most years it isn't, this year to me it's Upper and Wynford.
I think the league goes through them.
Wynford is the reigning champs, but Upper gave them everything they
wanted last year. Those two
programs their best players are juniors.
They have you know very good junior and senior classes,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “To me it's Upper and Wynford. I
think Seneca East will be good too. I
think they have got a lot of kids coming back and Rick (Bowerman) does a
great job over there. I think
they will surprise people too, but to me it's really those two and
everybody's got a battle to try to compete with them.”
Published 3/09/22
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Central Back in the Regionals
Buckeye Central returns to the regional level again this season as
they meet Berlin Center Western Reserve on Thursday night in a regional
semifinal at Massillon Perry High School.
Last Saturday, they beat Danbury-Lakeside (39-21) to win the district
title.
Danbury closed to within (27-20), but Buckeye ended the game on
(10-1) run to put it away.
Coach Abram Kaple says they responded the way you want championship
teams to respond. “We were up
15 at the half. The message is
Danbury is a really good team and good teams are going to make runs and
that's what basketball is a game of runs.
It's being able to withstand that run, which we did.
The kind of bend but don't break mentality.
We took a time out when they went and cut it to seven and we
responded with a 9-0 run of our own and that kind of sealed the game per se.
Really happy with the way that our kids responded in terms of what we
were dealing with. On top of
injuries, we were dealing with sickness too, so again had adversity, but we
kind of dug our heels in and I thought we played well defensively,” said
Kaple.
This is a seventh straight regional appearance for Buckeye Central
and many of them have been contested at Massillon Perry.
Kaple says that is probably a plus for them.
“I would like to think it is. We
have five seniors back from last year's team, but you know Western Reserve
was up in the regionals in 2021 at the same site as well and then the other
two teams on the other side, both Springfield and Dalton are back again as
well. So, I think there is
familiarity as a whole. We like
to think it works our advantage a little bit, but at the same time that's
not something we're I guess hanging our hat on here.
We still have got to be able to play. I
guess from a comfortability standpoint yeah probably does help our kids
mentally. it's not the shock and
all of a new facility like it was a few years ago when we went to a Elida. So,
yeah I guess it definitely doesn't hurt,” he said.
Buckeye Central (22-3) plays Berlin Center Western Reserve (18-8) on
Thursday night. Western Reserve
beat Kinsman Badger (36-24) to win their district title.
Kaple says their have an outstanding guard Brooke Schantz and they
are going to have to contain her. “I
think they're like a mix between like Crawford and Wynford if I'm looking at
like teams that we've played. They
do have a guard Brooke Schantz, who's really, really good.
She can score it at all three levels, she's really good off the
bounce, she plays with a lot of energy and a lot of positive emotion, so I
really like her,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon,
“Then they have got some size inside with two girls that are probably
5’11”, 6’0”, who play both inside and out and then they have some
nice complimentary guards as well that kind of help them on the defensive
end. So, very similar in a lot of capacity to us.
Unfortunately, they're also dealing with injuries. I
know they have two kids that didn't play their district final who were
starters for them. So, we're
fortunate that we have one of ours back and Sydney (Wurm) is hopefully
closer than what she was last week.”
Published 3/02/23
© Swankonsports.com
There will be a special “Out of Bounds”
Saturday from 10 to 11 PM
First Source for All Things Sports
Buckeye
Central Has to Control South Central Break
Buckeye Central, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion, faces
South Central, of the Firelands Conference, in a girls’ division IV
district semifinal on Thursday night at Willard High School.
Last Saturday night, Buckeye Central (20-3) beat Norwalk St. Paul
(59-22) in a sectional final at Crestview High School.
Coach Abram Kaple says they played the game with without two starters
in Sydney Wurm and Ryley Kantzer. “We
had to kind of maneuver some things without them and unfortunately we're
still without them right now, but you have different kids step up.
I thought we played really hard, especially on the defensive end and
you know resulted in some easy run outs for us offensively,” he said.
South Central (11-12) beat Lucas (57-45) to earn a sectional title at
Crestview last Saturday.
Kaple says the Lady Trojans have good guard play and will play a lot
of zone against them. “They
have three really good junior guards in the (Kendyl) Beverly girl, the
(Emily) Lamoreaux girl and then the (Angela) Williams girl is kind of what
makes them go. They all have
different skill sets that work really well together,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They do some different things
defensively, which creates some easy baskets for them. They
run a lot of zone and just some different defensive looks that we haven't
seen. So, we've been focused on
that this week in practice. We
just have got to make sure that we value the basketball, use good pass fakes
and prevent them from you know getting tipped passes that will lead to easy
buckets in transition.”
Buckeye Central has had enormous success in the tournament in recent
years, in fact last year they won regional championship.
Kaple says it the tournament who just have to be very good at
executing what you do. “We've
kind of narrowed down our playbook a little bit to be a little bit more
focused on doing just a handful of things really well. The
attention to detail kind of matters at this point being able to execute on
both ends of the floor, not just offensively with what you're running, but
how are you going to defend certain things and understanding your scouter or
there's execution that's involved there as well,” said Kaple.
Published 2/23/23
© Swankonsports.com
There will be a special “Out of Bounds”
Saturday from 10 to 11 PM
First Source for All Things Sports
Buckeye
Central Looking for Formula
Buckeye Central hosts Galion in a non-conference boys’ basketball
game on Tuesday night in New Washington.
It’s been a season of challenges for the Bucks.
They did beat Upper Sandusky (63-58) in triple overtime 10 days ago.
Coach Tom Howell says they were in position to get a couple more
wins, including last Friday against Bucyrus.
He says they have to be able to finish games.
“We're still playing pretty hard.
We actually played well enough to win a couple of games.
One before upper and one after upper, we just couldn't get it
finished. We had the lead in the
fourth quarter we just didn't get finished,” he said.
Howell says that is a process. “From
being in that situation the last couple years.
I remember our first year we got beat, we won 10 games, but we got
beat sometimes pretty bad,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon,
“Then the second year we competed about every game we played in.
We still got beat a couple times pretty bad, but not as much.
So, we're getting to the point where we're competing on a consistent
basis now we have just got to
learn how to win now, just have got to finish the game.”
Buckeye Central (6-14) plays at home against Galion (7-13) on Tuesday
night. The Tigers beat Bucyrus
last week (86-66) in a non-conference game.
They lost (71-58) to Marion Pleasant in a Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference game last Friday.
Howell says they can not allow Galion to run the floor.
“They do score, they have got they got five guys put the ball in
the basket. They're getting a
full court press, they're going to trap us, they're going to do everything
they can to speed the game up. If we can put the ball in the basket, I think
we can compete. That’s go to
be the biggest thing, we have to control the tempo a little bit,” said
Howell.
Published 2/14/23
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We
are Your First Source for Everything Sports
It’s
Simple Buckettes Have to Make More Shots
Buckeye Central is back in first place by themselves the Northern 10
Athletic Conference and they play at Mohawk on Saturday afternoon.
Buckeye took back sole possession based on (35-32) win over Colonel
Crawford on Tuesday night.
Coach Abram Kaple says they made enough plays down the stretch to win
the game. “It was a key win
for us. Crawford's been playing really well with a lot of confidence and
rightfully so. They're really
good on the defensive end and they try to make things difficult.
They try to slow the game down and really shorten the game and they
did a good job of doing that. Fortunately,
we made enough plays kind of in the fourth quarter to come out with the
three-point win. But, we have
got to get better. We have to
get better from where we're at right now if we want to continue to keep
winning games and kind of reach some of these goals that we have in front of
us. So, it was a good win, but
we still we have got a lot of areas we have to get better at,” said Kaple.
Kaple says when it comes to improvement it comes down to one thing,
shooting. “This sounds really
simple, we have got to make shots, we got to make shots and right now we're
not doing that. We are really
struggling to score the basketball. Teams
are doing things differently defensively, especially as there's more and
more film out on us and it's making it tough, but with the opportunities
that we do get we have got to be able to make shots.
Shooting a lot in practice is something that we're really focusing
on. Like I said as simple as it
seems and that's the name of the game, but you have got to be able to make
shots,” he said.
Buckeye Central (12-2,7-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Mohawk
(11-3,5-3) on Saturday. The Lady
Warriors beat Bucyrus (47-34) on Tuesday night.
In the first meeting between teams, Buckeye won (38-33) on December
6.
Kaple says they are a big team and they are tough to score on.
“I think we talked earlier in the season when we played him the
first time, they have got a ton of size.
They go 6’3” probably 6’0”, 6’0”, which is something we
don't have. They play zone and
rightfully so, they want to protect the paint.
They have some shot blockers back there, which a lot of girls teams
don't have,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Their zone
kind of extends out. On the flip
side of that offensively for them we don't we don't match up particularly
well because we don't have that kind of size.
So, they pose a totally different threat than anybody else, but we've
been working hard on the terms of post defense the last two days and working
on our zone offense. We'll try
to give it our best shot on Saturday morning.”
Published 1/13/22
© Swankonsports.com
Score updates every 5 minutes on Friday and
Saturday night
On our scoreboard at
Buckeye
Central Making More Shots
Buckeye
Central has a makeup game on Thursday night as they travel to Upper Sandusky
to do battle with them Rams in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.
It is a makeup from December 23.
Last Friday, the Bucks produced their biggest point production of the
season as Tyler Sanderson had 27 points and Buckeye beat Bucyrus (67-53) in
New Washington.
Coach Tom Howell says it’s amazing what happens when shots start to
fall. “We finally saw ball go
in the basket. We got some
points from a few different people. I
mean we were sharing the ball and just getting some good shots and they were
finally going in,” said Howell.
It’s basketball 101, but Howell says when you get better balance it
becomes harder to guard you. “It
makes everything little bit easier. It
makes you harder to guard. I
mean we tell our kids we're talking skills in the summertime being to be a
better offensive player. It does
in the season just makes your team harder to guard,” he said.
Buckeye Central (4-6,1-4) is at Upper Sandusky (1-8,1-4) on Thursday
night. The Rams were blasted
(55-27) by conference leader Carey on Friday night in league play.
Obviously, this is not a typical Upper Sandusky season from a wins
and losses perspective, but Howell says they still make it difficult for you
to handle the ball against them. “They
are still going to pressure the basketball, that’s going to be one of our
keys the next couple days to handle their pressure,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We have got to keep them off the
glass. They can put three guys
at 6’5” on the floor the same time.
We have got make sure we keep them on the offensive glass.
We have to handle the pressure. I
mean they're going to press, they're going to trap us.
If we can handle that I mean we are going to give ourselves a chance
I hope.”
Published 1/03/23
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
Buckeye
Central Returns to League Play
Buckeye Central, the leader in the girls’ basketball standings in
the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, plays at home against Bucyrus on
Thursday night.
They lost their first game of the year to unbeaten Smithville (10-0),
#1 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the small
school division, (41-26) in the “Jingle Bell Jam” at Cedar Point on
Tuesday.
Coach Abram Kaple thought they played really well on defense against
an outstanding team on Tuesday. “Smithville
is really, really good and first of all people kind of need to know that.
We knew that going in. The
league they play in, the Wayne County Athletic League, is tough, it's
physical you know with Dalton and Chippewa and Waynedale, that's really a
top heavy league with a lot of good basketball. I
thought we defended probably the best we have all year despite what the
score looks like. It’s 15 and
we give up a couple baskets late because we're trying to pressure and do
some things, but it's a great test for us,” he said.
Kaple says this is a game they can learn form and use it to get
better. “I told the kids, I
thought played well. We
struggled to score. We got some
things that we can work on and clean up, but to compete against a team like
that I thought we were really up to the challenge physically and I thought
on defense we did a good job. We
just didn’t make shots and sometimes we have that.
Hats off to them, you lost to a really good team and you learned from
it. This is the same thing that
happened to us last year we lost the Shelby about this time of the year it
was the best thing that ever happened.
So, it knocks you down a peg, humbles you a little bit and you
get back on the horse (Thursday) night,” said Kaple.
Buckeye Central (9-1,5-0), #3 in our poll, plays host to Bucyrus
(3-6,0-5) on Thursday night. Bucyrus
lost (48-33) to Carey last week in a league game.
Kaple says they are playing pretty well and are improved from last
year. “Much improved, the
(Brook) Dennison girl moving in from Northmor is a really nice pickup from
there. The (Addison) Kemery girl
that came over from Crawford is a good addition.
They're healthy and they're athletic.
They play some zone, which we're not great against.
So, we are going to have to be able to execute make some shots and
defend,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “I hope our
effort and our energy level from (Tuesday) night kind of carries over to
(Thursday). We have got to know
where Dennison is and keep her in front and not let her get out and get
downhill to where she can make plays for some of their other shooters and
get them open looks. So, like I
said we had a good walk through practice (Wednesday) kind of light due to
(Tuesday), but we're hoping to get right back on the winning track.”
Published 12/29/22
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
Buckeye
Has to do it Better
It’s a battle of co-leaders in Northern 10 Athletic Conference on
Thursday night as Buckeye Central travels to Upper Sandusky.
Last Saturday, the Buckettes beat a good Carey team (48-41) to
maintain its share of the lead.
Coach Abram Kaple says they were kind of sloppy, but found a way to
win. “It went very similar to
how I had expected, I guess. Saturday
morning, we didn't play particularly efficient.
We got out rebounded by 22 and we were 2-15 from three.
So, you look at the box score, you look at those stats, it is a
miracle that we won. Those are
two numbers where you look at that and those jump out for you like how in
the world did you win by seven, but we shot free throws well, we didn't turn
the ball over and we did what we had to do.
So, definitely a gritty, grind it out, sloppy win, I guess against a
good team. That's credit to
Carey for making us kind of play that way.
They're physical, they're athletic, and they're bigger than us.
So, they did a lot of things to kind of capitalize on their
strengths, but ultimately it's a seven point win in what we feel is going to
be a very tough conference to win. So,
we're not giving it back in any capacity,” said Kaple.
Buckeye Central (8-0,4-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball poll in the small school division, is at Upper Sandusky
(8-1,4-0), #4 in our poll, on Thursday night.
Kaple says the teams are similar in their make up.
“They're very balanced. I
feel there's a lot of similarities in us.
They have good guard play, they have kind of like a lengthy stretch
four in Kaidance Iies, who you know does a lot of things like similar to
Kennedy Deppen. They shoot the
three a lot based on numbers, we shoot about 18 times a game and they're
about a 17 and half. So, like
they want to play fast, they want to pressure, we want to play fast, we want
to pressure, we want to shoot a lot of threes, and they want to shoot a lot
of threes,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “So, there's
a lot of similarities there. Their
guard play is what makes them good. Anytime
you have good guard play it creates a lot of opportunities that you maybe
wouldn't have if you struggle at that position.
So, they feel that they have three or four really good guards and we
do too. So, very excited for the
matchup and they are a really good team.
I feel confident saying that they're the best team that will have
played on our schedule this far.”
Kaple says they are just going to have to execute better than Upper.
“We experienced that last year, I guess, in the state semifinal
where I think you told me that going into that game teams that like to press
don't like to be pressed and unfortunately they kind of nipped us in the
heel last year. So, it very much
is the same thing a lot of times like when we pressure, I'm sure Upper feels
the same way, when you come out you try to set the tone defensively and make
teams play catch up, you're used to being at that level.
We're going to try to make sure that we lay the first punch in terms
of empowering our will on what we want from both ends of the floor,” said
Kaple.
Published 12/22/22
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
Buckeye
Looking for Scoring Options
Buckeye Central has injury problems and they are looking for answers
as they at Upper Sandusky on Friday night in action in the Northern 10
Athletic Conference.
The Bucks were without Stephen Sostakowski and Tyler Sanderson in a
(46-20) loss to “N10” co-leader Carey on Saturday night.
Coach Tom Howell says they just has very few offensive options
against Carey. “I mean we are
not making excuses, but we lost a couple of kids going into Carey.
One of our better players in Stephen Sostakowski is done for the
year. He broke his foot in the
third quarter against Seneca East and that is going to hurt us a lot.
Tyler Sanderson right now is not playing.
He's on the injured list as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday afternoon, “So, I mean those are our two biggest offensive threats
we have right now and they're both inactive.
We have to find a way and that's what we're working on this week and
we're hoping we can get better in like three days.”
Howell says right now they have find some guys to step into roles and
that is not going to be easy. “We
have to have that mentality of next man up.
We're not going to sit here and feel sorry for ourselves, I mean
everybody feels bad for these two gentlemen right now, but we're going to
get better. We're going to work
to get better and that's our goal for every day this week,” he said.
Buckeye Central (3-5,0-4) plays at Upper Sandusky (1-6,1-3) on Friday
night. The Rams won their first
game in smoking Bucyrus (73-44) on Saturday night.
Howell they Rams are going to make it tough for them to score.
“They are very athletic kids. They
guard very well. They are going
to be taller than we are. We are
going to try to get better this weekend.
If we can handle their pressure and put the ball in the basket you
know we're going to have a shot,” said Howell.
Published 12/21/22
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
Buckeye
Central With Big One on Saturday
Buckeye Central, the co-leader of the Northern 10 Athletic
Conference, plays at Carey on Saturday afternoon in key early season game in
the conference.
The Lady Blue Devils trail Buckeye by a game.
However, first they play at home against Crestview, of the Firelands
Conference, in a non-league game on Thursday night.
They are unbeaten through six games and coach Abram Kaple likes the
improvement he is seeing. “So
far, we definitely are through the last two games have been, the last three
games really, have been good for our confidence.
We're starting to figure out some things.
The kids are kind of getting a little bit more settled in and into
their roles and kind of the expectations that we have for them as coaches.
So, through six games like obviously we're not perfect and I don't
think we're where we need to be, I guess, but in terms of like from where we
were game one to where we're at now we're definitely trending in the right
direction. As a coach that's all
you can ask is we tell them continue to take steps forward and not lateral
steps and certainly not steps backwards,” said Kaple.
The Buckettes meet Crestview, three time defending Firelands
Conference champion on Thursday night. The
Lady Cougars are young and have struggled at times this year.
They lost (58-24) to Wynford of the “N10” on Tuesday night.
Kaple says Crestview is certainly improving.
“They graduated a lot off a nice team.
The last two years they've have lost a lot to graduation.
We've been fortunate enough to see them twice live, so we have a good
idea of what they're going to try to do.
They're athletic, they play hard they have younger girls that are
eager to continue to get better and earn far more varsity minutes for them.
We're thankful definitely that it's a home game for us, but again
we're going try to work on things that we need to improve on and continue to
try to pressure and do the best that we can try to play our style of
basketball and hopefully it turns out the right direction for us,” he
said.
Buckeye Central (6-0,3-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Carey (4-1,2-1)
on Saturday afternoon. Carey’s
only loss comes (32-31) to Colonel Crawford last Friday.
Kaple says they have a lot of experience and they have a number of
kids that can score the ball. “Carey
didn’t graduate anybody from last year. They lost to Crawford by one and
they had the lead late. They're
athletic they run very much a conceptual offense, which makes them a little
bit tougher to guard. They have
six girls that are anywhere between like six and 10 points a game, so a lot
of balance. Definitely we don't
have any kids that can hide defensively.
We have to make sure that we're all guarding and we're all
responsible for what we're trying to do,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday afternoon, “The thing that's tricky about that is it is on the
road and it's a Saturday game, which is a little bit out of sync normally.
Very much a huge league game for us that's kind of something we've
been stressing ever since Monday is this is this is a must win game for us,
I guess, is what we're titling it as and we're putting a lot of stock into
it.”
Published 12/15/22
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
Buckeye
Central Most Shoot Better
Buckeye Central tries its luck Saturday night against one of the best
teams in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference as they host the Mohawk
Warriors.
Last Saturday, in their conference opener they lost (50-35) to
defending champion Colonel Crawford.
Coach Tom Howell says they defended the Eagles pretty well, but they
couldn’t make any shots or hardly any.
“On the defensive end of the floor I thought we played pretty well.
Crawford shot a good percentage and they usually do, but we guarded
them pretty well to hold them to 50,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday afternoon, “Again, we just couldn’t put the ball in the basket.
Given them credit too, they played pretty good defense, but we are
still struggling shooting the basketball.”
Howell says they are going to keep shooting a lot of shots in
practice and hopefully they start making more.
“We are hoping so. We
shoot a lot during practice. We
try to shoot a lot of game shots and game situation shots and sooner or
later they just fall in,” he said.
Buckeye Central (2-2,0-1) is at Mohawk (4-0,1-0) on Saturday.
The Warriors beat New Riegel (55-47) in a non-conference game on
Thursday night.
Howell says the Warriors are hard to guard.
“Mohawk is pretty good. Offensively,
they are very good. They have a
lot of guys that put the ball in the basket from a lot of different areas on
the floor. They shoot the three
very well. They probably have
one of the best players we are going to see all year in A.J. Hess.
We need to see the ball go in the basket on Saturday night,” said
Howell.
Published 12/09/22
© Swankonsports.com
Score updates every 5 minutes on Friday and
Saturday night
On our scoreboard at
Buckeye
Central Must Make Shots
Buckeye Central hosts Mohawk in key early season battle in the
Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Tuesday night.
The Buckettes (4-0,1-0) held Colonel Crawford to five points in the
second half and none in the fourth quarter in beating the Lady Eagles
(38-19) in an “N10” game last Friday night.
Coach Abram Kaple says they were outstanding on defense.
“We did a good job defensively by taking away a lot of the things
that they like to do and the personal that they like to get the ball to.
So, I thought our kids did a really good job of staying focused and
paying attention to the details of what we wanted to do from a defensive
gameplan standpoint. So, anytime
you hold a team under 20 you are doing something right,” he said.
Mohawk (3-0,1-0) dominated Bucyrus (57-28) on Friday night in their
conference opener.
Kaple says they are talented and they are big.
“They have a lot, a lot of size.
They are basically everything we are not.
They play a lot of zone. They
use their length and it is difficult to score.
Any team that plays zone dictates the tempo of the game or that is
their mindset. They want
offenses to kind of be stagnate and settle for shots on the perimeter,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Emily Klopp in the middle for
them is all of 6’3” and she is tough on both ends of the floor because
we don’t have anybody of that size. We
are going to have to be able to make some shots and have good ball movement.
We are going to have to do the best that we can to limit them to one
and done. It is unrealistic for
us to say that they are not going to get some, but limiting them is
definitely going to be our goal.”
Buckeye can make outside shots, that is a big part of their offense,
but Kaple says they have to attack that zone too.
“Our strength is shooting the ball from the perimeter.
I guess that somewhat plays into our hands.
When we come to a night when we don’t shoot the ball particularly
well, then we are going to have our hands full, but we have to get the ball
to the high post. We have to be
able to get shot fakes and get some scoring opportunities or at least draw
multiple defenders and kick it out for open jump shots.
One pass and a quick three is not a recipe for success against these
guys,” he said.
Published 12/06/22
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
Buckeye
Central Plays Rival Colonel Crawford
Buckeye Central takes the bus down State Route 602 on Saturday night
to take on rival Colonel Crawford in their Northern 10 Athletic Conference
opener for both schools.
The Bucks (2-1) lost the first time this year when they fell (63-58)
to South Central in a non-conference game played on Tuesday night.
Coach Tom Howell says South Central just made too many threes.
“We played pretty well Tuesday.
It is frustrating. Our
kids laid everything on the line. It
was they made threes and we made twos, that’s what it came down to. We
outrebounded them. We forced
more turnovers. They just made
more threes than we did,” said Howell.
Colonel Crawford (2-0) has beaten Crestline (50-23) on Monday and
Kenton (53-42) on Wednesday.
Howell says Braxton Baker, due to his skill set, is a particularly
difficult match-up for the Bucks. “They
are pretty athletic like they always are.
Colonel Crawford always has athletic kids.
The (Braxton) Baker kid is going to be a tough guard for us because
of his length and ability,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
afternoon, “He is 6’4”, but he puts it on the floor like a 5’11”
guy. We are small and other than
that he is not going to be a good match up for us either.
We are going to try and come up with something to see what we can do
over there on Friday.”
Howell says the Eagles are physical, but they have handled that
pretty well this year so far. “They
are a very good defensive basketball team.
They are always very physical. So
far this year, we have handled some physicality.
We are playing a little more physical ourselves.
We are just trying to get that done see what we can do,” he said.
Published 12/02/22
© Swankonsports.com
Score updates every 5 minutes on Friday and
Saturday night
On our scoreboard at
Buckeye
Central Ready to Play
Buckeye Central faces a double weekend on the opening week of the
boys’ basketball season as they are at Plymouth on Friday night and at
home with Crestline on Saturday, both are non-conference games.
Coach Tom Howell says they are getting themselves ready to open the
season. “We had a pretty
decent day (Monday) and hopefully (Tuesday) we get better.
Hopefully, we get a little more energy we can get up and down the
floor and tighten things up and be ready for Friday,” said Howell.
Howell says the kids are ready to play for real and frankly, so is
he. “I have been at this long
enough. It’s tough and
everybody is going to want to put a lot of stuff in.
You are not going to have everything in for the first game,” he
told Swankopnsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “It is time to play.
It is time to get the ball out on the floor and get some people in
the stands and make some noise and let’s play some basketball.”
When it comes to Plymouth, Howell says they are going to be at a
height disadvantage and they must work hard at rebounding the ball.
“They are going to be athletic like they usually are, they will be
physical. I know they have a big
guy. Last year, he gave us some
problems. We have to be able to
rebound and check everybody out. We
are not very tall. I am
expecting a good, tough game,” he said.
Published 11/23/22
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
Buckeye
Ready to Find Out
Buckeye Central tips-off the girls’ basketball season on Saturday
night at Willard against the Lady Flashes in non-conference play.
Coach Abram Kaple says they have consistently gotten better this
preseason and he is interested in how they will play on Saturday.
“We have had three scrimmages and we have looked at some things and
made adjustments after each and every one.
We are four days away. We
feel confident it what we have and we are fine tuning some things.
Obviously, being opening weekend this isn’t what it is going to be
for the entire year. We will
continue to make adjustments. We
are kind of honed in on what we want to do Saturday we will give it our best
go and go from there,” said Kaple.
Kaple says this is a team that really hasn’t developed an identity
yet, but he thinks their experience will help them this week.
“This is I guess my first time in five years where our identity is
a little uncertain as we enter. Then
again, last year we kind of had the same thing with an injury early in the
preseason and we had to make some adjustments there.
I guess I didn’t really know what we had last year going in.
We have five seniors who have played a lot of basketball.
They have been part of a lot of successful teams, so they understand
what it takes to win and hopefully that experience plays in our favor early
on in the season,” he said.
Willard had a rare down year last year, but Kaple says they going to
be a challenge for them. He says
Sy Sivongsak is likely the best individual player they will face this
season. “You don’t have
anything on anybody. You have
some notes from last year. You
have some personnel that played and is returning.
They have a really, really good point guard Sy is her first name.
She is arguably the best individual player that we will see all year.
She is quick, a little smaller in stature, but from a speed
standpoint we don’t anybody that can match up with her,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “That is going to be our main focus
is trying to contain her and limit her the bast that we can.
They have a couple of other letter winners.
Through the grapevine they have a couple of freshmen that will play
some minutes for them too. Barry
Pfahl has been around for sometime and his is one of the best coaches in
North Central Ohio of all time, so they will be ready to play.
We understand that going into Saturday.”
Published 11/16/22
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
Buckeye
Central Trying to Find Itself
Buckeye Central won’t have a lot of height this year and they are
trying to develop ways to overcome that on the basketball floor.
Coach Tom Howell says this year they will be relying on a lot of
younger kids to fill roles. “We
are spending a lot of time early in the season just trying to get acquainted
with each other. We have four
returning letter winners. Two of
them, with a lot of experience, and then after that we are really young,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We are not very big, so
we are going to try and do some different things on the defensive and
offensive end. We are working
and we are going to be ready to go week one.”
With their lack of height, Howell says they can’t just hope to make
a bunch of threes, they have to get the ball into the lane too.
“We don’t want to just shoot threes all night.
We have to find different ways to get the ball in the paint and get
shots underneath the basket and shoot 15 to 12 footers.
We are going to have to get pretty creative.
We have some guys that can drive it and we are hoping that can create
some shots for people on the perimeter,” he said.
Howell says they have some kids that are playing out of position and
they are going to have to find a way to be sort of unorthodox in approach.
“We are very inexperienced. With
these guys we are explaining roles. We
are working hard to find roles and do those roles the correct way.
We are going to have some guys play in different positions because of
our lack of size. We have some
people playing in the post that aren’t posts.
It has been a good process so far,” said Howell.
Published 11/11/22
© Swankonsports.com
Score updates every 5 minutes on Friday and
Saturday night
On our scoreboard at
Buckeye
Central Trying to Put Things Together
Buckeye Central is coming off another tremendous year, which included
both a Northern 10 Athletic Conference and division IV regional title.
With going on two weeks of practice, coach Abram Kaple says has seen
some good things and some things that need to be sharpened.
“We have been a little up and down.
Th first couple of weeks of practice and always difficult, especially
since our volleyball team usually has a lot of success.
We kind of start kids in a staggered start as we get some and then I
get a few more and you have to teach again, we are about seven, eight
practices in with everybody, so we are learning.
We are going to do a couple of things different this year
offensively. It’s been a
learning curve. We have had one
scrimmage and I thought we did some things well.
I thought we played hard. Right
now, that is what we can control and some of the other articulate stuff, I
guess, will come,” said Kaple.
Kaple says they return five solid players from last year, but will
also be working other kids into the rotation.
“We return five seniors. We
have five letter winners off last year’s final four team.
We graduated three. We
feel really confident with the five we have coming back.
Then we have some kids that played varsity minutes here and there
depending on the game last year, so we kind of sprinkled them in.
We have two juniors and three sophomores that will see some minutes
for us. A good mix of some
experience and some youth,” he said.
Kaple says the biggest task that they are working on now is to figure
out how all of the pieces they have fit together.
“That has been what is the biggest challenge so far for us as
coaches is we have some kids that do different things.
We have some kids that can make shots, we have some kids that can
really defend and it is trying to find the right rotation and the right
combination of kids as to who plays well together and kind of go from there.
It has been very much learning for us coaches as well,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We delt with some injuries over the
course of the summer. You are
dealing with vacations and softball and everything else that goes on, so you
don’t really see all your kids together until practice is required here in
October and November. We are
very much trying to figure out what works and that is what scrimmages are
for and four weeks of preseason. Hopefully,
come up with the best answers you can come Thanksgiving time.”
Published 11/04/22
© Swankonsports.com
Score updates every 5 minutes on Friday night
On our scoreboard at
For
Buckeye Central it’s About Effort
Buckeye Central hosts Bucyrus in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic
Conference on Friday night.
Buckeye probably has to have it to make the division IV playoffs.
They stand 18th right now in region 25.
The top 16 make it.
Last week, Upper Sandusky beat the Bucks (42-13) in an “N10”
game.
Coach Chad Jensen says the has some problems handling the Upper
speed. “Upper has a ton of
athletes. They were probably the
fastest team that we have seen all year.
They are really good. The
speed by them is something we had a little trouble with,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We competed against them and gave
them everything we had. It was
7-7 early in the first and 14-7 after one.
We had some opportunities where we turned the ball over a few times
and you can’t do that against good teams.
At the end of the day, we competed and did the best we could.”
Buckeye Central (3-5,0-5) entertains Bucyrus (1-7,0-5) on Friday
night. “N10” leader Carey
crushed the Redmen (54-0) last week in conference play.
Jensen says Bucyrus looks a lot like them.
“Bucyrus is very similar to us watching them on film, it looks like
we mirror each other. We have
similar strengths and similar weaknesses.
It looks like we are watching us.
It is really going to be a game where who can execute the best and
not turn the ball over is really going to be the key,” said Jensen.
Yes, they must execute, but Jensen says a lot of Friday night is
going to be about who wants it more. “We
talked about that with our kids this week.
In a game between two teams that are pretty equal it is really going
to be about execution and turnovers and who wants it more.
Who is going to lay it out on the field for 48 minutes.
We have challenged our kids all week that we want it to be us,” he
said.
Published 10/12/22
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
Buckeye
Central Plays Talented Upper Sandusky
Buckeye Central takes the bus to Upper Sandusky on Friday night to
take on the Rams in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
Last week, the Bucks (3-4,0-4) feel to Wynford (35-15) in a “N10”
game.
Coach Chad Jensen says they played well at times in the game,
throwing for 230 yards, but just didn’t make enough plays.
“We were in the game the whole time and competed.
It was 20-9 at the half. We
had a chance to score before halftime and couldn’t quite do that.
We were in the game the whole time.
Wynford took advantage of some things and played really well.
We threw the ball really well. Derex
Dean had a great game throwing the football and our receivers did a great
job of catching it. Wynford is a
good football team, much better than their record, everybody that has played
them knows that. It was a tough
game for us. We just have to
continue to improve,” said Jensen.
Buckeye is the smallest school in the “N10” and coach Jensen has
already discussed that they are thin, but he says they he doesn’t believe
they are running out of gas in the second half.
“We play 15 kids. We
have 15 varsity players. Our 15th
just came back. He had broken
his foot earlier in game one, so he came back and that really a helps us.
A lot of our kids are young and we have a lot of freshmen and they
are not ready for prime time. We
do have some depth issues. Most
of our kids do play both ways,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday
evening, “That could cause some problems, but I don’t use that as an
excuse because our kids are used to that and have done it all year.
Quite frankly, I don’t see fatigue as a problem.
When teams can two platoon players and not have to play both ways
that certainly wears you down.”
Upper Sandusky (3-4,2-2) upset Colonel Crawford (30-29) last week.
Kaden Holman found Brady Hart for a two point conversion in overtime.
The Rams lead the conference in passing attempts, completions, and
yards this year.
Jensen says the Rams are an athletic team that makes plays.
“They are really athletic. They
have the top passer in the “N10” in Kaden Holman, he is a really good
quarterback. They have receivers
all over the place. They have a
good running back. They are very
aggressive on defense. They
bring a lot of people a lot of times. They
have division IV athletes. We
know we are going to have a challenge. We
have competed with them the last several years and had chances to win the
fourth quarter. Our kids are
going to expect to do that again,” he said.
Published 10/03/22
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
Run
Defense Big For Buckeye
Buckeye Central is home for Wynford in a game between traditional
rivals in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night.
Last week, the Bucks were competitive, but fell in the end to Seneca
East (33-15) in conference play.
Coach Chad Jensen says they just couldn’t get over the top.
“It was a tight ballgame. We
knew it was going to be a tough game. It
was 7-7 in the second quarter. It
was 14-7, we were losing at half. We
were right there. We were a few
plays away from being right in the ballgame.
It’s an 11 point game in the fourth quarter.
So, we were right there you know.
We are close, but we are not quite there yet.
So, we just have to work on getting to that next level,” he said.
Buckeye Central (3-3,0-3) is at home for Wynford (1-5,1-2) on Friday
night in “N10” action.
Jensen says the Royals want to run it and on defense they have kids
that make plays. “They want to
run the ball. They want to be
physical. They want to run the
football. We are not fooled by
their record. They are a very good football team.
They have played a very tough schedule so far and played some very
good football teams. They do
what they do and do it well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
afternoon, “On defense, they are aggressive.
They have a great player in Kalen Skidmore.
He is a stud that we need to account for, but they have other guys
too. They run around and make
plays. We knew we have to play
well. We have a challenge ahead
of us.”
Jensen says Wynford is going to keep running it until you stop them
from doing it. “In years past
that was the kind of football team we were.
We are going to run the ball and take time off the clock and keep it
away from your offense. So, we
understand that type of football and that’s what they want to do.
They want to grind out first downs and keep the ball for eight, nine
minute drives. Whether they
score or not doesn’t matter, but they are going to keep the ball away from
you and that’s what they want to do. It’s
a challenge for our defense this week and we know what to expect.
It is going to be won in the trenches, no doubt about it,” said
Jensen.
Published 9/29/22
© Swankonsports.com
Score updates every 5 minutes on Friday night
On our scoreboard at
Buckeye
Central Looking to Build
Buckeye
Central goes in search of its first Northern 10 Athletic Conference win on
Friday night when they host Seneca East in New Washington.
Last
week, they fell to defending conference champion Carey (48-7) on the road.
Coach
Chad Jensen says they were more competitive that the score would show.
“Carey is a really good football team.
We knew that, but the final score doesn’t really tell the whole
tale. We had an opportunity when
it was 14-0, we were inside the 10 and a had a turnover that kind of turned
it the other way. We had several
turnovers and they had a few big plays.
We were in a situation where we battled them.
The final score doesn’t really indicate that,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “There were times when we didn’t
play too bad against them and they are a really good team and a really good
program. We didn’t make enough
plays to win the football game, but there were moments that we hung around.
Hopefully, we can build on that.”
Jensen
says there are definitely some things they did last week that they can build
on for this week and the rest of the season.
“That is what we want to do. We
just want to learn for our mistakes. Understand
that we play great competition in this league and it will only make us
better and we know that. So, we
want to learn from those mistakes. We
want to correct them this week in practice and see what happens this
week,” he said.
Buckeye
Central (3-2,0-2) is at home for Seneca East (3-2,1-1) on Friday night.
The Tigers were blanked (42-0) by Colonel Crawford is an “N10”
game last week.
Jensen
says they are a solid team lead by a very good quarterback in Blake Foos,
who has thrown for a league high 10 touchdowns and leads the league in
rushing with 524 yards. “Seneca
East is a really good football team. A
really good program that we respect. Offensively,
everything goes through their quarterback Blake Foos.
He is in the top two in passing in the league.
He is the top rusher in the league as quarterback.
He is kind the straw that stirs the drink for them.
That is somebody we have to be accountable for.
On the other side of the ball, they switch coverages a lot.
They have some nice athletes on the defensive side.
That is something we have to take account of.
It’s a really great game for us and we are looking forward to the
challenge,” said Jensen.
Published 9/20/22
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
Buckeye
Understands What is Needed
Buckeye Central will be on the road Friday night for a Northern 10
Athletic Conference game against the defending conference champion Carey
Blue Devils.
They suffered their first loss of the season last week when Mohawk
beat them (42-12) in an “N10” game.
Coach Chad Jensen says they got behind early and couldn’t make it
up. “They got out to a little
bit of a lead, 22-0 I think, then we came right back scored.
That was what the score was at half.
They scored the first series in the second half and we went right
back down and scored. We were
withing a couple of scores most of the game.
The final score doesn’t truly indicate what it was.
The bottom line is we have some things to correct and we have been
doing that this week,” said Jensen.
Carey (4-0,1-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in
the small school division, blitzed Wynford (42-0) last week.
Jensen says they are athletic and they play fast.
“They are really athletic. What
jumps out on film is the quickness and athleticism.
They play hard and they play fast.
That is the thing that you see about them.
Our kids have had a good week of practice so far.
Our goal this week is to get better and we have done that so far and
hopefully we can continue that into Friday,” he said.
Good teams have athletic skilled players and that is the case with
Carey, but Jensen says they have a lot of athleticism in their defensive
line too. “Their down linemen
are athletic kids, skilled kids on offense, and they play defensive line,
and they are quick and athletic. They
are not huge or anything, but they are strong and physical.
That just causes some problems,” he told Swankonsports.com, “The
bottom line, so far this week our kids have had a pretty good week of
practice, and they have a pretty good idea what they are going to do.
Even though Carey does it well we hope we maximize our effort and do
the best we can and put ourselves in position to compete.”
Published 9/15/22
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
Buckeye
Expects Battle With Mohawk
It’s the opening week of play in the Northern 10 Athletic
Conference and Buckeye Central hosts Mohawk a game to be played in New
Washington on Friday night.
The Bucks (3-0) are off to their first sweep of non-conference games
since 2015 after a (42-18) whipping of Ridgeway Ridgemont last week.
Coach Chad Jensen says they played well, but still have a lot of
improving to do. “We were
happy with our performance. There
are some things we need to fix for this week, but the kids played well.
We got off to kind of slow start and that kind of woke us up a little
bit and we were able to have a big second quarter and score 36 points and
that was huge. Then we get a
score after halftime to get it to a running clock and that was big for us.
We are excited for our kids, but we also know we have a heck of an
opponent this week,” said Jensen.
Derex Dean threw four TD passes against the Golden Gophers and he
leads the “N10” with nine this year.
Mohawk (0-3) lost (26-22) to Gibsonburg last week.
Jensen says don’t look at the record of the Warriors.
He says they are a very good team.
“Listen Mohawk is a very good team and we have said don’t pay
attention to their record. It is
nonsense to think they are not a good team.
They are quick, they are athletic, and they are really well coached
on both sides of the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday
afternoon, “They have a great player in Zaiden Frey, who is a playmaker on
both sides of the ball, but they have other guys that go around him.
They are an excellent team. We
have been telling our kids all week that we are starting “N10” play and
you better bring it because it is going to be a dogfight.”
Zaiden Frey is the best athlete on the Mohawk roster and Jensen says
they have to know where he is at all times whether his is on offense or
defense. “They move him
everywhere. They will have him
at receiver, they will have him at running back and they will have him at
quarterback and of course he is in the special teams and on defense at
safety or corner. He’s
everywhere and we have told our kids all week to know where #24 is and we
respect him a lot. If he is not
the best player in the “N10” he is close to it.
They are a really good team and we know that.
We have to play our best to have a chance to beat them,” he said.
Published 9/08/22
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
Buckeye
Central Feeling Good
Buckeye Central is a winner of its first two as they play at Ridgeway
Ridgemont in a non-conference game on Friday night.
They rallied from a score down in the fourth quarter to beat Fremont
St. Joe (24-21) on Saturday night.
Coach Chad Jensen says they did an excellent job of fighting to get
the win. “We played really
well and we are excited to be 2-0. We
knew that St. Joe was a quality opponent and they gave us everything and we
knew that they would. Their
skilled players are really talented. It
was a heck of a game. We were
down 14-8 going into the fourth. We
were lucky to punch two in and get the two, two point conversions.
Our kids really battled being behind in the fourth quarter.
I am really proud of them with how we stuck with it and able to
persevere and get the win,” he said.
Buckeye ran for 213 yards in the game, 151 yards and two touchdowns
coming from Manny Mullins.
Jensen says they ran the ball when they had too.
“We felt that if we executed, we could run the ball on them.
We were able to make some adjustments with some of our blocking.
We were able to run the ball on them pretty well.
Our line played well up front. We
had great running from Manny Mullins, our running back and Derex Dean, our
quarterback and like I said, a great job by our guys up front,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “The thing I am most proud of is that
we were up 24-21 and got the ball back with about three minutes to go and we
ran it out and they never got the ball back.
So, our line and our backs said we are not going to give the ball
back. We got a couple of first
downs and we were able to run our the clock, so that is what I’m most
proud of.”
Ridgemont (1-1) fell to South Charleston Southeastern (39-0) last
week.
Jensen says the Golden Gophers are going to try and run the ball
against them. “They are going
to be a physical team. They want
to run the ball and dictate that tempo.
Their best players are their running backs that double as their
linebackers. They have a good
linemen that doubles as a defensive end.
They have some players are film that really jump out at you as being
aggressive, good football players. So,
we know we have a challenge ahead of us.
We watched film (Monday) of ourselves and them and our kids know we
are happy to be 2-0, but we have to get back to work,” said Jensen.
Published 8/30/22
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
Buckeye
Central Still Looking to Improve
Buckeye Central destroyed Crestline last Friday, but they know they
have a lot of improving to do as they head to Fremont St. Joe for a
non-conference game on Saturday night.
They belted Crestline (53-8) last week, scoring 47 points in the
first half.
Derex Dean completed eight of nine passes for 167 yards and four
touchdowns. Manny Mullins
returned the opening kick for a score and Parker Bowman retuned a punt, and
the Bucks scored on a fumble recovery.
Coach Chad Jensen says they did an outstanding job in all areas of
the game. “It was a great
start for us. Our kids were
really prepared. They were ready
to go and took of everything that was presented to them and played really
hard. The first game you are
always concerned you never really know what you are going to get, but our
kids were locked in from the beginning and did a great job and our defense
was great, our coaches had a great plan for that.
Offensively, we took what they have for us.
We scored on special teams twice and all around it was a good game
for us,” said Jensen.
Yes, they did a lot of good things, but Jensen also as a list of
things they have to get better at before Saturday.
“We had a lot of things to correct on Saturday morning when we went
over the film with the kids. There
were several things that we did not do right, not do well that we pointed
out to them. We played well, but
there were a lot of things that we needed to fix and the kids are all about
that and they are ready for week two,” he said.
Fremont St. Joe (1-0) opened the season Saturday night with a (27-0)
win over Miller.
Jensen says they are explosive on offense.
“St. Joe they are really athletic.
They have a bunch of veteran skilled guys.
They have a quarterback that can throw the ball.
They have a receiver, Jackson Wright, who is a really good player.
He is one of the better players that we will see all year.
They like to throw to him early and often.
He has a lot of skill. They
like to throw the ball around in their spread offense.
Their linebackers are good and their secondary is good.
We definitely have a challenge in front of us.
They are athletic, but our kids are excited and we will be ready to
play for sure,” said Jensen.
Published 8/22/22
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
You can click out scoreboard link at
www.swankonsportshosting247.com
for all the weekend scores
Buckeye
Faces Fired up Crestline
Buckeye Central will entertain Crestline in a non-conference football
game on Friday night in New Washington.
The Bucks were (2-8) last year, but look to be improved this season.
Coach Chad Jensen says they have shown improvement during the
preseason and that is what they are looking for.
“Each scrimmage we got a little bit better.
After the first scrimmage we did okay.
We did pretty good on defense and average on offense.
In the second scrimmage against South Central we did much better on
offense and on defense we did fine. We
are improving. We aren’t
anywhere near where we need to be and our kids understand that, but we have
gotten better which each situation that we have had, so hopefully we
continue to do that,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central has more varsity experience this season, but Jensen
says they still are thin in many areas.
“Depth is a concern for us. Our
numbers are up to 35, but 14 are freshmen.
We are playing a lot of juniors and seniors and we are playing a lot
kids with experience, but we don’t have a ton of depth, varsity depth.
That is a concern. We
have to stay healthy. That is a
major concern for us. So, we are
just hoping we can do that,” he said.
Buckeye smoked Crestline (45-12) last season.
The Bulldogs were (0-9) last year and have a severely limited varsity
roster this season.
Jensen says they do have kids that are going to play hard and are
capable of making plays, especially in the run game.
“They have a new coach this year in Mike Winland.
They play hard, just like every Crestline team and just like they did
with Johnny King. They are going
to play a smash mouth kind of football on offense.
They want to keep the ball away from you.
They want to run behind Jake Bruce, who is a heck of a football
player,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Defensively, they
want to make plays against you and give the ball back to their offense, so
they can grind it out. So, we
have a challenge ahead of us. We
need to stop their running game and that is going to be really important and
take what they give us on offense. Crestline
is going to be ready to play. They
are going to be fired up. It’s
a county game and we know we are going to have a challenge ahead of us.”
Published 8/16/22
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
Buckeye
Central Good, but can be Better
Buckeye Central has as much of a veteran football team as they have
had in recent years.
They open the season on August 19 against Crestline in a
non-conference game.
There first scrimmage was last Saturday and coach Chad Jensen says
they were pretty good, especially on defense.
“We were able to play Upper Scioto Valley, a run heavy offense, a
team that went 9-1 last year, 10-2 overall, and it was a really good
scrimmage for us. Our kids
played really hard. I thought
our defense was excellent, really, really good against the run, which is
important in our league. There
are a lot of teams that run the football.
Our offense is a work in progress.
We did some good things offensively as well.
Overall, I thought it wasn’t too bad,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Tuesday afternoon, “Like I told our kids, we don’t call plays to win
scrimmages and we don’t care about that stuff.
We worry about getting better and looking at stuff we want to look at
and I think overall it was a solid effort.
Overall, I don’t think it was anywhere close to where we can be and
we told the kids that. For the
first competition against other people, it wasn’t bad.”
After watching film, Jensen says they were better on offense in that
first scrimmage that he thought and the effort was clearly there.
“After the scrimmage, offensively I didn’t think we played well
at all. That was my first
reaction, that we didn’t play well enough.
Then I look at the film and we didn’t play as bad as I thought.
The mistakes that we did make are all very correctable.
There are no effort mistakes. It
was spacing with our wide receivers, maybe we missed a block here, or maybe
we didn’t throw the ball where we should have thrown it or maybe we
didn’t run the right route. There
were all correctable things, which as a coach that is all that you can ask
for,” said Jensen.
Especially with small schools, a major concern is injuries to their
best players. Jensen says so far
they have been able to remain healthy and that is a must for them.
“We came out of it healthy and that is always a plus.
Like I have been telling everybody, we don’t have a lot of depth,
so we have to stay healthy and we have luckily so far.
Hopefully, fingers crossed, we can stay healthy this weekend and on
to next week,” he said.
Published 8/10/22
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games
10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM
We are Your First Source for Everything
Sports
Plymouth
Holds Off Buckeye Central
Plymouth scored at least one run in each of the first four innings
and then hung on to beat Buckeye Central (8-6) in a division IV district
semifinal played on Wednesday evening at Heise Park in Galion.
They return to Galion on Friday to meet rival South Central, a (10-0)
winner over Hardin-Northern on Wednesday, in the district final.
Zach Hamman opened the bottom of the first with a single and with the
aid of a walk and two errors, the Big Red jumped to a (3-0) lead.
They added two more in the second when after back to back hit
batters, Zeth Goth tripled to the left-centerfield wall and it was (5-0)
Plymouth after two.
Coach Jake Strayer says they barreled up some balls and took
advantage of their chances to score. “We
came out and hit the ball hard. The
first inning or two the helped us a little bit by kicking it around, but we
were hitting the ball hard. That
is an extremely good baseball team. That
(Alex) Kanney kid is a heck of a pitcher.
He has thrown well all year. He
threw well (Wednesday) night,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win,
“We just happened to get bats on balls and hit them hard.
Kudos for our guys being able to do that.
I know that hasn’t happened a lot to him this year.
There is a reason for it because he is a good pitcher.”
Ethan Gillum walked with one out in the bottom of the third and
scored when Cole Wentz singled and the ball was misplayed in the outfield
and it became (7-1) Plymouth.
Buckeye Central coach Chad Jensen says the errors were
uncharacteristic of the Bucks, plus with 10 runners stranded they had a lot
of chances to cash I and did not. “We
have had the same defense all year. Our
kids have played well all year. They
hit it hard and we had a couple of miscues, but we had opportunities
throughout the game. That is not
the reason that we lost. We had
opportunities. Plymouth put the
ball in play and took advantage of the opportunities that they had,” said
Jensen.
Plymouth added another run in their half of the fourth making it an
(8-1) Big Red lead after four.
The back came Buckeye with two in the fifth and three in the seventh.
Strayer says they walked nine guys and that is way too many.
“I wish they would have made a few more plays.
They helped us out. Especially
with as many walks as we game up (nine).
That was our problem, we didn’t throw a ton of strikes.
We walked a lot of guys and that is where a lot of their runners came
from. They hit one or two balls
hard and one was in the seventh inning.
That has got to get that fixed for Friday,” he said.
Buckeye’s runs in the fifth came on three walks and an error.
In the seventh thy got a couple more walks and RBI hits from Clay
Green and Graham Geissman.
Pitcher Alex Kanney, a first team all district selection, went the
distance for the Bucks and he gave up eight runs, but only three were
earned.
Jensen says his kids kept grinding.
“Our kids don’t quit. Our
kids at Buckeye Central don’t quit. I
am really proud of these kids and really proud of our seniors.
Alex is our senior. He is
our ace. He is an All-Ohio kind
of kid. He was chosen to be in
the All-Ohio senior series, so he is one of the top 80 seniors in Ohio and
he proved that. One thing about
our kids they are going to be very successful in life because things happen
and they just let it go and move on,” said Jensen.
With two runners in scoring position when the final out was recorded,
the Big Red almost surrendered that big lead, but Strayer says he will take
a win anyway he can get it. “The
district semifinal win is a win. I don’t care what it is.
I don’t care how we win. It
is satisfying,” he said.
Plymouth and South Central split their regular season meetings, South
Central won the Firelands Conference pennant.
Stayer knows it will be a challenge on Friday.
“I have coached there, dad teaches there.
We know each other. Coach
(Mike) Perry and I have a lot respect for each other.
At the start of the season this is who we expected to be here with.
They are a darn good team. They
know they are good because they saved (Karl) Ferber.
They didn’t throw Ferber (Wednesday) and he is a good pitcher too.
Let’s line it up and play ball,” said Strayer.
Published 5/26/22
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Central Downs Carey
Buckeye Central Thursday evening won a game between two teams in the
Northern 10 Athletic Conference as they beat Carey (5-1) to win a division
IV sectional title on their home field in New Washington.
It isn’t east to beat a team three times in a season, but the Bucks
also swept the Blue Devils in conference play, winning (6-0) April 22 and
(6-4) on April 22 this season.
The Bucks starter Alex Kanney delivered the kind of start that the
team has become used to as he went the distance striking out 10 Blue Devils
and permitting only four hits and walking just one.
Carey’s only run came in the first inning and after that Kanney
threw up goose eggs.
Coach Chad Jensen says he came out Thursday as was business like and
did the job. “Alex is our ace.
He has been our ace the last two seasons.
He pitched great. He kind
of had a fluke balk in the first that scored a run, but after that he
settled down and was his usual great self.
He really came to play (Thursday) and he did a great job as he always
does,” he said.
Buckeye Central would tie the game (1-1) in the bottom of the second.
They then took the lead with a three spot in the third.
Jensen says they got a couple of big hits off a tough pitcher in
Carey’s Jordan Vallejo. “We
had a big hit by Clay Green and we had a big hit by Lane Bauer.
Those were huge because we were facing a very good pitcher in Jordan
Vallejo. We knew we had to get
some timely hits against him because he is a kid that if he gets a lead, he
is hard to beat. We knew if we
could get a couple of runs that would help us and give us a cushion,” said
Jensen.
Buckeye Central (11-10) will play Plymouth, who beat Lucas (4-1) on
Thursday, in a division IV district semifinal, next Wednesday in Galion.
South Central and Hardin-Northern play in the other semi.
Published 5/20/22
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Kanney
Ties Buckeye Central Record
Buckeye Central starting pitcher Alex Kanney threw a two hit shutout,
striking out a school record 16 batters, and Buckeye Central got past Mohawk
(5-0) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game in New Washington on Tuesday
evening.
The win moved the Bucks (5-2,4-1) into a share of first place in the
“N10” with Upper Sandusky and Wynford.
Upper beat Wynford (6-2) on Tuesday.
Longtime Buckeye coach Chad Jensen says Kanney was just really
terrific on Tuesday. “He was
pretty dominate. He was really
locked in. Anytime he got in
trouble, he would battle back. We
had to remind our defense to not get lost.
Make sure you are ready to field if needed,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the win, “He tied a school record that was set by
Sam Shafer in 2011, Sam did it twice. I
told my assistant Tyler Pope that has been with me all of this time, it was
like watching Sam pitch. It was
great, he was dominate. We got
some runs early in the first and second inning and that was really all we
needed.”
Kanney only walked three batters.
Mohawk coach Eric Hoover says they couldn’t touch him.
“Kanney was absolutely dominant.
There is not much else to say,” he said.
Buckeye got some early offense off Mohawk starter Liam Shellhouse,
scoring five times in the first two innings.
Jensen says they needed to keep adding on, which they didn’t.
“Isaac Hiler had a huge two out single in the first for us to go
ahead 2-0 and then we were able to tack on three in the second and go up
5-0. There is one thing that I
did talk to our kids about. It
was a great game, a positive, a league win, but as a negative we kind of
didn’t have that drive. We
still had good at bats, but we didn’t really have that focus as much
because Alex was so good. We
talked about we have to keep the pedal down as we get into more league
games,” said Jensen.
If the weather allows, which it may not with rain in the forecast
beginning in the early afternoon, Buckeye Central is at Seneca East, a (9-3)
winner over Carey on Tuesday, for a Wednesday afternoon contest.
Jensen says they must be ready. “The
“N10” is tough as heck and we know that.
We played a really good game (Tuesday) night and we talked about
every league win our league is a good win and our league is a meat grinder
for years now. Our kids took
care of business. To beat a
quality team like Mohawk, we are happy, but (Wednesday) we have to go to
Seneca East and that is never easy. We
have to do the best we can to continue on,” he said.
Published 4/13/22
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Central With Some Veterans
Buckeye Central enters this baseball season with a lot of veterans,
but they still have a lot of improving to do.
Coach Chad Jensen says their pitching has been pretty good in the
preseason. “We have a lot of
kids returning. We have 10
letterwinners and nine starters back. So,
we have a lot of experience. We
are still working out the kinks a little bit because we are definitely not
where we need to be yet. What I
have seen so far, we have really pitched well.
Our pitchers have really thrown strikes and pounded the zone, which
is encouraging. We need to hit a
little better and we are going to work on that.
We definitely have a lot of experience and that is nice to have,”
said Jensen.
Led by Alex Kanney and Kaiden Vaughn Buckeye had solid pitching last
year and both are back. Jensen
believes that they will be able to hang their hat on pitching.
“Our pitching keeps us in games and that was the case last year.
We lost a lot of tough ballgames, but we were always in them.
This year we are hoping to flip that script and be in them and win
them. We are blessed to have a
really good rotation or we feel like we could, you never know, but we feel
like they could be pretty good. We
are just going to have to get better each game and see what happens,” he
said.
Buckeye Central opens the season with a doubleheader on Saturday
against Fremont St. Joe. Their
first Northern 10 Athletic Conference games are April 4 and 6 against
Colonel Crawford.
The Bucks need to get more base runners and Jensen says they are
working putting the ball in play. “It
is a lot of little things for us right now.
(Tuesday) we did better. We
had a scrimmage and we did better putting the ball in play.
We faced a couple of really good pitchers in our other scrimmages
with Shelby and Galion, so we struggled a little bit putting the ball in
play, letting good pitches go by,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
night, “Our focus is being aggressive early in the count and putting the
ball in play and we did better with that.
I think it is just getting used to live pitching.
Like I said, we have an experienced group and our kids don’t get
rattled. Hopefully, it will all
come together here as we start on Saturday.”
Published 3/23/22
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Locks Horns With Waterford in State Semis
Buckeye Central has returned to the state tournament for the first
time in three years as they challenge Waterford in state semifinal in
division IV on Friday afternoon at 2 PM at the University of Dayton Arena.
The other half of the bracket has New Knoxville (26-2) and Cincinnati
Country Day (19-5) and the winners play for the state title on Saturday
evening in Dayton.
Buckeye (25-1) beat Dalton (48-32) in a regional final at Massillon
Perry High School on Saturday night.
They started out behind, but coach Abram Kaple says they found their
footing in the second quarter. “We
haven’t faced adversity in a while. Honestly,
people were like, what was going on? Listen,
we are playing in the regional final and everybody now is a really, really
good ballclub. So, it wasn’t
unexpected for us and we needed that,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We
took at time out there in the second quarter and went on a 9-0 run that
ballooned into what was a 30-4 run. We
played a really good second quarter on.
No that the first quarter was bad.
Dalton made some shots, so credit to them.
They hit four threes in the first half and that’s wat attributed to
that lead a little bit.”
Waterford (24-3) downed Gloster Trimble (40-33) to win their district
title at Pickerington North High School on Saturday.
Their only losses during the regular season came to Trimble (56-47),
New Madison Tri-Village (54-30) and Beverly Fort Frye (44-32).
Buckeye’s only loss came to Shelby, who just lost in a division II
regional final, (71-55) January 4, when leading scorer Claudia Pifher (20.7
ppg) was injured.
Kaple says they have quickness and will want to press them.
“We were able to get into some film this week.
They are very disciplined. You
can tell that they are really well coached.
They are guard oriented. They
are fast. They are probably a
little faster than what we are and they like to pressure the basketball.
They use a variety of zone presses from what we have seen from games
that we have watched. We are
definitely going to have our hands full on Friday,” said Kaple.
Kaple says they have seen some presses this year, but frankly with
their quality guards, not a lot. “We
have seldom seen presses. We
have seen some. Bellevue pressed
us a little bit with a zone. Seneca
East presses with a 2-2-1. So,
we have seen a variety. Maybe
more so early on than we have of late. Our
strength we feel is on guard play. So,
with Emily (Siesel) running the point we feel confident in handling their
pressure,” he said.
Seisel (19.0 ppg, 5.4 apg and seven steals) was district 6 player of
the year in division IV.
The season with either ends Friday or Saturday no matter what, spring
sports begin Monday, so Kaple says he has told the girls it is time to put
everything on the line. “Our
message has been to make sure they know the job is not done.
It’s another box to be checked off of our goals.
This is it. This is the
last week of the season regardless and there is only one team in division IV
that doesn’t end their season with a loss and we are going to make sure to
do everything in our power to makes sure it’s us,” he said.
Published 3/09/22
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Needs Defense, Rebounding
Buckeye Central takes on New Middletown Springfield in a regional
semifinal in division IV on Thursday night at Massillon Perry High School.
It is the Buckettes sixth straight appearance in the regional
tournament.
They blasted Seneca East (52-21) in a district final on Saturday
night, leading (40-7) at the half.
Coach Abram Kaple says they played a tremendous first half, but they
have to be better this week. “We
played really well in the first half. I
thought we had good energy, played focused and kind of understood the task
at hand. So, really thrilled
with the way that we played in the first half up 33 at the break and it was
essentially running clock in the second half,” he told Swankonsports.com,
“So, to come out like that in a district final I thought was key.
We kind of preached this week that we are going to have to be better
than that on Thursday. So, we
have to continue to move forward because that is in the past.”
Buckeye Central (23-1) meets New Middletown Springfield (22-4) on
Thursday night with a tip at 6 PM. That
will be followed by a game between Dalton (16-10) of the Wayne County
Athletic League and Bristolville Bristol (22-3).
The winners play Saturday night for the regional title.
Kaple says Springfield has a lot of height.
“They are big, so it is actually really good that we just played
Seneca East. They are a mirror
image of one another. They have
a lot of size. Their point guard
is probably 5’11” and they have two really nice post players.
J.C. Mullens is a junior and is already over a thousand points.
She is a really tough guard. She
is extremely athletic and rebounds the basketball and finishes well with
both hands. So, they present a
very intriguing and interesting matchup for us from a defensive
perspective,” said Kaple.
Kaple says there are two keys for them on Thursday night, defense and
rebounding. “We have to
rebound the basketball. Our
message is you have to rebound and you have to win on the defensive end.
Lately, we have been okay in that aspect, but we have to be great in
that aspect if we want to have a chance to play for a regional title on
Saturday night. Our focus the
next two days is rebounding the basketball and defend and hopefully we can
counter that and make some shots on the offensive end as well,” said Kaple.
Published 3/02/22
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
There will be a special Saturday night
edition of
“Out of Bounds” this week 10 PM to 11 PM
To cover tournament basketball
Buckeye
Central Going to be Themselves
Buckeye Central begins its quest to defend its district title in
division IV on Thursday night as they play Mansfield Christian in a
semifinal game at Willard High School.
The winner plays either Seneca East or Mohawk, both from the Northern
10 Athletic Conference like Buckeye, for the district title on Saturday
night.
After a slow start the Buckettes, who won the “N10” again,
overwhelmed Plymouth (72-25) to win the sectional title on Saturday night.
Coach Abram Kaple says they played pretty well once they got it in
gear. “We played Bellevue the
previous Monday and didn’t play again until Saturday, which felt like an
eternity between games. The
first half looked a little sluggish to say the least, but eventually we kind
of got our bearings and started to get back in rhythm and played well the
second half. We are happy we got
out of there injury free,” he said.
Buckeye Central (22-1) plays Mansfield Christian on Thursday.
Kaple describes the Lady Flames as fast and athletic and will feature
some pressure on defense. “Mansfield
Christian is super athletic. They
are not overly big. They have
one post player I would say. They
play pretty much with a four guard lineup.
I was telling my kids that they have a lot of success in soccer over
there and you can kind of tell by the way they run the floor and their
endurance and just the way they defend,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday evening, “They have a lot of athletes and they don’t want to
back down on the defensive end. I
think that is where they are strong. They
have a 1-2-2 press and kind of back it up into the half court as well.
They turn a lot of people over. That
is what they did the first two games. That’s
why they were sectional champs because of what they did on the defensive
end.”
Buckeye’s only loss is to unbeaten Shelby and Kaple says they are
not going to change their formula for this one.
“Our game plan is not going to change.
We are going to do what we do. We
are just playing a different team this go around.
We want to get up and down. We
want to pressure them and we will welcome the pressure on the other end.
We have coved press break the last two days and if we feel if we can
get the ball where we need to get it and make sure we are strong with our
passes then we should be in good shape,” he said.
Published 2/24/22
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
There will be a special Saturday night
edition of
“Out of Bounds” this week 10 PM to 11 PM
To cover tournament basketball
Buckeye
Scoring More
Buckeye Central meets New London in a sectional semifinal in division
IV on Tuesday night at Crestview High School.
The winner plays top seeded Margaretta for a sectional title on
Friday night at Crestview.
Buckeye Central (7-15) beat Wynford (57-48) in a Northern 10 Athletic
Conference game on Friday night.
They have won three of their last five and they seem to be peaking,
according to coach Tom Howell. “We
are playing pretty well right now. I
give our kids a lot of credit. The
season hasn’t gone the way we hoped it would, but the kids have not given
up,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We have some good
things going right now and we just hope to continue to do that going into
(Tuesday) night.”
Points were tough to come by earlier in the season, but Howell says
they have been passing it better and that has led to better shot attempts.
“We are sharing it a little bit better.
Instead of taking a good shot, we are making that one extra pass and
getting a great shot. That has
really helped us out here lately. Hopefully,
we just continue to do that,” he said.
Buckeye Central beat New London (1-21) earlier in the season (44-37)
on December 14, but like his team Howell says the Wildcats have improved.
“They have gotten a lot better since we played them.
They are playing some closer games here lately.
They have a big kid that has been scoring a little bit.
The Arnold kid is pretty good, a pretty athletic kid.
It’s not going to be easy. Everybody
is 0-0 and we are going into the second season.
They are going to come to play and we are going to come to play,”
said Howell.
Published 2/22/22
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
There will be a special Saturday night
edition of
“Out of Bounds” this week 10 PM to 11 PM
To cover tournament basketball
Buckeye
Central Preparing for Plymouth
Buckeye Central faces Plymouth in a division IV sectional semi-final
at Crestview High School on Saturday night.
The winner gets a ticket to the district tournament next week at
Willard.
Buckeye (21-1), #1 in the final Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
coaches poll in the small school division, was the undisputed winner of the
Northern 10 Athletic Conference this year.
They also finished the season by playing three division II schools
and beating them all in Sandusky Perkins (50-33), Lexington (59-31) and
Bellevue (57-46).
Coach Abram Kaple says that prepares them well for the postseason.
“We are excited about how we have been playing.
We schedule some of those bigger non league games towards the end of
the season. Last week, we played
four games in seven days with Perkins, Lexington, Wynford and then Bellevue
on one day prep on some of those. I
thought we did a good job. We
have been focused, but at same time our message to the kids was that was
kind of preseason in a way and now in what our eyes is what really
matters,” said Kaple.
Plymouth beat New London (44-23) on Wednesday night in a game between
two Firelands Conference teams in the semis at Crestview.
Kaple says that can’t look past Plymouth.
“Plymouth is young and I know Dan Parrigan over there and they have
had some injuries, some ups and downs over the course of their season.
In terms of personnel, he hasn’t really had everybody.
Then I know (Wednesday) night he did and it resulted in a 20 point
win. Like we said, coming into
this game our record is 0-0 and their record is 1-0 and that’s how you
have to look at it. The stuff
prior to that is irrelevant because it doesn’t matter who are, if you
lose, you go home,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “That
is the beauty of basketball is the upsets that it provides.
That is why people are so fascinated with “March Madness” because
crazy things happen. All in
takes in high school is 32 minutes to beat somebody maybe you shouldn’t,
so that has kind of been our focus this week.”
Kaple says they are putting a lot of effort into preparing for
Saturday night. “We were light
on Tuesday. We kind of shot and
then Wednesday and (Thursday) we kind of got after it and we are going to go
in that direction (Friday) and we are going to be as intense as we have been
all year and try and put us in good position for Saturday,” he said.
Published 2/18/22
© Swankonsports.com
On Friday and Saturday night log onto our
scoreboard
At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates
Buckeye
Central Facing Challenging Week
Buckeye Central got a big win last Saturday, but they face three
tough games this week with Monroeville Tuesday in non-conference play and
Carey and Upper Sandusky, both on the road, in back to back Northern 10
Athletic Conference games on the weekend.
On Saturday, they held off Seneca East (47-46) in “N10” play.
Coach Tom Howell says it feels good to get their first win since
December. “We played pretty
well at times. We still go
through times when we struggle. We
had a pretty good lead going into the fourth quarter and we almost
squandered it away. The kids
hung in there are we made a couple of big plays there at the end and we
pulled one out,” said Howell.
Buckeye hosts Monroeville (14-2) on Tuesday night.
The Eagles share second in the Firelands Conference and are having
their best year in more than 30 years.
Howell says they are really good.
“They are very athletic. They
are physical. (Isaac) Roader is
a very good player and they have some very good players to go with him.
They have two very good guards in Klingman and Goodwin,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They are a quality team and it isn’t going
to be easy, but we are going to come and compete.”
Buckeye (4-11,3-7) plays Carey (8-7,5-4) on Friday and Upper Sandusky
(12-5,9-1) on Saturday in league games.
Howell knows they have to play four quarters.
“We played them both tough the first time.
They ended up pulling away at the end.
We hung in there and we were in the game against Carey and Upper in
the fourth quarter both times. We
juts have to come ready play and compete,” he said.
Published 2/01/22
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Central Can Earn Something
Buckeye Central can clinch no less than a share of the Northern 10
Athletic Conference title with a win at Upper Sandusky on Friday night.
A win would leave them no less than two games ahead of Seneca East
with two to play. The Lady
Tigers play Mohawk on Friday night.
In their last game, the Buckettes outscored Carey (70-49) last
Friday.
Coach Abram Kaple says they were clicking on offense.
“I thought offensively last weekend we did a really good job.
Obviously, scoring 70 points is something the majority of coaches
would like to see. We are
getting better in that realm. We
have a good understanding of what we are trying to accomplish offensively. I
feel I have done a good job this year of not being as structured and kind of
letting the kids play and just make reads on their own,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We did a really good job of that
last week. Those 70 points came
from playing at good pace and shooting at a good clip.
Defensively, I would like to be a little bit better than 49 points,
but give credit to Carey, I think they made eight or nine threes in that
game. It was kind of the way the
cookie crumbled a little bit.”
Buckeye Central (15-1,11-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Upper Sandusky
(10-8,6-5) on Friday night. Upper
lost to Kenton (49-30) in a non-conference game on Tuesday.
They beat Bucyrus (55-38) last Friday in their last league game.
Kaple says some injuries have led to some inconsistency for the Lady
Rams. “Upper Sandusky has been
dealing with some injuries and that indicates some of the scores.
I know they have had girls in and out of the lineup and not just one,
they have delt with a couple. The
last couple of games I have watched film and they basically have a different
starting lineup every time because of injury.
They shoot a lot of threes and they shoot the ball better at home, us
going over there (Friday) is very concerning.
It is their senior night, so there are a lot of variables that kind
of stack up against us going into that game, so we are going to have to be
ready to play,” said Kaple.
Kaple says they have to guard the Upper shooters and get some
pressure on their young guards. “We
are going to have to be able to defend the three point line and make sure we
are putting pressure on their underclassmen.
They start two freshmen guards and although they are 17, 18 games
into their career we still want to be able to pressure them and use their
youth against them,” he said.
Published 1/28/22
© Swankonsports.com
On Friday and Saturday night log onto our
scoreboard
At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates
Buckeye
Needs to Finish Games
Buckeye Central is still working hard to find a way to win some games
as we head into the stretch drive of the regular season.
Their next chance will be Saturday night when they host Seneca East
in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.
On Saturday night, they lost another close one as they fell (59-47)
to talented Mohawk in “N10” play.
Coach Tom Howell says they just can’t find a way to win right now.
“We are there every week, week in and week out, every game we are
there. We just can’t get one.
I’m hoping we can just get one of these things and who knows what
might happen. We played pretty
well. I can’t say anything.
You have to give credit to Mohawk.
Their kids are athletic and shoot it and the (A.J.) Hess kid gave us
a lot of trouble,” said Howell.
Buckeye has lost their last five in a row.
Howell says need to be able to figure out how to close out games.
“We are working on some things trying to figure out how to pull one
of these things out. We are
trying to put people in certain positions ad certain spots on the floor
where people are going to handle the ball.
Hopefully, we are going to get one of these pretty soon,” he said.
Buckeye Central (3-11,2-7) entertains Seneca East (6-10,1-8) on
Saturday night in New Washington. The
Tigers lost (70-33) to Carey in an “N10” game on Tuesday night.
The Bucks won the first game (72-67) on December 17.
Howell says they need to limit Isaac Mason, who averages more than 30
points a game. “They are
playing a lot better here lately. They
have Isaac Mason and he is a pretty good player.
We are going to have to control him.
He got us the last time for a big number,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “He got 46 on us, but we held
everybody else and I think that helped.
We were able to finish that game.
They are going to come in ready to play.
They are going to come in ready to beat us, so we have to get ready
to go.”
Published 1/26/22
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Has to Keep Mohawk Out of the Lane
Buckeye Central will be at home for Mohawk in a Northern 10 Athletic
Conference game on Saturday night.
The Bucks (3-10,2-6) continue to play well against good teams, but
they are falling just short. That
was the deal last week when they lost (64-49) to unbeaten Colonel Crawford
in an “N10” game on Friday and (56-34) to twice beaten Lucas on Saturday
in a non-league game.
Coach Tom Howell says the fourth quarter was the difference.
“We played pretty well at Colonel Crawford.
I thought we played as good as we could play them.
We did some good things. Their
athleticism and their point guard Mason Studer got us at the end.
It was a tough one against Lucas.
We played good for three quarters and then they took it to us at the
end,” said Howell.
Mohawk (10-4,6-2) beat Bucyrus (50-35) in a league game last Friday.
They are in third place in the “N10” standings, two games behind
Crawford.
The Warriors won the first meeting (52-47) on December 11.
Howell says their core values of ballhandling and rebounding are a
factor here. “We played them
pretty well the first time. They
have the (A.J.) Hess kid and he is a big problem all over the floor and they
have shooters everywhere. It’s
not going to be easy. If we can
just take care of the ball and rebound and give ourselves a chance in the
end,” said Howell.
When it comes to defense, something the Bucks rely on, Howell says
the have to keep Mohawk out of the paint.
“We just try to get help on drives.
We try to keep him out of the paint.
He is going to find a way to get his points.
I think the last time we played them towards the end of the game him
and the point guard hurt us in penetration,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday afternoon, “They got into the paint and then they were able to
score, get free throws or kick it out to shooters.
We have to stop that.”
Published 1/21/22
© Swankonsports.com
On Friday and Saturday night log onto our
scoreboard
At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates
Battle
for First Place in “N10”
Buckeye Central leads Seneca East by a game in the Northern 10
Athletic Conference standings and they play each other in New Washington on
Tuesday night in likely the game of the year in the conference.
Buckettes coach Abram Kaple says these are the games you look forward
to being part of. “(Monday)
night at practice the word we used was opportunity.
There is a lot of people that would like to be in our shoes and that
is something that we cannot take for granted.
We have been there a lot of the last couple of years.
I think sometimes we do that that for granted.
So, that was our message, (Tuesday) is fun and there should be good
attendance pending the weather. It
is something as a player and a coach that you look forward to,” he said.
Buckeye (13-1,9-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
coaches poll in the small school division, beat the Lady Tigers (48-27) on
December 10, but Kaple says both teams were not at full strength for that
one. “Probably the first time
around doesn’t paint a super clear picture of what it is really like.
They were without two starters due to COVID or sickness, but on the
other side of the coin we didn’t have Claudia Pifher in that game either.
I think (Tuesday) both teams will be at full strength.
So, we can say if we are fortunate enough to win that we beat them at
full strength. Nobody wants to
play a team that doesn’t have all of their pieces.
We are looking forward to it,” he said.
Kaple says they are going to have to execute their zone offense and
be able to handle the Seneca East (13-2,8-1), #4 in our poll, press.
“Defensively, they play a lot of zone.
They have a lot of length in that level with Amelia Boes and Kiersten
Cook, they are all of 5’11”, 6’0”, 6’1”, something of that
degree, so they have them around the basket in a combination of 2-3 and some
3-2. I really haven’t seen
anything different from them this year.
The first go round it was all zone.
They do pressure the basketball, they do some 2-2-1 and 1-2-2 and
back into that zone. They do a
great job they are toward the top of the leaderboard when it comes to
forcing turnovers,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They are only
giving up around 30 points a game. Looking
at the stats the 48 we scored against them is the most they have given up
all year. Defensively, they are
sound. They use their length to
their advantage and they do a good job of making baskets come at a
premium.”
Emily and Kate Siesel used to play for Seneca East and Kaple says
there will be some emotion in this game, but that is part of sports.
“The first go around this year it was a big game for Kate and
Emily. For Kate it’s her first
taste of playing at the varsity level and I think she had 13 and she did a
great job. Ultimately the last
two district finals have come down to the two of us, the last at least three
league titles have come down to the winner of this game.
There is a lot on the line here for both teams and being only five,
six miles apart a lot of these kids know one another.
There is a lot of maybe extra curricular talking before, after and
during the game. It’s part of
the sport. It should be
something you are excited for and look forward to.
Hopefully, we are able to execute (Tuesday) night offensively and
defensively to give ourselves a good chance to come out on top,” said
Kaple.
Published 1/18/22
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Central is Going to Battle
Buckeye Central will be the underdog when they head down State Route
602 to North Robinson to face the unbeaten Colonel Crawford Eagles in a
Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
The Bucks (3-8,2-5) lost to Wynford (54-51) on Saturday and Carey
(61-46) on Monday in conference games.
Coach Tom Howell says they can’t get over the top in the fourth
quarter. “We have been playing with everybody.
We have been in every game that we have played.
We just have to find a way to get over that last hurdle,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We are working on it.
The kids are still working hard.
I’m hoping it clicks here sometime soon.”
Colonel Crawford (10-0,6-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is coming off a
(64-53) win over second place Upper Sandusky last week.
Howell says they have athletes and everybody understands their role
on the team. “They are very
big, very athletic. The kids
know their rolls and what they need to do.
They are a good basketball team and its is not going to be easy, but
we are going to go over there and battle,” he said.
In their first meeting in New Washington on December 4, the Eagles
won (54-42) in the league opener for both schools.
Howell highlights three things that the must do to have success.
“We have to take care of the basketball, share the basketball and
rebound. We preach that every
week. That is our moto about
staying in games and giving ourselves a chance in the end to win some of
these things,” said Howell.
Published 1/14/22
© Swankonsports.com
On Friday and Saturday night log onto our
scoreboard
At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates
Ballhandling,
Rebounding Again Keys for Buckeye
Buckeye Central makes the shorts trip to Wynford for a game in the
Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Saturday night.
The Bucks (3-6,2-3) are coming off a (51-44) win over Bucyrus in
conference play last Wednesday.
Coach Tom Howell says they did a good job putting the game away.
“We started out pretty well. We
got up and down the floor and got some easy baskets early in the game and
that helped us out a little bit,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday
afternoon, “We got up by 10 and Bucyrus has some athletic kids and they
are well coached and they made a run. I
thought we did a pretty good job finishing it off with free throws.”
Wynford (2-6,1-4) lost a non-conference game to South Central (61-44)
on Tuesday night. They beat
Seneca East (61-59) last week for their conference win.
Howell says they have an outstanding scorer in Jaron Filliater (19.4
ppg) that they must deal with. “They
have one of the best scorers in the league in (Jaron) Filliater.
He can do a lot of different things.
We are going to have to contain him a little bit and not let him get
going. They have a little bit of
size and that is always concerning for us.
If we can just take care of the ball and rebound, I think we will be
okay,” said Howell.
Howell adds Wynford is good in transition.
“They want to get up and down the floor and get off quick shots.
Filliater is pretty good in the open floor.
They have other people that can score that way.
We are going to have to handle that as well,” he said.
Published 1/06/22
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Powerhouses
Buckeye Central and Shelby to Meet
We start 2022 with a battle between unbeaten girls’ basketball
teams as Buckeye Central travels to Shelby on Tuesday night.
Buckeye (10-0), #1 in the small school division of the
Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the small school
division, leads the standings in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, Shelby
(11-0), #1 in the large school division, leads the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference standings.
The Buckettes beat Upper Sandusky (61-22), Old Fort (38-35) and
Bucyrus (58-34) during the holiday break.
Coach Abram Kaple says they are working hard on getting better.
“We are definitely improving in some areas.
We have some kids that are first year letter winners or at least
first time significant players. Through
10 games in we have made some strides in some areas.
That is what you are seeking is to get better each and every week, so
ultimately you are playing your best ball at the end of the season,” he
said.
Shelby destroyed twice beaten Clear Fork (78-48) last Thursday in an
“MOAC” game.
Kaple says they are very athletic and they are smart basketball
players too. “The first thing
when you watch film or watch them in person is with their athleticism they
are fast, they can run, they are really good in transition.
For a high school girls’ basketball team their I.Q. is off the
charts. They clearly have girls
that have played a lot of basketball over the course of time and they are
well coached. So, those two
things quickly raise some areas of concern.
We have some kids too that can play,” said Kaple.
Buckeye has been turned the screws up on their pressure this year,
but Kaple says there are going to have to find ways on Tuesday night to
score in the halfcourt. “Their
three seniors in Sophie Niese, Haylee and Olivia Baker have played a lot of
basketball. They have kind of
been through the ringer and this being their senior year there isn’t much
they haven’t seen,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “So,
they are very poised and tough to turnover, especially Sophie Niese, there
aren’t many people that can turn her over.
We rely on turning people over with our defensive pressure.
So, it will an interesting challenge for us to see how we can score
without forcing 20-25 turnovers a game because with their guard play, I
think that is going to be very difficult for us to do.”
Published 1/03/22
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Central Headed in Right Direction
Buckeye
Central takes a two game winning streak into a home game with Upper Sandusky
in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play on Wednesday night.
The Bucks (2-5,1-2) beat New London (44-37) in a non-conference game
last Tuesday and then outscored Seneca East (72-67) in a league game on
Friday night. Alex Kanney had 17
for the Bucks, Isaac Mason had 46 for the Tigers.
Coach Tom Howell says they have been rewarded for better play.
“Even the Mohawk game before that one we had a chance to win, give
Mohawk’s kids credit. We
haven’t played terrible except for maybe one game.
We just go through stretches where we have trouble scoring.
Hopefully, we are going in the right direction,” he said.
Howell says Friday night they finally made some shots.
“We have been waiting for a game like that.
It happened to happen on Friday,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Sunday evening, “Hopefully, we can continue to keep that going and the
kids get a little confidence and say you know what we can do this.
Hopefully, we can compete with Upper on Wednesday.”
Upper Sandusky (5-2,4-0) shares first place in the “N10” and last
weekend they beat Mohawk (63-61) in overtime on Friday and then drilled
Bucyrus (76-48) on Saturday, both in conference play.
Howell says the Rams are big and they are athletic.
“They are so athletic from every position, plus they have skill.
That is a nightmare combination for us.
They are big. I watched
them play Bucyrus (Saturday) night and I was thinking we have to find a way
to neutralize some of that, so we can compete,” said Howell.
Published 12/20/21
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” this week will air
On Wednesday night 10 to midnight
Your First Source for All Things Sports
Buckeye
Central Meets New London
Somebody is going to get their first win of the season on Tuesday
night as Buckeye Central travels to New London for a non-conference boys’
basketball game.
For the second week in row, Buckeye played well, but came up short as
they lost to Mohawk (52-47) on Saturday night.
Coach Tom Howell says they need to find a way to get over the top.
“We actually played pretty well.
We are just having some bad luck trying to finish a game.
We were talking and we are a pretty good 0-5 team,” said Howell.
New London (0-5) lost (39-33) to Norwalk St. Paul in a Firelands
Conference game.
Howell says they have some athleticism.
“They have some size. They
have a 6’7” kid than can shoot the ball a little bit and go inside.
A very athletic 6’3” guard. They
are going to play hard. I should
be an interesting contest for us,” he said.
Of course, Howell spent more than a decade as coach at New London.
He says this game will have a different feel for him personally.
“With me being there for years it does feel a little bit odd.
When coach (Dane) Held was there we set up this game,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “He played for me and then he
decided to leave, but we still have to go there and play.
It is going to be different, it is going to be different.”
Published 12/14/21
© Swankonsports.com
On Tuesday night log onto our scoreboard
At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For final scores
Your First Source for All Things Sports
Defense
is There For Buckeye
Buckeye Central is back in action in the Northern 10 Athletic
Conference on Saturday night as they are at Mohawk against the Warriors.
It was a loss, but the Bucks played some good basketball in a (54-42)
loss to unbeaten Colonel Crawford in an “N10” on Saturday.
Coach Tom Howell says the kids put in a good effort preparing for the
game. “We played pretty well.
I didn’t know what was going to happen because we didn’t play
very well Tuesday against South Central.
The kids worked had the next couple of days.
That’s our best game of the year so far,” said Howell.
They had lost (65-37) to South Central last Tuesday.
Howell says defense has been what they have been best at and that was
the case against Crawford. “We
are only giving up 51, 52 points a game, but with Crawford on Saturday with
Valentine and Studer, they hard to guard.
We did a pretty good job of team defense,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We have some guys that are helping to try
and stop some drives and the kids stepped up.”
Buckeye Central (0-4,0-1) is at Mohawk (2-1,1-0) on Saturday night.
The Warriors beat Bucyrus (57-46) in their conference opener.
Howell says Mohawk will show them a lot of pressure and they have to
limit turnovers and get on the boards. “They
are very athletic. They play
pressure defense in the full court, half court.
They want to get up and down the floor.
The pace of the game is going to be there.
If we can take care of the ball and try and keep them off the glass.
I think those are the two biggest things,” he said.
Published 12/08/21
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Central Faces Zone
Buckeye Central, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference co-leader, plays
at Mohawk in a conference game on Tuesday night.
They beat Colonel Crawford (69-43) in an “N10” game on Friday
night behind 25 from point guard Emily Siesel.
Coach Abram Kaple believe they got better.
“We played better Friday night and made some shots and better
overall on the defensive end, so I was pleased with our performance,” he
said.
Buckeye Central (4-0,1-0) is at Mohawk (2-1,1-0) on Tuesday night.
The Lady Warriors beat Bucyrus (48-23) in a conference game on
Friday.
Kaple says they have a talented big girl.
“They are big. They are
significantly bigger than us. Emily
Klopp is in middle for them and she is probably all of 6’3” and she
moves well and has some skill to go along with a big frame.
They play a lot of zone and with her in the middle they have a nice
rim protector,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Our job and our
goal is to play fast. I was
always told the best way to beat a zone was to beat it down the floor and
pressure their guards to prevent post touches for her.
So, that is kind of our game plan going in.
We will see where the cards lie.”
Buckeye play at Seneca East on Friday night.
That has been the rivalry that has defined the “N10” the last
couple of years.
However, Kaple says they are not looking ahead.
“I would lying if I said I have looked at film yet.
I know they are off to a good start.
Coach Vogt always has good defensive teams.
They still have a lot of athletes back from last year’s team that
was really good. We are slightly
familiar, we have played them sometimes three times a year depending on
where the tournament lies. We
have to first beat Mohawk (Tuesday) night for that Seneca East game to mean
anything. After (Tuesday) we
will dive into Seneca East,” said Kaple.
Published 12/07/21
© Swankonsports.com
On Tuesday night log onto our scoreboard
At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For final scores
Your First Source for All Things Sports
Buckeye
Central Has Got to Make Shots
Buckeye Central has got to start putting the ball in the basket if
they are going to win some basketball games this year.
They lost two over the weekend to Plymouth (51-41) on Friday and
Crestline (49-41) on Saturday in two games that were a lot alike where the
Bucks got behind early, fought back and fell short.
Coach Tom Howell says it boiled down to them not scoring enough.
“It didn’t go the way we wanted it to go.
Defensively, we [played good enough to win.
We really didn’t turn the ball over a lot,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “It was a funny thing it was some
of our shot selection and the ball not going in at times.
We just had trouble on the offensive end of the floor.”
Howell says a lot of their shooting woes is confidence.
“We do have some guys that can put it in the basket.
We do struggle getting to the rim with people.
We do struggle getting to the free throw line on a consistent basis.
It is some stuff we have been working on and hopefully can get better
at,” he said.
Buckeye Central (0-2) hosts South Central (1-0) in a non-conference
game on Tuesday night. They play
at home against defending Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion Colonel
Crawford in their league opener on Saturday night.
With South Central, Howell they are going to face solid guard play.
“South Central is pretty good.
Coach (Brett) Seidel has done a good job over there they last several
years. They have some really
good guards. They aren’t
really big anymore with Lamoreaux graduating, but they play hard and they
get in you face on defense. We
are going to have our hands full,” said Howell.
Published 11/30/21
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Central Ready to Compete
Buckeye Central has a double weekend on Thanksgiving week as they
play a pair of non-conference games at home against Plymouth on Friday and
at Crestline on Saturday.
Now, for many years boys’ teams opened the week after Thanksgiving,
but now they have to deal more with the holiday and coach Tom Howell says
that isn’t easy. “We have
Thanksgiving coming up. It is
the opening weekend for the season. There
are a lot of things going on. Kids
are going to families and spending time with a lot of relatives.
We just have to keep them focused a little bit when we can,” he
said.
Howell says what he is most impressed with his kids is their
competitiveness and their will to win. He
says that is the first step in becoming a good team.
“We had a pretty good scrimmage (Saturday against Norwalk St. Paul
and Mansfield St. Peter’s) and saw a lot of good things,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Sunday afternoon, “The kids are working hard to get
better. The biggest thing right
now is they want to compete and they want to win.
You have to have that first before anything else can fall into
place.”
When it comes to Plymouth, Howell says they have some really good
players back and they have an addition that is going to be a problem for the
Bucks. “They return three good
players in Beebee and Goff and Miller. They
have a big guy that moved in I believe from Shelby.
He is going to cause us some problems with his height.
I believe he is about 6’5”, 6’6”.
It is not going to be easy. It
is going to be a hard fought game and it should be a fun one to watch.”
Said Howell.
Published 11/22/21
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Rebounding
a Big Key for Buckeye Central
Buckeye Central, one of the top girls’ programs in the area, tips
it off on Friday night at home in New Washington against the Willard Lady
Flashes in a non-conference game.
It has been a very good rivalry over the last several years and both
schools are coming off appearances in the regional tournament, Buckeye in
division IV and Willard in division III.
Buckeye coach Abram Kaple says they are ready to go if Thursday’s
practice is any indication. “What
we did (Thursday) night at practice a lot of it was review just to make sure
we have covered every type of situation that might take place.
So, a lot of walk through and kind of just a review of everything.
I’m confident and I know they are ready to go and lace them up for
real,” he said.
In terms of personnel the Buckettes bring more talent back than does
Willard, but Kaple says the Lady Flashes have playmakers and are going to be
well coached. “Willard
graduated quite a bit from what they had last year.
They have two really nice players that kind of make them go from what
we have seen in scrimmages,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday,
“They have point guard Syana Sivongask and then they have a wing, who is a
senior in Grace Hall. She came
back out last year and shot the ball really well.
I know coach (Barry) Pfahl is going to ask quite a bit from them on
the offensive end. So, those are
the two we are really keyed on for (Friday) night.”
Kaple believes a big key for them on Friday night is the being able
to rebound the basketball and keep Willard from getting easy second looks at
the hoop. “What we have kind
of preached all week long is we are going to have to rebound the basketball.
It is very early in the season and a lot of teams are probably going
to struggle to shoot it right away. We
have been there where people are typically trying to get their wind and
their basketball legs. There are
a lot of missed shots early on. For
us to limit there second chance points is what we feel is the key to
victory,” said Kaple.
Published 11/19/21
© Swankonsports.com
On Friday and Saturday night log onto our
scoreboard
At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates
Your First Source for All Things Sports
Ballhandling
and Rebounding are Keys for Buckeye Central
Buckeye Central has a senior laden team this year and the Bucks
continue to work on being better ballhandlers as the regular season
approaches next week.
They open next Friday at home with Plymouth and then are on the road
the next night at Crestline.
Coach Tom Howell says they have shown improvement already this
season. “We have quite a few
seniors on the team this year and we are looking for them to be our leaders.
We got off to a slow start. I
don’t know, we were a little sluggish and our first scrimmage didn’t go
very well, but the next two did,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
afternoon, “It just seems like we are getting better and there is a lot of
energy in the gym right now. I
guess we are heading in the right direction in that aspect.”
Howell says the Bucks have to become better at handling the
basketball and also they have to be tough on the boards because they are
next very big. “Offensively,
we just have to take care of the basketball.
Sometimes we get a little turnover happy.
I think that is going to be a big key for us.
We do have some guys that can put it in the basket, but if you turn
it over, that doesn’t work very well.
On the defensive side we are trying to have a nastiness on the
boards. We are not very big, so
we have go to the boards hard on the defensive end,” said Howell.
With just a week to go before the opener the day after Thanksgiving,
Howell says they have to use the time given to them to get better.
“These guys are listening and they are working hard.
You have to have the effort first and then everything else falls into
place,” he said.
Published 11/17/21
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Central Has to Get Better on Defense
Buckeye Central, defending outright Northern10 Athletic Conference
and district champion, looks poised to have another outstanding season this
year.
Coach Abram Kaple says they have improved this week in practice and
now he has more of smile on his face. “After
(Wednesday’s) practice we probably had our best practice of the year, so I
feel a little better after (Wednesday).
Our scrimmages have been so, so and I get that with scrimmages and we
have had kids who have been in and out.
Volleyball kind of came late, we have had kids sick, we have a
musical going on. So, we don’t
have everybody, so it has made things a little more complicated than I want
them to be. We have two more
this week, we have one (Thursday) night and one more on Saturday where we
should have everybody to my knowledge. So,
I will have a better taste, a better feeling after those two,” he said.
Now, Kaple says before the regular season opens against Willard on
November 19, they have to be a lot better on defense and in better shape.
“Number one we have to get better defensively.
Right now, we are doing a lot of things, and they are all fundamental
things, and it’s just from being early on in the season, but we are
standing up on close outs, we are not rotating fast enough, we are not
sprinting to the help side, we are not consistently boxing out.
So, just like our overall effort and consistency on the defensive end
has got to be a priority for us between now and next Friday,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “Then getting into shape.
I’m sure I’m not the only coach that is feeling this right now,
but with the season pushed up a week from when it normally starts and you
don’t get your athletes right away working yourself into basketball shape
is a challenge. Everybody we
have scrimmaged, you can tell nobody really has their legs, everybody kind
of looks the same, everything is sloppy.
Teams have struggled to make shots and all of that is because we are
little out of shape. Those would
be my two primary concerns right now nine days away from a regular season
game.”
Kaple emphasizes that being in basketball shape is different than
other sports. “I can tell you
right now all of our kids are in better shape than me.
Volleyball is different, even cross country.
We a couple of kids that ran cross country and you think every day
I’m going to run a couple of miles, but it is totally different than the
constant start and stop and the lateral movement to a dead sprint.
Basketball is so different. It
is hard to simulate other than scrimmaging is the best thing for us and
scrimmaging every day at practice. That
is the only way you get into basketball shape is by playing basketball,”
he said.
Published 11/11/21
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Faces “N10” Leader Carey
Buckeye Central wraps up play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference
by hosting “N10” leader Carey on Friday night.
They are not eliminated from the playoffs due to the enormous number
of points that would be awarded for an upset of the Blue Devils.
They were competitive last week through the early part of the fourth
quarter before falling to Mohawk (27-6) last Friday.
Coach Chad Jensen says they gave themselves a chance.
“It was 13-6 in the fourth quarter and we were in the ballgame.
We just talked to our kids play better and we will be in it in the
fourth quarter with a chance to win and we were.
It helped that we were playing a D-7 school.
That was the third time all year that we were playing a school our
size. Obviously, when we play
D-7’s we are competitive at 2-1 on the year,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Thursday night, “That was a big factor, but we did play better and the
kids gave everything they had. Mohawk
plays is the same league we do and the same tough competition and they were
able to get some stops on us late in the game.”
Buckeye Central (2-7,0-6) entertains Carey (8-1,6-0) on Friday night.
The Blue Devils have won eight straight games, including a (37-14)
win over Wynford last week.
Jensen says they are physical and want to run the ball.
“They are really physical. They
are big, but they are also very athletic.
They do what they do very well. On
offense, they run the ball. They
line up in that stacked eye and run the football.
Then they will spread you out and throw a little bit.
Then they will get right back at it and run at you.
It doesn’t matter what down it is.
It could be third and 11 and they will line up in that stacked
“I” and run it right at you. Defensively,
what shows up on film is they are really quick, really fast, really
athletic. They don’t play a
ton of guys both ways, so they are fresh and you can see that throughout the
game. They really are just an
outstanding team,” said Jensen.
Jensen say nobody expects them to win.
He says the pressure on Carey, who wins an outright title with a win.
“We have told our kids we have nothing to lose.
We will say that again Friday pregame.
The pressure is on Carey because they are expected to win.
Our kids have practiced well all week and our kids are going to play
hard. They are going to give
their best effort and we will see what happens.
Our kids are going to give everything they have got.
I expect a great effort from our kids,” he said.
Published 10/22/21
© Swankonsports.com
On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard
At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates
Your First Source for All Things Sports
Buckeye
With Manageable Opponent
Buckeye Central plays at Mohawk on Friday night in a contest in the
Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
Last week, the Bucks lost (76-0) to Colonel Crawford, but unlike the
week before, coach Chad Jensen says the effort was there.
“Crawford is a very good team.
We didn’t play very well the week before and we just challenged our
kids to just do the best they could. Don’t
quit, do the best they can and they did.
At halftime we are getting beat 62-0 and I told them that I was proud
of them because I was. They gave
everything they had. We were
under maned at every position, but we were in position to make plays.
They just have really good players.
They can rest kids and most of our kids are playing both ways.
They were fresh and it’s tough situation to be under manded like
that, but I was proud of them. The
kids did the best they could,” said Jensen.
The football field is a classroom too and Jensen says the players are
learning things this fall. “We
talk about life lessons all of the time that football parallels life in a
lot of ways. We talked about
when things get tough what are you going to do?
Are you just going to give up or our you going to keep fighting and
keep battling. The kids did
that. They kept battling and
they kept fighting and they never gave up, they did the best that they
could. That’s all we can ask.
Our kids last week had a great week of practice and the best they
could do in the game and that’s all we could ask from them,” he said.
Buckeye Central (2-6,0-5) is a Mohawk (3-5,2-3) on Friday night.
The Warriors blanked Bucyrus (27-0) last week.
Jensen believes this is a team they can compete with on the field.
“Everything on their offensive side runs through Zaiden Fry.
He is heck of a football player.
He is one of the better players in our league.
They are really quick on both sides of the ball.
They are athletic. They
are well coached. They are not
real big, but they are quick and they play really hard the whole game,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “What’s good about it is we
don’t have these 280 pound kids to deal with like we have the last few
weeks. So, we have kids that are
our size. We will see what
happens. They are a good
football team, but we told our kids that we are finally playing another
division VII team, which we haven’t done for a while.
We will give our best effort and see what happens.”
Published 10/15/21
© Swankonsports.com
On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard
At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates
Your First Source for All Things Sports
Buckeye
Central More Prepared This Week
Buckeye Central plays longtime rival Colonel Crawford in a Northern
10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
They did not play very well last week at all in a (35-0) loss to
Bucyrus in an “N10” game.
Coach Chad Jensen says it started with a poor practice week.
“It was not a very good effort.
Last week it started on Monday. We
didn’t have a good Monday, we had an even worse Tuesday, little bit better
Wednesday, and an average Thursday. It
was our practice habits that were poor last week.
We talked about when you practice poorly, you are not going to play
well. This week has been the
exact opposite. We have had our
best week of practice this week, so we will see what happens,” he said.
The Bucks season has been hampered by injuries, which hit small
schools particularly hard. However,
Jensen says they are not about to use that as an excuse.
“We have had some injuries, but we are not going to make any
excuses we are going to get the most out of our kids.
We have had some kids that would have been contributors that
haven’t been able to play as much as we would have liked.
What we try to do is put the best 11 we have on field and get the
most out of them. Last week, we
didn’t play well, but this week in practice we have really had a good
week. We know we have a heck of
an opponent coming to town, but our kids had a great week and we will see
what happens,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central (2-5,0-4) hosts Colonel Crawford (6-1,3-1), #5 in the
Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, on
Friday night. The Eagles beat
Mohawk (42-14) in a conference game last week.
Jensen says Crawford is an outstanding team with athletic kids all
over the place. “Lincoln
Mollenkopf is the best running back, maybe the best player, in the
“N10”. There are a lot of
good players in the league, but he is certainly one of them.
He is a heck of the football player.
So, they feed him the ball and that’s what they want to do,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They can run a little boot and
pass it as well because the quarterback is very accurate.
They can throw it up to Carter Valentine, who’s one of the best
athletes in the league. Offensively,
they are a load. Defensively,
they are just really solid. They
are really well coached. Their
linebackers are good. They are
just really a good football team all of the way around.”
Published 10/08/21
© Swankonsports.com
On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard
At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates
Your First Source for All Things Sports
Buckeye
Central Must Execute Against Bucyrus Pressure
Buckeye Central needs to continue to improve this week as they play
at Bucyrus in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
Last week, they clearly got better, and were ahead in the fourth
quarter (16-14), but lost to Upper Sandusky (27-16) in a conference game.
Coach Chad Jensen says that was a tough loss to take.
“That was a tough loss for us.
We had the lead in the fourth quarter.
Definitely as a coach there are some decisions that I made that I
would have liked to change, taken back, done things differently, but as I
told our kids in life sometimes you make a decision and go with it and you
live with it and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
In this case Upper got a couple of stops and scored there in the
fourth. We will grow from it,
improve, and we need to get ready for Bucyrus this week,” he said.
Buckeye Central (2-4,0-3) is at Bucyrus (1-5,0-3) on Friday night.
The Redmen are coming off a (65-0) destruction at the hands of
conference leader Carey on Friday night.
Jensen says they have some athletes that can make some plays and on
defense they are going to be aggressive.
“On offense they are going to sling it.
They have a young quarterback Malachi Bayless who can throw it and
they have some guys that can catch it. They
want to throw it 30 times, but they will run it too with their running back
Eddie Dagher, so they are pretty explosive on offense.
Defensively, they are really aggressive.
Their line gets off the ball and their linebackers flow pretty
well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “They are going to
be excited to play us. We were
able to beat them last year and end our losing streak.
So, they are definitely going to remember that.
It’s their homecoming, so we are definitely going to have to bring
our best effort again this week.”
Execution is going to be the key for the Bucks.
Jensen says Bucyrus is going to come at them and they are going to
have to handle that. “We
really improved from when we played Wynford two weeks ago, that was a
disaster. This past week against
Upper we improved so much. We
challenged our kids to execute better. That
is really what we worked on last week and they did.
They accepted the challenge and played well enough to win and
unfortunately we didn’t, but this week is the same thing.
We have to execute, we have to continue that improvement because that
is going to be the key. Bucyrus
is a big play offense and a big play defense.
For us to succeed against them we will have to execute
consistently,” said Jensen.
Published 9/27/21
© Swankonsports.com
For 24/7 local sports click on our listen
line
Buckeye
Central Has to be Better
Buckeye Central entertains Upper Sandusky for a Northern 10 Athletic
Conference football game on Friday night.
Last week, they were annihilated (70-8) by rival Wynford in an
“N10” game. They were
outgained by over 300 yards, had three turnovers, and were behind by four
scores after the first quarter.
Coach Chad Jensen says they just weren’t very good at all.
“We didn’t play very well and we talked about that with our kids.
We did not play well at all. We
spotted them a 14-0 lead before their offense even got on the field.
Not good, we expressed our concern about some things.
We talked about it Saturday and had a good practice on Monday.
We put that behind us and our goal is to keep improving and get ready
for this week,” he said.
Buckeye Central (2-3,0-2) plays at home against Upper Sandusky
(2-3,1-1) on Friday night. The
Rams were pounded by Colonel Crawford (60-19) last week.
Jensen says the Rams offense is multi-faceted and will cause them a
lot of concern. “Upper possess
a lot of problems. Offensively
they run an “RPO” offense and they run it really well.
They have receivers that catch the ball.
They have a young sophomore quarterback that can sling it and they
can run the ball. So, they do a
lot of things on offense that cause us some problems defensively.
They are quick, they are athletic.
We are definitely going to have to play our best game and I think our
kids are up to the challenge because after last week’s disaster I think
the kids are ready to prove that’s not them and that game doesn’t define
them and we can improve this week,” said Jensen.
Jensen believes this a game they can win, but they must clean up
their own act or that is not going to happen.
“We have played well the last couple of years against them, but at
the same time we didn’t win, so it would be nice to get over that hump and
come home with a victory. The
only way we are going to do that is we have to improve from last week.
We really have to have better practice.
We have to be more enthusiastic and energic and really focus on the
task. Sometimes we show some of
that, but not consistently,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night,
“We need to do that consistently this week.
If we continue to get better. That’s
what I told our kids this week, if we improve, we do the things that we do,
win or lose, if we give great effort and we execute and we follow the game
plan you do what we ask you to do and if we do that, win or lose, we will be
satisfied and if we do that hopefully we will be in position to win.”
Published 9/21/21
© Swankonsports.com
On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard
At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates
Your First Source for All Things Sports
Buckeye
Central Must Complete Drives
Buckeye Central plays over at Wynford in a battle of Crawford County
teams on week two of play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday
night.
Last week, Seneca East beat the Bucks (53-6) in their conference
opener.
Coach Chad Jensen says they did some good things and he felt they
fought hard in the game. “We
really competed. At the
beginning of the game, we really battled.
We had some good drives to start the game, got stalled, Seneca East
made some nice plays. It was
13-0 Seneca East with about 4:00 to go in the first half.
We were right there and they had a couple of plays before half.
We wanted to keep playing the game,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Sunday evening, “There was part me that thought if we go in at half down
13-0, but I really didn’t want to take that mentality.
I wanted to be aggressive, so we threw the ball a little bit, and
they were able to get some stops and get the ball back.
Our kids competed and the final score doesn’t really show how well
we competed. Our kids really got
after it. The effort was there,
we just have a lot to improve on.”
Wynford (2-2,1-0) brook out of their offensive doldrums last week and
punished Bucyrus (72-20) in their conference opener and they host the Bucks
(2-2,0-1) on Friday.
Jensen says the word has been spread that Wynford is down.
He doesn’t believe it. “Wynford
is a really good football team. You
look at the film and they have played tough competition with Otsego,
Pleasant and Lucas. Anybody that
says Wynford in down is foolish quite honestly.
You can just tell on film that they are so well coached.
It’s a typical Wynford team, very disciplined, what they do they do
really, really well, and we definitely have to play our best game of the
year this week,” he said.
Yes, it’s true, they would like to put some drives together, by
Jensen says the big thing is they have to score at the end of those drives.
“We always want to put drives together.
That’s one thing that we always try and do to run the clock.
We try and be balanced on offense.
We definitely want to keep the ball out of Wynford’s hands.
They are a big play offense. They
have a nice quarterback in (Cobey) Allen, they have a nice receiver in (Jaron)
Filliartor, a nice back in Kendall Blair.
They are just a good football team.
We want to get some drives, but we have got to put the ball in the
end zone. Sometimes we will have
good drives and we will stall. That
is really our focus this week is to finish drives,” said Jensen.
Published 9/13/21
© Swankonsports.com
On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard
At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates
Your First Source for All Things Sports
Buckeye
Has to Contain Seneca East Run Game
It’s the “Battle for the Paddle” on Friday night as Buckeye
Central is at Seneca East to open play in the Northern 10 Athletic
Conference.
Last week, they beat Ridgeway Ridgemont (20-14) in a non-conference
game.
They took a three score lead into the fourth quarter, but had to hang
on to win.
Coach Chad Jensen says they were able to make the key plays.
“We got off to a nice lead and it was 20-0 in the fourth quarter.
We were able to run the clock, run the ball, get some stops on
defense, and then they got a couple of big plays on defense.
Our defense played wonderfully last week.
Ridgemont was able to get a couple of big plays.
We were able to get a couple of first downs in the fourth quarter and
run some clock off and our defense got it done in the end,” said Jensen.
Kolin Rowlinson ran 98 yards for the Bucks and quarterback Derex Dean
threw two TD passes.
Seneca East (2-1,0-0) beat Willard (62-28) in a non-conference game
last week. Jessie Beckman ran
for 320 yards for the Tigers, who had a big second half.
Jensen says they must stop, or at least contain, the Seneca East run
game. “Seneca East is a very
good team. They are big and fast
up front, physical, they have a really good back in Beckman and they have
another good back and blocker in Foos and a solid quarterback in Hargis.
They want to run the ball, that’s no secret,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They line up in a spread, but don’t be
fooled by that, they want to run the football and they do it well.
They are physical and to compete with them we definitely have to
match their physicality.”
Teams that run the spread and then run it want to force you to tackle
them one on one. Jensen says
they have to get hats to the ball. “This
is what we have talked about this week is we have to gang tackle.
We have to get people to the ball and we have to be physical.
It is going to be a challenge to our defense, but our defense has
played well. We are going to
ready to go on Friday,” he said.
Published 9/10/21
© Swankonsports.com
On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard
At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates
Your First Source for All Things Sports
Buckeye
Central Knows What it has to do
Buckeye Central tries to get back on the winning track as they play
at home against Ridgeway Ridgemont in a non-conference game on Friday night.
After beating Crestline on week one, the Bucks fell to Triad (34-0)
last week.
Coach Chad Jensen says they couldn’t get across the goal line early
and then gave up 27 second quarter points.
“We started off well. We
implemented the game plan well. We
had some good drives, but they stalled.
We kept the ball out of their hands, but ultimately we couldn’t
punch it in the end zone. Then
we gave up some big plays in the second quarter and had a turnover thrown in
there and that was kind of the turning point.
I think we definitely have to do better stopping the big play coming
up this week,” said Jensen.
On of the Triad scores came on a 77-yard run with less than 30
seconds to play until halftime.
Ridgemont (1-1) tumbled last week in losing to Springfield
Southeastern (30-6) on Friday.
Jensen says the Golden Gophers feature a physical runner.
“The strength of their team is they have a really good running back
in Wade Gamble. He is real stud
running back. He is also a heck
of a linebacker. He is really
the center of their team. Their
linebackers are all pretty good and they flow to the ball well.
So, they have some athletic kids.
We are definitely going to have a challenge in front of us,” he
said.
Jensen says the key for them continues to be improvement.
He says they have to understand their faults and get better at
executing those elements. “We
have to learn from last week. We
had a good film session on Saturday and then watched Ridgemont (Monday), so
we are certainly prepared for that. We
have to get better there are a lot of thing we did wrong in the game on
Friday,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “There are some
things we did well and can improve on. Our
kids understand that we have to make those corrections and implement those
changes to be able to be competitive on Friday.
I think our kids will do that and we will be ready to go.”
Published 8/31/21
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Central Must Improve
Buckeye Central smacked Crestline around last week, but they knew
they still have to get better this week if they are going to compete with
Triad when they host the Cardinals on Friday night.
The Bucks beat Crestline (45-12) last week holding the Bulldogs to
only four yards per play.
Coach Chad Jensen says they were prepared and focused last Friday.
“Our kids were ready to play. They
were really locked in for the game. Our
practices got better throughout the week and then by Friday they were really
locked in. The kids did a great
job of executing and taking what the defense gave us on offense.
Then defensively, we tackled better.
So, our kids played really well, but they also understand that we did
make some mistakes and we saw that on film on Saturday.
They know they have to get better for Triad,” he said.
Quarterback Derex Dean threw four touchdown passes last week.
Sometimes it can be a trap when you win handily on week one and the
kids forget they have to get better. Jensen
says they aren’t going to let that happen.
“That is what we have been trying to tell our kids that we won and
we did a lot of good things, but the film doesn’t lie and there were some
things that we could have done better on both sides of the ball.
We had a good film session on Saturday and the kids understand that.
They would be the first to tell you that there are some things we
could have done better and so you apricate that.
They are going to continue to work hard and understand that we have a
very good opponent in Triad,” said Jensen.
Triad lost their opener (28-6) to Ben Logan last week.
They are making a pretty long road trip from Champaign County.
Jensen says they will have to pick up their play because Triad is a
physical football team. “On
the defensive side of the ball they have two ends that are really nice
players. Their linebackers
really flow to the ball well. Those
are their best athletes. Their
down lineman are solid football players.
On the offensive side of the ball their quarterback is a big solid
kid. They want to run the ball
and a lot times will run double isos with him and have two lead blockers.
They will run some boots and keep you honest throwing the
football,” he told Swankonsports.cm on Monday, “The biggest thing on
film that jumps out at us is they are a very physical football team.
They are fairly quick. They
do a lot of good things and our kids know for us to compete and do well we
are going to have to make improvements to get ready to go.”
Published 8/24/21
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight
“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM
Buckeye
Central Focusing on Execution
Buckeye Central plays at Crestline on Friday night in the opener for
both teams this year.
Crestline won the last meeting (12-0) in 2019.
They didn’t play last year due to COVID.
Buckeye coach Chad Jensen says they have been getting better this
month so far and that is what he wants to see.
“We are just trying to improve every scrimmage.
We were able to get two scrimmages in.
We definitely saw improvement from the first one to the second one.
The fact that it was kind of shortened a couple of weeks seems like
we could use a little more time, but that’s not the way the schedule is,
so we are going to be ready to go this week and hope to continue that
improvement,” he said.
Jensen says they can make some plays, but what they need to do more
than anything is execute consistently. “I
think we need to be better at execution, consistent execution.
I think that is the biggest thing that I have seen is that when we do
things right, we do it well, but we don’t always do it right for various
reasons. That’s the biggest
thing I see is consistent execution and doing things right every play.
That is just one thing that we are continuing to strive to and get
better,” said Jensen.
Crestline and the Bucks have been longtime rivals dating back to the
days of the North Central Conference.
Jensen says Crestline doesn’t have a lot of numbers, but they have
some players with skill and toughness. He
says they will have to play well to have a chance to win.
“Crestline has some really good linebackers on the defensive side
of the ball. Kids that flow well
and tackle well. They have some
guys that have played on that side. Offensively,
they have a quarterback that played last year.
They have a nice receiver in the (Conner) Lusk kid and they have some
backs that can run the football a little bit,” he told Swankonsports.com,
“So, it is going to be a typical Crestline team.
They are going to be tough, they are going to be physical, they are
going to expect to win and that’s what we have told our kids all week.
We are going to respect Crestline and always have and know they are
going to put their best foot forward. We
have to be ready to play and I think our kids are up to the challenge.”
Published 8/19/21
© Swankonsports.com
On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard
At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates
Your First Source for All Things Sports
Buckeye
Central Ready to Battle
They are smallest school in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, but
the Buckeye Central Bucks will come to play every week this football season.
Their season begins in less than a month on August 20th at
Crestline in a non-conference game.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association allowed coaches unlimited
contact this year, but Bucks coach Chad Jensen says they went about things
as normal. “It really wasn’t
any different. We share our kids
with basketball and baseball. Most
of our kids play two sports, a lot of them play three, so didn’t do where
June and July was just all football two of three days a week, we didn’t do
that. We expect a lot of our
kids in all of those sports. We
did baseball and basketball in June and then at the end of June and into
July we did football. So,
basically it was no different than any other year,” said Jensen.
Jensen, who is also the head baseball coach at Buckeye, says he was
impressed with the dedication that he saw this summer.
“Our kids are working hard. Our
kids show up three days a week in the weight room, they show up for our
coaching days and they do everything we ask them to do.
If they are not in the weight room, then they communicate with me and
tell me where they were. Very
few absences where we didn’t know where they were, actually not any.
So, we have been pretty fortunate our kids come hard every day and
work hard every day. They really
want to have a successful season,” he said.
Buckeye was (3-7) last year, winning two of its last four games and
they beat Bucyrus (54-10) in a conference game.
Their first “N10” game is September 10 at Seneca East.
Jensen says they just want to be competitive.
“Our league is very tough. Our
numbers are down a little this year, a little bit with a couple of smaller
classes that we have, but that is something we always battle at Buckeye
Central, it’s not anything new. We
just want to get the most out of our kids every week and we have always had
that. No matter how many numbers
we have had our kids play hard each week against whoever we play,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday, “For us we just want to build on what we
started last year. Our kids got
a little bit of taste of success. We
have seen this summer that they kids expect to be successful and just build
on that in the scrimmages, the non-league and we will see where everything
falls for us.”
Published 7/27/21
© Swankonsports.com
Your First Source For All Things Sports
Buckeye
Central Rallies to Tournament Win
Down four midway through the game, Buckeye Central rallied to beat
Hardin-Northern (5-4) a division IV sectional semifinal on Tuesday, scoring
the winning run in dramatic fashion.
They advance to play at South Central for a sectional title on
Thursday afternoon.
In the bottom of the seventh, Kaiden Vaughn scored on a passed ball
and the Bucks earned an exciting win.
Coach Chad Jensen says the plan was a suicide squeeze with the bases
and loaded and nobody out. “We
were lucky enough to get the bases loaded.
We had a couple of walks in there and I think a hit by pitch.
So, the based are loaded and I’m thinking, okay, we have to put the
ball in pay here. I decide we
are going to run a suicide. I
know the bases are loaded, but we are going to do it anyway.
We had our best bunter at the plate.
They throw a pitch that’s a little high and outside and he can’t
get a bat on it. The catcher
drops the ball and picks it back up. Our
runner at third was going, he got a good jump, slides hard into home, like
you are supposed to and the kid dropped the ball and it squirted away and we
win in walk off fashion,” said Jensen.
Jensen says they are certainly used to playing in close games.
“That kind of fits our season.
We have lost nine games by one run or extra innings.
For us to get a gut check win in the bottom of the seventh that sound
about right,” he said.
Hardin-Northern
led (4-0) after three and half innings and Jensen had to go get Vaughn, who
had started the game, and replace him with Alex Kanney.
Jensen says it is win and survive at this point.
“We feel like we have two number one pitchers.
Kaiden had an ERA under one coming in and Alex was under two.
The last time Kaiden pitcher he threw a two hitter against Bucyrus.
A nine inning two hitter, we lost 1-0, but it was a heck of a game.
We felt like it was Kaiden’s turn to pitch.
We felt like we are going to stay in our rotation.
He wasn’t quite himself (Tuesday).
He was pressing, trying to make perfect pitches and that’s okay.
He battled threw three and two thirds,” he told Swankonsports.com
after the win, “I kept saying we are not going to leave any bullets in the
holster. We have Alex and we are
going to throw him in there and Alex did a great job.
It was a tough spot for him to come into, but he is a gamer. We
are a team and everybody picks each other up.
Being down 4-0 our kids are super resilient and I am really proud of
them.”
Kanney have up
just one hit, walked none and struck out five.
Jensen says due
to pitch counts, Vaughn threw 71 and Kanney 57, neither will be available
for Thursday. “Neither one of
those two are going to throw. South
Central was there, so I can’t lie. I
wouldn’t do that anyway. They
both can’t pitch. They will
see somebody else, they won’t see those two,” he said.
Published 5/19/21
© Swankonsports.com
For baseball and softball scores
Go to our scoreboard at
Buckeye
Central Downs Riverdale
Clay Green tossed a two hitter and Buckeye Central beat Riverdale
(6-2) in a non-conference baseball game on Thursday evening in Mt.
Blanchard.
Buckeye Central has won 10 of its last 17 games and is in a share of
fourth place in the competitive Northern 10 Athletic Conference after an
(0-9) start to year.
Coach Chad Jensen says they just continue to do the things that have
made them successful. “We have
just talked about what we have need to do.
Just continue to do what we have been doing recently.
We got a great pitching performance from Clay Green (Thursday) night.
He threw a two hitter and pitched great.
We put the ball in play and we played great defense.
That has really been what we have done all year,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We have been on the short end
several times in close ballgames, but it hasn’t changed what we have done.
We put the ball in play. We
don’t strikeout very much, we typically throw strikes and we play pretty
good defense. We just want to
continue to do that heading into the tournament.”
Third baseman Elliot Geissman had three of the Bucks seven hits on
Thursday.
Kaiden Vaughn and Alex Kanney both have ERA’s of two or less and
Kanney has won five games this year.
Jensen says their pitchers are consistently giving them a chance to
win games. “We feel really
good about our starting pitching. We
feel like with any of our guys that are going to keep us in games and that
has been the case all year. Our
pitching has kept us in games all year.
We have lost a lot of close ones, but we have also won a lot of close
ones. We just need to hopefully
get a chance to compete and be in ballgames and hopefully our hitting
continues to improve gives a chance to win those games,” he said.
The Bucks (10-16) had 19 chances on Thursday night and made only two
errors and that’s not bad.
Jensen says to win tournament games, which starts next week against
Hardin-Northern, they have to be able to make the plays in the field.
“(Thursday) night we talked about Clay threw a two hitter, but he
only struck out two and we only had one flyball.
Alex Kanney, our shortstop, had eight assists and we had several all
around the infield. None of our
pitchers and going to strikeout 15 a night.
Typically, they do what they have to do and throw strikes and teams
will put the ball in play lots of times against them and our defense has
really been good all year,” said Jensen.
Published 5/14/21
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday
“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on
Saturday
Buckeye
Central Shuts Out Carey
Kaiden Vaughn fired a four hitter on Wednesday in out dueling
Carey’s Jordan Vallejo as Buckeye Central beat the Blue Devils (1-0) in a
Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.
Vaughn struck out seven and walked three.
Coach Chad Jensen says he got stronger as the game went on.
“Kaiden pitched a great game. He
scattered four hits, struck out seven, we played great defense behind him.
He had some jams and we got out of them.
It was a really, really good team effort.
Their kids pitched really well too.
We were able to get a key hit from Elliot Geissman in the fourth to
score a run. Kaiden just got
stronger as the game went on. He
got stronger and really started pounding the zone and just did a great job.
Another close game for us. We
have had a lot of them and we were able to come out on top,” said Jensen.
The Bucks (8-15,7-6) only had four hits themselves, but got the big
one from Elliot Geissman. They
only had one error.
Jensen says this team has to be fundamentally strong if they are
going to win games. “We talk
to our kids a lot and we talked about it again (Wednesday).
We have to stay strong on our fundamentals.
All of those ground balls we take in practice, all of those fly balls
we take in practice, I know it’s boring, and it is the same thing, but
this is how you win 1-0 ballgames,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday
night, “How you win one run ball games is being fundamentally sound,
making the routine play. We did
that again (Wednesday). We have
played good defense all year. We
continue to put the ball in play. Kade
pitched a great game and got ahead and pitched a great game.”
The tournament draw for baseball teams across Ohio is Sunday and
Jensen believes they have the ability to do some damage later this month,
especially with their pitching. “We
started out the season 0-9 and we are 8-6 since.
We are 7-6 in the “N10”, which is a tough league.
Almost half of our games are against D2 and D3 teams, so I think we
are playing well. We still need
to continue to get better each game, but our pitching keeps us in games and
our kids are playing with confidence. We
will take it one game at a time and see where it takes us,” he said.
Published 5/06/21
© Swankonsports.com
For baseball and softball scores
Go to our scoreboard at
Buckeye
Central Gets Past Upper
Buckeye Central won its fourth “N10” game in its last five by
beating Upper Sandusky (5-4) on a cold and windy Thursday in New Washington.
Coach Chad Jensen says his young group, they have only one senior, is
improving and played very against Upper.
“We hadn’t played this week.
There are nine teams in the “N10”, so it was our bye and it is
hard to schedule games at the beginning of the week because every other team
in playing league. We have had a
chance to work on fundamentals in practice and things we need to work on.
The kids played really well (Thursday).
It was cold. We got some
clutch hits that we haven’t always gotten.
We got some big clutch hits and got a great pitching performance from
Alex Kanney and the kids played really well,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central scored twice in the bottom of the first on Thursday
and Jensen felt it was important to get in front.
“We were able to get on the board early.
We had a big double by Kaiden Vaughn that got us two early and we
were able to get a couple of base runners early and Kaiden had that big
double for us. That was huge.
You get that lead and to get a clutch hit with runners on was big for
us. It really did help us to get
that lead and help us establish,” he said.
Kanney won this third game of the season and has an ERA of less than
two. Jensen says he was a
bulldog again on Thursday and wanted the ball.
“It was a great job by Alex. It
was 2-2 in the fifth and we were able to get three runs.
We got a sac fly from Lane Bauer, we got a couple of clutch singles
from Clay Green and Manny Mullins. Alex
gave up a run in the sixth and it was 5-3.
We got two quick outs in the seventh like on five pitches,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Then they got a couple runners on,
didn’t hit it real hard, but were able to find some green.
I went out to talk to him and I was debating on weather I was going
to pull him or not. He looked at
me and said I can get this guy coach, I can get him, and I’m a sucker for
competitiveness. So, when a kid
says he can get him, I tend to believe him and we got a pop out and got the
win.”
Published 4/23/21
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday
“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on
Saturday
Buckeye
Central Holds on to Beat Mohawk
Buckeye Central won its first game Friday against Mohawk and they
beat the Warriors again Monday (3-2) in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play
to continue to build momentum.
Kaiden Vaughn fired a five hitter on Monday, striking out 12 for the
Bucks.
Coach Chad Jensen says they knew they had to build on what they did
on Friday. “We knew that
Mohawk is a very good team and we knew we would have to play our best.
We talked about not having any letup.
We had to play well and in fact we played better.
I couldn’t be more proud of our kids.
We got two runs in the first on a two-run double by Tommy Phillips,
got a suicide squeeze in the second from Manny Mullins and Kaiden Vaughn
pitched a heck of a game, a complete game, and struck out 12, and we
didn’t have any errors. It was
just a great team win for us,” said Jensen.
Jensen says Vaughn was just tremendous on Monday and they knew he has
this kind of talent. “Our
league is tough. Alex Kanney has developed himself into our ace, but Kaiden
Vaughn has had some injuries early in the season and hasn’t really pitched
very much. We felt he and Alex
were both legitimate one type of pitchers.
So, he hasn’t pitched as much.
He felt good (Monday) and got the start and pitched like aces do.
We need to continue to keep him healthy.
He pitched lights out (Monday) night and I couldn’t be more proud
of him,” he said.
The Bucks (2-9,2-4) play Seneca East, one of the co-leaders in the
“N10” along with Colonel Crawford and Wynford, on Wednesday and Friday.
Buckeye Central has gotten good pitching this year and Jensen says
Vaughn was a bulldog for them on Monday and made big pitches when he had to.
“Our pitchers keep us in games and we feel that gives us a chance.
I felt like when we got the 3-0 lead, I knew Mohawk was good, and
Kaiden hung a curve ball Trey Combs hit one that hasn’t landed yet and he
is a great player and had a really great night for them.
The key that we talked about was after he gave up the homer to Combs,
he stuck out the next two,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “So
many times over the years when the kid gives up a homer he hits the next guy
or walks him on four straight or whatever and Kaiden didn’t do that.
In the seventh, the tying run was on first and Kaden was able to
strike out the number two hitter to seal the victory.
So, it was just a lot of gut check from all out kids.”
Published 4/13/21
© Swankonsports.com
For baseball and softball scores
Go to our scoreboard at
Colonel
Crawford Edges Buckeye in “N10” Opener
Drayton Burkhart outdueled Alex Kanney as Colonel Crawford go past
Buckeye Central (2-1) in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play on Wednesday
evening in New Washington.
Both starters were tremendous, both going the distance.
Burkhart allowed only three hits and struck out 10.
Kanney walked none and fanned six, permitting seven hits.
Colonel Crawford coach Dan Gorbett says it was a great game featuring
two aces. “Two years ago, it
seemed like it seemed like Drayton, we never got a whole lot of runs for him
and we had a lot of close games and a lot of that is you are facing another
good pitcher. (Wednesday) night
the kid from Buckeye Central threw a very nice game.
He had no walks. We had
guys in scoring position and he got out of it.
Same with Drayton, twice he had guys in scoring position and he was
able to get that third out. It
was just a well played game, no errors, everybody battling, it was always a
good game when you play Buckeye Central,” said Gorbett.
Buckeye Central (0-4,0-1) has lost three one run games in their first
four. Coach Chad Jensen says
they know they have potential, they just have to get over the hump.
“Our kids played their hearts out.
Alex Kanney pitched a heck of a game and our kids never quit.
We were down 2-0 in the sixth and Alex doubled and Casey Geissman
doubled him in to cut it to one. We
had the tying run on in the seventh. We
have lost three games by one run, so we are close, but not quite there yet.
We are going to keep working to get better,” he said.
The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when Cade Hamilton
tripled and scored on a wild pitch. The
Eagles second run scored on an RBI hit by Carson Feichtner in the sixth.
Gorbett says they had to show some mental toughness to push a couple
runs across against Kanney. “We
started out the game with three straight strikeouts and I was like, okay,
that usually never happens. Actually,
we went one, two, three… one, two, three… one, two, three the first
three innings and then we got back to the top of the lineup and we scored
our first run,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “With two outs,
Cade Hamilton hit a triple and scored on a wild pitch.
He mowed us down the first three innings and we hung in there and
it’s hard to do that you have to have that mental toughness to hang in
there and finally get some runs.”
Gorbett says there was outstanding defense played by both sides too.
“Both catchers did a good job.
I said he scored on a wild pitch, but it was great base running by
Cade Hamilton. The ball like
skipped up in the air and just landed outside the dirt and he saw that up in
the air and he is fast and he got in there before the pitcher could get
there and the catcher didn’t know if he should sprint and tag him or throw
and he snuck in there. So, it
was really a case of good base running because he kept the ball in front of
him. Defensively, our
centerfielder made two very good catches that off the bat looked like they
were going to be doubles. The
defense is so important and under reported,” said Gorbett.
The second game between the “602” rivals will be played Saturday
afternoon in North Robinson. It
was scheduled for Thursday, but moved due to cold weather.
Published 4/01/21
© Swankonsports.com
For baseball and softball scores
Go to our scoreboard at
Buckeye
Ready to Play Ball
As the lyrics of the great John Fogerty hit “Centerfield”
exclaim, “beat the drum and the hold the phone, the sun came out today.
We’re born again, there is new grass on the field.”
It’s time for baseball again after a year without any at the high
school level as well as colleges and universities for that matter.
Buckeye Central is ready to go, so says coach Chad Jensen.
“We were just talking to the kids (Wednesday) that (Thursday) is
the anniversary for when we were shutdown at Buckeye Central, most places
where, it is still haunting, it’s horrible that the kids weren’t able to
have a season last year, it was bad. So,
we are really excited about this year. The
kids are excited, they want to play, they want to compete.
It looks like things are going to happen and kids are excited,”
said Jensen.
The Bucks are due to open the season on April 27 with a doubleheader
at Fremont St. Joe. The next
week they play back to back games in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference
against Colonel Crawford.
Jensen says they have kids that want to go out and play ball and have
success. “I really like our
team. Our kids are hardworking
kids. We have kids that want to
improve and get better each day at practice and they are a fun group to be
around. I think we have some
guys that have played a lot of travel ball and have a lot of basketball I.Q.
So, we don’t have a ton of depth, but the kids that we do have
played a lot of baseball, so I think that will definitely help us,” he
said.
Baseball has a lot of specific skills that are common to just that
game and Jensen says it is a plus to have played a lot of games outside of
the high school season too. “It
is always good to be exposed to different areas.
You play against different players.
Last year, we were able to play some with our high school team and
play in the summer,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “A
lot of these kids whether they played last year or in the past a lot of our
kids have played travel baseball at one time of another.
What that has done is expose them to other things.
More experience, and quite frankly above the high school game, so
that will help us. I think we
have a lot of kids that have played a lot of baseball.
A lot of unknowns this year, but I’m happy with our kids and happy
with what I have seen so far.”
Published 3/11/21
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday
“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on
Saturday
Buckeye
Central Faces Columbus Grove in Regionals
Buckeye Central takes on Columbus Grove on Thursday night in a
division IV regional semifinal game at Elida High School.
This is the fifth straight regional appearance for Buckeye, the
Buckettes are (23-2) this year and outright “N10” champs.
They reached the regional beat fellow Northern 10 Athletic Conference
member Seneca East (46-33) to win a district title last Saturday night.
Coach Abram Kaple felt they played tough and physical and rebounded
really well. “Saturday, we
came out aggressive and very passionate at both ends of the floor making
sure that we tool care of it and being tough and physical on the defensive
end. It was definitely our best
rebounding performance this year so far against a team that had more size
than us. We are going to need to
continue that same kind of effort on both ends of the floor, especially the
defensive end of the floor if we want to compete (Thursday) night,” he
said.
Columbus Grove (18-7) beat Kalida (48-34) to win their district.
Kaple says they have a lot of weapons.
“Columbus Grove is a really fundamental, don’t make mistakes,
type of team. They are a really
good point guard in Kenzie King, a junior, that kind of does a little bit of
everything for them. She
doesn’t turn the ball over, makes good decisions, they use her a lot in
ball screen situations. She is a
phenomenal passer, she averages over six assists, she can shoot it from
deep. So, I think everything
starts and ends with her,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Then
they have two other nice players, a senior in the (Erin) Downing girl, who
can play, she is like a stretch four. They
have an undersized post player in the (Jaylen) Sautter girl.
You wouldn’t think she was a post looking at her, but she is just
really smooth and has nice post moves and is very patient in the post, so
those three of them really make them go.
They have four really complementary spot shooters that you can’t
help on the other ones because they have the ability to just knock down
shots. So, it posses a difficult
matchup on the defensive end.”
Kaple says they have played a lot of quality point guards, but what
separates King is her ability to stretch the defense.
“When it comes to comparing her to Layla Dials (of Willard) is the
first one that comes to mind. She is a little bit bigger guard in that she
has a solid build to her. The
difference is she can really stretch the floor because she can shoot it from
21 feet and she does not hesitate to do that.
If you go on her ball screens, she is just going to let it fly.
She has 65 threes made on the year, shooting at 41 percent.
That alone tells you she shoots it at a high volume and at a high
percentage clip. We have faced
other good players and really good point guards and we will approach it the
same way, we will have to make sure we are going over top of ball screens
and making sure she shoots contested jumpers when she does shot it,” said
Kaple.
Published 3/04/21
© Swankonsports.com
Get all of the tournament scores right here
Buckeye
Back in the Districts
Buckeye Central has won four straight regional titles and advanced to
the district tournament now six years in a row.
Their quest to add another title begins Thursday night against South
Central at Willard High School in a semifinal game.
The other semi has Seneca East against Norwalk St. Paul.
The Buckettes (21-2), #5 in the final Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball poll in the small school division, hammered Danbury Lakeside
(74-18) in a sectional final last Saturday at home.
Coach Abram Kaple says it was good to get their feet wet in
tournament play. “Having not
played in seven days. We were
not allowed to practice a whole lot. It
was a nice to get off to a good start. We
had nice focus. We executed
well. We pressured the
basketball and stayed out of foul trouble.
That is not always the case, but I thought we did a good job.
From start to finish, we came out and had a job to do.
We got it done and survived and advanced.
So, we will take it,” he said.
South Central (10-6) beat Mansfield Christian (51-41) on Thursday is
a sectional final in Mansfield.
Kaple says this is a team that is both young and talented and will
play a lot of zone. “South
Central is a little bit different than some of the teams we play.
They play a lot of zone. They
play some 3-2, some 1-3-1, they have good length.
They are young, but they are athletic.
They start two, sometimes three freshmen and then a sophomore. Four
kids that start are underclassmen and they do a good job of mixing up
defenses, trying to keep you off balance.
That length that they have can cause a lot of problems when they
force teams to shoot jump shots and ultimately I think that is what they
want to do is try and force you to score from the perimeter,” said Kaple.
Kaple says they will be prepared to execute against the zone if that
is what they see for the Lady Trojans. “It
us something we haven’t seen a tone of.
It is not something we won’t be prepared for.
We have had a decent amount of film on them.
We have watched stuff and we have started to put things in (Monday).
We are going to have to shoot it well,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Monday night, “We haven’t shot it particularly well, people are going
they scored 74 points last week, but we didn’t shoot it well from our
standards beyond the arc. We
spent a lot of (Monday) just getting back to the basics and getting a lot of
repetitions in. If we do see
zone, which we probably will, we are going to have to make more shots than
we have been.”
Published 2/23/21
© Swankonsports.com
Get all of the tournament scores right here
Buckeye
Central Figuring Things Out
Buckeye Central is at “the Furnace” to face the Mansfield
Christian Flames in a division IV sectional semifinal on Tuesday night.
The winner plays at South Central (15-6), the number one seed, on
Friday night.
Buckeye (9-13) has won three of its last four games, including a
(43-39) win over Northern 10 Athletic Conference rival Bucyrus on Friday
night. They had lost six a row
before that.
Coach Tom Howell says the kids now understand what they have to do to
be successful. “I think we
have gotten a little bit better here these last three weeks. We have been
working on some things in practice. We
went through a rough stretch there. We
didn’t play well for about a month and it hurt us.
You have to go through some stuff to get better.
I think our kids came out pretty good on the other side,” he said.
Howell says the players have learned though experience.
“While we were going through that little stretch the effort was
always there. We were doing to
same thing over and over and expecting different results and everybody knows
what that definition is. I think
we figured some things out, I hope so. We
have won three of our last four. We
competed in a little bit with some good teams here at the end of the season.
We’ll see what happens on Tuesday,” said Howell.
Mansfield Christian (8-14) has not played since February 12 when they
beat rival Mansfield St. Peter’s (56-38) in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game.
Howell says the Flames have some athleticism they will have to do
deal with. “They have a couple of guys that can shoot it pretty well.
Their point guard is pretty good.
He is only a freshman, but he makes them go.
He is one of the quickest kids in the area,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “He handles the ball very well.
Containing him is the main thing we are going to try and do.
Not let him get in the paint. If
we can do that and just get hands up on shooters, I think we can give
ourselves a chance.”
Published 2/23/21
© Swankonsports.com
Get all of the tournament scores right here
Buckeye
Central Has Wynford Next
Buckeye Central, in first place in the Northern 10 Athletic
Conference, plays at Wynford in a conference game on Monday night.
They were going to play Ridgedale on Friday, but that game was
postponed because the Lady Rockets are now in quarantine.
Coach Abram Kaple says form day to day you are never quite sure what
is going to happen and your plans can change in an instant.
“It has been interesting. Fortunately,
we have only been quarantined the one time and that was back in the
preseason, so knock on wood. You
literally don’t know, so walking into practice (Thursday) we think we are
preparing for Ridgedale and find out we are not playing them and the
practice schedule changes and all of the sudden we are going though Wynford
stuff. You kind of just adapt
and prepare on the fly. Everybody
is dealing with the same things. I
guess we are all in it together, so we are all trying to make the best of
the cards that are dealt,” he said.
A couple of weeks ago, Buckeye lost a tough one in overtime (56-53)
to Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division leader Willard, but Kaple says he is
proud of the way they have responded to their only loss of the season.
“We put a lot of time and prep into that Willard game with it being
a really great team in our area and being close in proximity, our kids know
a lot of their kids. We were
definitely bummed. We felt we
kind of let that slip away. We
had a chance to ice the game at the free throw line and things just didn’t
fall. So, tough loss and it felt
like a tournament like loss. It
took a lot out of us, but we talked the next day that character is how you
respond to adversity, your true colors kind of shine through,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “Our response to that has been
good, we haven’t lost since thankfully.
We beat some good teams along the way, like Seneca East.
We went to Perkins on Monday night and they are significantly better
than their record and had a good win there.
Played three games in four days and won all of them, regardless of
who you play that is mentally and physically draining.
So, we are in a good spot, but we still have some things to improve
on though.”
The Buckettes beat Seneca East (40-36) last week.
Buckeye Central (15-1,12-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division, visits rival Wynford
(8-5,7-5) on Monday night. The
Lady Royals lost (53-37) to Carey on Tuesday night in conference play.
In the first meeting in New Washington, Buckeye won (49-35) way back
on December 4.
Kaple says the Lady Royals are going to be prepared for them and his
team is going to try some different things.
“They are super fundamental and very well coached.
They are going to have a good game plan.
They are going to be prepared. They
have a decent amount of shooters that you have to respect.
Averi McMillan in the middle is long and she gave us fits the first
time around, so we have to do a better job of taking away her and apming up
the pressure a little bit. The
first time we played them we weren’t fully healthy.
We feel we are a little bit of a different team.
Hopefully, we have the ability to kind of keep them off balance on
Monday. We didn’t feel we had
the opportunity to do that the first time around just with our roster at
that time. We talked to our
girls a little bit (Thursday) that we have everything to lose and teams kind
of moving forward like Wynford, they are going to give us everything they
have got. So, we have to be
prepared both mentally and physically for that game,” said Kaple.
Published 1/29/21
© Swankonsports.com
Keep up to the minute on Friday and Saturday
night scores
Updated every five minutes
On our scoreboard at www.swankonsportshosting247.com
Buckeye
Central Needs Some Practice
Buckeye Central has lost its last three games, including two last
week, and they are going to try and return to good play on Saturday night as
thy host Seneca East in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.
The lost last Thursday to Wynford (55-42) and last Saturday night to
Mohawk (59-41) after falling behind (22-1) in the first half.
Coach Tom Howell says they need to find some things, including
getting on the glass a little better. “Some
things we were doing early in the season consistently, especially the
rebounding part it has sort of got away from us.
Some of the little things we were doing earlier we are just not doing
now. We have got to get that
fixed quick,” said Howell.
Not playing until Saturday, the Bucks has plenty of time this week to
practice and Howell says they started out Monday pretty well.
“We got busy (Monday) in the gym.
We addressed some things. We
actually had a pretty good practice. I
told them this is an important week for us to just get better and I’m
hoping the kids respond and we will see what we can do,” he said.
Buckeye Central (6-9,4-7) hosts Seneca East (7-6,4-6) on Saturday
night. Buckeye won the first
meeting (54-50) on December 18. The
Tigers beat Ridgedale (51-29) in a conference game on Saturday.
Howell says they must slow the Tigers down a little.
“Seneca East is very athletic.
They have got some good guard play.
They have some tall forwards that can step out and shoot it,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “The athleticism gave us some
trouble last time. If we could
just slow ourselves down a little bit, we could put ourselves in a good
situation, I hope.”
Published 1/26/21
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday
“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on
Saturday
Buckeye
Central Has Things to Work on
Buckeye Central got hammered last week, but they are still a team on
the rise and they have two chances this week to prove that is the case.
They play at Wynford on Thursday night and at Mohawk on Saturday
night in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action.
Last Saturday in a conference game they were overwhelmed by unbeaten
Colonel Crawford (91-31) and it was as dominate as that score would
indicate.
Coach Tom Howell says that is one to file and forget.
“Yeah, that was a rough one. I
don’t know if anybody would have beaten those guys that night, they were
on in all aspects of the game. Something
might come out it, but we aren’t going to think about it too much,” said
Howell.
Buckeye Central (6-7,4-5) plays at Wynford (2-9,1-7) on Thursday
night. Wynford beat Mansfield
St. Peter’s (52-30) in a non-league game on Tuesday.
In their first meeting with the Bucks, Buckeye Central prevailed
(60-45) on January 7.
Howell says they need to be better rebounders.
“Wynford is very athletic and they gave us some trouble and their
offensive rebounding has been strong. They
hurt us the first time we played them. If
we don’t change that we could go in there and get beat on Thursday.
For us to compete a little bit we have to fix that,” he said.
The Royals have the top two rebounders in the conference in Dustin
Brady and Jaron Filliater.
The Bucks challenged third place Mohawk (10-3,7-2) in their first
meeting before falling (43-42) December 12.
Howell says if they can play good defense, they will be in it again.
“We played pretty well the first time we played Mohawk, especially
on the defensive end of the floor,” he told Swankpnsports.com on Tuesday,
“I thought we did a good job with what we wanted to do and maybe try and
stop them a little bit because they are explosive on offense, they are
explosive of defense too, that’s how they get a lot of their offense.
If we can not turn the ball over against their pressure I am hoping
we can be there at the end again.”
Published 1/20/21
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday
“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on
Saturday
Buckeye
Central With County Rivals Back to Back
Buckeye Central plays two games in the Northern 10 Athletic
Conference this weekend and both against longtime rivals as they play at
Bucyrus on Friday night and host unbeaten Colonel Crawford on Saturday.
The Bucks are playing like they are getting better every game.
They had a lead on a solid Carey team Saturday night in conference
play before losing (55-50) to the Blue Devils.
Coach Tom Howell says they had too many turnovers and allowed to many
easy hoops in the last going. “We
did a good job the whole game really. In
the last six minutes we just started turning the basketball over and you
can’t do that against Carey. We
had a chance to get a good quality win against a good basketball team and we
just let it slip away,” said Howell.
Buckeye Central (5-6,3-4) plays at Bucyrus (2-8,1-6) on Friday night.
The Redmen lost to Wynford (52-41) on Monday night in conference
play.
Tempo will be a factor in this game.
Howell says the Redmen want you to play faster.
“They want to get up and down the floor.
They make their opponents play a little faster than what they want
to. They do pressure the ball in
the half court. They will get up
in your face in the full court. Again,
it’s going to come down to turnovers for us.
We have to take care of the basketball,” he said.
It will be a challenging one as, Buckeye hosts first place Colonel
Crawford (12-0,8-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches
poll in the small school division, on Saturday night.
The Eagles won the first match-up (61-42) on December 5 in North
Robinson.
Howell says Crawford doesn’t have any weaknesses and it is
difficult coming up with a winning game plan.
“Man, I don’t know, it’s going to be tough.
They are pretty good. They
are undefeated and they are ranked pretty high in the state,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “The last time we played them, we played
with them for about two and half quarters and they hit some big threes and
(Carter) Valentine sort of went off on us a little bit and the big guy
started playing harder and gave us a lot of trouble.
We have to play within ourselves and take care of the basketball and
try and rebound with them, I think is the biggest key.”
Published 1/15/21
© Swankonsports.com
Keep up to the minute on Friday and Saturday
night scores
Updated every five minutes
On our scoreboard at www.swankonsportshosting247.com
Buckeye
Central Must Limit Points in the Paint
Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader Buckeye Central visits Willard
to play the Lady Flashes, the leaders in the Bay Division of the Sandusky
Bay Conference, in an non-conference game on Thursday night.
They are also the top two teams in the Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division.
Buckeye Central (10-0), #2 in the poll, has been outstanding all
year, but coach Abram Kaple says they have improved a bunch on defense.
“We are significantly better on the defensive end of the floor than
what were at the beginning of the season and even dating back to last year.
Obviously, our personnel has changed a little bit, but we have spent
a little bit more time in practice emphasizing that end of the court.
So, I feel good about the improvement that we have made in that
area,” he said.
Buckeye Central has not allowed more then 35 points over their last
six contests.
Claudia Pifher (19.3 ppg) leads the “N10” in scoring this year.
She shoots 60% from the field this year.
Point guard Taylor Ratliff gets (12.8 ppg) and hands out over three
assists per contest.
Willard (10-1),
#1 in the poll, belted Margaretta (62-42) last week to take sole possession
of the lead in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.
Kaple says they have all of the elements of an excellent basketball
team. “They are big, they are
athletic, they are well coached, they are a complete team, so they have a
little bit of everything. They
have a point guard, they have a defender, they have two really nice post
players and they have a shooter
in Grace Hall, who didn’t play last year because of an injury.
When you look at their first five, they possess a lot of talent and a
high I.Q. that is going to give us problems to some degree,” said Kaple.
Mckenna Stevens (15.5 ppg), Presley Feltner (11.8) and Layla Dials
(10.8) and all double figure scorers for the Lady Flashes.
Stevens makes 61% of her field goal attempts and Grace Hall is a 38%
three point shooter. Dials leads
the Bay Division in assists (5.4) and Feltner in rebounds (9.4) this year.
Kaple says to win they must limit post touches and rebound the misses
very well. “We have talked in
practice all week that we have to rebound the basketball because of their
size and their physicality we have to really limit second chance
opportunities. We spent the good
majority of the three practices that we have had this week on defensive
rebounding. We have to limit
their post touches as well. I
think that is no secret for anybody that goes to play Willard is that
Mckenna Stevens and Presley Feltner are kind of what makes them go,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They are a little bit old school
where they play inside out. So,
they are definitely looking to go inside early, so we have to do a good job
of limiting their touches there and then hope they miss and if they do not
give them second and third tries or foul and put them at the free throw line
because that is not going to play in our favor.”
Published 1/14/20
© Swankonsports.com
Keep up on the scores Thursday night
On our scoreboard at www.swankonsportshosting247.com
Buckeye
Central Plays Rival Wynford
Buckeye Central hosts longtime rival Wynford in a Northern 10
Athletic Conference on Thursday night.
The Bucks beat Ridgedale (53-41) in a conference game on Saturday
night. They lost to talented
Upper Sandusky (73-57) on Wednesday. They
have won three of their last five.
Coach Tom Howell says they played some good basketball.
“I mean we got beat by Upper, but we did some good things.
We played some pretty good defense.
We scored the basketball, we just came up short.
Then we went to Ridgedale last Saturday and played pretty well.
We pressured a little bit in the full court.
Hopefully, if we get that going, we can get some offense off that as
well,” said Howell.
Buckeye Central (4-5,2-3) plays at home against Wynford (0-6,0-4) on
Thursday. The Royals fell
(50-38) to Mohawk on Saturday night in league play.
Howell says they don’t play at all like a winless team.
“Wynford, their record says they are 0-6, but they don’t play
like they are 0-6. They have
played a pretty tough schedule if look at the teams they have played like
Old Fort, they played Carey, they played Margaretta, and the list goes
on,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Their two big guys inside
are athletic. They have some
pretty good guard play. You
can’t overlook Wynford at all. I
hope our kids aren’t, that is what we have been preaching all week.
They are a very good 0-6 team.”
Howell believes the start of the game on Thursday is going to be
pretty important for them. “We
want to get off to good start and see what we can do.
If we let them hang around their kids want to compete and they want
to win and they want to compete, so we have to match that intensity and see
what happens,” he said.
Published 1/07/21
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday
“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on
Saturday
Bucks
Showing Lots of Progress
Buckeye Central is taking steps toward being a good basketball team
as we hit the quarter pole of the high school season.
They play at Crestview in a non-conference game on Monday night.
Trailing in the fourth quarter, the Bucks would rally and beat Seneca
East (54-50) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Saturday night.
Coach Tom Howell says it that final quarter they did some good things
on both ends of the court. “The
kids didn’t panic. We got down
early and battled our way back. We
kept it close. Got a few stops
and made some shots and the next things you know we are down four or five
and we made some other plays on the defensive end and ended up winning the
game,” he said.
Tyler Rose and Alex Kanney both had 12 points in that win.
Howell says they have started to rebound the ball well and they look
more confident on offense. “Right
now, I think we are pretty consistent, you can always get better.
We are rebounding the ball well.
We are not giving teams second and third chances on the offensive
end,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “I think the last
couple of games I think we are making strides on the offensive end.
We are starting to see some stuff that we weren’t seeing at the
beginning of the year and it is helping us out a lot.”
Buckeye Central (3-3) is at Crestview (4-2) on Monday night.
The Cougars won their first four games but lost two Firelands
Conference games last weekend (67-61) in overtime to South Central and
(97-59) to Western Reserve on Saturday night.
Howell says they can put some athletes on the floor, particularly
Evan Hamilton. “Crestview is
pretty good. They have athletic
kids. They probably have one of
the best guards in the area in Evan Hamilton and he can play.
I think we are going to have our hands full.
We are going to go and compete and see what happens,” said Howell.
Published 12/21/20
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
There will be a special edition of
“Out of Bounds” Wednesday night 10 to
midnight
Buckeye
Central Still Working at it
Buckeye Central is getting closer to becoming in a good basketball
team. They play at home against
New Riegel in a non-conference boys’ basketball game on Tuesday night.
Last Saturday, they lost a heartbreaker to (43-42) to Mohawk in a
Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.
Coach Tom Howell says at a slow start to the game, the Bucks played
some pretty good basketball. “We
gave ourselves a chance. In the
first quarter we didn’t play very well, especially on the defensive end of
the floor, but after that I thought we competed pretty well,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We played good defense and we
rebounded the ball. I bet Mohawk
had six offensive rebounds in the first quarter alone.
We had to get that fixed really quick and they responded.
We almost got it.”
Howell is in his first year at Buckeye after a successful run at New
London. He says it is fun to
watch these kids improve. “The
kids are working and listening. They
take things from practice to the games.
It’s fun to watch. I’m
still getting to know these kids, but I’m enjoying myself and I think the
kids are enjoying themselves,” said Howell.
Buckeye Central (1-3) hosts New Riegel (0-3) on Tuesday night in New
Washington. The Blue Jackets
lost (52-38) to Sandusky St. Mary’s in a River Division game in the
Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.
Howell says the Blue Jackets will make it a war.
“They play hard. They
are a very scrappy basketball team. They
try and get their offense from a defensive end.
They are a very good defensive team.
They are not very big, but they rebound the ball very well.
It’s not going to be easy,” he said.
Published 12/15/20
© Swankonsports.com
Keep up on the scores Tuesday night
On our scoreboard at www.swankonsportshosting247.com
Buckeye
Central Plays Athletic Mohawk
Buckeye Central on Saturday night entertains the Mohawk Warriors in a
Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.
A game on Thursday night against Wynford was postponed due to the
fact that the Royals are in quarantine.
Last Saturday, the Bucks lost (61-42) to Colonel Crawford in an
“N10” game.
Coach Tom Howell says they played well early against the Eagles, but
could not maintain it. “I
thought we played pretty well. I
thought our defense was really good. I
was talking to our guys we have to do it for four quarters.
That is the biggest thing we are trying to get through to these
guys,” said Howell.
Buckeye Central (1-2,0-1) plays at home against Mohawk (1-1,1-0) on
Saturday night. Last Saturday,
the Warriors ruffed up Ridgedale (69-35) in a conference game.
Howell says the Warriors are a team that will press you all over the
floor. “Mohawk is very
athletic, they love to get in your face and pressure the basketball full
court, even in their 2-3 zone they pressure the ball quite well.
We have to handle that press and if we can do that who knows what
might happen,” Howell told Swankonsports.com on Thursday.
Howell says he has told the players that if you execute against the
press there are opportunities to get some clean looks at the basket.
“I tell these kids we have to run patiently.
Do things fast, but patient if that makes any sense.
We have to break the press and once you break the press that is when
you will be able to attack it and maybe get a good shot,” he said.
Published 12/11/20
© Swankonsports.com
Keep up to the minute on Friday and Saturday
night scores
Updated every five minutes
On our scoreboard at www.swankonsportshosting247.com
Buckeye
Central Working on Getting Better
Buckeye Central, fresh off two wins last week, plays host Mohawk in a
Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Tuesday night in New Washington.
The Buckettes beat Colonel Crawford (56-45) last Tuesday and Wynford
(49-35) on Friday in conference games.
Anytime you win your first two it’s a good start, but coach Abram
Kaple says they still have an upside. “Headed
in the right direction is probably the best way to put it with two wins on
just one scrimmage. I spent a
lot time this weekend looking at film and it is really the first chance
because you see your offense in practice and it looks a little different on
game night. Definitely taking
some time to evaluate things and see where we need to improve and make
changes and continue to move forward in the right direction,” he said.
Kaple says they have some execution things to refine and also they
just need to be on the court so they can get in better shape.
“Just the attention to detail.
Sometimes we are supposed to set screens and we really didn’t
screen a body, we are supposed to cut this direction, whether it is over a
screen or under a screen. I
guess to sum it up, just our attention to detail and our conditioning and
that is hard to do considering we didn’t practice there for two weeks, so
nobody’s fault there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon,
“That is just kind of the cards that were dealt.
So, the attention to detail on some small things and then the overall
conditioning, which will come with time.
Nothing that can’t be fixed. We
had more mental mistakes than we had physical mistakes in the first two
games.”
Now, as far as Mohawk goes there is a great mystery there.
They have a new coach in Bruce Hannan and Kaple says they have not
seen any competition yet. “To
my knowledge they have not scrimmaged and they have not played a game.
I know they have a new coach. They
return some size that I know of just from their underclassmen and they have
a shooter in Aubrie Harper, who is back for her senior campaign.
In terms of the anything other than that we don’t know because of
everything that has taken place in terms of the preseason.
We are worried about ourselves in terms of correcting the things we
had issues with over the past two games.
We’ll focus on that and we will make adjustments on the fly as need
be once we see what they are trying to accomplish and things like that,”
said Kaple.
Published 12/08/20
© Swankonsports.com
Keep up on the scores Tuesday night
On our scoreboard at www.swankonsportshosting247.com
Buckeye
Central Squares off With Colonel Crawford
Buckeye Central and Colonel Crawford are part of what should be a
very good Northern 10 Athletic Conference girls’ basketball race and they
meet on Tuesday night in North Robinson.
We hope so anyway, the game could still be called off due to COVID-19
and, I hate to say it, the weather, but it wouldn’t be 2020 if that were
not the case, right?
It would be Buckeye Central’s first game of the season and coach
Abram Kaple says the are chomping at the bit.
“It has been long overdue, so we are excited for the opportunity to
just be back on the hardwood versus somebody that is not wearing a Buckeye
Central jersey, so we are looking forward to it,” he said.
Buckeye Central is coming off another regional appearance and Kaple
says this year they are going to feature more depth than in recent years.
“Our depth has made our practices more competitive then what they
probably were my first two years just because we feel that we have that we
have 10 girls that can play for us on any game night, so that adds a
different element to practice. So,
it has been good to go against one another in that regard.
We are a little bit smaller so offensively we are doing things a
little bit differently than we did my first two years.
So far, so good, I am excited to see how it looks against somebody
else. We are engaged and we are
locked in and we are looking forward to (Tuesday) night,’ said Kaple.
Colonel Crawford (2-0,0-0) beat Northmor (45-19) on November 20 and
New London (45-30) on Saturday.
Kaple says they play outstanding defense, are physical and have a go
to play on offense in Allison Teglovic.
“Being quarantined, or my players being quarantined, we have had a
chance to see both of Crawford’s games live and in person and as always
coach (Kyle) Fenner is always prepared.
Her teams are just tough on the defensive end, they pick you up and
they will play full court man, they are physical, and they will know our
stuff. So, it will be a good
test playing them with two games under they belt.
They return an All-Ohio guard/forward in Allison Teglovic and
everything pretty much goes through her.
They return essentially everyone.
They graduated just the one girl last year,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “So, they are experienced and they have
a little bit of depth and having two games they have some confidence and
right now those are all advantages over us.
So, it will be a good test. We
are thankful and blessed for the opportunity to just be out on the hardwood
and knowing that anything could chance at any time, so we want to go out
there and leave 100 percent on the floor is what we are looking to do
(Tuesday).”
Published 12/01/20
© Swankonsports.com
Keep up on the scores Tuesday night
On our scoreboard at www.swankonsportshosting247.com
Buckeye
Central Opens With Plymouth
It’s opening weekend this week for the Buckeye Central Bucks
boys’ basketball team as the travel to Plymouth on Friday night and host
Crestline on Saturday night in non-conference play.
Tom Howell, formerly the coach at New London, is in his first year at
the helm at Buckeye Central.
He believes they kids are buying into the new stuff he is teaching
them. “The kids are getting
better with what we are trying to do. I
think they are understanding this better. We have had some good practices
the last couple of days. I think
we are headed in the right direction,” said Howell.
Howell says this you are going to have to be very flexible in your
preparation because things might change on a dime.
“You might be scheduled to play somebody on Friday night and you
might be playing somebody totally different if things work out that way with
everything that is going on and the numbers for COVID and the way they are.
You just don’t know what is going to happen from minute to
minute,” he said.
When it comes to Plymouth, he played them nearly 30 times when he was
at New London and Howell says there are some things that are always true
about the Big Red. “Just going
on what I know about them from the past they always play hard, they always
come ready to play. I faced them
quite often in the Firelands Conference and that is the type of teams that
they were,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “With the way
that the scrimmages are going it is hard to get film on teams.
Some teams haven’t even scrimmaged yet.
So, I am expecting a good, hard fighting, Plymouth team.
It’s going to be a tough game.”
Published 11/24/20
@ Swankonsports.com
You can listen to our listen line 24/7
For the latest high school sports news
A
Lot of New at Buckeye Central
Buckeye Central has a new basketball coach this year in former New
London head coach Tom Howell and they are working hard and putting in a lot
of new things.
Howell was (185-127) over 14 years at New London.
He has been in coaching a lot of years, but he has never coached
through a pandemic. “It takes
a lot out of you as a person and even the kids.
They are always asking, have heard anything today?
Have you heard this rumor? I
just tell them, listen we don’t know what is going to happen day to
day, we are just going to try and get better today, we are going to go to
school today and we will see what happens tomorrow when we get up in the
morning,” he said.
In his first year with the Bucks, Howell says there has been a
feeling out process going on. “I’m
getting to know them. I got to
know them during fall sports just going to watch them play.
These kids work hard. They
are there. They were there this
summer when we were able to get in the gym.
Even the little stuff in the weight room, they lift hard.
I think we are getting some good practices in and we will see what
happens here, hopefully, in a couple of weeks,” said Howell.
Buckeye Central is supposed to open the season November 27 and 28
against at Plymouth and at home with Crestline.
Of course, there is going to be a new offense and defense, and Howell
says there has been a lot of learning going on.
“Everything is new from the way we are going to play defense, our
out of bounds plays, our offense, the other defense we are going to be
running and stuff like that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday,
“At times I can tell they get frustrated, but just keep telling them we
are going to work through this and get better at it.
I see them try to remember things and thinking a little bit too much.
I said just go ahead and make a mistake here in practice and we’ll
fix it. So far, it is going
pretty well, I can’t complain.”
Published 11/12/20
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday
“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on
Saturday
Buckeye
Central Meets Willard
Buckeye Central is at home for Willard in a non-conference football
game to be played on Friday night on the outskirts of New Washington.
The Bucks are looking to become more consistent and the Flashes are
searching for their first win of the season.
Last Saturday, the Bucks (2-7) traveled down to Champaign County to
face Triad after being rained out on Friday.
Coach Chad Jensen says they did not execute well at all.
“We struggled against them. They
were a team that had a lot of physicality and I’m not sure we were ready
for that. They were quicker than
we thought on film. They
didn’t look as quick as they were. We
just did not handle what they gave us very well.
As coaches, and as players, we need to take a look at that.
We did take a look at that and we need to improve for this week,”
said Jensen.
It is the third week in a row that Buckeye has played someone two
hours from home and Jensen says sometimes its hard to get a gage on those
teams. “When you are playing
teams that you don’t know anything about.
We have kind of dealt with that in playing Wellsville and Leetonia
and Triad, teams we are not familiar with.
We have to do the best we can with what we have.
The bottom line is we didn’t play our best game and I think our
kids understand that. As coaches
we didn’t coach our best game. We
have to be better,” he said.
Willard (0-9) lost last week (41-31) to Upper Sandusky, another team
out of the Northern 10. They
held a second half lead in that game, but could not make it hold up.
Jensen says they respect what the Flashes bring to the table.
“They are not a typical 0-9 team.
They play in a very touch conference in that middle section of the
“SBC.” They have several big
time athletes on their team that we are very concerned about.
They are a lot like us in the fact that they have played in a very
tough conference and they have gotten beat up in their conference.
Listen, on film they are team to be reckoned with,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “So, we have to sell that to our
kids this week, and we have been doing that already.
Willard is going to come here thinking they beat us and rightfully
so. We have to do everything we
can to not let that happen.”
Published 10/27/20
© Swankonsports.com
Keep up to the minute on Friday and Saturday
night scores
Updated every five minutes beginning at
kickoff
On our scoreboard at www.swankonsportshosting247.com
Plus, again this week there will be a special
Saturday night
Edition of “Out of Bounds” between 10 and
midnight
Buckeye
Central Returns to Regular Season Play Against Triad
Buckeye Central is still playing football this week, which was they
plan all along. After losing in
the playoffs last week, they play at Triad in a regular season game on
Friday night.
For the second week in a row, Buckeye traveled to Columbiana County,
but this time came up empty in losing to Leetonia (32-16) in a second round
playoff game in division VII.
Coach Chad Jensen says turnovers did them in.
“We turned the ball over early and that hurt us.
When you are in the playoffs like that and you are playing a good
team, you can’t turn the ball over. We
had three turnovers and they turned them into points, so that was really
big. That is something we have
been working on this week to get better,” said Jensen.
The Bucks were also held to less than their average on the ground,
running for 119 yards last week against Leetonia.
They also plan to play Willard next week and Jensen says their plan
is to get on the field as many times as possible this fall.
“We want to give our kids 10 games and that has been the goal since
the beginning. We knew when we
got beat in the playoffs we were going to schedule these games,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We were going to play Triad in
the non-league games anyway this year if we had a normal year.
So, they have agreed to play us here at the end.
It’s a good matchup for us.”
Buckeye Central (2-6) plays at Triad, in Champaign County, in a
non-conference game on Friday night. The
Cardinals (3-5) are coming off a loss (37-6) to powerhouse Coldwater in the
division VI playoffs last Saturday.
Jensen says they have the kind of athletes that make big plays.
“They are pretty decent, they are a pretty good football team.
They have athletes on offense that can make plays.
We have to stop the big play that is going to be a big key for us.
Defensively, they are very standard in what they do, but they do it
well. You can tell they are well
coached. They are aggressive and
we are just looking forward to the challenge,” said Jensen.
Published 10/22/20
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday
“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on
Saturday
There will be a special edition of “Out of
Bounds”
This Saturday between 10 PM and midnight
Line
of Scrimmage Critical for Buckeye Central
Buckeye Central heads to Eastern Ohio for the second time in as many
weeks as they face Leetonia in a second round playoff game in division VII
on Friday night.
Last week, the Bucks pilled up 368 yards rushing and made a big
fourth down stand with a minute left in the game to outlast Wellsville
(32-29) in a first round game.
Coach Chad Jensen says he is really happy with the kids responded
when the game was on the line. “We
were really happy with how our kids responded.
We got down in the first quarter and then we came right back and
scored. We were up by two
touchdowns most of the game and just some things happened and they were able
to claw their way back in. Down
the stretch our kids really dug it out and did what they had to do.
Just really happy with our kids because it wasn’t easy.
At the end there it was anybody’s game and our kids really wanted
it. We did what we had to do and
got a defensive stop there at the end of the game,” said Jensen.
Leetonia (5-1) is coming off a bye last week.
They only loss this season came in their last game on October 2, when
United beat then (41-8) in a regular season game.
Jensen says they recognized what they were doing right away because
they run the same stuff the Bucks do. “They
are mirror images of us. It’s
like we are playing Buckeye Central. They
run the same offense we do, a lot of double tight, a lot of wing-T
principals, and run the football a lot.
They are probably 80, 90 percent run,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday afternoon, “Defensively, they are aggressive.
They do a lot of things that we want to do.
Put pressure on the quarterback.
They want to control the line of scrimmage, just like we do.
Very similar teams to be honest.
It’s going to be a matter of control that line of scrimmage and who
is the most physical.”
Jensen says this game will be determined by who runs the ball better
and who makes fewer mistakes. “Both
teams want to do the same thing. There
are no secrets both teams want to run the football.
The team that runs it the most effectively is going to win this game
and the team that has the least amount of mistakes.
We talked about that with our kids this week.
We can’t turn the ball over. We
had some turnovers against Wellsville and one of them was a scoop and score
by them, so that gave them seven points.
We talked about we have to hang on to the football and limit mistakes
and the team that executes the best is going to win,” said Jensen.
Published 10/15/20
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday
“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on
Saturday
Buckeye
Central Travels to Wellsville for Playoff Game
Buckeye Central makes the long, three hour, trip to Wellsville for
first playoff game in division VII on Friday night.
Coach Chad Jensen says they are excited to just get the chance to
play in a playoff game this fall. “The
kids are really excited. This
has been obviously a weird year with all of the changes, but being able to
play in the playoffs is special and our kids understand that and they have
been excited all week. This is
just a great opportunity for us to be able to play in the playoffs and
it’s really exciting for us,” he said.
The Bucks (1-5) lost (42-8) to Mohawk in a game in the Northern 10
Athletic Conference last Friday.
Jensen says it was a better effort, but they are still looking for
better execution. “Last week
it was more about execution. Our
effort was there against Mohawk, a lot better than it was against Crawford.
We definitely improved our effort, but our execution wasn’t there
with things that we need to do, so we talked about that this week.
It’s not about effort now, it’s about execution.
We are going to have to execute if we want to be successful against
Wellsville,” he said.
Wellsville (3-3) has won its last two beating East Palestine (42-20)
last week and Columbiana (3-0) the week before.
Jensen says they will do a lot of things on offense out of a lot of
formations. “They have some
skilled guys on offense. They
have a four year starter at quarterback.
They have a tailback that is a nice player.
They are pretty balanced. They
will line up in an old school “I” and run the iso and dive and line up
in empty the next play and throw it up.
On the defensive side of the ball, they are very aggressive.
They play hard, they really play hard,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Wednesday, “Again, we are just happy be playing.
They are very similar in size to us, enrollment, so we are excited
about that. Our kids are excited
to be playing in the second season. We
will be prepared and we hope to have some success on Friday.”
Jensen says that the Tigers are not as good as the cream of the crop
in the “N10” but they are sill going to be a challenge for them.
“Our league is really, really tough, so honestly, they are not at
the top with the four top in our league.
They are not Mohawk, they are not Wynford, they are not Crawford and
they are not Carey. So, they are
not those, but they still play hard and they still do a lot of things.
There are a lot of unknowns, which is kind of good.
They don’t know a lot about us and we don’t know a lot about
them. We will see where the
chips fall,” said Jensen.
Published 10/08/20
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday
“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on
Saturday
Buckeye
Central Must Rebound
After breaking a long losing streak two weeks ago, Buckeye Central
took a couple steps back and did not play well in loss last week to Colonel
Crawford. They must get it back
headed in the right direction as they play Mohawk on Friday night in a
Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.
Crawford scored four times in the first quarter and went on to
demolish the Bucks (56-8) last week.
Coach Chad Jensen says it was just not a good effort by them.
“Crawford is a very good team, but we didn’t play very well and
our kids recognize that. We as
coaches understand that. We
didn’t help ourselves by turning the ball over early.
You can’t do that with a really good football team.
We did not do ourselves any favors.
We played, honestly, very poorly.
So, that has been our challenge this week to improve from that,” he
said.
Jensen says they didn’t do a very good job as a staff getting the
players ready and the players didn’t play well.
“We had the big win against Bucyrus and frankly last week we had a
poor week of practice and we didn’t play well in the game.
Again, as coaches we take that responsibility and we accept that
responsibility. So, this week we
have really challenged our kids. We
didn’t play well, we all know it, so what do we have to do to get better
and that is going to be the challenge for our kids this week and we will see
how they respond,” Jensen said.
Buckeye Central (1-4,1-4) hosts Mohawk (3-2,3-2) on Friday night.
The Warriors belted Bucyrus (64-7) last week.
Mohawk is second in the “N10” in total defense so far this season
and Jensen says this is a very athletic team they are facing.
“Our league is loaded and Mohawk is a really good team and they are
very athletic. They are very
quick. They are not real big.
I think their biggest kid is 225, so that are not real big,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They are athletic and on
defense they really flow to the ball well and are aggressive.
On offense, they run the ball well and are able to throw with the
quarterback. They just do things
well. They are very well coached
and they are just fundamentally sound and that is going to be a challenge
for us.”
Published 9/30/20
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday
“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on
Saturday
Buckeye
Central Must Keep Ball
Buckeye Central won last week for the first time since the 2016
season in breaking a 35-game losing streak, but their challenge is going to
be much tougher this week as they travel to Colonel Crawford to meet the
first place Eagles in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference games.
After coming close the week before against Upper Sandusky, the Bucks
ran for more than 400 yards as a team and hammered Bucyrus (54-10) in a
conference game last Friday.
Coach Chad Jensen says there were a lot of smiles after the game last
week, but they still have to move forward.
“I think the kids gained a lot of confidence last week.
The hard work that they put in was realized.
I think that is the biggest thing, they worked hard and they were
rewarded. We have tried to
stress to them all week that this is another week and Crawford is a very
good football team and we have to be ready to go,” he said.
Colonel Crawford (4-0,4-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the small school division, got a score from Cade Hamilton
with 57 seconds remaining to beat Mohawk (20-14) last Friday and stay a game
in front of Wynford and Carey in the “N10” standings.
Jensen says the Eagles are physical and they are athletic in the
skilled positions. “They are
really physical on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively.
They just have a lot of athletes.
They flow to the ball well on defense.
They attack on offense. They
have the best running back in the league in Tristian Cross and they have a
lot of weapons,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They
are very good on the offensive line. They
want to run the football right at you and they can throw it as well.
They are just very balanced and very athletic and talented.”
In order to stay in this game, Jensen says they can’t get behind,
and they have to control the clock with their running game.
“Our philosophy is the same every game.
We want to take time off the clock.
We want the opposing team’s offense off the field.
That is always our philosophy it doesn’t matter who we play.
That is going to be the key for us.
We have to finish drives and get first downs and keep their offense
off the field and that is going to be the key to our success every week.
We have to match their physical play and see what happens,” said
Jensen.
Published 9/25/20
@ Swankonsports.com
Check our scoreboard for updates
Every five minutes starting at kickoff at
Buckeye
Central Committed to Getting a Win
Either Buckeye Central or Bucyrus will get their first win of the
season on Friday night as the Bucks host the Redmen in a Northern 10
Athletic Conference game.
Last week, Upper Sandusky scored twice in the fourth quarter to beat
the Bucks (26-18) in a conference game.
Coach Chad Jensen says they still aren’t doing the things necessary
to get a win. “Our kids played
really hard. We talk about being
competitive and giving ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter.
We had a lead in the fourth quarter and Upper just made some plays
and did what they had to do, but our kids played really hard.
We understand that we are not where we want to be yet.
We are not satisfied just competing and the kids understand that, so
that is going to be our mindset this week,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central has lost 36 in row dating back to 2016.
Jensen believes the players understand what they have to do break
that streak. “As each game
mounts we want to get that win. The
kids are working really hard to get it and the coaches are working really
hard to get it and everybody is in that same direction, but we just kind of
take it one day at a time and prepare. We
talked to our kids to win you have to prepare and you have to execute and
you have to pay attention to the details.
That is one thing that we stressed this week is the details.
We played well enough to win last week, but there were a few things
we didn’t accomplish. It was
because of minor details, little things, that we have to improve on,” he
said.
Bucyrus (0-3,0-3) was hammered by Carey (69-0) last week on the heels
of losses to Seneca East (42-0) and Wynford (54-6) this season.
Jensen says they have played a hellish schedule so far and the Redmen
have some guys that can make plays. “First
of all, they have played three really good teams.
They have played Wynford and Seneca East and Carey.
I think that gets overlooked. I
think you look at them and they have struggled a little bit offensively and
they have struggled defensively stopping people and they have struggled
because the three teams they have played are really good.
I think that has to be taken into account.
Plus, they have some skilled kids, some athletic kids,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “You look at them on film and they have
kids that can catch the ball on offense and the on defense they have
linebackers that flow well and run well to the ball and are aggressive.
So, we have to play our best and we respect them and we know they are
going to come into our place ready to play.
We have to do what we said we were going to do in practice, pay
attention to details, improvement, and do those things to be successful.”
Published 9/15/20
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday
“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on
Saturday
Buckeye Central in Good Matchup with Upper
Buckeye Central has not won a football game since 2016, but this week might be the time for the Bucks as they play at Upper Sandusky against the Rams in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.
It has been a tough first two weeks for the Bucks as they lost to two of the better teams in the conference in Seneca East (35-16) and Wynford (46-8) last Friday night.
Coach Chad Jensen says they learned a lot about themselves and what they need to do to win. “We definitely learned a lot. Our league is tough, anybody that covers us knows that. I think this will prepare us down the road. We’ve played two great programs in Seneca East and Wynford and we were able to do some things last week that I was happy about against a very good team. They beat us pretty good, but we did some positive things and so we were able to build on that. I think that playing that good competition will definitely help us moving forward,” said Jensen.
Upper Sandusky has had similar results the first two weeks in losing (42-0) to Mohawk and (54-19) to Colonel Crawford so far.
Jensen says the Rams have a high number plays and some guys with skill. He says the Bucks can matchup. “They have a lot of kids, they have a lot of athletic kids. I think they are in a similar situation that we are where they played two really good football teams, just like we did. Their kids are going to be searching for that first win and so are we. We feel like it will be a good matchup for us. They definitely have a lot of weapons, but I think our kids are going to be ready to go and I think there are some things we can do,” he said.
Jensen outlines a couple keys to the Bucks first win since Hugh Jackson was in his first year as the Browns coach. “We have got to be able to run the ball. That is always our M.O., we have to be able to run the football. I think there are going to be opportunities for us to do that. We have to stop the big play. That has really hurt us on defense against Seneca East and Wynford. We have been able to stop them from having long drives and we would just give up a big play were we would have some breakdowns and not tackle well or just be outflanked with just great speed,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday night, “That has been a little bit of a problem. For this week for us, we have to be able to run the ball and get first downs and on defense stop the big play. They have a quarterback that can throw a little bit and a guy that can catch it. If we stop the big play and run the football, I think we can be in it at the end.”
Published 9/07/20
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday
“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on Saturday
Buckeye Central Must Have Better Start
Buckeye Central faces one their traditional rivals this week as they travel to Wynford to meet the Royals in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
Last week, Seneca East, who shared the “N10” title last year with Wynford, hammered the Bucks (35-16) in a conference game.
Coach Chad Jensen says they just didn’t get off to a very good start and it cost them. “We didn’t play very well at the beginning of the game. I think we were real excited about playing and early on we kind of got back to some things and some bad habits. Just didn’t do things that we should have done to stop them. We got some stops and we did okay. At halftime, we made some adjustments, we talked and settled our kids down and said we have to do some other things and in the second half I thought we played really well. I thought we competed, we did a lot of good things, we got some stops. We moved the ball better on offense and I think that will help us moving forward with that improvement,” said Jensen.
Wynford on the other hand destroyed Bucyrus (54-6) to win the Copper Kettle for the 23 rd straight time.
Jensen says the Royals, who have won every “N10” football title but one, are again very talented. He says his kids are always inspired to play the Royals. “Wynford is really good. They are very talented. They have got athletes all over the field. They are obviously very well coached with coach (Gabe) Helbert and his veteran staff. Our kids are very familiar with them and what they are going to do. Our kids are always excited about playing Wynford. So, we are going to go over there and give it our best shot,” he said.
Buckeye is must run the ball better than they did last week. They only had 69 yards rushing against Seneca East. Jensen says they want to keep the ball out of the hands of the explosive Wynford offense. “There is no doubt about it and that is how we approach every game. We try and keep the ball out of the offense’s hands. We have to get some first downs, run the football, run some clock. With Wynford, listen, they are talented, and when they get off to a quick start they just pile on the points. They got a pick 6 against Bucyrus on the first play of the game, so right away they are up 7-0 and then they get stops and they score quick in their big play offense and they have the best quarterback in the “N10” in Dustin Brady and they have some talented receivers and a running back with Cody Taylor,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “They are really good on defense also. So, the big thing for us is to just limit that big play, make them drive it on us. Seneca East wasn’t really able to put huge drives on us it was just the big play here and there, so we really have to try stop the big play.”
Published 9/01/20
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday
“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on Saturday
Buckeye Central is Deeper
Buckeye Central kicks off the 2020 season at home in New Washington on Friday night by hosing Seneca East in the “N10” in the “Battle for the Paddle” game.
Coach Chad Jensen says his kids are excited to get on the field. “The kids have been excited. Then it got a little bit better last week. We were able to scrimmage and play somebody else. Their hard work is going to be rewarded. We are going to get a chance to play and the kids are excited about that. It has been a long August, it’s been a long month, it’s been a long summer, a lot of uncertainty, but the kids are excited about playing on Friday,” said Jensen.
Jensen says in order to be competitive this year they want to be able to run the football and control that point of attack. “This biggest thing we always want to be able to do at Buckeye Central no matter what our level of talent is we want to be able to run the football. That has always been as long as I have been an assistant before and a head coach now, we always want to be able to run the football. We take a lot of pride in our offensive line and our running backs. That is one thing we want to be able to do is run the ball,” he said.
Buckeye is coming off an (0-10) season and Jensen says to win some games this fall they need to be able to do some things in the fourth quarter when the game is on the line. “We would compete with most teams for a while. Last year, our problem was we just didn’t have any depth. By the end of the season we had 22 kids and probably played 13 or 14. This year the numbers are back up to 32. We are playing a few more kids on Friday nights. So, I hope that will help us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We talked about this with the kids the other day. We have to put together four quarters. We can’t be happy with just competing for a while because that’s what we did last year. That’s not good enough. We have to put four quarters together and that has been our focus in practice.”
Seneca East is the defending “N10” co-champion and Jensen anticipates this is going to be another very good Tiger football team. “Seneca East is a very good team. They lost a lot of kids from last year, however, they are very athletic and they return some good players as well. They are a typical Seneca East, they are athletic and they will spread you out and they are aggressive and they do a lot of good things,” he said.
Published 8/26/20
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday
“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on Saturday
More Familiarity with Buckeye Central
Buckeye Central hopes a year older means better on the football field, if there is a football season that is.
The Cincinnati Public Schools say no athletics for the first five weeks of the school year and the Wooster City Schools say that there will be no competition for their kids in any sport until October 1.
Still the OHSAA is pretty much silent when it comes to the football season other than to tell schools to do what they have been doing, whatever that is.
Buckeye Central coach Chad Jensen says his kids are wondering about their future. “That was one of the concerns the first day of practice. A lot of our kids are excited about playing, excited about getting going, but in the back of their mind is we are going to put in all this work and not be able to play. So, we have told our kids that we control what we can control. We kind of block out the noise. There are a lot of things that are being said in social media and whatnot, block that out, control what we can control and just prepare as if we are going to play. That is all we can do. That is what we have told our kids,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central was (0-10) in 2019 in Jensen’s first year as head coach, but he believes they did some things they can build on. “Wins and losses, of course, we didn’t get what we wanted, but the bottom line is the kids got better. We got better each week. We ran the ball very well and that is something we can hang our hat on. Our kids competed every game. I think anybody that we played against will tell you that. We competed for periods of time, obviously, not enough. With that being said we ended the season with 21 kids last year and we are up to 32 this year. So, I feel really good about our kids coming back and hopefully we can build on the positives from last year,” he said.
There are 11 more kids on the Buckeye Central roster this year and Jensen says the kids are familiar with what they are supposed to be doing. “We have to be better at everything. The biggest thing for us is our kids are going to be a year older. We only had four seniors last year, so all of those kids are returning. Last year was new. It was new for a new coaching staff and some new kids and frankly a lot of those kids struggled when put in different rules. So, this year they are all comfortable with the system,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Our whole staff is back. Those kids haven’t had that. The couple of years that I was gone there was a different staff every year and now in my second year as head coach we have the same staff. I think that will certainly help with just understanding the system and being comfortable and we have seen that so far. I think our experience will help us and just being a year older.”
Published 8/04/20
© Swankonsports.com
Click the listen line to hear our live shows
“Out of Bounds” 10 to midnight on Friday
“Sports Saturday” 10 AM to 1 PM on Saturday
Buckeye Central in Holding Pattern
Just like everyone else in the State of Ohio, the Buckeye Central Bucks are just hoping to be able to play baseball this season.
They will not be allowed to practice until at least April 6 and games can not start until no sooner than April 11. Of course, that is subject to change, and has changed on almost a daily basis.
Coach Chad Jensen says there is no blueprint for this. “We are in uncharted waters. This is unprecedented. This is something that is new for everybody, our kids, our coaches, our administrators, our state. It is crazy and it is something that we have never seen before and I hope I never see again. So, we will see,” he said.
Jensen says he believes if there is a baseball season that Buckeye Central has a good chance to be competitive. “All we get to go on is what we have been told. We all can speculate and I’m really not going to get into that. We have been told once school begins, we can have practice for a week and then go from there. I was really excited about our team. We have four seniors and these kids have worked really hard and I really hope that there is a season because these four kids deserve a season,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They have worked so hard in the off season and so far our practices were great. When we were able to get outside, they were even better. Our kids are excited about playing and competing. So, when I had to drop the news on them on Thursday night that we were shut down they were obviously very disappointed. There is that glimmer of hope that we hope we can play in three weeks, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it. I am not going to speculate one way or another because everybody does that. We are hoping we get to play and I think we could be in a pretty good position, but just like everybody else we just have to wait and see.”
At Buckeye Central they been looking for a glimmer of hope. They were (0-10) in football and (3-20) in boys’ basketball. Jensen hopes they get a chance to prove some things and it begins by keeping in shape. “Like Jerry Snodgrass said, we are not going to encourage our kids to go play sandlot baseball because we are trying to get social distancing and I get that. We have told our kids to do stuff on their own, throw, do core exercises, push ups, try and throw as much as they can against a wall or with their brother or sister or whatever and run and just be active. We are hoping that they can stay sharp, but I think everybody is going to be in the same boat. Hopefully, kids will maintain sharpness, but I think just like everything when you don’t practice as a team or have the ability to do things that you are used to doing. Some kids don’t have the stuff that they may need. We are just hoping that we can get a team. Honestly, I am hoping we can have a season. I have been sick to my stomach since all of this went down on Thursday night. I just feel sorry for our kids. Feel sorry for our seniors. I just hope that even if it just a couple of weeks I hope we can do something,” said Jensen.
Published 3/17/20
© Swankonsports.com
Your first Source for All Things Sports
“Out of Bounds” airs Friday 10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” airs from 10 AM to 1 PM
Listen on your PC, your phone or your vehicle audio system
For Buckeye Central its Another Regional Tournament
Buckeye Central plays in its fourth straight regional tournament in division IV as they play McDonald in a semifinal at Massillon Perry High School on Thursday night.
They have won the region once in the last three years.
They gutted out a win on Saturday night over Northern 10 Athletic Conference rival Seneca East (52-51) in a district final. They had spilt regular season games.
Coach Abram Kaple says they made some big plays in the second half. “It was a fun game. We played well for the most part, there were a couple of lapses in terms of rebounding. In the second half we made a lot of big plays and it wasn’t just one person. So, down the stretch I really liked the way we executed and locked in and got the job done,” he said.
Buckeye Central (20-5) has the kind of tournament experience not enjoyed by many teams in Ohio. “We definitely felt that was an advantage for us on Saturday. It is something we want to continue to use and look at it as an advantage. McDonald has had some recent success, but they haven’t been to the regionals since 2008 and fortunately for us we have been there four straight years and a lot of these girls have played in those games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “So, we would like to use that to our advantage in hopes that we are not nervous. We have been here, we have played in this gym. Those are things we have been focusing on. McDonald maybe in a little unfamiliar territory just in regards to the girls not playing in the regional tournament.”
McDonald (22-2) beat Berlin Center Western Reserve (51-37) to win their district title.
Kaple says they have outstanding guard play. “They have three really, really nice players. They have a set of twins, Molly and Mattie Howard, who are nice players. They can shoot it, score of the dribble, and do a little bit of everything on the offense end. Then they have a third guard in Sophia Constantine and she was honorable mention All-Ohio last year in division IV, she averages about 12 a game. Those three guards are our primary focus in limiting their opportunities and limiting them to one chance on the offensive end if a key for us,” he said.
There is a pretty big difference in terms of tournament experience here and Kaple says they hope that is an advantage. “Last week, going into the district final I got a text from Owen Dials, Nick Dials dad, he was my coach, and he texted me and he said, stick to what you know, don’t chance anything. That is absolutely true because at this point in the season we have won 20 games for a reason and we don’t need to reinvent the wheel just because we are in the regional tournament and we are playing a different opponent. We are going to stick to what we do defensively and offensively, that’s what has got us here, and hopefully that is enough to get another win on Thursday,” said Kaple.
Published 3/05/20
© Swankonsports.com
Follow the tournament
On our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comBuckeye Central Starts Quest for Fourth Straight District Title
Buckeye Central meets Lucas in a division IV district semifinal at Thursday night at Willard High School.
A win Thursday and then another win Saturday over either Seneca East or Norwalk St. Paul will lift Buckeye to a fourth consecutive district championship and regional tournament berth.
The Buckettes blew out Monroeville (51-26) in a sectional final last Saturday night at Crestview High School.
Coach Abram Kaple says it was good to get their feet wet in a tournament game. “I thought we played well Saturday night and kind of jumped out early. You can kind of sense there is a different level of intensity and focus because it is either you win or you go home and I thought we did a good job of that on Saturday and our practices have been much more focused with everybody understanding what is at stake. I feel that we are locked in and that first game was good for us to play well and build some confidence moving forward,” said Kaple.
There is quite a bit of tournament experience in the Buckeye Central roster. They have won 11 tournament games in the last three seasons.
Kaple believes that kind of experience in pressure games is a boost, especially in tightly contested games. “I think that is something that is beneficial to have in our back pocket with the three straight district championships that we have been able to win. Some of the closer games with the bigger schools that we have had over the course of this year and last year,” he told Swannkonsports.com on Tuesday, “I definitely think that is something you can lean back on. I know I have told them before in time outs, hey, we have been here, we have been in this spot, you guys can do this and compare it to something. I definitely think it is something that holds a lot going into the games this week.”
Buckeye Central (18-5) will play Lucas (20-3,) the co-champion of the Mid-Buckeye Conference on Thursday night. The Lady Cubs dispatched of New London (57-27) on Saturday night in their sectional final.
Kaple says this is a team that puts a lot of pressure on you and is very good on defense. “They are very good defensively and they are extremely physical and they are athletic and they live on pressuring the basketball. So, in order for us to have some success on Thursday night we are going to have to limit turnovers and rebound the basketball and do our best to limit them to one chance and execute and do what we want to do at the offensive end,” he said.
Published 2/26/20
© Swankonsports.com
Follow the tournament
On our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comBuckeye Has to Keep St. Paul out of Paint
Buckeye Central plays Firelands Conference tri-champion Norwalk St. Paul in a sectional semifinal in division IV at Crestview High School on Tuesday night.
Mohawk awaits the winner on Friday night.
Buckeye (3-19) beat Bucyrus (71-44) 10 days ago and has a couple of overtime losses over the last three weeks to Ridgedale (42-41) and Crestview (57-53) last week.
Coach Eric Picklesimer says they have shown marked improvement. “We have played a lot better. We have defended better. We have been able to score a little bit more. We are taking better shots. We just need that one more push to break losing by three, four points in overtime and turning those into wins,” he said.
Norwalk St. Paul (14-8) beat Plymouth (60-48) last Friday to get its piece of the Firelands Conference title.
Pickelsimer says they are very talented and take the ball to the rim aggressively. “They can attack the rim really well. The Winslow twins are probably the most physical two guards that we have seen all year. They are very quick. They want to get out an run and they do a great job of attacking the rim. So, definitely going to be a challenge,” said Picklesimer.
The Flyers have the ability to make perimeter shots. That is how they beat South Central (69-66) the first time they played this year. However, Picklesimer says their scouting report says keep the Flyers out of the lane. “If they are knocking down contested jump shots then we are making them do something they are uncomfortable with and if they are able to convert that, then good on them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Our goal is the definitely keep them out of the paint and try and limit them in transition. They do a really good job of attacking the offensive glass, so we are going to have to do an even better job of boxing out.”
Published 2/25/20
© Swankonsports.com
Follow the tournament
On our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comBuckeye Central Wants to Build on Win
Buckeye Central won for the second time this season last Saturday and they hope to take some momentum into Northern 10 Athletic Conference games against Ridgedale on Thursday and rival Colonel Crawford on Saturday.
The Bucks beat Galion (77-75) in overtime last Saturday in a non-conference game.
Coach Eric Pickelsimer says they were hungry for that win and they had to battle to get it. “Our guys battled. I think we got down seven points at one point in the fourth quarter. We called a time out and you could see it in our guy’s faces that they weren’t going to let up. They clawed and they battled. They defended really well and they just stayed after it. They were hungry. They wanted to win. They felt that they deserved to win. They had a great week of practice and it was nice to come out on top and have something to show for it,” said Pickelsimer.
Buckeye Central (2-7,1-4) plays at home against Bucyrus (0-10,0-6) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Thursday night. The Redmen lost (108-36) to conference leader Upper Sandusky last week and then fell to Northmor (64-52) on Monday.
Despite their record, Pickelsimer says the Redmen have some shooters they will need to defend. “We got to go watch them Monday night. They have five shooters on the floor at any time. They can shoot the ball well. They get out and run in transition. We have got to defend well. We have to execute defensively. Our transition defense has got to be better than the week before. Our guys understand this. We are counting on those guys to go out and execute,” he said.
On Saturday night, Buckeye heads for Colonel Crawford (8-2,6-1) and the renewal of the “Route 602” rivalry. The Eagles beat Ridgedale (50-28) in a game that was played on Wednesday night.
Pickelsimer says games against Crawford are always big ones for them. “Crawford is a good team, no doubt about it. They have good size. They are very athletic. They can shoot the ball. Our kids are well aware of them. It’s a rival because it is only about 10 minutes down the road. Our guys know their guys well. They go to the same places. They see them at the same events. Our guys are going be hungry,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Playing at Colonel Crawford is a tough place to play. Coach Sheldon does a great job of preparing his kids. We know they are going to come out and get after it. Our guys want a shot at them. You only a get a chance to play the guys at the top of your league twice a season. To compete with them at their place, we are looking at it as an opportunity.”
Published 1/09/20
© Swankonsports.com
Check out our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comBuckeye Central Faces Physical Carey
Buckeye Central plays two games on the first weekend of the new year as they play at Carey in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night and at Galion in a non-conference game on Saturday night.
Buckeye has lost the last two weeks to very good teams in Upper Sandusky (81-40) and Willard (83-41) last Saturday.
Coach Eric Picklesimer says their performance is not due to lack of effort. “Our guys have definitely been out there competing. It’s just we are going up against some monster teams here that we just don’t matchup really well with. Our kids are definitely buying into what we are doing. They are playing hard, it’s just we have find a way to get some easier buckets,” he said.
Picklesimer says they are getting good shots, they just aren’t making enough of them. “I think for the most part our kids do understand what we are trying to do offensively. It’s getting the ball to go down sometimes is what we are challenged with. We have changed a little the way we run our offense the last few weeks. We have gotten more shots than we have the first four contests. We just have to get some of those to start falling,” said Picklesimer.
Buckeye Central (1-6,1-3) is at Carey (2-3,1-1) on Friday night. The Blue Devils beat Riverdale (70-50) and lost to Liberty-Benton (52-32) last weekend.
Picklesimer says this another very good team they will be playing. “They have probably the best big guy in the “N10” and coach Young has heir guards ready to play. They are going to come out and pressure you. They run the floor. They are going to attack in transition,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “It’s a big challenge for us. Carey has always been physical. I have watched them a couple of times this year and they are a very physical team. You add into that one of the premier big guys in the league it’s a challenge for us no doubt.”
Published 1/01/20
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” airs Friday 10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” airs from 10 AM to 1 PM
Listen on your PC, your phone or your vehicle audio system
Buckeye Central Getting Better
Buckeye Central has a couple of chances to pick up its first win of the season this week with two games in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference at Mohawk on Thursday and at Seneca East on Saturday.
Coach Eric Picklesimer says they played their best game so far in losing to Wynford (63-54) last Saturday in a conference game. “We opened up against Plymouth and played really hard. We went into South Central and we were definitely outmatched because South Central has a great team. Then Saturday night we played Wynford and I thought we played them pretty well. Wynford is a good team, but we made some definite strides in that and we did a lot of things well. So, we have gotten better each week,” he said.
Picklesimer says they have some players that are still learning what it is like to be a varsity player. “We play three sophomores a lot and their defense is not quite where we want it to be yet. They are making strides, they are starting to learn. The varsity level is a lot quicker game, a lot faster and once we get them moving to the right position it makes it easier for them to defend,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “So, that is definitely something we are working on. We definitely made some great strides when it comes to boxing out last week. We have to continue getting better when it comes to giving up one shot to our opponent. If we get better defensively and limiting our opponents to one shot I think that puts us in a better position.”
Buckeye Central (0-3,0-1) is at Mohawk (1-2,0-0) on Thursday night for an “N10” contest. The Warriors lost to Hopewell-Loudon (43-29) on Saturday night. This will be their first league game.
Picklesimer says they are going to show them a lot of pressure. “Mohawk doesn’t have the horses they had last year, but that doesn’t mean they don’t come out and play you hard. I have watched them a couple of times and they get after it. They play extremely hard, they are very quick, they are very aggressive defensively. We have to handle their pressure and take care of the ball. They have some good shooters on the team and they attack the rim well. So, it is a challenge for our kids to be ready to play. That intense defense, I don’t know if we have seen that yet, we are preparing for that on Thursday night,” said Picklesimer.
Published 12/11/19
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” airs Friday 10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” airs from 10 AM to 1 PM
Listen on your PC, your phone or your vehicle audio system
Buckeye Central Must Defend Well on the Perimeter
The premier matchup on the opening night of league play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, Buckeye Central travels to Wynford to meet the Lady Royals.
Both have the talent to compete for a title this winter.
Buckeye (0-1) lost their opening game to Willard (51-33) back on November 22.
Coach Abram Kaple says they must rebound better than they did that night and they also need to find a way to make more shots. “First things first, we have to rebound the basketball better. We got outrebounded I think by 23 and you are not going to win many games, if any, doing that, so that is our first point of emphasis. The second one is probably not as easy to fix, but we have to make shots. We didn’t shoot the ball well, whether that is first game jitters. Willard is obviously is as good as they come in terms of teams that we are going to play and give credit to what they did defensively, but we are just going to have to make more shots than we did opening night,” said Kaple.
Buckeye Central and Wynford is a rivalry in all sports, but more so this year in girls’ hoops than anything else. Kaple knows what to expect. “They absolutely are and we talked about that (Monday) in practice. We told our girls with the success we have had the last three or four years, you get everybody’s best shot. Wynford feels like they are in contention to compete for the league title and they are going to be more ready to go than they normally are and we are going to have to bring our best because and that is the reality of it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “That rivalry dates back 20, 30 years, before I was even born. So, it is a big deal and we understand that and they understand that. Hopefully, we have put together a game plan for us to be successful.”
Wynford (2-1) buried Riverdale (64-30) in a non-conference game on Saturday.
Kaple says the Lady Royals have outstanding guard play on both ends of the floor. “They have depth. They have depth at the guard position. That allows them to press a good majority of the game because they have fresh legs and they can continue to sub without any drop off. They have four kids that can shoot the basketball. Anytime you have four different options to score from the perimeter, you are ahead of most teams, especially in the smaller schools. They do shoot a lot of threes from the perimeter, the guards get in transition, and they have the same type of depth to pressure you on the other side of the floor,” said Kaple.
Published 12/03/19
© Swankonsports.com
Check out our scoreboard at
www.Swankonsportshosting247.comBuckeye Central Opens With Willard
Two of the traditional powers in girls’ basketball face off on the opening night of the season Friday as Buckeye Central plays host to Willard in a non-conference game.
The Buckettes are coming off a year in which they went 22-4, were runners up in the runners-up in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and lost in the division IV regional semifinals.
Coach Abram Kaple says this preseason has been about finding some players. “We have had a nice preseason. We are learning and filling in some of the voids that we lost for last year to graduation. We had a major injury day three of practice. One of our starters tore her ACL. So, we have had some people, I guess, playing for playing time accentually. I have been pleased with the scrimmages that we have had and the growth that we have had in three weeks of the preseason so far,” he said.
Competition is always good and Kaple says they have tried to light that fire with the girls. “We have tried to really focus on that everyday in practice. We open up everyday with a new drill that basically has a winner and a loser. Competition brings out the best in people. The best you can do is try to simulate that type of energy in practice and have it carry over when the games come around and to have that competitive edge. We are always trying to win. There is something at stake,” said Kaple.
Buckeye Central hosts one of the favorites in the “SBC” Bay division in Willard, now coached again by Barry Pfahl, his second stint as their head coach. He has spent the last few seasons as an assistant for the Lady Flashes.
Kaple says he will have solid talent. “It’s a coaching change, but Barry Pfahl has been in the system for according to my knowledge basically forever. He returns a good amount of letter winners. I had the privilege of coaching some of the girls on his team in the spring on the “AAU” circuit. So, they return a lot. They are picked towards the top if not at the top of their division of the “SBC.” Cassidy Crawford is an Ashland University commit, and that kind of speaks for itself,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “So, they have a ton of talent returning and a lot of expectations. It is going to be a tough task for us on Friday night. No better way to open up the season than against somebody that is five miles away and has the same kind of tradition and success that we have at Buckeye Central.”
Willard won last year (45-44) and Kaple says he likes this kind of opener to the season. “I would rather see this than basically start with a layup. It’s a good measuring stick. We know where they stand. I hold them to really high expectations. So, for us it will be a good guide of where we stand and what you need to work on going forward. You can get a little bit from scrimmages, but until it’s the real deal you don’t really know,” he said.
Published 11/19/19
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” airs Friday 10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” airs from 10 AM to 1 PM
Listen on your PC, your phone or your vehicle audio system
Buckeye Central Ends Season With Seneca East
Buckeye Central hits the road for Seneca East and a meeting with the Northern 10 Athletic Conference co-leading Tigers on Friday night.
Buckeye lost (42-0) last week to Carey in a conference game.
They are still searching for their first win of the season, but coach Chad Jensen says there is no question they have improved a bunch this year. “There is no doubt and I am really proud of our kids. Our kids have improved so much throughout the course of the year. They don’t have a win to show for it, but the biggest compliment is when you hear other coaches from rival schools in our league talk about our kids,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Talk about how hard our kids work and how hard they play. That can’t be duplicated because that just shows our kids have earned the respect of our opponents and I think that goes a long way. I think that shows the character of our kids and they don’t quit and they play hard every game until the final whistle.”
Buckeye Central (0-9,0-6) plays at Seneca East (8-1,5-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, on Friday night in the “Battle for the Paddle.”
Jensen says Seneca East believes in what they do and they do it very well. “They have continuity in their coaching staff. They have had the same coaches for a long time and they have run the same system offensively and defensively for a long time now and you can tell. They have a lot of seniors and they have run the same system and you can tell. They are a well oiled machine on both sides of the ball. They have really nice players and that is a big factor as well, but there is continuity in what they do and they do it well,” said Jensen.
Seneca East has one of the best quarterbacks in the area in Chase Foos and Jensen says that allows them to do a lot of things well. “Offensive they run a lot of formations out of their spread offense, but they run the ball well and they have a great quarterback in Chase Foos and they throw it well. Defensively, they are just really solid. They line up right and they just play solid football,” he said.
Published 10/30/19
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” airs Friday 10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” airs from 10 AM to 1 PM
Listen on your PC, your phone or your vehicle audio system
Buckeye Central Plays Solid Carey
Buckeye Central has another tough assignment this week as they host the Carey Blue Devils in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.
They were not consistent as they needed to be last week and they lost (30-0) to Mohawk in a conference game.
Coach Chad Jensen says they just could not get any momentum established. “That is biggest thing for us is maintaining drives on offense. Last week, we played really well in the first half. It was 8-0 at halftime. Then on the first drive for Mohawk in the second half we got a stop and they punted and we were on our own 40. So, we had good field position and then we turned the ball over and that gave them a little bit of momentum and it was tough for us to recover from that,” he said.
The Bucks have lost their last 30 games. Jensen says they are not thinking about next year, but about winning this fall. “We have talked about every week we prepare to win. We prepare with what we have to do to be successful offensively and defensively. The kids deserve to earn that victory, but our league is really tough. Our kids have gotten better every week. Our kids have put us in position to be competitive and that is one of the things we have been talking about. We do have to get over that hump and being competitive is fine, but it is not the ultimate goal, the goal is to win. We are really working hard and all of our kids are striving to get our seniors out on a winning note,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central (0-8,0-5) hosts Carey (3-5,3-2) on Friday night in New Washington. Carey lost (42-10) to Wynford last week.
Jensen says the Blue Devils will do a lot of different things on offense. “It is a typical Carey team, they are very physical. One defense, they have very good linebackers, they flow to the ball well. They are similar to several teams we have played already this year. They are quick, they are aggressive, their line is very solid as well. On offense, their quarterback is a dual threat and he leads them in rushing an has thrown for almost 1,000 yards, so their quarterback is a very good athlete and a very good player for them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They will line up in their stack “I” and run it right at you or they will line up in a spread look and throw it or run out of that. They give us different fronts on defense and on offense they will ram I down your throat or they will throw it. They are really balanced, which is tough to prepare for.”
Published 10/23/19
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” airs Friday 10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” airs from 10 AM to 1 PM
Listen on your PC, your phone or your vehicle audio system
Buckeye’s Assignment is to Stop the Run
Buckeye Central, still in search of that first win, heads for Mohawk for a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
Last week, it was a good start to the game, but the Bucks lost to rival Colonel Crawford (41-12) in a conference game.
Coach Chad Jensen says they were in the game for most of the way. “We played really well right out of the shoot. We took the ball and went right down and scored. Then Crawford scored a couple of touchdowns in the first, but then we shut them out in the second. Then we kind of shot ourselves in the foot in the red zone and couldn’t score, but it’s 13-6 at the half. Then they scored right away in the third quarter, but then we went down and scored. It’s 27-12 after three. We are in a situation where we are right there. In the fourth quarter they get a couple big plays and we just kind of ran out of gas with out limited numbers,” said Jensen.
Jensen says despite not winning any games this year, there has been no quit in his kids. “Our kids played really, really hard. We are in the ballgame, they competed and against a good football team. So, we are definitely making improvements,” he said.
Buckeye Central (0-7,0-4) will be at Mohawk (4-3,2-2) on Friday night. The Warriors won in dramatic fashion last week when they scored in the final 30 seconds to beat Bucyrus (20-13) in a conference game.
Jensen says Mohawk is cut in the same way that a lot of the teams they have played this season. “Mohawk is very similar to a lot of teams we have seen. They are similar to Crawford and Bucyrus in that they want to run the football. Up front they are really good on defense. Their linebackers flow really well, like Bucyrus. Offensively, they want to run the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Their quarterback can run the ball, their back can run the ball and then they will catch you sleeping and they will try and go long on you. They have the Heyman kid out there that is a nice receiver. They want to run the ball, but they can throw it too. It’s a challenge for us, but our league is really tough. Everybody we have played has prepared us, so we hope to be prepared for them.”
Published 10/16/19
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” airs Friday 10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” airs from 10 AM to 1 PM
Listen on your PC, your phone or your vehicle audio system
Bucks Have to be at the Top of their Game
Buckeye Central is still looking for its first win of the season and plays at home against Colonel Crawford in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night in New Washington.
After coming within a score of beating Upper Sandusky the week before, the Bucks were blasted (53-6) by Bucyrus last week in conference action.
Coach Chad Jensen says they just got beat up physically by the Redmen. “We did not match Bucyrus’s intensity or their physicalness. We just got our physicaled. We had improved against Upper and we didn’t play like that against Bucyrus. Bucyrus has a lot to do with it. They are really good on defense and they really caused us a lot of problems. They have a lot of athletes on offense. Bucyrus has a lot to do with it, but we did not play with the same intensity as we did the week before. We talked to our kids that we have to improve on that this week,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central (0-6,0-3) entertains Colonel Crawford (3-3,1-2) in a “N10” game on Friday night in the “602” rivalry. Crawford lost their second in a row last week, losing to Mohawk (32-26) in a conference game.
Jensen says they must match the Eagles physicality or it is going to be a long night. “Crawford is a very good team. They run the ball very well. On defense, they are physical. They get after it. That is what we are going to have to do. We are going to have to match their physicality if we are going to have a chance to win that ballgame. We are going to have to stop their run and we are going to have to run the ball. We have to really battle their toughness,” he said.
Jensen says to win games they have to be able to win more of those one on one battles. “That is one of our focuses this week to just having the mentality that you are better than your opponent. You are better than the guy across from you and having that mentality. That has been one of our focuses this week is having the confidence. Our kids understand that if we do things right we can compete with anybody. It is just a matter of us doing that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have a lot of respect for Colonel Crawford, we have a lot of respect for the coaching staff and their kids, coach Teglovic does a great job. We know we are going to have to play our best.”
Published 10/08/19
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” airs Friday 10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” airs from 10 AM to 1 PM
Listen on your PC, your phone or your vehicle audio system
Buckeye Central Making Strides
Buckeye Central is on the verge of getting there.
They have lost 27 in a row dating back to the 2016 season, but last week was clearly their best game of the season so far.
They did lose in the end (34-26) to Upper Sandusky in an “N10” game.
Coach Chad Jensen says they could almost taste it. “It was definitely our best performance overall, no doubt about it. We had a good week of practice last week and the kids did a great job of implementing the game plan. We got down early. It was 27-6 at half, but then we scratched and clawed our way back within a score a couple of times. We had 500 yards total offense and were just a play or two away from getting it done. So, we just need to build on that and improve for this week,” said Jensen.
Now, Jensen says he thinks the kids believe more in what they are doing and are gaining confidence. “We talked about that with our kids (Monday) when we went over the scouting report about Bucyrus. We talked about, hey, you guys know now that we can compete with everybody, right? And they all nodded,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I think coming into last week I think they knew we were getting better, but there is always that in the back of their mind can we compete with everybody? I think putting division four Upper on the ropes like we did I think no doubt showed our kids that we can compete against anybody as long as we do the right things and have great weeks of practice.”
Buckeye Central (0-5,0-2) is at Bucyrus (2-3,1-1) on Friday night in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game. Bucyrus won last week in beating Carey (16-9) in a conference game.
Ironically, it was Bucyrus that is the last team Buckeye beat in a football game. The Bucks won (41-40) on October 14, 2016.
Jensen says the Redmen have some good players on both sides of the ball this year. “Bucyrus has a real nice win against Carey and they are really solid on defense. They have an excellent nose guard in Micah Graves, he is a really good football player. They have some really nice linebackers. Their linebackers all run to the ball well, flow well. Offensively, they have some nice players. A quarterback in Ben Siebert is a nice player. He has got guys he can throw to and they run the ball well and they are going to be a challenge for us. I think our kids are going to be ready to go and we will give it our best shot,” he said.
Published 10/01/19
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” airs Friday 10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” airs from 10 AM to 1 PM
Listen on your PC, your phone or your vehicle audio system
Buckeye Has to Contain Vent
Buckeye Central is at home for Upper Sandusky in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
The Bucks have not won a football game since 2016.
Last week, Wynford beat them (57-0) in their conference opener.
Coach Chad Jensen says they took the game plan to heart, but Wynford just made too many big plays. “They hit some big plays on us. We tried to keep the ball away from their offense and we did that for most part. They were able to hit some big plays and because of that they were able to score often,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central (0-4,0-1) hosts Upper Sandusky (1-3,0-1) on Friday. The Rams had a second half lead, but lost (46-28) to Colonel Crawford last week in conference action.
Jensen says Upper Sandusky quarterback Mason Vent is a special player. “Their number one threat is their quarterback Mason Vent. He is the straw that stirs the drink. Really everything runs through him, throwing it, running it, he is just a very, very good athlete. We have to do everything we can to stop him,” he said.
Jensen adds they need the mentality defensively of being able to move on to the next play. “He is going to make some plays. We just want to do the best we can to limit some of those. We have definitely talked about that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I said, boys, he is going to break a few, he will break contain a couple times, we just have to be cognizant of the fact that we have to try and do our best to keep him in the pocket and really be aware of that. Our kids definitely know what we have to do.”
Published 9/27/19
© Swankonsports.com
Check out our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comUpdated every five minutes on Friday night
Execution Needs Improved for Buckeye Central
Buckeye Central plays on the road against longtime Crawford County rival Wynford as the Bucks open play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night.
Plymouth beat the Bucks (32-0) last Friday in a game shortened to two quarters by dangerous weather.
Coach Chad Jensen says his players wanted more time to prove what they can do. “They were super disappointed. They wanted to play more and I hated to tell them and their faces just dropped. They wanted to go out, knew we didn’t play real well and wanted to have another opportunity to play better, but we wouldn’t have started the game until midnight and we just decided it was best not to do it. That just makes them more hungry for this week and to get better and get ready for a very good Wynford team,” said Jensen.
Buckeye has scored only once this season and Jensen says it boils down to a lack of execution. “We just need to clean up things. We need to follow the game plan. We need to stick to what we are going to do against Wynford’s offense on the defensive side, make sure we are lined up correctly. Make sure we do fundamental things correct. The on the other side make sure we block guys correctly and we hit the hole properly. Just do little things that can turn into a negative play when maybe it could be a five yard play. We just have to work on that stuff,” he said.
Buckeye Central (0-3,0-0) is at Wynford (1-2,0-0) on Friday night. There was a time that Buckeye Central played home games on Wynford’s field. The Royals are coming off a loss (22-14) to a pretty good Allen East team.
Jensen says the Royals are very good on both sides of the ball. “Don’t be fooled by their record. They are a very, very good football team. On the defensive side of the ball they have excellent ends, excellent linebackers, just really solid, and fly to the ball. It is a typical Wynford team. Very, Very well coached and very disciplined,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “On the offensive side they are balanced. They can sling it if they want and they can line up and run it at you. They want to do a lot of different things and a lot of different formations on offense. They do them all well. The teams they have played have been excellent football teams with Liberty-Benton and Allen East and Tiffin Calvert. So, they are a very good football team and we are going to have to play our best.”
Published 9/17/19
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” airs Friday 10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” airs from 10 AM to 1 PM
Listen on your PC, your phone or your vehicle audio system
Buckeye Central Faces Plymouth’s Double Wing
Buckeye Central is a home for Plymouth in a non-conference game on Friday night and will be faced will stopping a team averaging more than 300 yards on the ground.
Last week, despite a (41-7) loss to Dalton, coach Chad Jensen thought they improved as a team. “We definitely got better in playing a great program like Dalton. We got the ball right out of the shoot. A ten minute drive, 16 plays, shot ourselves in the foot, we couldn’t punch it in, but our plan was the keep it away from them and we did that,” he told Swankonsports.com, “It was 21-0 at half. Easily it could have been 14-0 at half. We had a turnover on a punt return that gave them a short field and they punched it in. So, our kids played well against a very good opponent. The score does not really tell the whole story, that’s for sure.”
Plymouth (2-0) belted Willard (46-12) last week and ran for 310 yards with their double tight, double wing offense.
Jensen says there is no doubt what they want to do. “There goal is line up foot to foot and run between the tackles and pound us and be physical. That’s their “M.O,” that’s what they want to do and they are good at it. For us to be competitive and to have a chance in the ballgame we have to stop that,” he said.
On defense, it really boils down to assignment football and Jensen says if you don’t do what you are supposed to do it is going to be a big play for the Big Red. “Our linebackers have to read their keys and we have to pay attention to detail and every player has to do his responsibility and that is the key against this type of offense. If everybody does his responsibility then you can be successful, but if you don’t that is usually when a team like Plymouth can take advantage of that,” said Jensen.
Published 9/12/19
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” airs Friday 10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” airs from 10 AM to 1 PM
Listen on your PC, your phone or your vehicle audio system
Buckeye Central Focused on Improvement
Buckeye Central faces its first road test of the season on Friday night as the Bucks head for Dalton to play the Bulldogs of the Wayne County Athletic League in a non-conference game.
Last Friday, they lost (12-0) to Crestline in their opener to the season.
Coach Chad Jensen says they gave up too many big plays and had a critical turnover at their end of the field. “We have to prevent the big play. Crestline scored on the first play of the game and we had four missed tackles. That was the biggest problem there. We had one turnover in the game against Crestline and they turned that into points,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We gave them a short field and they turned that into points. The biggest things for us this week is we have to stop the big play, can’t turn the ball over, and we have to keep the ball away from Dalton’s offense.”
Dalton outscored Massillon Tuslaw (48-21) in game one for the Bulldogs last Friday.
Jensen says this is a team that swings for the fences when they have the ball. “They are a big play offense. They scored 48 points and they only had seven first downs, so they are a big play offense. We really have to stop that. To do that we just want to keep the ball out of their hands the best we can and stop the big play,” he said.
It is likely that Dalton is a better team than is Crestline, so the Bucks are going to have to be better. However, Jensen says this week is really about them. “It’s little things for us. We just want to improve every day. We made some corrections this week with the mistakes we made in the Crestline game. We just want to continue to improve. I think there are some things we can do against Dalton, but we know they are a very good football team. We just need to be ready to play and improve from last week,” said Jensen.
Published 9/05/19
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” airs Friday 10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” airs from 10 AM to 1 PM
Listen on your PC, your phone or your vehicle audio system
Buckeye Central Wants Win
Buckeye Central carries a 22 game losing streak into the 2019 football season.
Their last win came on October 14, 2016 against Bucyrus (41-40) in an “N10” game. They have not had a winning season since they went to the state finals in 2011.
They host Crestline on Friday night to open the season.
Longtime baseball coach and former football assistant Chad Jensen has taken over the head coaching position at Buckeye and he says their kids are really excited about the Friday night lights. “The kids have worked really hard. We have had a great practice time here. We have improved each of our scrimmages. The kids are really excited about playing week one. They are tied of doing the practice thing and now they are ready to do it for real. Our kids are really fired up to play and they are excited for the challenge on Friday,” said Jensen.
Yes, it is the opener and there will be some nervousness, but Jensen says that can be turned into a good thing. “Our kids are going to have some butterflies, but I think it will be a good kind of nervous. I think it will keep them sharp and focused. I think it is good to be a little bit nervous because then you are focused on what you need to accomplish. I think it will be more about excitement. They are really excited about playing and I can see that,” he said.
Crestline has a new coach too in Johnny King and Jensen says the Bulldogs have some kids that can make plays. “They have serval really nice players. They have a running back Jaden Stewart, who is a really nice player. They have a quarterback in Logan Ronk, who is a nice runner. They have some really solid linemen. They have some speed at receiver and their other running back slot. So, they have some kids that aren’t too bad on the offensive side. On the defensive side, same thing,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They are like us, most of their kids play both ways. The Stewart kid is their middle linebacker. They have a nice line with Ethan Clark there in the middle of their line. Ronk is one of the corners. So, they have some nice athletes and kids we have to be prepared for. We will be ready to play. We definitely respect them. We know they will be ready to play too.”
Jensen says they are ready to win some football games, but they have to execute. “Our kids have not had win in a long time and we have been talking about that basically since day one. All of our kids haven’t experienced victory. They want to do what it takes. The bottom line is we can’t just show up, because Crestline is going to come and give us their best effort, there is no question about it. Coach King is going to have his kids ready to play and we just have to be able to step up to that challenge. It is not going to be easy for us and we have to put our best foot forward,” said Jensen.
Published 8/27/19
© Swankonsports.com
You can click on our listen line anytime for the latest in local sports
http://station.voscast.com/4d7034c15733f/Bucks Benefiting From Extra Time
There is a lot of new associated with the Buckeye Central Bucks football team this year and they are one squad that might benefit from the extra week in the preseason that the schedule allows in 2019.
Chad Jensen returns to the football sidelines after a four year absence. He’s the head coach this season. He did spend many years as an assistant for the Bucks and was part of staffs that went to the state finals on two occasions.
He says he has been impressed with how the kids have worked over the first almost two weeks of the preseason. “Well, our kids have really been working hard. We had a great summer and since practice has started our kids have really busted their tails every day and have really worked hard and have really done all that we have asked them to do. We really couldn’t be more pleased with the efforts and the improvement each day of our kids,” said Jensen.
Jensen and the rest of the coaches have been busy making some changes to the Bucks offense and defense and Jensen says the players are still working on catching up. “We have to be better at everything, but we have shown steady improvement each day. We have a new coaching staff, new terminology, a new way of doing things, new everything. The kids haven’t had us as coaches. When I coached as an assistant these kids were eighth graders. They haven’t had our staff coach them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “The biggest thing every day is them getting used to our terminology and how we do things. There isn’t just one thing we have to be better at, we just have to continue to improve each day with everything really. Hopefully, that will show on Friday nights.”
The way the schedule has worked this year there is an extra week of time to prepare in the preseason and Jensen says that probably helps them more than most teams. “Having a couple of extra days has helped us just put in everything and sharpen up everything we have done and want to do. There is no question about it that those extra days help us. With school starting next week our two a days are ending soon, so every little bit of extra time we can get is beneficial,” he said.
Published 8/14/19
© Swankonsports.com
“Out of Bounds” airs Friday 10 to midnight
“Sports Saturday” airs from 10 AM to 1 PM
Listen on your PC, your phone or your vehicle audio system
Mohawk Blanks Buckeye Central in District Semis
Cole Widmer threw a shutout and the Mohawk Warriors scored three times in the fifth inning and they beat Buckeye Central (4-0) in a division four district semifinal played at Heise Park in Galion on Wednesday afternoon.
Mohawk (19-6) will play Colonel Crawford (21-7) on Friday at Galion for a district title. The Eagles beat Plymouth (6-3) in the second game on Wednesday.
Widmer retired 13 of the last 15 Bucks he faced and coach Eric Hoover says he got better as the game went on. “He pitched an outstanding game. He wasn’t using his curveball a lot early the first time threw the lineup, he actually got hit by a line drive (Tuesday.) He was feeding the machine and it snuck right by the machine and right by the “L” screen and hit him right in the rib cage. It took him a while to get loose where he could really get that curveball going, but when he did it worked out great,” said Hoover after the game.
Widmer allowed four hits and struck out 10.
Mohawk took a (1-0) lead in the bottom of the first on a double by Trey Combs and a bloop single to center by catcher Tanner Osborne.
They then put up three big runs in the bottom of the fifth when they got bunt hits from Jesse Leeth and Landen Snyer and both eventually scored on wild pitches. They got a third run after Combs’ second double and he would score on an infield error.
Hoover says they were able to put some pressure on the Bucks in that inning. “We have some speed there at the bottom of the lineup. They did a good job of getting them in play and make them have to make some tough plays and put some pressure on them. We put the ball in play and used our speed. We did a good job of putting the ball in play and making them make some tough plays, put some pressure on them,” said Hoover.
Buckeye Central coach Chad Jensen says they made too many mistakes, but he credits his kids for their tremendous effort. “It was just one of those things. We told our kids that the team that makes the least mistakes is going to win. Our kids played really, really hard and gave everything they had. That’s what happens. They are a good team and there is a reason why they have won 19 games,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game on Wednesday, “Our league, the Northern 10, is tough as nails and it prepared us to be here. They are a great team. Our kids didn’t quit. They battled right to the last out and I am proud of our kids.”
Brady Bigin struck out 12 and gave up only one earned run in getting the loss.
Jensen says he gave them a chance, like he always does. “That is how he has pitched all year. He has battled. He has had some tough luck losses all year. You saw why he was our ace. Sometimes you just get a little bad luck. He is an outstanding kid and pitcher,” he said.
Combs have two of the Warriors six hits off Biglin, and their only extra base hits. Hoover says he has worked hard to get in a grove at the plate. “He was hot, he was on (Wednesday.) He has been flaring the ball a little bit lately. He has put some extra time in outside of practice and really worked on driving the ball and it paid off right from the beginning. From the his first at bat he hit it hard every time,” he said.
Published 5/23/19
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Sports Saturday” airs live every week from 10 AM to 1 PM
Click on the listen line at the top of the page for audio
Buckeye Central Wins Sectional
Buckeye Central earned its first sectional baseball title in seven years on Thursday as the beat New Riegel (5-3) on the road to advance to the division four district tournament next week.
They will play Mohawk, who beat Mansfield St. Peter’s (10-0) on Thursday.
Buckeye scored twice in the second, once in the third and twice more in the fourth to take a (5-0) lead and coach Chad Jensen says that early offense was a bonus. “That was the key. We really felt that we could attack their pitcher Cole Noftz. If we stayed disciplined that he would throw some balls and we were able to do that, laid off the high ones and got in good hitter’s counts and were really able to get some hits early. We had great execution and were able to move some runners around with timely bunts and that kind of thing. So, I was really proud of our kid’s execution in getting those five runs early, which we needed all of them,” said Jensen.
Having good at bats and discipline at the plate is something they have been working on, according to Jensen. “That has been a process for us all year. Our kids are so excited, they want to do well, but a lot of times they will swing at bad pitches. We have a lot of kids that can put the bat on the ball, but a lot of times they are going to hit the pitcher’s pitch instead of hitting their pitch. We have really worked on that and we really executed that (Thursday) night. I mean our kids laid off the high stuff and were able to get in some hitter’s counts. We need to do that to continue forward,” he said.
Brady Biglin, Alex Kanney and Brady Kerschner all had two hits for the Bucks, ho had eight as a team.
Matt Summers went six innings for Buckeye and gave up nine hits, but no earned runs against New Riegel. Jensen says he made some clutch pitches. “Matt was outstanding. He gives up some hits, there is no question about it, but I tell you what when he gets runners on, he really bears down and makes some great pitches. He made some great pitches (Thursday) night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “He only struck out two, but he had them off balance all day long and he got a lot of pop ups and some ground balls. They started to time him up in the sixth a little bit and we had a couple of errors there, but they blooped a couple in and hit a couple hard. We went to our freshman Kaiden Vaughn in the seventh to get the save for him.”
Of course, Buckeye Central (9-16) and Mohawk (15-6) played twice during the regular season. It was way back in early April and the Warriors won (3-2) and (16-2) in those games.
Jensen says there won’t be any secrets. “We know Mohawk being in the league. We are familiar with their players. They are familiar with ours. It is going to be a good ballgame. There are no secrets, we really know each other well and our kids know their kids and their kids know ours. It is going to be a great ballgame our kids are really excited to be playing. It’s our first sectional since 2012. We have been close a lot of times, but couldn’t quite get over that hump. We are looking forward to playing Mohawk, they are a great team and we are looking forward to a challenge,” said Jensen.
Published 5/17/19
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Check out our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comFor all of your tournament scores
Buckeye Trims Crestline in Tournament Opener
Brady Biglin scattered four hits and struck out 11 as Buckeye Central beat Crestline (3-2) in a first round tournament game in division four on Tuesday evening in New Washington.
Buckeye took a (3-0) lead with two in the third and one in the fourth, but the Bulldogs came back to get single tallies in the fifth and sixth.
Coach Chad Jensen says they were able to outlast the Bulldogs. “Crestline is a scrappy team and they are never out of it. They took advantage of a couple of walks and an error here and there and made it interesting. Our senior ace Brady Biglin, he really battles. Even when he walked a couple of guys he really battled and pulled it out for us. That is what you expect out of your senior,” he said.
Buckeye took the lead on a RBI single by Alex Kanney, who then scored on a wild pitch. It became (3-0) on Brady Kerschner bunt single in the fourth.
Jensen says Biglin was able to make that stand up for the win. “The four he walked were in one inning. He just had an inning there where he was just missing. He was just barely missing, but he battled and he hung in there. Other than that, he was lights out. He was really dominating,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Tuesday, “That is what you want in a tournament game. He has been like that all year. He has gotten some bad luck. We have lost a lot of close ballgames with a lot of unearned runs with our young team. He has never said a word. He battles every game, so that is what we expect out of him.”
Crestline scored on a wild pitch in the fifth and on a couple Buckeye errors in the sixth.
The Bucks only got four hits themselves, but Jensen says they did enough on offense to get the win. “We were able to get some base runners and move them around with wild pitches or bunts or whatever, so we were able to do some things and just take advantage of our base runners. I think we were able to do that every inning, but one. We have gotten a lot better at situational hitting and understanding what we have to do. Hopefully we can continue that on Thursday,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central (9-16) plays at New Riegel (10-8) on Thursday in a sectional championship game.
Published 5/15/19
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Check out our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comFor all of your tournament finals
Buckeye Rallies to Beat Ridgedale
Buckeye Central scored four times in the sixth inning and they rallied to beat Ridgedale (6-5) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Thursday evening.
After losing (13-3) to league leading Upper Sandusky on Wednesday coach Chad Jensen says the Bucks showed some heart to rally and win like they did against Ridgedale. “We were down 5-2 and really played pretty well though. They had scored a couple of runs in the prior inning on a wild pitch and then we threw it away and they scored two on that. So, we were down and we could have easily packed it in,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We didn’t play very well yesterday against Upper, so we had to comeback and I was really proud of our kids. We put of a four spot on them and we really hit the ball well and knocked out their number one pitcher Sam Leech and then hung on to win. Our freshman pitcher Kaiden Vaughn pitched a great game. We have a freshman catcher as well in Casey Geissman. Contributions from everybody, it was a great team win for us.”
Brady Biglin had three hits for the Bucks on Thursday. Justin Dentinger, Kaiden Vaughn and Tommy Phillips all had two. Biglin had two RBI.
Jensen says they have made solid contact all year. “For most part all year we have hit the ball pretty well, but we don’t have anything to show for it is the problem. We have hit it at people and felt like we were snake bit at times. Most of our hits were late in the ballgame in the fifth and sixth innings,” he said.
The third part of the game, defense, was pretty good too. Jensen says they only made one error and that was an odd one really. “The only error we had was a wild pitch and our catcher tried to throw it to the pitcher covering and he kind of tossed it and it got away from him and that scored two runs. That was the only error we had and that was a hustle play. We made every routine play. This was a huge contrast to (Wednesday) night against Upper where we had eight errors. We played the worst defensive game that I have been a part of in years. Then (Thursday) a complete 180. The kids took it personal (Wednesday) night when we didn’t play well on the road at Upper against a good team. They really challenged themselves (Thursday) night to not make those mistakes. I was just really proud of all of them,” said Jensen.
Published 4/19/19
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Check out our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comFor all of your baseball and softball scores
Buckeye Central Gets Past Rival Wynford
Buckeye Central scored in the bottom of the seventh inning and beat Wynford (4-3) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Tuesday afternoon in New Washington.
Coach Chad Jensen says they got a solid effort on the mound from Matthew Summers and found a way to get a run across in the bottom of the seventh. “We got a great pitching performance from Matthew Summers, who really battled the whole game long and did a great job for us. In the bottom of the seventh we had two outs and Justin Dentinger got a base hit for us and then we had a couple more hits in the inning and then Tommy Phillips got plunked and we had the walk off hit by pitch. Our kids really battled an hung in there. Our last three ballgames have been by one run and we lost two of the them and (Tuesday) we won. Our kids are battling everyday and we are just continuing to improve,” said Jensen.
Summers went all seven allowing seven hits, striking out five, and walking just two. Dentinger, Ramey and Geissman all had two hits for the Bucks.
Buckeye Central (1-4,1-2) plays host to Mohawk (2-0,1-0) in “N10” action on Wednesday.
Jensen says they are young and learning how to win. “(Tuesday) night we started three freshmen and two sophomores. We are fairly young and it is a learning process. Our younger kids have played a lot of baseball and they are experienced, but the varsity level is a whole other animal. The biggest thing is to just stay consistent through the ebbs and flows of the game and just stay consistent in the things that we are doing. It will come and I am really proud of our kids (Tuesday) night and they played really well,” he said.
Buckeye scored three times in the first inning, but Wynford tied it with single tallies in the second, third and fifth. Jensen says they didn’t get frustrated. “We hit the ball well all night, but we hit it right at people. I think we only struck out four times overall. We scored three right away. It the past sometimes we would be happy with that lead. That wasn’t the case (Tuesday) night, we had really good at bats and sting them right at people and Wynford made the great plays throughout the course of the ballgame,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening after the win, “The one thing I really liked about our kids is when we made outs we made hard outs, but they didn’t get frustrated. They understand that is part of the game and didn’t get upset if they hit it hard and got out. They are learning that that is part of the game and I was really proud of that.”
Published 4/03/19
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Check out our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comFor all of your baseball and softball scores
Mohawk Edges Buckeye in “N10” Game
Tanner Osborne drove in all of the Mohawk runs with a based loaded, three run double in the third and three Warrior pitchers made it stand up as Mohawk beat Buckeye Central (3-2) on Monday in Northern 10 Athletic Conference baseball.
Coach Eric Hoover says they kind of had to grind it out. “That is about the best you can hope for at this time of the year. It was a bit chilly, but at least the sun was shinning and it wasn’t too windy. The field was in good shape. The wind dried it up a little bit. It was a good way to start out the league to a close win there in the first game in the league for us,” he said.
Nathan Geary walked and Landen Snyder and Tyler Hayman had one out infield hits in the third and Hoover says Osborne, their number three hitter, had the biggest hit of the game. “We got some guys on. Took advantage of a walk and a couple of infield hits and got a double that ended up clearing the bases. We were able to get that timely hit that we needed,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Those were the only three hits we had the whole game. So, we took advantage of it. We used three different pitchers to have a good game and only give up two runs and that was enough.
Cole Widmer started and went two innings for the Warriors and was relieved by Geary, who went four, and Osbrone, who pitched a 1-2-3 seventh for the save.
Hoover says that is kind of how he is going to have to use his staff this year, at least at the beginning of the season. “We are a little shot handed right now. I have one that had a shoulder injury in football that hasn’t started pitching yet that we are going to count on for a lot of innings. I don’t know if we have much depth, but we might try and keep their number of pitches down and use more in a game. So, they can pitch more often, which is not usually what I have done in the past, but it might be something we do more this year,” said Hoover.
Brady Biglin was the tough luck loser for the Bucks. He stuck out six over six innings.
Buckeye Central coach Chad Jensen says they did a lot of good things and Biglin clearly gave them a chance to win. “Brady Biglin pitched a great ball game. He only gave up three hits, two infield singles and a double. Unfortunately for us, those three hits were in the same inning resulting in Mohawk’s three runs. We played error free baseball and out hit them 5-3. We only struck out four times, so we are putting the ball in play. I am very pleased with that. I was pleased with our energy. We were just a hit or two away from winning the game. We will keep improving and figure out how to win those close games,” said Jensen.
Published 4/02/19
© Swamkonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook’
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Check out our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comAlso, don’t forget our 24/7 listen line for the latest in local sports
Buckeye Central with Right Attitude
Baseball season is nearly here for the Buckeye Central Bucks and there are some things to be excited about this spring.
They are scheduled to open the season on March 23 in a doubleheader at Fremont St. Joe.
Veteran coach Chad Jensen, entering season 13 as the Bucks head baseball coach says he likes the worth ethic the kids are showing. “Well, we have been on the field a few times. Our work ethic is outstanding and the kids are really working hard. We have a lot of competition. Kids fighting for a lot of spots. I am pleased with what we see so far. Scrimmages start this week, so we will have a little better idea when we compete against some other teams. So far, the kids are really working hard and doing what we are asking them to do,” said Jensen.
Jensen believes that competition among players always leads to the team being better overall. “Competition really makes or breaks you. If you have to compete against somebody else that is going to take your spot, we are going to learn a lot about you. We are going to learn what you have inside competitively. Competition is what makes teams great, there is no question about it. The more competition you have at all positions the more kids have to work hard every day. I think so far we have seen a lot of that,” he said.
Buckeye was (10-15) last year and finished in a tie for fifth in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
This season, Jensen says they will have some quality pitching at the top of their rotation and after that they will have some young guys that need to get better as the season goes on. “I think we have a lot of arms, it is just a matter of experience. We lost our All-Ohioan Josh Dentinger, so we have big shoes to fill there. Our number one is Brady Biglin and he is an outstanding pitcher for us. We expect big things out of him in his senior year. We have some other guys,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Matthew Summers pitched very well for us last year as a sophomore. We are definitely expecting things out of him. Justin Dentinger, Josh’s little brother, is a junior, and he is an excellent pitcher. We have a few other younger kids that need to step up for us. A lot of it is unproven, to be honest. I like out veteran guys at the top of our rotation. We have a lot of experience, but after that not a lot of experience. So, we will see how it shapes up throughout the season.”
Published 3/13/19
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Sports Saturday” airs live every week from 10 AM to 1 PM
Click on the listen line at the top of the home page for audio
Buckeye Central Plays Same Team in Regional Semis
Buckeye Central takes on Cornerstone Christian in the girls’ division four regional semifinal on Thursday night at Massillon Perry High School in Stark County.
Tis is the same school that Buckeye beat (57-53) in last year’s regional semifinal in the same gym.
Abram Kaple, in his first year as head coach, says he doesn’t believe his kids are just satisfied to be back at his level. “Honestly, I don’t think our kids are satisfied. They were kind of subdued a little bit the other night when we won. We were excited, but it wasn’t like I have seen some teams overcome with joy when they won a district title, like they had won a state championship. Our kids were excited that we won, but there were bigger things that they wanted to accomplish. We celebrated that night and we were right back at it Monday,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have had a good two days worth of practice, the kids have been really focused. This isn’t the end goal for us. Having been to the final four last year, I wasn’t a part of that, but these girls feel there is unfinished business that they want to take care of.”
Buckeye Central (22-3) beat Sandusky St. Mary’s (47-42) in a district final last Saturday at Willard. Cornerstone Christian, on the other hand, beat Andrews Osborne (50-42) to win their district.
Kaple says this is a team that can really play defense. “They are the ninth ranked team in the state. They were as high as number two there for a little bit and they are good. All five of their kids can play, but their biggest asset is they can defend you at all five positions the full length of the floor. They can all move. They have a high I.Q., they are savvy basketball players. You can tell that they play the spot year round and they know what is going on, which makes a big difference. Defense is what they do best, just pressuring the basketball and forcing you to turn it over,” he said.
Kaple expects that Cornerstone Christian will press them, probably a lot, and they are going to have turnovers, but they can’t have them in clusters. “You can not cluster them. You going to turn in over, it happens, it’s part of the game. You can’t turn it over two, three times in a row making the same mistake over and over. If we make a mistake and we make a bad play, identify it, and do our best not to do it again. I hope (Thursday) if we do turn it over, they are dead ball turnovers that was there isn’t run outs for layups. If we throw it away or turn it over, hopefully it finds its way out of bounds, so there are not easy layups the other way,” said Kaple.
Published 3/07/19
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Check out our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comFor all of your tournament finals
Buckeye Has to Handle the Press
Buckeye Central plays Norwalk St. Paul in the girls’ division four district semifinals on Thursday night at Willard High School.
The Buckettes beat Mohawk (57-28) in a sectional final at Shelby on Saturday night.
Coach Abram Kaple says they got off to a little bit of a slow start, but then they go it going. “The first half against Mohawk was a little bit rusty. You could tell we hadn’t played in eight days. It is new for me too, but there is a totally different feel to tournament games. We were fortunate that we kind of got our bearings there in the second half and were able to pull away for the win. I could tell even (Monday) at practice we had much more focus. Hopefully, we can turn it up on Thursday,” said Kaple.
Buckeye (20-3) plays Norwalk St. Paul (18-6) on Thursday night. Wynford and Sandusky St. Mary’s play in the other semi.
Kaple says St. Paul features good guard play and he says the Lady Flyers play very hard on the defensive end. “I have seen them play now four times in person. They are really, really good. They have two really nice guards that I like and they play with so much intensity on the defensive end and passion and energy. They are going to be a handful for us there is no doubt about that. At the district tournament it is loser go home and everybody is playing for the same thing, so the stakes are a little bit higher. I really like the squad that they have,” he said.
The press is an effective weapon for most girls’ teams, including St. Paul. Kaple says they are going to need to hand it if they are going to be successful. “It is going to be a little different too at Willard. They are still on one of those smaller floors, so that press is going to be a little tighter. St. Paul does do that, they press, they do some 1-2-2 and they do a little bit of diamond and one well. That has definitely been an issue for us the last four or five games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “So, that is one of our main focuses in practice this week. With the experience that we have, the veteran group that we have I feel confident that we are going to be prepared and our kids will rise to the occasion. I hope we don’t have any issues with it on Thursday.”
Published 2/26/19
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Special Saturday night editions continue this Saturday
Buckeye Central and Seneca East Battle for First in “N10”
Buckeye Central trails Seneca East by a game and they play each other on Thursday night in New Washington in a huge game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
Seneca East beat Buckeye (69-62) on December 11 and the Buckettes have not lost since that time.
Coach Abram Kaple says they are really playing some pretty good basketball right now. “We have put together a 13 game winning streak. Our last loss coming to Seneca East in early December, so we haven’t lost in two months. That’s good, we are starting to play better. We are playing with a little more confidence, which is good as you come into the last four games of the regular season before the tournament. So, we are feeling pretty good right now,” he said.
Kaple says Seneca East (18-1,14-0) has two of the best guards in this part of the state. He says they are going to turn up the pressure to lead to good scoring opportunities. “Seneca East is extremely quick and their guard play is about as good as it is going to come in North Central Ohio with Marina Adachi and Jessica Bowerman. They are just so quick,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Defensively they are always just two steps ahead of you. They do a lot of variations of different types of presses and different traps and they really like to turn you over to speed to tempo of the game up. That is definitely their strength in terms of their guard play.”
Buckeye (16-2,12-1) had every chance to the world to win that game back in December. Kaple says they have to handle it better and they must get their share of rebounds, keeping the Lady Tigers off the offensive glass. “In order for us to come away successful on (Thursday) night taking care of the basketball is going to be the number one priority and rebounding the basketball and making sure we limit them to one chance and make sure we have good outlet passes off our defensive rebounds. That kind of hurt us a little bit in the first game. We had a lead with 1:28 to go at Seneca East, but we gave up and offensive rebound that got kicked out for a three and that kind of broke the back a little bit for us. Making sure we control the glass I think is the biggest thing,” said Kaple.
Published 2/07/19
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us in Twitter at @swankonsports
Check out our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comAlso, tune in our 24/7 listen line for the latest in local sports
Buckeye Central Has to Keep Pace
Buckeye Central continues to trail Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader Seneca East by a game in the girls’ basketball standings heading into their game at Upper Sandusky on Friday night.
The Buckettes have not lost since Seneca East beat them (69-62) on December 11. Their showdown with the Lady Tigers was supposed to be last week, but was postponed until February 7.
First year coach Abram Kaple likes the way his kids are playing right now. “We are preaching every day in terms of staying focused and one game at a time. We have put together a nice eight game win streak here that we would love to continue. It has kind of been difficult we didn’t play at all last week. We had a tone of practice time, with is good we have a lot things we have to work on, but the kids want to play a game. We are showing improvement,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We like where we are at right now, but we want to continue to take steps forward moving in here to close out that back half of the season, especially before the tournament draw next weekend.”
Buckeye beat Crestview (57-49) in a non-league game Tuesday night in their first action in more than a week and half. Kaple says they were rusty. “You kind of lose momentum. We played Wynford almost two weeks ago now and then we waited 11 days to play our next game. Tuesday night, we played Crestview and it definitely looked like we hadn’t played in 11 days for first 16 minutes of that game. My personal opinion too much of a break is not a good thing,” he said.
Buckeye Central (11-2,8-1) is at Upper Sandusky (10-5,8-2) and in third place in the conference, on Friday night. Buckeye won at home (46-26) on December 18. Upper beat Ridgedale (74-47) in a conference game on Wednesday night.
Kaple expects a lot of pressure form Upper. “I have watched their film the last couple of games and they have really turned it up on the defensive end. Their guards have become much more active in passing lanes and pressuring ball handlers and trying to turn you over and try and get some easy baskets from you. They beat Ridgedale (Wednesday) night and prior to that they got beat pretty handily by Bellevue, so I’m sure they had a handful of intense practices. Every league game for us right now is huge. It is going to be 32 minutes (Friday) night and I told the girls that,” said Kaple.
Published 1/25/19
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Check out our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comUpdated every five minutes on Friday nights
Buckeye Central Needs That Win
Buckeye Central and Bucyrus have both struggled to get wins this season. Somebody wins their second game on Thursday as the two tangle in an “N10” gam at Bucyrus.
The Bucks have lost their last six games, including (64-43) to Carey last Friday night.
Coach Eric Picklesimer says their attitude is still strong, but they need to bring more intensity, especially in practice. “Our attitude has been pretty solid. I wouldn’t say the attitude is slipping. I would say our effort is slipping a little bit at the mid season mark. The attitudes are still good, they are still great students. We just have to get a little more out of them during practice like we did at the beginning of the season,” he said.
Buckeye Central (1-8,1-5) is at Bucyrus (1-9,1-5) on Thursday night in an “N10” game. Bucyrus has lost its last four, including (92-47) to Upper Sandusky last Friday.
Picklesimer says Bucyrus is really in the same spot they have been in the season. “They are very athletic. They have a couple kids that shoot it pretty well. They are like us they have been in a few close games, but they haven’t got he breaks towards the end that they wanted. I know they are going to be up for the game. They are going to be at home. They are looking at our record saying the same thing that if we go out and compete we can get this one. So, we have to bring our best effort. Control the ball a little bit than we have in the past and hopefully things go our way,” said Picklesimer.
Getting a win Thursday night, yes, Picklesimer says it is very important to the team and what their season could be like. “It is very important. The kids have worked so hard for the last two months and we have one win to show for it. They don’t see perhaps the improvement that myself and the coaching staff see,” he told swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “It is pretty black and white to them, it’s win or lose, they don’t realize that they are better at handling a trap or they are better at boxing out or better at getting in the passing lane. They don’t look at it like that as we do. So, our kids are definitely going to be up for it. They are excited. We haven’t had this excitement since early in the season. This is one we want. We are going to go out and compete and give it everything we’ve got.”
Published 1/09/19
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Sports Saturday” airs live every week from 10 AM to 1 PM
Click on the listen line at the top of the home page for audio
Buckeye Central Takes on Unbeaten Upper Sandusky
Buckeye Central gets the task of hosting unbeaten Upper Sandusky in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Saturday night in New Washington.
After getting smacked pretty good by Mohawk (59-28) last Thursday, the Bucks turned in a better effort in losing (49-42) to Seneca East in another league game on Saturday.
Coach Eric Pickelsimer says they showed improvement between the two games. “We played pretty well against Seneca East. We just made some mistakes down the stretch and its cost us,” he said.
The Bucks have been in some late game situations, maybe more than normal early this year. Pickelsimer says its just takes being there. “We had an overtime game that we lost against Plymouth and we had an overtime game that we won against Wynford, so down the stretch I thought our kids would handle a couple of things a little better than what we did. That pressure situation with the game on the line the inexperience of our players showed and we gave up a couple of wide open looks to Seneca East and they were able to knock them down. I wish there was a way to gain experience in practice, but I just don’t know anybody that has been able to do that,” said Pickelsimer.
Now, Saturday night, the Bucks (1-4,1-2) host Upper Sandusky (5-0,2-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach poll in the small school division. The Rams beat Carey (49-48) last Saturday.
Pickelsimer says Upper is what they have been. They show you a lot of pressure, run the floor, and shoot well from outside. “I have watched some film on them obviously and they are a good team all of the way around. They get after you on the defensive end with something whether it is full court man or run and jump from tip off to the last tick there. They are right there in your face giving you pressure. They can run and they shoot pretty well, so it is a big challenge for our kids,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I told our guys this is a good thing it isn’t very often you get the number one team in the league to come to your place undefeated and we have a chance to really show where we can go and how far these kids have come. The nerves and all of the hype around Upper Sandusky we are all aware of it. I just want our kids to come out and compete and play hard and see where it ends up.”
Published 12/20/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Sports Saturday” airs live every week from 10 AM to 1 PM
Click on the listen line at the top of the home page for audio
Defense the Bedrock for Buckeye
Buckeye Central picked up its first win of the season last Saturday and they face two Northern 10 Athletic Conference games this week. They are home to Mohawk on Thursday and Seneca East on Saturday.
They edged Wynford (60-58) in overtime last Saturday.
Coach Eric Picklesimer says it was rebounding and defense that was the difference for the Bucks. “I am really happy with how our kids played. We made some mistakes in the second half, but we our inexperience it is going to happen. We really worked hard on rebounding all week and I felt we rebounded really well. We gave up half of the offensive rebounds that we gave up in the first two games. We struggled from the free throw line a little bit, but the kids played hard and got it done. We got a really good defensive effort our of our kids. So, I was really happy with how hard we played,” said Picklesimer.
Defense is something Picklesimer is trying to engrain in his kids. “We have really stressed that from day one. I have stressed that to our kids from the first day I met them. I have pretty much told them I don’t care how good they are at scoring if they don’t play defense they are not going to play. The kids took to that, they excepted that and they just get after it on the defensive end. I am really proud with how hard they are playing,” he said.
Mohawk (2-0,0-0) is at Buckeye Central (1-2,1-0) in a conference game. They beat Fostoria (67-53) last Tuesday.
Picklesimer says the Warriors are athletic and they have a lot skill. “Myself and coach Moyer, the varsity assistant, went and watched them play against Fostoria. Thy are very athletic, they re very quick. You can tell their weight room regiment. They definitely work hard in the weight room and they have some really good scorers on the team. It is going to give us some problems,” he said.
Seneca East has not played a game yet this year. They play Ridgedale on Thursday night. Picklesimer knows the Tigers are going to be athletic. “Their first game is Thursday night, the same night that we will play, so I have about 24 hours to prepare for them. We do know a little bit about them from last year, but not a whole lot. They are coming off an outstanding run in the football playoffs, so I know they have several athletes,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I know they are strong and athletic. They are going to be a good, athletic team if nothing else. We will do what we can and prepare the best we can. As long as we play hard I am looking forward to that matchup.”
Published 12/11/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Sports Saturday” airs live every week from 10 AM to 1 PM
Click on the listen line at the top of the page for audio
Rebounding and Ball Handling Keys for Buckeye Central
Buckeye Central played well in spots, but came up empty last weekend. They hope to change that when host Wynford in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Saturday night.
On the opening weekend, the Bucks lost to Plymouth (50-48) in overtime on Friday and South Central (52-40) on Saturday.
Coach Eric Picklesimer says there were some good moments for them in both games. “Our kids played hard. It is the first time any of those kids have been on a varsity floor in overtime against Plymouth. We had nine turnovers in the overtime and the fourth quarter, but we grew up. I really liked the effort and then we turn around Saturday night and gave a great effort against South Central, who is a very good team. I thought our kids really did compete well, which is what we are after right now,” said Picklesimer.
Rebounding and handling the ball are two areas of the Bucks must improve, according to Picklesimer. “We gave up a lot of second shot opportunities, so we have really focused practice this week on boxing out and clearing the glass a little bit better,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have to take care of the ball a little better. We have more turnovers than both teams both nights. So, we have worked on that and tried to make things easier for our guards to get the ball into the wing and into the post. We have clean up a couple of things up and hopefully a get a win here soon.”
Buckeye Central (0-2,0-0) hosts Wynford (0-2,0-0) on Saturday night. The Royals lost to North Union (43-35) last Thursday and in overtime to Margaretta (63-59) on Saturday.
Picklesimer says coach Steve Mohr has the Royals doing some good things. “They are a good team. Obviously, they have a real solid point guard. I have watched them play twice now and they get after it defensively. He mixes up defenses really well. They have shooters in the corners. I know their main big guy is hurt with a foot injury right now, but they fill in for him pretty well. They bring three kids in and they really play hard. So, we are going to have to be on our game,” he said.
Buckeye and Wynford are long time rivals and Picklesimer says he is excited to be part of it. “I remember when I was a kid going with my dad to watch the Wynford-Buckeye Central game and Rob Sheldon would be on the other end and that was always a big, big game. Whether it is or not to our kids it is to me still. I just hope our kids come out and get after it like they can and hopefully we are in the ballgame,” he said.
Published 12/06/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Sports Saturday” airs live every week from 10 AM to 1 PM
Click on the listen line at the top of the page for audio
Buckeye Central Opens With Plymouth
Buckeye Central, with a new coach leading them, plays a double weekend on the first weekend of the boys’ basketball season with a trip to Plymouth on Friday and a home game with South Central on Saturday, both Firelands Conference opponents.
Coach Eric Picklesimer says there was definitely progress achieved during the preseason. “We got a lot better every day. The kids work really hard. Their work ethic is great. We are a little inexperienced at the varsity level, but as much as they hustle and get after it we will make up for that,” he said.
When you are putting together a team, hard work is at the basement floor, according to Picklesimer. “It is one thing to have athletes, it is another thing to have athletes that want to play. When the kids come in and want to get after it you can deal with mistakes a lot easier because at least they are going hard and learning as they play,” he said.
Picklesimer was on the staff at Plymouth the last several years and he says they have good guard play, but the Big Red isn’t very big and hopefully they can take advantage of that. “Having coached at Plymouth for the last several years I do know a little bit about them. They are going to start four seniors and a very good junior that has lettered the past two years. They are very experienced. They will hustle and get after it. They have a great scorer that we are going to have some problems with.” He told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Maybe the advantage goes to us in the size. They are a little under sized and they lost a quality big guy to a wrist injury that had to have surgery. Hopefully, we can take advantage of some of those things and get ready for them because they are very quick and they are very experienced, so they are going to give us some trouble for sure.’
Published 11/30/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Follow our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comUpdated ever five minutes on Friday night
Limiting Turnovers Key for Buckeye Central
Buckeye Central looks for its first win of the girls’ basketball season in its second game at home Thursday night in a non-conference game with the Plymouth Lady Big Red.
They lost their first game last Friday to Willard (45-44) on opening night.
Coach Abram Kaple, in his first year at the helm, says they had their chances to win, but he believes they learned from that experience. “It was one where we would like to have a possession or two back, but Willard is a very good team in a bigger conference and we came out we played hard and we executed what we tried to do and put ourselves in a position to win we just came up one point short. I am proud of our effort, like I said, would like to have one back, but we learned from it, both me and the girls. So, we will try to make adjustments and move forward,” he said.
Kaple says handling the ball is something they are going to have to do better on Thursday night. “In scrimmages you get a decent idea where you are, but until you get a full go with referees and in front of a crowd you don’t fully see where you are at. We did a lot of things right. We went through a little bit a dry spell in the second quarter and Willard goes on a 16-0 run and that proves to be the difference. We turn the ball over a couple of times unforced and Willard forced some turnovers too. If we can make some adjustments and limit those turnovers we will be fine moving forward,” said Kaple.
Plymouth (1-1) won its last time out, beating Oberlin (59-52) on Monday night. They also had a good chance to win in their first game, losing (52-49) to Hillsdale last Friday.
Kaple says this is not a win they can take for granted like in some years in the past. “They should actually be 2-0. They basically did everything except win the game at Hillsdale. They were up nine going into the fourth quarter and they lose by two or three. Then they win by seven Monday night against Oberlin. Watching last year’s film and watching this year’s film they are much improved,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I told the girls that going in that we have to be ready to go because they are fired up and with everything last year you kind of have a bull’s eye on your back and you are going to get everybody’s best effort. The first three or four minutes (Thursday) night are really crucial in terms of setting the tone and then we will go from there.”
Published 11/29/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Follow our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comWe cover all the schools in nine area conferences
Buckeye Central with low Numbers, but Talent
Buckeye Central only has 20 players out for football this year, but in that number they have some talented guys.
Coach Rob Detterman says they certainly learned some things about themselves in a Tuesday scrimmage against the Willard Flashes. “We knew it was going to be a learning experience for us. We have struggled with low numbers this year. We have had a hard time having effective practices, so we knew we were going to go out there and make some mistakes and we surely accomplished that. We were looking for a good effort though and that is something we are going to continue to strive for,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “The kids have to be hungry to go out and play against other people and that is something I think we can get better at too. All around (Tuesday) was a learning experience in a lot of different aspects and we are going to come back (Wednesday) and really get after it and try and be better for Saturday’s scrimmage.”
Detterman thinks his club will show improvement as this season unfolds this year and he thinks that will be the case on Saturday. “You are going to see a big jump in the competition and what you see in other teams. For us it is definitely going to be true. We have struggled with numbers and haven’t had an effective practice, 11 on 11, this isn’t something we have been able to do unless we put coaches in there holding pads. So, going out (Tuesday) and seeing another team’s top 11 was definitely a good thing for us. We hope to really take that forward this Saturday and grow there and it forward another week and get ready for the Crestline Bulldogs week one,” said Detterman.
There may be low numbers with the Bucks, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have success, according to Detterman. “Our message all summer has been our mindset and being tough and believing in ourselves. We don’t have a lot of kids, but we have a really talented group. We think we can go out and be a very competitive team this year, especially if the injury bug stays away, but we have to believe that in our hearts. We have to go out and show that everyday,” said Detterman.
Published 8/08/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Sports Saturday” airs every week from 10 AM to 1 PM
Dentingers Lead Buckeye Past Crawford
Senior Josh Dentinger threw his second one hitter of the season and sophomore Justin Dentinger provided the lone RBI of the game as Buckeye Central beat rival Colonel Crawford (1-0) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference baseball game on Wednesday.
Coach Chad Jensen says Josh was tremendous and he got a helping hand from his younger brother. “Our pitching has kept us in games all year long and (Wednesday) night was no exception. Josh Dentinger threw his second one-hitter of the year. In his last performance he threw a no-hitter and he comes back with a one-hitter (Wednesday) night and 12 strikeouts and no walks. He was dynamite, but we played good defense behind him. His sophomore brother had a suicide squeeze in the second. It was kind of a neat night for the Dentingers. It was a great league win for us against a county rival,” said Jensen.
Jensen says Josh is not an overpowering pitcher, but he is just that, a pitcher and that is what makes him good. “There is no question it is his command. I mean there is absolutely no question about it. He can put it where he wants to put it every time. He has only walked 13 in 57 innings and two of those were intentional late in a ball game for strategy, so he has really only walked 11. He is able to get ahead of hitters and put it where he wants it. He can throw three pitches for strikes, which is very helpful. He is not going to light up the radar gun or throw in the mid 80’s or anything, but he can put it where he wants it most of the time and that is the biggest difference,” he said.
Buckeye Central (8-14,5-9) play at home against Wynford (5-11,4-7) on Friday in a league game and then Plymouth (10-9) next week in the first round of the division four tournament.
Jensen says they are trying to develop some consistency. “It is nice to get out and play everyday. There was a stretch there were the kids were just tied of being inside and tired of being in the gym. As coaches you just have to try and keep things fresh. It is really nice to play everyday. We have had two wins this week and a close one (Tuesday) against Ridgedale. I think the more we play the better off it is,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We have to keep improving for tournament next week. The kids are looking forward to it. We know we are going to have our hands full with a very good Plymouth team, but our kids are excited for the opportunity, so we will see what happens.”
Published 5/03/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Check out our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.com for the latest baseball scoresBuckeye Central is Closer
Buckeye Central is battling with the big boys in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, but they just can’t get over the top… not yet.
Monday, they lost to co-leader Carey (7-2,) but coach Chad Jensen says they really had a chance to win the game. “Here is what we took away from Monday’s game. It was 1-1 in the seventh. Here we are toe to toe with the league leader in the “N10” just like we did the week prior with Seneca East, it is 1-0 in the seventh. Here we are toe to toe with these top two teams in our league and we just can’t quite get it done. Monday, it’s 1-1 and they put the ball in play, didn’t hit it hard at all, but they hit a few bloops and hit some spots. They did what good teams do and find green and that’s what they did against us on Monday. The bottom line is we are right there. Our pitching has kept us in games all year long. We have to hit better and we talked to the kids about that (Tuesday) and we have to keep grinding and that’s what we talked about after our game on Monday. Again, we are right there and we have to keep getting better and improving everyday,” said Jensen.
In order to continue to more forward, Jensen says they have to win one of these games against a good team. “We just said we are going to get there and when we get there and get over that hump and start getting more consistent it is going to get easier and that is exactly what we talked about on Monday after losing to Carey basically in the seventh inning once we get there and get over the hump things are going to get easier for us, but we just have to keep grinding and keep getting better and keep realizing that there is light at the end of the tunnel and keep working. Our kids see that, but it is hard when you are putting in all of the hard work and you are not quite there yet. The kids are still working hard and believe they can get there,” he said.
The tournament brackets will be drawn on Sunday, and Jensen says they have the potential to make some noise if they continue to get better. “I really think in our district it is really wide open. I think record wise from my observation Seneca East is probably the top based on what I have seen so far, but after that there are a lot of teams in the middle. There are a lot of teams fighting and battling for byes and battling for spots,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We are trying to get to playing our best baseball at the end of the year, I don’t think there is any doubt about that. That is what we keep talking with our kids about. Keep getting better and understand that we are in a district that is really wide open. We have that opportunity to really surprise some people. Not necessarily surprise ourselves because I think our kids believe we can play with anybody, we have done that all year. We have to get over that hump, we haven’t done anything yet, so until we do that we are still going uphill. Once we get over the top of that hill I think we could do some things in the tournament, but we have to continue to get better and see where that takes us.”
Published 4/25/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @Swankonsports
Heck out our 24/7 listen line for the latest in baseball news
Buckeye Better and Still Working
Buckeye Central is just under the .500 mark at this point of the season and they are clearly better than they were a year ago.
Coach Chad Jensen says they still have to be more consistent, but he has seen a change in attitude. “We are definitely better than we were a year ago. We get better each game. Our kids expect to win a little bit more than in the past. I think last year we were happy to be competitive and now we are not happy to just be competitive. We want to compete and we want to win, so I think that is the biggest difference between last year and this year. Our kids are hungry and they are doing what we ask them to do. We just have t continue to take that next step and not be satisfied. We have won two games in a row here. We talked about it (Monday) in practice, we have 11 league games to go. We have a long way to go and we have to keep getting better every day,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central beat Upper Sandusky (10-0) and Plymouth (6-3) in their last two games and Jensen says they need to build on that. “We talked about that (Monday) in practice, how good do you want to be? We could be as good as anybody. We just have to do the little things right. We have to put the ball in play more. We have done that, but we have to do that. We have to play better defense. Some days we play pretty good and some days we don’t. I told them listen if we pick and choose when we are going to play defense we are going to lose on those days. We have to make it a priority. Our pitchers have done well. They have kept us in games. Ultimately, we are going to have to put those three facets together, consistently, if we want to win more games,” he said.
If the weather permits, Buckeye Central (5-6,2-3) will host Seneca East (8-2,5-0,) he co-leader in the conference on Tuesday. Jensen says they have to believe they can win and then do the things that are required. “The last time we played, we lost 4-2 and we were up early in that ballgame and it was 3-2 in the sixth. It was over there at Seneca East and it was 3-2 in the sixth and we were down. They got and insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. We competed with them, but again that wasn’t good enough,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We know we can compete with them. The bottom line is what do we have to do to beat them? They are an excellent team, excellent program that we have a lot of respect for. Our pitchers have to go out and throw strikes again. That is the number one thing we have to do is get ahead in the count. We have to put the ball in play more. We sometimes strike out too much. We have to make plays on defense, we have to help our pitchers out. Our pitchers aren’t going to strike out 12 or 13 guys a night, so have to play better defense.”
Published 4/17/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Check out our 24/7 listen line for the latest in baseball news
Buckeye Central Rallies to Beat Mohawk
Buckeye Central scored two runs in the bottom half of the seventh inning and they rallied to beat Mohawk (2-1) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference baseball game on Wednesday evening.
Adam Krebs got the game winning hit in the seventh innings for the Bucks giving them a win in their conference opener.
Coach Chad Jensen says it began with an outstanding pitching performance by senior Josh Dentinger. “It was a big win for us. Our kid battled. It was just a great pitching performance. Josh Dentinger for us, our senior, he struck out 13, walked one, one hit, one unearned run, just a great performance. Their kid senior Rico Lopez from Mohawk was great and kept us off balance the whole game. We got down 1-0 and out kids didn’t quit they were very resilient and we were able to put a few hits together in the seventh inning,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night after the win, “Joe Cole got us started with a single and Nick Ramey bunted him over and then we got a big hit from Brady Biglin and Adam Krebs knocked Brady in. It was just really good baseball and a good win for our kids.”
Mohawk was one of the preseason favorites for the “N10” crown and Jensen says his kids just battled down to those final at bats. “There is just no quit in our kids. They want to win are a really hungry to win. They work hard and they want to reap the benefits of their hard work. I am really proud of our kids. They battled, they hung in there. Mohawk had a run in the fifth, but they didn’t feel like it was lost. They knew we were in it. The kids just battled. It was a really, really great team win for us,” he said.
It has not been a great athletic season in boys’ sports for Buckeye Central, but Jensen says he sees a certain look in his players eyes. “The kids have worked really hard in all of their sports and they are hungry. With our five seniors they kind sense this is it and they play with urgency and I haven’t always seen that. You can tell the seniors are playing with more urgency. I think that trickles down because our underclassmen see that these seniors this is it for them and we want to step up our game so we can win for them. We have a long way to go, but as an early season win it was a nice one,” said Jensen,
Published 3/29/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Check out our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.com for the latest results
Buckeye Central with Hopes of Being Better
Buckeye Central hopes to work its way into the top half of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this year, but it won’t be easy.
However, coach Chad Jensen is pleased with what he sees in terms of improvement this spring. “We have really worked hard in the off season and we have looked pretty good so far this year in preparation. We still have a long way to go in where we want to be, but the kids are working hard. I see improvement from last year and I think that is a good step for us. We return nine letter winners and seven starters. We have a long way to go to where we want to be, but I see a lot of continuous improvement and maturity from last year. I see expectations are higher now that our kids have varsity experience. I think things could go well for us as long as we continue to improve, I think that is the biggest thing,” said Jensen.
Jensen is particularly happy with the pitching staff they have put together at Buckeye. “I think we have three starting pitchers that have a lot of experience for us. I think that Josh Dentinger, Brady Biglin and Payton Phenicie have thrown a lot of innings for us over the years. I think those three for sure will give us strength in starting pitching for sure. I think we have a lot of kids that play different positions. I think we have a lot of flexibility. I think our team speed in pretty decent. One thing we have to do better is we have to hit better. I think we are understanding our strengths and we are looking to improve on them every day,” he said.
When it comes to the league, Jensen believes the “N10” is loaded this year, but things begin with Carey and Mohawk. “It is like every year our league is as tough as they come top to bottom. Anybody can beat anybody on any given night, there is no question about it. Looking at the top of our league I look at Carey and Mohawk have a lot of kids returning. Carey has tons of athletes right now and they have all played baseball, a lot of them four year starters. I see Mohawk returning a bunch of guys and they will be solid as usual,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Upper with the fact they are the biggest school in the league and I think they have athletes. You can never count out Seneca East. They won the league last year. They lost a lot of kids, but their JV’s have been very good. You neve count them out. To me those four are at the top, but shoot anybody else could make their way to the top. It is really going to be a tough league.”
Published 3/22/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Check out our 24/7 listen line for the latest in baseball news
Buckeye Central Must Handle Pressure
Buckeye Central coach Greg Moore says his team was a little nervous when they played Ottoville in the regional tournament last year. Thursday, they have a chance at a little revenge as they face the Lady Big Green in the division four state semifinals at the Value City Arena on the campus of The Ohio State University.
Last Saturday, the Buckettes outscored Rittman (11-2) over the last three minutes and beat the Lady Indians (55-47) in the regional final.
Moore says they just kept playing hard to the end. “Our kids had a focus like I have never seen. They got down early. We didn’t shoot the ball well early, but they never did stop. They closed well. We always talk about that. It is not who starts it is who finishes. You have to have those players in there that are finishing and doing the dirty work. Our kids took it on themselves and got the job done,” said Moore.
The is the sixth time Buckeye has played in the state tournament, but the last time was 1992. So, none of the girls on the roster were even born the last time the Buckettes were in Columbus in basketball. Moore says he wants them to enjoy it, but still be focused. “We told the kids that you want to enjoy the moment. You want to enjoy the hoopla. You want to enjoy all of those things right now, but more than anything you have to realize that there is still work to be done. I think our kids are really keeping the focus,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We had a really good practice (Monday.) They know what they have got to do. Ottoville is a very, very good team. They probably should have won the state last year. They got beat in the semifinal on a last second shot.”
However, many of these same players played in the state in volleyball this fall for Buckeye.
Moore believes his team still have thing to accomplish. “It is a daily thing. You get a little better every day. You take care of the small things and the big things will handle themselves. Our community has bent over backwards with people doing things for them. I said let’s keep it in check, be very humble and just keep focused and there is work to be done and kids have been good about it,” he said.
Ottoville (26-2) beat Leipsic (52-29) in their district final. They beat Buckeye Central (52-36) last year in the regional semifinal. Moore says the Lady Big Green is very consistent in what they do. “Dave (Kleman) doesn’t change anything. He is a great coach. They do the same things they do year in and year out. They are going to press you. They are going to play really, really good man to man defense. He has a great group of girls. They have a 6’1” girl that is going to go to Findlay, Brigitte (Landin,) number 13. Her and Jenna (Karl) were co-players of the year in the Northwest district. Those two are probably going to battle each other on Thursday. Jenna is going to guard her,” said Moore.
Buckeye Central (26-1) certainly has the capability of winning on Thursday and Moore they have to be able to handle the press and get into their offense. “We have to handle their pressure. They want to take you out of what you do best. Take you out of your sets, your continuity offense. They are sort of like Cornerstone. I compare the two defensively, they are a lot alike. We have to get out and run and push the ball and in turn we have to guard and defense them. This should be an evenly matched game. We just hope that we can play as good defense as they do,” said Moore.
Published 3/14/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Going to Do What They do
For the second straight year, Buckeye Central is in the girls division four regional semifinals.
They play Cornerstone Christian on Thursday night at Massillon Perry High School.
Buckeye lost last year to Ottoville (52-36) but coach Greg Moore says this time he believes they will be more comfortable. “Last year in basketball was the first time and to be honest I think they were a little awestruck. You have the big crowd on both sides and the gym was full. They experienced that again this year in volleyball when they got to the state. We have also turned up our schedule. We played Olentangy and Willard. We are really, really hoping that favors us, but we also know that we have to get out there and play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Cornerstone was in the state tournament two years ago and they made it the regional or the district championship last year. So, they are pretty experienced also, but this is a new group of girls, these are younger kids.”
Buckeye Central (24-1) takes on Cornerstone Christian (20-5) in the regionals. Moore says they have solid talent, as you would expect, and they play a very challenging schedule. “They played a very tough schedule. The predominantly play a division two schedule in Cleveland. They are out of Willoughby. They have some great athletes. They have a move in from Cuyahoga Falls that is a 6’0” post and she is really, really a nice player. Their best players are twins that are 5’9” that are sophomores. They can go inside or they can be the point guard. They are a good group of kids. Their off guard is really, really quick. They are a really good basketball team that loves to play defense and get up in you and defend you,” said Moore.
Buckeye beat Willard, the champions of the Bay Division of the “SBC” and division two, earlier this year and Moore says this team sort of reminds him of them. “At first, I thought kind of between a Seneca East and Carey, but then I thought about it and it is probably like Willard. They have good size. They have good length. They like to shoot the three. They like to press. It should be a fun game because we can both get up tempo,” he said.
Moore says that are going to dance with what got them here. He says there is no reason to change now. “We just have to play our style of basketball. We are going to try and press them and turn it into a track meet. We were talking as coaches and we would like to do what did over at Crestview a couple of years ago turning it very up tempo and the score ended up being 96-93 in overtime,” he said.
Published 3/08/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Tempo Again a Key for Buckeye Central
Buckeye Central meets Sandusky St. Mary’s in a first round tournament game in division four at Galion High School on Tuesday night.The winner would play second seeded Colonel Crawford on Friday night for a sectional title.
Buckeye (8-14) got a solid win when they outlasted rival Wynford (60-58) in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play on Friday night.
Coach Phil Loy says in winning four their last five, they have found some things. “That was a good win for us over at Wynford. Anytime you can win at their place, anytime you can win of the road in our league it is a good win. I felt like our kids fought through some adversity and just continued to play hard and came up with a nice win,” he said.
It has been a much better second half of the season for the Bucks and Loy says there are a couple of reasons why. “I think we have bought in to more of what we want defensively and more patient offensively. We haven’t shot it great behind the arc. We are being more patient and looking to attack the basket more. Getting to the foul line more than we have. We have some good free throw shooters, so I think we are converting there better,” he said.
Sandusky St. Mary’s is one of the more athletic teams in the division four district and Loy says the Panthers (11-11) have a lot of skill that they bring to the table. “They want an up tempo game. A lot of their games are in the 60’s or upper 60’s. They have some good athletes, they have depth, they have kids that can shoot it, they’re quick. They do want to push it up the floor anytime they can. They are not going to run a ton of things, but they are really going to work hard and have hard cuts in their motion offense. They are not afraid to shoot and that is the thing that concerns us the most is we have to make sure we get out on the shooters,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We can’t let them attack the basket or have any open looks. On top of that with the good athletes they are good rebounders. So, it is a game where we are going to have to control the tempo and we just have to make shots tough for them.”
St. Mary’s finished a game behind co-champs Old Fort and New Riegel in the River Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, losing (54-49) to Old Fort last Friday. A win would have given them a share.
Loy says a lot of their success lately has been due to their ability to control the tempo of the game. He says this game can not be in the 70’s. “That won’t be in our favor. We are having more success with games being in the 50’s, sometimes even less than that. We have had some low scoring games and we are right there with some really good teams. It is not to say that we don’t want to push the ball. When we push it we are not going to come down and shoot a quick three, that’s not who we are. If we can get a layup from pushing the ball, great, bout otherwise we are going to work until we get something that we want, a higher percentage shot,’ said Loy.
Published 2/27/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Opens Tournament Play with Crestline
Buckeye Central, the outright champion of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, tips off the girls’ basketball tournament with a division four sectional final matchup with Crestline on Saturday night at Shelby High School.
The Buckettes earned that undisputed title with a (60-35) win over Wynford last Tuesday.
Coach Greg Moore says they were not the favorites to begin the season really and they had to work for it. “The kids are thrilled and I think the community is and the coaching staff is really thrilled. The coaches did a great job this year. It was one of those things when we looked at it on paper Upper and Carey were the favorites,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Carey had eight players and five starters back. Upper had two really good players and a couple of other players coming back, so we knew it was going to be a tough year. Our kids really just battled it out and played game by game. That is all you can ask of them.”
A big factor for Buckeye this year has been their continued improvement during the year. Moore says they have been very focused. “That was one of our goals at the beginning. I never had been in the position we were in with volleyball and a two and half week late start. We worked with our younger kids and challenged them and when our volleyball players go in we said you have to get 2% better every day and they bought into that. They worked really hard and had great team chemistry. You put those two things together I think you get some success there,” he said.
Buckeye Central (21-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, did not play Crestline (4-19) during the regular season. The Lady Bulldogs beat Mansfield Christian (49-27) in a semi final game on Tuesday.
Moore believes they are greatly improved from where they have been in past years. “Kyle Strauch has done a great job over there being a first year coach. They have really struggled over the last five, six, seven years. I was fortunate enough to coach Kyle in track at Crestline when I was an assistant track coach and he is doing a great job over there. He really has his kids playing hard and they are believing in what they are going to do and what they are doing. We just have to go in there Saturday and play our game and let the chips roll. I think our girls are up to the task and I think we are ready to go,” said Moore.
Published 2/22/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Bucks Following Through
Phil Loy likes to refer to other teams they play as dangerous, well his Buckeye Central Bucks are pretty dangerous too… just ask Colonel Crawford.
The Bucks (6-14,6-9) nearly upset the “N10” co-leading Eagles last Saturday before falling (38-36) in an intense game.
Loy says they did everything to win that game. “I thought we did play well. I was very happy with the way we played. We wanted to make sure we controlled the tempo going into that game because Colonel Crawford is a team that wants to score in the upper 60’s and 70’s and for us to be successful we had to keep that game in the 40’s or low 50’s and we did a lot better job. The game was 38-36. It wasn’t like we held the ball, but we were very patient,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The kids are buying into if we can get something in transition great and if not then we need to be patient. We needed to make Colonel Crawford play defense. We felt like we could get a good shot if that happens and we did. We put ourselves in position at the end to win that game. It was a close game throughout and I was very proud of how they played.”
Buckeye hosts Crestview on Tuesday night in a non conference game and then travels to Wynford to close the regular season in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action on Friday.
Crestview (6-14) has won four its last five games, including a (46-43) win over Monroeville in Firelands Conference action last Friday.
Loy says the Cougars are an athletic group. “They are a dangerous team. They have some good athletes. Their record is similar to ours. They are probably feeling pretty decent about themselves here as of late. They have won four of their last five. They had a really nice overtime win at home against Western Reserve. They won a close one against Bucyrus and won a couple of late against Monroeville. They have some good athletes and some decent post players inside. It is a game where it is senior night for us, a big night for our six seniors in their last home game. We just have to make sure we are focused and ready to play,” he said.
Wynford (7-13,5-10) pushed the other co-leader in Upper Sandusky hard last Saturday before they lost (66-61) to the Rams.
Loy says they always play hard and their gym is a tough place to play. “They lost their post player, which hurts them quite a bit. They have been playing pretty decent and still competing with teams. Down the stretch here they had a really close loss at Upper Sandusky, which is impressive. We were in that same situation. You go to Upper Sandusky and that is a tough place to play. For Wynford to be there and only lose by five. I think they had a chance to tie there with about 30 seconds to go. They have one of the top scorers in the league in Josh Crall and they surround him with good athletes. They are well coached. You have to go to Wynford and it is always tough to play there. It would great to get a win there going into tournament,” said Loy.
Published 2/20/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Starting to Peak?
Coaches always want their teams to peak at the end of the season and Buckeye Central just might be doing just that.
They play two games in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this weekend at Bucyrus on Friday at home with conference co-leader Colonel Crawford on Saturday.
Last Saturday, they beat a very good Carey team (53-47) in league play.
Coach Phil Loy says they were able to make the plays down the stretch that in the past they were not able to make. “First of all, Carey is a really good ballclub. They are very athletic and have some size and good shooters. This was a game that of all of the close games that we have had we finally got to finish one. I thought we executed well down the stretch and we made free throws. In the past we lost seven games that were within five points and we were right there and we just couldn’t finish it off in the last couple minutes of the game. Give our kids credit I think they are getting better. This was definitely a good win for us to beat Carey,” he said.
Buckeye Central (5-13,5-8) plays at Bucyrus (2-16,1-12) on Friday night. Bucyrus lost to the league co-leaders last week in Colonel Crawford (65-39) om Thursday and Upper Sandusky (72-40) on Saturday.
Loy says the Redmen have potential because they have shooters. “Bucyrus is a dangerous team, especially playing them at their place. We throw out the records. I never pay much attention to records and it is all about matchups. Bucyrus has very good guard play. They are very similar to us as far as the athleticism and the size. I think they have some kids that are good shooters. To me it is a dangerous game for us if we don’t go over there and be focused. Again, we have to play well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “The first time we played them we only beat them by 12 and we could never stretch it out to the vey end. Every time we would try and stretch it out they came right back and made threes on us. They have that capability. We definitely have to have focus this week and make sure we guard the perimeter with their good guards.”
When it comes to Colonel Crawford (17-3,13-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, Loy knows it is going to be a huge task. He says they must get off to a better start that when they played the first time in North Robinson when the Eagles won (69-53) and they have to slow down the tempo. “The first quarter when we played them the last time they jumped on us and we were down 23-6 after the first quarter. They got a lot of stuff in transition. We didn’t do a good job defensively in our defensive transition and we were not matching up with shooters. The thing with Crawford is you can’t really help off of anybody because of if you do there is always someone else there that is going to hurt you. They execute their stuff very well. They are very well coached. We are going to have to do a better job of trying to control that tempo. After the first quarter when we played them we played right with them. The second, third, fourth quarter we played right with them, so we have to make sure we are ready to go right at the tip,” said Loy.
Published 2/15/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Wants to Close it Out
Buckeye Central has a chance to do something that their girls’ basketball team hasn’t done since Jacobs Field was just two years old and that is win outright conference championship,
They can do that with a win at Wynford on Tuesday night.
Coach Greg Moore says he told the players that is it time for them to be selfish and claim that title to themselves. “That is what we told the girls (Monday) night after practice. Listen, you have worked so hard to get here. It has been 21 years since Buckeye has won a league championship,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Every now and then you have to get a little bit selfish and you have to take care of business, take care of Buckeye Central and yourself and go out there and do what needs to be done. I think we have a pretty focused group. We have a group of girls that understand that and what means to win a championship.”
Buckeye Central (20-1,14-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, beat Colonel Crawford (50-15) to wrap up a share of the title on Friday.
Moore says these are the kinds of games you want to play. “It is a lot of fun for the kids. It’s a rivalry and it means something. We told the kids the other day that there were a lot of schools in the State of Ohio that were playing basketball games on Friday night that didn’t mean anything and we had a chance to at least clinch a share and that is a privilege and that is an honor. It means that you have really done your homework and did the work during the course of the year and the summer. Our kids have bought into that,” said Moore.
Wynford (5-16,3-12) lost to Buckeye Central (54-21) on January 9. They have collected three their wins over the last three weeks. They did lose to Upper Sandusky (81-39) on Friday night.
However, Moore knows that Wynford will be inspired to play them and they have play just as hard. “That is what we told the kids. It is their senior night. We have to go over there and it is their home floor. There is nothing they would like better than to upset us. It would be their Super Bowl,” he said.
Published 2/13/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Needs to Slow Down Carey
Buckeye Central almost upset “N10” co-leader Upper Sandusky last Saturday and they need to do a lot of the same things if they are going to beat Carey on Saturday night.
Last Saturday, Buckeye pushed Upper very hard before losing (43-39) in the end. Coach Phil Loy says they did almost everything they had to do. “I am proud of our kids. I thought they played really well. We missed some shots that we normally make, especially early. A lot of that give Upper Sandusky credit for that. The way they play defense they make you rush things a little bit. We are right there the whole game. We are tied at halftime. They make a little run on us and get up by maybe 10 points in the fourth quarter, but we fought right back. We had a chance to tie it with :03 seconds to go. We got a wide open look for three and hit it off the rim. That would have tied it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They got the rebound and unfortunately we had to foul and they made one of two free throws. We were right there. I am proud of our efforts, but we have had a lot of games like that. Hopefully, we can eventually get over the hump.”
Buckeye Central (4-13,4-8) hosts Carey (12-5,7-5) on Saturday night in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play. Carey won the first game (75-57) on December 28.
Loy says Saturday’s game can not by played with that much tempo if they are going to win it, it needs to be more like the Upper game. “Carey wants to play an up tempo style too. They like to shoot a lot of threes. They want the game to be in the mid to upper 60’s. We want to make sure we keep the game in the 50’s or low 50’s. They are really dangerous because they have good guard play and then you throw a 6’7”, 6’8” kid in the middle and it makes it really hard to defend,” he said.
The boys’ tournament draw in division four the top two teams are very good, but Loy says he thinks they can make some noise. “In the tournament we are going to be down towards the bottom, so we won’t get a whole lot of choice. I think we can play with just about anybody in our sectional. Our record doesn’t show that we are very good, but I really think we can compete with anybody. You have St. Pete’s and Colonel Crawford who are probably going to be the one and two in our sectional then I think three through 10 is very balanced. It is going to be interesting to see how that turns out,” he said.
Published 2/09/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Ballhandling to be Big for Buckeye
Buckeye Central put together one of its better performances of the season last Friday and they want to take that momentum into another game this Saturday with “N10” co-leader Upper Sandusky.
After a tough loss to Galion (56-53) on Thursday, the Bucks smacked Ridgedale (73-52) in a “N10” game.
Coach Phil Loy says for one thing they were able to get off to a good start, which hasn’t happened much for them this year. He says he was concerned about what their energy would be after Thursday. “That was a big concern of mine, was how much energy we would have going down there after a tough loss with Galion. It is a long bus ride. There was no JV game, so we were going to go right in and going to play. We struggled with them at our place. We only beat them by 12 and then they added two more guards to their roster, one from injury and one had to set out the first half of the year. So, it was really concerned going down. Plus, at the end of Thursday night’s game against Galion I lose my second leading scorer with an ankle injury. That really put us behind the eight ball I thought. Fortunately, Max Loy came out and scored like 13 points in first minute and a half and kind of set the tome right there. We had a 10 point lead and kind of maintained that throughout the game. It was nice, the kids really responded and played well,” said Loy.
Phil’s son Max tied the school record for points in a single game with 45 against Ridgedale. Coach Loy says he was able to do it efficiently. “It was really fun to watch I don’t care who it is if they put up 45 it is fun to watch, but what it is your own son out there doing that is was really special. It wasn’t like he ever forced anything. Everything just kind of came natural to him. He got us off with an offensive rebound to start the game, he hit three quick threes, everything just kind of flowed. He hit 15 of 18 from the foul line. He made 4 of 6 threes and he made 9 of 13 twos and he did it a variety of ways like posting up, attacking the basket, hit pull ups, offensive rebounds, shooting threes, steals. It was really a special night for him and I am really proud of him,” said Phil.
He laughs when he says both of his sons, older son Grant is a quarterback for Bowling Green, are better players than he ever was. “Both of them have been special players. I was just a post player. This is what I like, both them can play inside and out. That’s what I think is really special and make players like that tough to guard,” he said.
Buckeye Central (4-12,4-7) hosts Upper Sandusky (13-3,9-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, on Saturday. Upper won the first time (68-63) at Upper on December 21.
Loy says they have to handle the ball if they are going to stay in this one. “We were fortunate enough the first time we played them that we handled that pressure. It is so key to be able to handle that pressure and try and control the tempo of the game when you play them. That’s not easy. It is easier said than done and you really have to work on it. You are also working with 16, 17-year-old kids and when the lights are on on a Saturday night it is a little more difficult. We were in a position at Upper earlier in the year to win that game. We are down two with a 1:30 to go. We were down 12 and we made a good run to start the second half and put ourselves in position to win that game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Max Loy, in that game, it is a tight first half and picks up his second foul in the middle of the first quarter and has to set out the rest of the half and that is how we got ourselves in trouble there and got down 12. So, hopefully, it is a game where we can stay out of foul trouble and we can keep our turnovers down. They are so dangerous and tough to guard because they push the ball very well and they always make that extra pass and they can shoot the three. They have got four guys that average double figures. It just becomes a tough matchup. We have our work cut out for this week in preparing for them, but we will see what happens.”
Published 1/30/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Loses Another Close One
Buckeye Central took it right down to the end again, but they came up just a little shot in losing (56-53) to Galion in a non-league game on Thursday night. They play at Ridgedale in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
The Bucks had a couple of chances to tie the game up or go ahead in the final moments, but coach Phil Loy says they just couldn’t get over that final hump. “I would say I am very proud of the way we played, especially in the second half. In the first half I thought we played good defensively, but we missed so many shots in the first half and they really hurt us bad. Looking at our shot chart I think we missed 15 shots within six feet of the basket. Some of that is due to their size, they length. We just didn’t do a good job of finishing. We are still in check in the first half and then in the last couple of minutes they make a run and we go down 12 at halftime. The second half we wanted to continue to be aggressive and we put ourselves in position to win the game,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Down the stretch we are down three. We shoot a three, we miss it, unfortunately Dalton Scheaffer stepped on somebody’s foot and rolls his ankle bad and has to come out of the game. We bring a guy off the bench (Derek Reed) that is cold and he makes the first two, but we get the offensive rebound and go back up, we didn’t get the call there, I thought there could have been some contact and then we have to foul. Even at that we still have a shot with a second to go. We turn them over and get the ball back with 1.3 seconds and we get a decent look, a little bit deeper than we wanted. We had a chance to win that game. Galion, I think is better than their record, they almost beat Northmor a couple of days ago. We knew it was going to be tough at Galion. It is another “L,” but I am proud of our effort and never quitting.”
Loy says there has been no quit in these kids all season and their goals now to get ready to be competitive in the division four tournament. “These kids don’t quit, but eventually we have to get some “W’s” to reward them. These kids have a great work effort, great attitude, continue to work hard every day in practice. We know we are not going to win the league. Our goal now to put ourselves in position to continue to get better and look to win a sectional championship. We have to hopefully learn from all of these close losses that we have had and just continue to fight,” he said.
Buckeye Central (3-12,3-7) plays at Ridgedale (2-13,0-10) in a boys and girls varsity doubleheader on Friday night. Buckeye won the first time (57-45) in New Washington.
Loy says this is going to be a game when they need focus. “There is no “JV” game so it is a different scenario. You go down there and (Friday) night we are going to play right away. We are going to treat this like it is a tournament game. We are on the road and we have to go in and play right away, there is no “JV” warm up game for us. The first time we played Ridgedale it was a dogfight. We struggled to score and it only a four point game going to the fourth quarter until we finally make some shots and get a run going and get ourselves up by 15. I challenged my kids with their attitude and the energy level when we walk on that floor it has to be just as good as it was (Thursday) night if not better because it is dangerous when you go down there. Seneca East can tell you that they almost lost just the other night. So, we have to have the right mindset going in there and play our game,” said Loy.
Published 1/26/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Plays Upper
Buckeye Central shares the lead in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference girls’ basketball standings with Carey and Upper Sandusky trails both by just a game.
Buckeye plays at home against Upper on Tuesday night.
Buckeye’s only loss of the season came at Carey (51-50) back on December 27.
Coach Greg Moore says they didn’t play four quarters that night, but other than that the Buckettes have been consistent in their play. “We look at it and we have Carey next Tuesday and we really feel like we let one get away there. We played well the first half, we played two quarters and we told the kids you have to play four quarters if you want to be a team that is reckoned with. That night we didn’t do it and got beat by one,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Since then we have picked it up and had some great wins with Olentangy, we got Willard last week, and got Seneca East. There are some good things that we are doing. (Tuesday) is going to be just another set of circumstances that we have to take care of.”
Buckeye (13-1,7-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, beat Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division leader and division two Willard (55-44) last Thursday and Moore says that illustrates how good they can be as a team. “That is what we told the kids. We just have to come out focused. I thought we came out against Willard in the first half and played a very, very good game and really over four quarters we did. We took care of business right out of the gate and we got up on them. We made them chase us. That’s what we have to do. We have to make teams chase us. We have to make teams play our pace and play our style,” said Moore.
Buckeye Central beat Upper Sandusky (47-44) in their first meeting on December 16.
Moore says the Lady Rams (12-3,8-2) have some talented players, but he wants his kids concentrate on what they do well. “We know Hensel can flat out play. She is a hard matchup for us. They have (Abigail) Fogle that can flat out stroke it. We just have to take care of that. We just have to play Buckeye Central basketball and let things go the way they should go and see what happens,” he said.
Published 1/23/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday night from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Hopes to Turn the Corner
Buckeye Central is starting to compete with good teams for longer stretches of time, now they just need to get over the hurdle and start winning more games.
Their next chance is this weekend as they host Seneca East in an “N10” game on Friday night and New Riegel (5-3) in a non-league game on Saturday night.
Last Saturday, they took a very good Mohawk team to wire before losing (34-30) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.
Coach Phil Loy says they really played pretty well, even down a man. “Our last three games we have struggled to score. For whatever reason we have struggled to get everybody on the same page. So, that is a concern that we have to get figured out. Saturday with Mohawk I felt pretty good going in even though we did not have our third leading scorer and second leading rebounder in Darren Wurm and also one of our better defenders. He was out with a concussion from the Wynford game. So, I thought our kids played pretty well, they played pretty hard. We found ourselves down 10, Mohawk makes a run in the fourth quarter, and we have to scramble. We got back into it and actually had a shot to tie it at 33 and missed it and they stretched out to four. Our kids played hard,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Mohawk is a really good team that has taken teams down to the wire. They have beaten a really good Carey team on the road, they were close with Upper, they were close with Colonel Crawford. I thought defensively we did a really great job. Unfortunately, we turned it over too many times and just wasn’t able muster up enough points.”
Not having Darren Wurm last week was a hardship for the Bucks. Loy says it forced them to have other kids take on different roles. “We had to go deeper into our bench and our bench isn’t super deep. We played three quarters with a couple of freshmen. We pulled a couple of freshmen up from JV’s. The dress varsity for us, but they haven’t been seeing any time, but it forced us to play them. Give them credit they came in a did a great job for us, but still not having Wurm is a big deficit for us,” he said.
It is the second time around for Buckeye (2-10,2-7) and Seneca East (5-4,4-4) this year. The Tigers railed to beat Buckeye Central (49-47) on December 15.
Loy says it was a game they had a good lead and let it get away from them. “They are just very long. We played them first time at their place. That was a game where Max Loy gets in foul trouble again. I feel like I have said that multiple times this year, but he ended up fouling out late in the game. We were able to give ourselves a 13 point lead late in the third quarter. I think we are up eight going to the fourth and then their pressure really affected us. We did not handle pressure real well in that game, especially without Max. We turned it over against there 1-2-2 and we probably had 10 turnovers in the fourth quarter and ended up losing that game by two points. They had some kids step up and they made a lot of free throws. We ended up sending them to the line 30 times. So, taking care of the basketball, playing a little better defense. Their length hurt us they got a lot defections, so those are things we need to correct this week,” said Loy.
Published 1/16/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
First Quarter Key for Buckeye Central
Buckeye Central just can’t seem to put 32 minutes together and its is costing them a chance to win more games.
Last week, they were pretty good for about six of the eight quarters, but that wasn’t good enough in losses to Colonel Crawford (69-53) and Wynford (52-42) in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action.
Coach Phil Loy says they have to have more balance in the scoring column too. “We are a lot like the weather we haven’t been consistent here. With Crawford Friday we got off to a slow start, which is what we don’t want to do, especially over there. We dug ourselves a hole, but I felt like the second, third and fourth quarters we played a lot better. If we could have that for four quarters we could have at least made that game competitive. On Saturday, we struggled to have consistent scoring. We went all of the way until the third quarter before we got somebody else to score,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We had one guy giving us all of the scoring. That is tough. We got some good looks, but we just didn’t put the ball in the basket. We kind of hung around and hung around. We have to do a much better job at both ends of the floor. We have to be a lot more consistent. We don’t have any games that we are going to blow anybody out this year. For us to win games we have to be consistent for four quarters.”
It’s the beginning of the second round in the “N10” and Buckeye Central (2-9,2-6) travels to Mohawk (7-4,6-2) on Saturday night. On December 9, Mohawk beat Buckeye (61-43) with pretty good shooting.
Loy says the Warriors are pretty athletic and their guards are quick. “They are a dangerous team, the are kind going under the radar. We knew that they would be a tough team this year. Coach Dunn has them playing really hard. They have good athletes. They have a couple of nice post players. They have good shooters. They have athletic guards that are really quick. Last time we played them they shot the ball extremely well from behind the arc compared to their season stats. They got off to a quick start. We tried to play them some zone early on and they shot us out of it. Max Loy goes down in the middle of the second quarter and doesn’t return with a high ankle sprain and that hurt us. We ended up cutting that game back into single digits. We were right there, but we didn’t have enough firepower to finish that game,” said Loy.
It has been a problem pretty much all year and Loy says Saturday night they have to play better in the first quarter. “That is so key for us. It has just been a struggle at time. Even in the games we have won it has been a dogfight to get off to a good start and get the points on the board and get the stops. So, if we can get that figured out I think it is going to help us out tremendously down the road,” he said.
Published 1/11/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Plays Two Biggest Rivals
Coming off their second of win of the season, the Buckeye Central Bucks play their two biggest and most long standing rivals in Colonel Crawford and Wynford in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action this weekend.
Buckeye beat Bucyrus (63-51) last Saturday. Coach Phil Loy says they will take the win, but there are still things to work on. “It wasn’t a pretty win, but right now we will take wins. Wins are kind of tough for us to come by and I don’t expect us to have any big wins by any large margins. So, I think a lot of our games will be competitive and maybe come down to the wire. Saturday’s game with Bucyrus I thought overall was good. The bad thing there was we just turned it over way too many times. There were a lot of careless turnovers. Some of them were charge calls and things like that. Just poor decision making,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We can’t afford to give up that many possessions in a game and expect to win. Overall, I thought we shot the ball well, we outrebounded them, and we got to the free throw line as well. Bucyrus has got a decent team. They have good guard play. They are athletic. They are struggling to win as well. Overall, I thought that was a good win for us.”
Buckeye Central (2-7,2-4) play at Colonel Crawford (9-1,6-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com basketball coaches poll in the small school division, on Friday night. The Eagles beat Bucyrus (89-64) on Tuesday night.
Loy says the Eagles are just good all over. “They just have a nice mix of kids. They’ve got good size. They’ve got good guard play. They are athletic, they are quick. They have good basketball smarts. They shoot the ball well. They want an up tempo like game. They are probably right now the best in our league. For us we have to play a near perfect game to beat them. We have to play better than we have been because we really have to take care of the basketball. Every possession if going to be very important when we go over there and play at their place,” said Loy.
The Bucks are at home for Wynford (3-5,2-4) on Saturday night in “N10” play. The Royals carry a five game losing streak, but Loy says they have players that give them problems. “Wynford was off to a good start. They won their first three games and now they have lost the next five. They are a dangerous team for us as well. They have one of better guards, better scorers in the league in Josh Crawll and they have some other kids that can knock down shots. They have a little bit of size, especially compared to us they have size. They have a big horse in the middle in Kaleb Roush. Again, we have to be very solid. We have to control the tempo of the game. We have to take care of our turnovers. We have to outrebound the next two opponents in order to compete,” he said.
Published 1/03/18
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 AM to 1 PM
Buckeye Central Gets Wins; Plays Talented Carey
It took seven games, but Buckeye Central finally got its first win of the season last week and now they face a very good Carey team to try and get a two game winning streak.
They play at Carey on Thursday night in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play.
The Bucks beat Ridgedale (57-44) last Friday night to get that first win.
Coach Phil Loy says that win was the end of a long week. “We are glad to get that first win, it took a while, but we got it. Last week was a tough week, but we knew it would be a tough week going Tuesday, Thursday and then Friday, so kind of an NBA schedule. That kind of concerned me a little bit. We moved Saturday’s game up to Friday, so we could play the same night as our girls against Ridgedale because neither of their girls or boys had JV teams, so we agreed to move that up. I was a little concerned how much legs, how much energy we would have. It seemed to be enough. It wasn’t a pretty win, but a win is a win,” said Loy.
They had lost to Willard (59-50) and Upper Sandusky (68-63) last week.
Loy says they are starting to score more and get more kids involved on the offensive end. “We keep working on that. We want to get more production out of more people. Early in the year it was just one or two guys doing most of the scoring, but I think some other guys are getting a little more comfortable accepting their role. We need them to be scorers for us and slowly, but surely we are starting to get that,” he said.
Carey (6-2,2-2) beat Wynford (60-58) in “N10” action last Thursday and downed New Riegel (53-34) in a non-league game on Saturday.
Loy says had a great perimeter game and they have a big guy in the middle and that makes them difficult to defend. “They return a lot of people. They have very good guard play. They are athletic and quick and then they have a 6’7” kid inside, he is just a sophomore. He has grown a lot since last year. I think last year the roster said he was 6’4” and this year they have him 6’7”. He is a horse and we are kind of used to it like the Willard game and some other games where we have had to go against some really big post players and we aren’t big,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Our biggest post player is 6’0”, so he really has to work hard and get position and do a really good job of boxing out. That is a big concern. It is tough to double down on somebody like that when they have two or three guys that are shooting over 40 percent from three. So, we will have to do a really good job defensively to compete in this game.”
Published 12/27/17
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central’s Defense the Difference
Buckeye Central is all alone in first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference right now with a one game lead on Carey, Upper Sandusky and Bucyrus.
They play Ridgedale (3-4,1-2) in an “N10” game on Friday night in New Washington.
They are coming off an impressive (47-44) win over Upper last Saturday.
Coach Greg Moore says it was their defense that gave them the win against a very good team. “Absolutely it was our best win of the season. Upper is always at the top of our league. They are D-2 school. It has been tough for us to play with them. We have competed, we just haven’t been able to get over the hump. So, we went over there on Saturday and played a really good game. We didn’t shoot the ball that well, but we had great team effort and our defense was very, very good,” said Moore.
The Buckettes (6-0,5-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, has scored more than 60 points in all of their games until last Saturday, including an (89-36) win over Plymouth to begin the season.
However, Moore says it is their defense that is the difference. “It is something we really pride ourselves on. When we got to Buckeye three years ago we were not that good on defense. When I got here were giving up like 52 points a game and that was just atrocious. We have got that down now to we are giving up 36 points a game. We are young and the kids are buying into it,” he said.
Ridgedale topped Wynford a couple of weeks ago in overtime (45-43,) but lost to Upper (68-20) in their last league game on December 12. Moore describes the Lady Rockets are up and comers and he knows they are going to have to be ready to play. “They are a team that is improving very much. They are young. I think they start three or four sophomores. They are going to be a team to reckon with. They have a nice point guard. They have some posts. They have a freshman that actually starts also,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are a very quality team. They haven’t go there yet as far as wins and losses. They beat Wynford last week in overtime. We can’t overlook them. We just have to come and play basketball.”
Published 12/22/17
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday form 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central faces a Big Seneca East Team
Buckeye Central is still looking for some keys to becoming a better high school basketball team.
Coach Phil Loy says they have to get better on both ends of the court.
They lost to Mohawk (61-43) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game last Saturday. Loy says they didn’t get off to a very good start. “Last week we wanted to play Mohawk a lot of zone. We were more concerned about their high low man offense, the size inside. We wanted to get out and play some zone where they ran some other things, but we lost shooters. Mohawk has some good guards and we found ourselves down 10 just like that. They hit three quick three. They ended up hitting five threes in the first quarter. We had gotten out of it after about four possessions, but we found ourselves down 10 after one quarter,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Then in the second quarter Max Loy rolls his ankle and doesn’t return. If he is not going to be on the floor we not only lose scoring and rebounding, but we lose leadership on the floor and that really hurt us. We kind of had an uphill battle from that point on. We kept it right at 8-10 points until the last few minutes of the game and they hit some shots there late on us. That slow start and we have to be able to defend a little better in order to beat teams like Mohawk.”
Loy says they aren’t talking much on defense and that is hurting them, plus they need to rebound better. “For us it is a lot of communication. We have to get more kids talking on the floor communicating switches and how you are defending certain situations. If you don’t speak out there at that level you can get burned. The other thing is we don’t have a great deal of size, so we really have to work our butt off to get position and have good box outs for rebounds. It only takes one guy to miss and assignment every possession to give up a rebound. We outrebounded Mohawk, but it was close and in our other two losses we got outrebounded. That is something we have to take a lot more pride in,” said Loy.
Buckeye Central (0-3,0-1) is at Seneca East (2-0,1-0) on Friday night in “N10” play. The Tigers took care of Ridgedale (77-44) last Saturday in a league game.
Loy says the Tigers are big. “Seneca East has some size. They have a quick point guard that plays for them. They have good size inside and they have a scorer in Alex Forehand, who is a good three point shooter. They start 6’4’, 6’4”, 6’3” and another 6’4” kid and they bring a 6’4”off the bench. So, it is a game that we are going to have to be sound defensively and make sure we box out and we rebound the basketball. We also have to do a better job of offensive execution and taking care of the basketball,” he said.
Published 12/13/17
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Bucks Have to Make More Shots
Buckeye Central has some growing to do and they need to become more consistent in their play.
They play at Mohawk (0-1) in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference opener for both schools on Saturday night.
They lost two last weekend in non-conference play (50-49) to Plymouth on Friday and (63-39) to South Central on Saturday.
Coach Phil Loy says against Plymouth they just couldn’t put it away and that cost them. “We knew it would be a tough weekend. We thought we stacked up pretty good with Plymouth. We thought that was one we definitely could get, but we always know when we play Plymouth it always seems like it goes down to the wire. They are always good battles. Unfortunately, we had some foul trouble and we just didn’t have very good execution down the stretch and ended losing that game by one. We had a six point lead in the fourth quarter and they made some big shots. We couldn’t get a couple of stops there and we came up on the short end,” said Loy.
With South Central, Loy says the first and fourth quarters were killers for the Bucks. “Going against South Central we new that would also be, or maybe even a tougher, challenge for us on the road. They are probably going to be one of the favorites in the Firelands. They have good guard play, they have some size, they can play on the perimeter. They don’t try to beat you inside with their back to basket, but they can really take you off the dribble and kick it out and make some nice shots,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We played in spurts. Our first quarter we got off to a slow start. I thought we played really well defensively and offensively in the second and third quarters. In the fourth quarter we just couldn’t muster up enough to keep it close.”
Loy says his team needs to find some more balance moving forward. “We are still trying to find ourselves. We need more production out of some of our guys. We have a young kid that was out this weekend that is a key player for us and he is back. So, we are looking for some improvement going into Saturday with Mohawk,” he said.
Mohawk lost to New Riegel (59-51) in their opener last Friday. The Warriors were only down one late in the fourth quarter. Loy says they play hard and good players inside and on the perimeter. “The thing with a Paul Dunn coached team is those kids just play extremely hard. He really gets the most out of his kids. They do a great job. They play you some zone. They play you some man. They are a tough bunch. They have got some good size and they have some good guard play. It is a game where our execution is going to have to be better. The bottom line is we are going to have to make some shots,” said Loy.
Published 12/05/17
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Opens With Double Weekend
Like a lot of teams these days, Buckeye Central opens the boys’ basketball season with a double weekend. They host Plymouth on Friday and travel to South Central on Saturday in games against two Firelands Conference teams.
Coach Phil Loy says the season is here and you have to able to go. “I guess ready or not here we come because the double weekends are tough. You dig right into it. For us these are tough match-ups. Every year they are good games, so we have got to be ready and play our best,” he said.
He says that practice everyday at this point in the season can become tiresome. “They get tired of beating on each other all of the time. You try and make some of your last scrimmages as game like as possible. You try and make your practices, especially this week, as game like as possible, but they are ready to play somebody else and sometimes I feel like we are not ready because we are just going through the motions. We know the strengths and weaknesses of the JV team or whatever and I feel like we let our guard down sometimes. It is that way every year and the lights come on on Friday nights and it is different, but the kids are working hard, but they are just ready to move on and get the season started,” said Loy.
Plymouth was a team that was hot and cold last year, but Loy says they always seem to play them tough and he expects do different come Friday night. “Every time we play Plymouth it is a good game. It seems like it comes down to late in the fourth quarter. Last year, we played them and got off to a quick start and then we did not finish that game very well. The second half we didn’t come out and play very well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We faced them again in the first round of the tournament and that was a dogfight from the start to the finish and we were lucky to pull that one out. I expect no different on Friday. They lost four starters, but they return a really good guard in Jake Adams. They look like they have some good guard play and some good shooters surrounding him. We expect a good game on Friday night.”
South Central and the Bucks have played two one-point games the last two seasons. Loy says the Trojans are pretty good, especially at the guard spot. “Every year we have played them it is a game that has come down to late in the fourth quarter. A couple of years ago we had to make a shot late to win it. Last year it came down to a one point game. South Central I think is going to be one of the best teams in the Firelands. They are extremely good, have good guard play, and have some good size. It is a game where we really have to step up in order to beat them this year,” he said.
Published 11/29/17
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Starts Season
Girls at Buckeye Central have had great success lately. They finished second in the “N10” in basketball last winter and advanced to the division four regional tournament and this fall they won the volleyball title and made it to the state semifinals.
That is all a good the only possible negative is the basketball team got a number of their players late and have had less practice time.
However, coach Greg Moore says when you are at a small school you have to share athletes. “We look at as a positive what the kids accomplished. We have only had them two weeks as of (Tuesday.) We basically have four starters coming off of that volleyball team, so we are a little bit behind the eight ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The other thing is we lost four starters last year off that regional run when we won 21 games, but we will get there.”
The one starter that have back is a pretty good one in 1,000 point scorer Jenna Kahl, a 5’8” senior point guard, who will be one of the better players in the area this year,
Moore says they are going to be patient this year. He says their goal is to get better every day. “We are trying to find out who fits where. We are not going to rush things and put a lot of stuff in and take our time. All we want to do is get better athletically and basketball wise. We have challenged our kids to be two percent better each day,” he said.
Buckeye will play at Plymouth (0-1) on Tuesday night in their first game of the season. Plymouth lost its first game (55-36) to Seneca East, also of the “N10,” on Saturday night.
Moore says this game and their other early season games are more about what they are doing. “We need to find out who can play and who can do this and that. This is what this is about. Our preseason was short, but they have been coming in and working really hard. They have had a great attitude. Our schedule is very tough for a small D-4 school when you look at it,” said Moore.
Published 11/28/17
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central has to Know What it Can do
Buckeye Central is not going to be the biggest team in the world and they are going to have to find different ways to score other than just throwing it into the post.
Swankonsports.com was at practice on Tuesday afternoon.
Coach Phil Loy says he likes the attitude the players have exhibited, they have done some good things and he believes they can have a good season. “So far, we just need to keep getting better. We have had two scrimmages, one scrimmage was canceled do to another team’s football. In the first two scrimmages and in our practices our kids are working hard, but we just have to get better. We are not a really big team and we need to work on boxing out, that’s huge for us. We are trying to be a little up tempo where we can get the kids out and play. We have to force teams to play a little more hurry up because we are a small team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We are more guard oriented. In the first two scrimmages it has been so, so, it hasn’t been great, it hasn’t been real bad. The effort has been there, we haven’t shot it well, and our rebounding just needs to get better. I think these kids are buying into things and playing hard, they have good attitudes, good team chemistry, so I think we can get there.”
Tempo is going to be key for the Bucks. Loy says they don’t have to have quick shots, but they need to get the ball down the floor in order to get good opportunities. “We want to push at every opportunity, but that doesn’t mean we necessarily want to shoot quick. We are not going to be great in a half court unless we are making perimeter shots. We are not going to pound it down somebody’s throat. We are going to be more of a more of a dribble attack type thing or shoot perimeter shots. We just don’t have the big post presence like we have had in year’s past. Yeah, we definitely need to push the ball and see if we can get anything and if it is not there we will run our half court offenses,” said Loy.
Buckeye opens the season with a pair of non-conference games next weekend with Plymouth and South Central of the Firelands Conference.
We have focused on the fact that the Bucks lost a lot of close games and Loy feels it could help them mentally if they could win a close one early. “Last year we lost a lot of close ones where we were right there or had a lead and couldn’t find ways to win it. We would turn it over late, couldn’t execute our things down the stretch, so that would be huge for us. I don’t want close games, but to win one would be nice,” he said.
Published 11/22/17
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Being Good Teammates
High school basketball teams spend a lot of time together, so they better get along, and so far, this season the chemistry on the Buckeye Central boys’ basketball team has been very good.
Coach Phil Loy says he is really happy with the effort he has been getting from everybody over the first 10 days of the preseason. “So far, so good. We have had nine practices and I have been really happy with our attitude and our effort. The kids are working hard and picking up things pretty quick. I return five lettermen and they are good leaders and the kids are following. It has been a good start and we will see how it goes if we can keep it going,” he said.
Buckeye was (10-13) last season and they lost a lot of close game, but Loy says he thinks their team chemistry is a lot better this year than it was last and that is going to help. “We had a good season last year and we lost a lot of close games. Finding ways to win just didn’t go in our favor last year, but the thing I like this year is our team chemistry,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I feel like it is a lot better. I just like how we are sharing the basketball. Last year, we had some go to guys, but I felt like some guys were kind of out of the mix, like they weren’t involved like they should be. This year I just think we have much better team chemistry and I think that is going to relate to those close games, hopefully we can find ways to win.”
Team chemistry can be difficult to determine unless you are in the gym every day with the players, but Loy says that is likely the biggest factor at the high school level and if you don’t have you are in trouble. “I think that is number one. You have to have good team chemistry. If you don’t I think you going to see throughout the season you are going to lose close games. The relationship is not going to be there. Right now, I don’t see that. I see us getting along. Like I said sharing the basketball and making that extra pass. Willing to step in and go that extra mile for your teammate. That all kind of adds up. We lost our fair share of close games last year and hopefully that will relate to some wins this year,” said Loy.
Published 11/14/17
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Out of Bounds” airs live every Friday from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Meets New Bremen
Buckeye Central, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion, and once beaten this year, plays New Bremen in the division four volleyball state semifinals on Thursday at Wright State University.
The Buckettes (26-1) advanced with a 25-15, 25-20, 26-24 win over conference rival Carey on Saturday in the regional final at Elida High School.
Coach Jackie Nye credits the tremendous start the team got for their victory over Carey. “We told the girls all week that it is hard to beat somebody three times. Knowing Carey and the athletes they have one their team we knew it was going to be a tough match,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Our girls kind of came out right from the beginning of the match and that set the tone I think for the rest of the match. We were able to play one of our best games and pull it off in three sets.”
A strong start to the match is something Buckeye Central has concentrated as this season has progressed. Nye says that has been one of the keys to their continued improvement this fall. “They girls have been doing really well just staying consistent. At the beginning of the year we would kind of slow down a little bit towards the second set and coast a little bit, but they have been improving a lot when it comes to finishing the match and playing at a high level the entire time,” she said.
New Bremen (26-1) knocked off Fort Loramie 19-25, 25-20, 25-13, and 25-17 in their regional final. Their only loss this year came to Fort Recovery 14-25, 25-18, 25-19, and 25-19 in mid-September. The Lady Cardinals are making their first ever state tournament appearance.
For Buckeye Central, this is appearance number 11 in the state final four. The last coming in 2012. They won state titles in 1993 and 1996. The Buckettes are one of North Central Ohio’s most traditional powers.
As far as New Bremen is concerned, Nye says they have a balanced team, but they try to get the ball to Paige Jones, a senior outside hitter. “Just from watching film and what I have seen so far they are a really solid team. They have one player, Paige Jones, that they tend to go to a lot, but they have a lot of other solid hitters as well. Overall, I think it is going to be a tough match. It is a state semifinal, so everybody is good,” said Nye.
Published 11/08/17
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Sports Saturday” airs live every week from 10 AM to 1 PM
Buckettes in the Regional
Buckeye Central plays Ada in the volleyball division four regional semifinals at the Elida Fieldhouse on Thursday evening.
The Buckettes are (24-1) and coming off a dominating victory over Firelands Conference champion Norwalk St. Paul in the district final last week at Willard High School.
Coach Jackie Nye says the Northern 10 Athletic Conference champions have more depth this year and that has been a plus. “We have had quite a few players really step up this year, who I think were just background players last year. This year they have made us a more well rounded team. In the past we only had one or two go to players. As an entire team we have done really well because everybody is able to play and step up,” she said.
They also have outside hitter Jenna Kahl, who earlier this year recorded her 1,000 kill of her career. She is a four year starter for Buckeye.
Buckeye Central beat Norwalk St. Paul 25-17, 25-22, and 25-20 last week in the district final. Nye says that is an illustration of just how well they are playing right now. “That was one of our best games for sure this season. The girls just came out with a lot of intensity,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “You could just tell that they weren’t going to back down. I think the last few years losing to St. Paul in the districts has kind of been the monkey on our backs. So, they were really looking forward to that game. It has always kind of been in the back of their heads. It has really been what they have been working for.”
It is possible Buckeye Central could play league foe Carey for a third time this year in Saturday’s regional final. Buckeye won both regular season matches. Carey plays Toledo Christian in the other division four district semi at Elida on Thursday.
Ada (18-7) was the third seed in their district and they beat Lima Central Catholic 25-19, 25-15, and 25-15 to advance in the tournament.
Nye says they have been doing some scouting. “They have quite a few good players. Melina Woods is one of their middle hitters, that is what we have been hearing a lot about just looking at their stats. We are trying to get an idea of who they are going to try and go to. She seems to be one of their go to players. That is what we are really going to have to focus on along with some of their other hitters that they like to go to in the front row,” said Nye.
Nye says Thursday they are just going to have to continue to go with what has gotten them this far. “We are just going to have to play our game though. We told the girls (Wednesday) the team that shows up is going to be the team that wins. Hopefully, that is us and we can keep playing the way we have been playing,” she said.
Published 11/02/17
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Sports Saturday” airs live every week from 10 AM to 1 PM
Buckeye Central Looking for Paycheck
Buckeye Central is putting in the work during the week, but they aren’t getting paid for it on Friday night and they would like that to change.
The Bucks are (0-3) after a loss to Seneca East (63-0) in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play last week. They host Crestline (1-2) in a non-conference game on Friday night.
Coach Rob Detterman says they need to get better at the point of attack. “We have not seen a lot of growth on the line of scrimmage yet and that’s the big thing where we need to see it. We have really been focused there the last couple of weeks trying to get those kids up to speed and playing a little harder, playing to the whistle. We have had a couple of really tough opponents here the last couple of weeks that were difficult for us to match-up with,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We had a game in there too with Plymouth that we thought we didn’t play very well in it. If we can start growing a little bit this week we think things can turn around for us here the next couple of weeks.”
Detterman says they have been working very hard in practice and they just have to turn it into something on Friday nights. “We have had a lot of adversity over the last year and a half, two years. It is time for us to get that paycheck, that’s what I told the kids. We are out there working everyday and they are definitely putting their best effort into it, but we just need to go out and get paid. We need to go out on the field on Friday night and collect our checks, so that’s what we are trying to do,” he said.
Crestline is coming off a (44-9) loss at the hands of South Central last Friday. Their win comes in week two (7-0) over Grove City Christian.
Detterman says they have some guys on their offense that are going to be hard to contain. “They are a spread team that do a lot of different things formation wise. Not really different than us, not a lot different that Seneca East formation wise from some of the stuff we saw. They have a really good receiver in Devon Triplet. We struggled with him last year. He is a guy we have to account for. He’s a big tall kid that catches the ball really well. He is deceptively fast. Their running back and quarterback are good too. They are big up front. I don’t know if they are super athletic, but they have a lot of size, so we are going to have to match that too,” said Detterman.
Published 9/13/17
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Sports Saturday” airs live on every week from 10 AM to 1 PM
Trenches a Key for Bucks
Buckeye Central plays on the road against Seneca East in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
The Bucks have lost their first two against Plymouth (34-14) and last week to Mohawk (45-14) in a conference game.
Coach Rob Detterman says a landslide led to 32 points by Mohawk in the first quarter and they couldn’t get back in it. “We started out with a bad snap on the first play. It kind of broke a play that looked like it might have been there and got us going in the right direction. We had a dropped pass on third down and we had to punt it away and they ran right down the field. We turned the ball over a couple times in a row and the next thing you know it is 32-0 and we are out of the game. Give credit to Mohawk they are a very good team this year. Their offensive line and defensive line really controlled the line of scrimmage all night. That is an area that we are going to have to improve going forward,” said Detterman.
Right now, the Bucks aren’t getting things done in the trenches and that has to rectified and right away if they are going to start winning. “We have three guys back from last year that started for us and we had higher expectations for our line than what we have been getting so far. We need to do the little things that we are coached to do. This week we really went back to the fundamentals. We always focus on those, but we really harped on it this week, get out get our hands on the offensive line when we fire out on the defensive side. Trying to initiate contact instead of accepting it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “It is the same thing from the offensive side. We have to initiate contact we can’t set back and wait on the other team to be quicker off the ball than we are. A lot of it is just in our aggressiveness and we have to be more aggressive up front.”
The legacy of Buckeye offensive lineman Bryce Lutz will be honored before the game. He was killed in an auto accident this summer. He attended Seneca East through the third grade.
Seneca East (1-0) did not play week two. They beat South Central (35-14) in their opener.
Detterman says the Tigers have a lot of talent all over the field. “There is no doubt about it their skilled kids are very good. Their line looks pretty good too. I don’t know if their line is quite up to where Mohawk’s was, but it’s pretty close. Their skilled talent might be as good as there is in the league. Brock Martin is probably one of the best players, if not the best player, in the league. He is a guy we are going to have to focus on all night long and know where he is because he has the ability to break a long one from anywhere on the field,” he said.
Published 9/08/17
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Sports Saturday” airs live every week from 10 AM to 1 PM
Buckeye Central Has to Have more Discipline
Buckeye Central has to eliminate mistakes if they going to become a good football team this fall.
They were not able to do that is a (34-14) loss to Plymouth last week in their first game of the season, giving up more than 400 yards on the ground.
Coach Rob Detterman says they just made way too many mistakes in the game. “We did struggle quite a bit. We were pretty emotional that night. We made a lot of mistakes that were out of the ordinary. We didn’t help ourselves at all. We had 11 penalties on the game. We had nine dropped passes. As far as running the ball they just out maned us. We ended up with all 11 guys in the box and they were still able to run it on us, so we have got to get better up front on the defensive line,” said Detterman.
Buckeye honored two fallen players in a pregame ceremony last week.
This week in practice Detterman says they have to learn from what they saw on film and be able to correct those errors. “Film is a big learning curve and it different from preseason to week one. You can get out there and see actual game speed and see the mistakes you are making in the game. It is a lot different and a lot easier for kids to learn. I think what we learned in film and what we can take forward it going to help us a lot. The discipline part and eliminating those penalties that is really important for us this week,” he said.
The Bucks (0-1) host Mohawk (1-0) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night. The Warriors beat Margaretta (30-14) in their first game. Detterman says Mohawk that is really good football team that wants to run the football. “It looked like it was a fairly evenly matched game that was decided kind of late. Both teams looked really solid. Mohawk is still fairly young, but they are experienced. They played a lot of sophomores last year, which translates into a lot of juniors this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They are a big team. They are a solid team all of the way through. There are no real weaknesses that jump out at you. They have kind of mixed it up where they are in more of a spread this year, but they are still trying to run the football and they have two really good running backs we are going to have to stop.”
The Warriors like the spread, but Detterman says they like to run the football out of that formation. “I think the majority of spread team in our sized schools are trying to get guys out of the box and try and find good match-ups. Try to get the numbers game in your favor. That is definitely what they are doing. They can throw too. The quarterback is pretty good, has a pretty good arm on him and he has some pretty good receivers to throw it to too,” he said.
Published 8/30/17
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter @swankonsports
“Sports Saturday” airs live every week from 10 AM to 1 PM
Buckeye Must be Physical
Plymouth has changed its offense, but Buckeye Central coach Rob Detterman has seen this attack before.
The Big Red has installed a double tight, double wing offense very similar to what Lucas has been running in recent years.
Buckeye hosts Plymouth in the opener for both come Friday night in New Washington.
Detterman likes the way his team has improved heading into the opening week of the season. “The things we were looking for last week that we wanted to get better at we did improve on. That’s has kind of been our motto. We wanted to get 1% better every day of the year and we have done that. We looked much better, we weren’t physically overwhelmed by a really good team. The score was a little lopsided, but we didn’t game plan for that and they did some things that we definitely weren’t prepared for. So, we felt like we went out there and competed at a good level and we were happy with how the kids played,” said Detterman.
Detterman is a former assistant coach at New London and he is familiar with the rugby scrum type look from coaching against Lucas. He says he isn’t surprised that Plymouth would adopt the look considering the personality of their coach. “That is exactly what they are doing it is not a Lucas type it is just like Lucas. They have only shown one formation so far that double wing. That is the only thing we have seen the whole preseason. They have probably only passed the ball 10 times. They want to run and create a scrum. It is a physical style of football. I have been coaching against coach Genders for a lone time. He is a great friend of mine. That is something he definitely prides his teams on. So, I can see how that fits his personality really well,” he said.
When it comes to defending the double tight, double wing Detterman believes the key is to be physical on defense. “That is what we told our kids. We don’t want to get out of our comfort zone as far as what we do. We don’t want to reinvent ourselves just for this one game. That is something I have learned over all my years of football coaching. We scrimmaged Lucas for years when I was at New London, so I know kind of what they are about and what this style of offense is about,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We want to stay in something that we are familiar with. We just want to bring up our physicality and bring up our level of competitiveness and make sure each kid knows how important it is to their job. At the same time we don’t want to get out of what we normally do too much and make our kids have to think we just want them to play hard.”
Published 8/22/17
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Sports Saturday” airs live every week from 10 AM to 1 PM
Bucks Are Battling
Buckeye Central is a football team that is battling adversity and they are working to find ways to get around their obstacles.
Due to a number of reasons they have low numbers this year at Buckeye and that can make things difficult.
Coach Rob Detterman says even practice can difficult at times, but they are out there busting their butts to become better as a team. “We have made a lot of good progress so far and the kids are learning and working hard. We are getting a lot of reps. So, the knowledge of what we are trying to do is pretty good. The big issue that we are having is just trying to simulate varsity speed at practice with our low numbers,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “When we have gotten to the scrimmages it has taken a little bit to step up to the speed of the game and how it is played on Friday night, but at the same time our kids have stepped up during scrimmages and have gotten better through each one.”
With numbers in the low to mid 20’s that means injuries can be a big concern for the Bucks and Detterman says everybody on the squad has to be as focused as they can, “We tell the kids everyday we can’t afford to miss. We all have to be in on this. You have to be dedicated and be there because if one person doesn’t show up for practice it hurts our team in a big way. It makes it difficult to go out there and have an 11 on 11 practice. We can’t control are circumstances we can only control how we respond to them. That is our message and that’s what we do is keep working hard,” said Detterman.
Buckeye Central plays at home against Plymouth in their first game of the season next Friday and then host Mohawk and plays at Seneca East in Northern 10 Athletic Conference games. With Ridgedale dropping football this year each “N10” school will play two non-conference games after week two. The Bucks play Crestline week four and Sandusky St. Mary’s week six.
Detterman says his kids are eager to get in there and play a game for real. “Scrimmages are nice and it is nice to go out and play against somebody, but it doesn’t give you the feel of a real game. There is some chomping at the bit so to speak to get out there and get going against Plymouth there on week one,” he said.
Published 8/16/17
© Swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
“Sports Saturday” airs every week from 10 AM to 1 PM
Buckeye Central Learning Things
Buckeye Central High School, especially it’s senior class, has been through a lot over the last couple years and hopefully the football season can help to heal those wounds.
Bryce Lutz, who would have been one of the better lineman in the “N10” this fall, was killed in an automobile crash this summer and Tyler Niece was lost in the spring of 2016. Plus, an assistant coach, Bret Bishop, passed away this spring. So, the students, and the adults for that matter, have been dealing with a lot of very important issues. Ones of more importance than football.
On the field Buckeye Central finished (2-8) in Rob Detterman’s first year as head coach in 2016. With wins over Ridgedale (42-0) and Bucyrus (41-40) in conference play. They lost the rest of their conference games by at least two scores.
Detterman says they must put together a more consistent effort on Friday nights and during practice everyday too. “We had a lot of adversity last year off the field and on the field. We had injuries we had to overcome and learn a new offense. The weight room was something that had to change here a little bit too, so hopefully those things are going to add into us getting better. We also just need to work harder in practice. We need to make sure we are doing our job everyday and getting though it 100 percent,” he told Swankonsports.com on the first day of camp on Monday, “I don’t know if I did a good enough job with that with last year being my first year I was focused on so many different things. Hopefully it has slowed down for me a little bit and I can make sure that was are not slacking and messing up. We have to run perfect routes. We have to block perfectly in practice. We can’t be perfect players if we don’t practice perfectly. So, hopefully those things will come around this year.”
There were 10 days of coaching before camp began and Detterman says his players have been working hard this summer and they want to be football players and that is a good sign. “Again we have had a lot of adversity this summer and people are well aware of it. I think it has been documented, but we have come together and we have worked hard. The kids have been here every day. We don’t have a lot of kids. We only have 26 kids this year, but they are here everyday working hard. They lift, they do their agility training. They are out here throwing, catching, blocking, practicing on their own, and they are excited to play football. So, even though we don’t have a lot of guys they are all football players and they are ready to go. They are excited about this season,” he said.
With all of the sadness that has been part of the lives of these players over the last year and a half Detterman says hopefully football, and working on becoming better players, can help deal with those issues. “Unfortunately we lost Bryce Lutz this summer. We lost Tyler Niece last year. These kids have been through a lot. We also lost a coach in Bret Bishop in the off season, so there has been a lot going on with these kids that they have to work through that is more than football. We are trying to help them with that as much as we can. We are also using football as something to lean on to help us get through it together. We don’t want to ignore those things that happened to us for sure. We keep them present every day, but at the same time we don’t want it to distract us from what we are trying to do here as a team,” said Detterman.
Published 8/01/17
Swankonsports.com ©
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter @swankonsports
“Sports Saturday” airs every week from 10 AM to 1 PM
Buckeye Central Downs Monroeville in Tournament
Josh Dentinger allowed four hits over seven innings and struck out 10 and Buckeye Central beat Monroeville (4-1) in the first round of the division four tournament on Tuesday.
They will play at Firelands Conference leader Norwalk St. Paul on Thursday in a sectional final game.
Coach Chad Jensen says Dentinger was super on Tuesday night and he says his ace got better and the night went on. “We got a great performance from our ace Josh Dentinger. He struck out 10 and didn’t walk anybody. He really got better as the night went on. He got stronger. He only threw 85 pitches. We really didn’t really know what to expect from them,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Tuesday night, “They had a lot of kids with these unbelievable stats, so we kind of nibbled a little bit and threw a lot more breaking balls early and then we realized that Josh really had his good stuff and just went at them with fastballs late in the ball game. He was really dominate for us and we needed that to get a good start in the tournament.”
Dentinger didn’t walk anybody all night long and Jensen says he had great command of all of his pitches. “Josh has only walked eight all year in 45 innings I think. He had great command. I think I remember him going to a full count maybe twice all night and just really pounding the zone and getting ahead and making them guess. Again he got stronger as the night went on. He was just really overpowering down the stretch. We needed a great performance from him and he delivered,” he said.
Buckeye Central scored four times in the bottom of the third inning on Tuesday on RBI hits by Kidron Wechter, Adam Krebs and Payton Phenicie.
St. Paul (17-5), #4 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the small school division, is coming off a two game sweep of Mapleton, which has moved the Flyers into first place by themselves in the Firelands Conference.
Jensen says they are a very talented team and the Bucks (8-17) are going to have to be at their best to get the win. “St. Paul is a great team and they are well coached. Coach Carper does a great job with St. Paul, I have known him for years. They are tough kids. They are very good in football, basketball and baseball. These kids know how to win. They know how to compete. They hit the ball well and they get good pitching too. They are a really solid, well rounded team. All year long we have battled in our league and our league is very challenging. We are going to put our best foot forward and see what happens. Our kids are going to play hard and they are going to give their best effort and they are going to prepared and ready to go. We will just see what happens,” said Jensen.
Published 5/10/17
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Sports Saturday” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Saturdays from 10 AM to 1 PM
Buckeye Gets Ridgedale
Brady Biglin went seven innings allowing one run on five hits and Buckeye Central beat Ridgedale (3-1) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference baseball game on Tuesday.
Coach Chad Jensen says Biglin realized his potential on Tuesday night against the Rockets. He says now he has to build on that. “We got a great start from Brady Biglin, one of our sophomores. He has been up and down this year for us. We are just continuing to work with him. He has tons of potential and he finally put it all together (Tuesday) night. He only threw 84 pitches in seven innings. He was throwing three pitches for strikes and kept their kids off balance. We knew what we had in him. It was just a matter of him adapting to the varsity game and just getting out there and throwing strikes, just having great confidence. He did a great job (Tuesday) night. I think it is a sign of things to come,” said Jensen.
Buckeye (7-12,2-8) has struggled at times, like a (19-1) loss to Carey in conference play on Monday, but Jensen says there have been some bright sports. “Our kids compete everyday. They compete and they play hard. They do what is asked of them. There are times we look like we are going to turn the page and then we do a couple of things that inexperienced teams do, but I think it is part of the process. The one thing that I love about this team is they are coachable, they listen, they do what is asked of them, and they make mistakes, yes, but we correct it, and they don’t make it again. We are in that process were we are just continuing to teach and coach these guys up and just teaching them how to play at the varsity level. We do see signs of turning the corner. We struggled the last couple of games we played, but we did great (Tuesday) night, so it one of those things were just have to continue to improve. That is all we talk about everyday is improve each day,” he said.
Buckeye plays Bucyrus (6-8,3-7) on Wednesday in “N10” play. The Redmen lost to Colonel Crawford (5-4) on Tuesday.
The OHSAA has introduced a pitch limit for kids this year. Jensen says it has definitely affected the way he manages the pitching staff. “It has affected us quite a bit. The one day rest thing, the 31-50 range, that is where it has affected us. I generally don’t pitch a kid of 125 pitches anyway, usually it is not even over 100. So, the back end hasn’t affected us, but it is that over 30 range, that is where it has affected us. (Monday) against Carey I had to take kids out, Carey got us pretty good, so I didn’t want to waste our arms in case I needed them (Tuesday) night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “I had to get them out under 30. It has really affected us in that 30 to 50 range where if you go over 30 you have to have a day of rest. You just have to be more cautious because generally a kid that a kid can throw 35 pitches and most of our kids could throw the next day, but it is illegal now. That has been the biggest change that zero to one day rest.”
Published 4/26/17
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports.com
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Sports Saturday” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Saturdays from 10 AM to 1 PM
Buckeye Central Holds off Mohawk
Buckeye Central got past Mohawk (6-4) on the opening day of league play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Wednesday.
Josh Dentinger stuck out eight over five innings for the Bucks (3-1,1-0) and Trent Craft added three more K’s over his two innings.
Plus, coach Chad Jensen says although they only had seven hits they were able to get them at key times. “There is no question it was a big win for us and for our young players. Mohawk is a great team. They have excellent players. They have the best returning player in the league in Austin Harper. Our kids really did well. We got excellent starting pitching from Josh Dentinger and excellent relief from Trent Craft,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “We got some big clutch hits. Trent hit a couple of doubles for us and Josh had a double and Peyton Phenicie had a double for us. We just did the little things. We played good defense and threw strikes and just got some clutch hits and put the bat on the ball and really improved. We have been stressing with our guys to improve each day and we did a lot of good things (Wednesday) to improve and did a good job.”
Jensen says you have to be good situational hitters and that is something they were able to do on Wednesday. “You have to put the ball in play. We were able to take advantage of things. Their pitcher Harper had a little trouble and was behind a lot. We were able to get some good fastball counts where he had to throw us strikes. Our kids did a really good job of setting on fastballs and we put the bat on the ball. We put the ball in play and that was one of the things that I was really pleased with that when we need to put the ball in play we did. When you do that you put pressure on the defense and that is what we want to do put pressure on the defense and make them make plays and that is what we were able to do,” said Jensen.
Colonel Crawford beat Carey (13-7) and Seneca East shut out Ridgedale (4-0) in other “N10” games on Wednesday. A game between Wynford and Bucyrus was suspended due to darkness with the Royals leading (6-3) in the sixth inning.
Buckeye Central is supposed to play Mohawk (1-1,0-1) again on Friday, but it looks like rain. Jensen says they have plenty to work on if they are not able to play. “That is one thing about this sport compared to others. When you have a game scheduled you may not play or you want to practice outside and you can’t now you have to go in the gym. We have a lot of things we have to work on and we know that. We are a young team and we are still inexperienced. We get game experience each game we play, but there are things to work on. If we are in the gym for a couple of days we just want to work on things we need to work on. The kids understand that and they have been working hard. We just have to get better and work to improve and get ready to Mohawk again,” he said.
Published 3/30/17
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Sports Saturday” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Saturdays from 10 AM to 1 PM
Buckeye Central Counting on Pitching, Speed
Buckeye Central is going to be a young baseball team this year that is going to need to get better to compete in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this spring.
Coach Chad Jensen says he likes the work ethic that his players have shown so far this year. “Our kids have really worked hard. It started last summer. The kids really worked hard in the summer. They worked really hard in the preseason. Our non-basketball guys go it going in the winter and they really worked hard with great attendance. The kids have really done well. We have had our basketball players about a week now. They are working hard, they are doing what we ask them to do. We just need to get outside and try to put it all together,” he said.
At this point, Jensen says this is a team that is going to rely on its pitching and it speed on the bases to be able to win games. “A lot of things are in development right now. We have four returning letter winners and three starters, so we are going to be a little inexperienced. What I have seen so far I like. I think we have three starting pitchers that I am confident that we can throw out there and have a chance to win. I like our team speed. I think we can run the bases hopefully pretty well. Our kids are really coachable and they do what is asked of them. So, that is what I have seen so far. When you go live those things can change. What I have seen so far those couple of things could be a strength for us,” said Jensen.
Buckeye is going to have to get better fast in a regular season that only last about seven weeks. Jensen says there are really four teams that are favorites going into the season. “We play one game at a time and see where we are at at the end of the year. I think there are some very quality teams in our league. Our league is so tough in baseball. When I look at the top four I think you have defending champ Wynford, you have Seneca East, you have Mohawk, who returns the best player in the league, and you have Upper Sandusky, who has double the boys of the rest of us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “It depends how fast we get used to the varsity game. We have a lot of newcomers. They have worked hard, but it might be a little bit of a shock to them early on. Hopefully, if we take a loss we get better and improve and play our best baseball at the end of the year. As always we try to win every game and our kids are going to compete and I hope when it is all said and done we get good opportunity to compete.”
Published 3/15/17
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Sports Saturday” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Saturdays from 10 AM to 1 PM
Buckeye Central Girls in Regional
Buckeye Central has reached the girls’ regional tournament for the first time in a decade and they face Ottoville in the division four regional semi-finals on Thursday night at Elida High School.
Buckeye Central (21-4) finished second behind Upper Sandusky in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this season.
Coach Greg Moore says they have had great chemistry and they work very hard at the game. “I think number one is our senior leadership. We have one starter that has started for four years and the other three seniors have started since their sophomore year and that is when Jenna (Kahl) came in, our junior. We have great experience, we have great leadership. They have great work ethic. They love to play and their chemistry is so good. They love each other on and off the court and sometimes that is hard to find. Just their work ethic is unbelievable,” said Moore.
It doesn’t hurt to have Kahl, who put together a near triple double in Buckeye’s (70-64) win over Norwalk St. Paul in the district final last Saturday night.
Buckeye has played a pretty good schedule with Upper Sandusky and Rievrdale and Willard. “You can add both Carey games in there and Cardington got beat by 11 by Africentric in the district championship last Saturday. We upped the schedule, we upped the ante a little bit and the girls rose to the occasion. Carey had a very good ball club, Upper everybody knows. We toughened up the schedule and I think the kids just accepted the challenge. I have to take my hat off to them they are just so fun to coach,” said Moore.
Ottoville (21-3) has great talent too. Moore says the Big Green is fact pretty big and they are going to be somewhat deliberate when they have the ball in their hands. “They shoot the ball extremely well. They have had a lot of success in the past. They play up in that Putnam County League. There is some good basketball played up there in Northwest part of Ohio. They are very, very patient on offense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They get the looks that they want. They move the ball well. They have got a nice 6’1” girl that can go inside and out. They also play very, very good defense. They are going to run and jump you. They are going to show you the diamond. They are going to change defenses.”
Moore says they have not going to change what has been successful for them. He says they are going to up tempo and look to shoot it from deep. “We just have to be strong with the ball and do the little things. I told the girls you have to play Buckette basketball. We aren’t going to change anything this time of year. We are going to do what we do best. We like to get up and down the court, there is no secret what we like to do. We like to shoot the three. I think it is going to be a fun game (Thursday) night,” he said.
Published 3/09/17
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Meets Norwalk St. Paul
Buckeye Central faces Norwalk St. Paul Friday night in a division four sectional final at Sandusky Senior High School.
The winner advances to play in the district tournament next week.
Buckeye rallied to beat Plymouth (56-55) in a semi final game played on Tuesday night.
The Bucks (10-13) trailed by as many as 11 in the third quarter, but coach Phil Loy says they never gave up. “It was nice when we have lost so many games by one, two or three points. It is nice to be on the other end of that. Hopefully, all of that experience of losing close games really paid off. I give our kids credit. I am proud of them. We were down 11 in the third quarter and things don’t seem to be going your way,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Plymouth is making shots and making plays. We find a way to battle back and make some plays of our own to slowly stating to etch into that lead. The fourth quarter we came up and made some big plays. I am really proud of how we finished that game. I thought Plymouth was playing really well. For us to overcome some foul trouble and win that game was key for us.”
Norwalk St. Paul (15-7) is one of the bigger teams in any division in North Central Ohio. Loy says that height will make it difficult for them. “They are really big. We know we have to play really well for four quarters (Friday) night. Their length is a concern of mine, it is a concern of anybody’s. They have a couple 6’5”, 6’4”, 6’3” guys on the floor and their length can really hurt you,” he said.
Tempo? Is that a factor? Loy says they want to be smart when they push the pace. “Their bigs are pretty athletic. I don’t know if we want a game in the 60’s. They don’t appear to want a game in the 60’s. We both are kind of low scoring. It is not to say that we don’t want to push the ball up the floor every opportunity you can, but if it is not there then we need to make sure we do a good job of executing our offense,” he said.
Anytime you are at a disadvantage when it comes to height you want to keep the ball out of the paint. Loy says they have to have good ball pressure on the Flyers guards. “Their bigs are so affective with the high, low action that if you don’t put good pressure on them on their guards out front or on the wings its just makes it easy for them to throw the ball in and it makes it a lot tougher on our bigs to defend. So, ball pressure is just something that we have to take a lot pride in and work hard at just to not allow them to execute their offense,” said Loy.
Published 3/03/17
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Counting on Defense
Buckeye Central has not been able to score much this year, but they have been able to defend and they hope that pays dividends when they play Plymouth at the sectional tournament at Sandusky Senior High School on Tuesday night.
They have played in an enormous number of close games this year, but coach Phil Loy says they haven’t been able to slam the door. He hopes experience allows them to do that on Tuesday. “Hopefully that is the good thing about this 9-13 record. I think 12 of those losses we were in the game in the fourth quarter. We just have not had the best of luck finishing games this year, a lot of close games, a lot of close losses. So, hopefully that will pay off at tournament time. With that experience hopefully we learn from those losses and I think we have, but our record hasn’t shown it,” said Loy.
Buckeye Central (9-13) lost to Plymouth (5-17) in the first game of season (59-48) back on the first weekend of December.
Loy says he believes Plymouth is pretty good and he has thought so all season, even though their record doesn’t show it. “I thought in the second half when we played them in that first game they were pretty good and they would win over half of their games and for some reason their record is 5-17. If you watch them on film or you watch them live they look pretty good. They are a very dangerous team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They have a nice mix of personnel with good guard play, athletic guards that can attack the basket and can shoot it and they have a nice post player inside. The games that we have seen, just like us, they are in every game that I have seen, so I think it is a game that we are going to have to play really well for four quarters.”
Many times in the tournament defense is the name of the game. Buckeye has used a strong defense to good success in recent years in the tournament. Loy says that is what they are going to rely on against Plymouth on Tuesday night. “Nothing against them, but I think we are playing pretty good defensively. We just got done holding a Wynford team that over the last 10 games had been averaging 66 points a game and we hold them to 37. Unfortunately we weren’t able to put points on the board. We take a lot of pride in what we can do defensively and hopefully Tuesday night is no different,” he said.
Published 2/28/17
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays from 10 PM to midnight
Tempo is Going to be Key for Buckeye Central
13 of Buckeye Central’s 21 games have been decided by nine points or less, six of them by five points or less and two of them by one point.
So, yes if coach Phil Loy had any hair it would probably be all gray by now.
They lost (58-56) to Crestview in non-conference action on Tuesday night and Loy says he hopes all of these nail biters are going to help them down the road. “Hopefully games like that will benefit us during tournament time. I feel like we have been in very game this year with the exception of one. We have lost a lot of close games and we have won a lot of close games. That experience hopefully will pay off,” he said.
Buckeye is (6-7) in games decided by less than nine. They are (3-3) in games determined by less than five. They are (0-2) in one point games.
Tournament games tend to be more possession by possession and closer than regular season games. Loy believes that experience is going to be a plus. “I guess that is the way we will look at it starting next week. Playing all of these close games you hope kids learn from their mistakes and what works and what doesn’t. Being able to play under that pressure versus winning big or losing big when you don’t experience that. I think in tight games where kids learn that each possession is so important I think will pay off,” said Loy.
One of those point losses came in overtime to Wynford (51-50) on January 14. The Bucks (9-12,7-8) host the rival Royals (11-10,9-5) on Friday night in New Washington. Wynford lost to unbeaten Upper Sandusky (96-56,) beat Firelands Conference leader New London (67-61) and lost to River Valley (89-80) all in the last week.
Wynford has been so crazy up and down they can be hard to figure, but Loy knows this much they are going to have to be good at controlling the tempo in order to win. “I think they are a very dangerous team. They shoot a lot threes. They like to put up a lot of points. They gave up a lot of points to Upper Sandusky. They have up a lot of points (Tuesday) night to River Valley. They beat a really good New London team. They are really hard to figure out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have to make sure we control the tempo. I thought we did a pretty good job of that the first time we played them. It is always tough to play at Wynford, so hopefully that will benefit us being able to play at home on Friday night. Again controlling the tempo, limiting turnovers, and hopefully doing that we will be successful.”
Published 2/23/17
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays from 10 PM to midnight
Patience Key for Buckeye Central
Buckeye Central plays one of its biggest rivals in Colonel Crawford in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night in North Robinson.
Last Saturday, they downed Bucyrus (50-42) in an “N10” game and coach Phil Loy was pretty pleased with what he saw from the Bucks. “It was a good win I thought we were pretty solid. Bucyrus came out and jumped on us quick. They were able to knock down some threes early and we missed some opportunities. We were up on us 8-2 early and we had to get a time out and settle down a little bit and refocus and we go on 18-2 run to end the quarter. At that point we kind of went back and forth a little bit. We made some mini runs and were able to stretch it out to 17 points late in the game. Overall, I was pretty happy. We kind of lost our focus a little bit at the end and we kept sending them to foul line and they knocked down some free throws and make that game a little bit closer. Bucyrus is playing better, they are streaky, they have good athletes, but all in all I thought our kids played pretty well,” said Loy.
The first time the Bucks played Colonel Crawford (15-4,12-2), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, they gave them a run for their money with Crawford winning (55-44) on January 7. Loy says they were right in it. “This game is always a big rivalry game. The kids know each other really well and Dave and I are really close friends. It is going to be a great environment at their place. I think it is going to be pretty hot in there, it normally is. It is going to be a large crowd, it is going to be a great atmosphere to play in,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “The first time we played them in was a great match-up. We just kind of let them go on a run in the third quarter and kind stretch that lead out to 11. We had a lead most of the first half and kind of lost it there in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter we kind of got back into it a little bit. We expect their best effort again on Friday.”
Buckeye Central (9-10,7-7) needs to control the tempo of the game. Loy says they can’t let the Eagles get out and run. “They are playing really well. They can be a good match-up. They have really good guard play and shoot it really well and they have size. They are the biggest team in the league. We have to control the tempo. They like to push the ball up the floor hard. We don’t want a game in the upper 50’s or 60’s or higher. We want a game in the upper 40’s or low 50’s if we can. That is kind of tempo we are looking at. We have to do a better job of being patient. I thought the last time we played them we got impatient and took a lot of quick shots, so hopefully that is kind of our focus this week and hopefully that will put us in position to win,” said Loy.
Published 2/15/17
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays from 10 PM to midnight
Big Week for Buckeye Central
Buckeye Central played some pretty good basketball last week and if they can get a couple more win this week against Carey and Bucyrus that will help them when it comes to getting a better seed in the division four district.
They led unbeaten Upper Sandusky (45-42) early in the fourth quarter, but lost to the Rams (61-54) last Friday. Coach Phil Loy was very pleased with a lot of things they did against Upper. “I was proud of the way we played over the weekend. The first time we played Upper they handed it to us at home. We had a decent first half against them and had a lead for a while. Then we tried to play their pace and that didn’t work for us. It was tough pulling the reins back on them the first time we played them. The second time we just talked all week long about being disciplined and having good spacing and beating their pressure with the pass and not so much putting the ball on the floor,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I thought our kids did a really good job. We got really good looks. This weekend we shot it better than we have all year long. We shot over 50 percent from the field. We were right there. We had a three point lead in the fourth quarter against them on the road. We just couldn’t hang on to it. We still are within five points late in the game. We got some open looks at just couldn’t knock them down.”
They beat Ridgedale (55-44) on Saturday in league play. Loy says it was a game where they had to overcome some things. “Saturday we came out and were a little lethargic. The kids had some dead legs. We weren’t real deep. We had one kid that didn’t play this weekend that was home with the flu and still hasn’t returned back to school yet. So, that was a concern of mine. That was a big part of it and we came out and had an ugly first half against Ridgedale and it is tied at 17 all. I thought in the second half we kind of picked it up and gutted it out. We made some shots and picked it up defensively and finished strong,” he said.
Buckeye Central (8-9,6-6) plays at Carey (10-7,8-4) in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play on Tuesday night. Carey had two wins over the weekend, beating Wynford (76-66) in overtime on Friday night in a league game and then downing Vanlue (68-50) on Saturday night.
Buckeye had the lead on the Blue Devils the first time they played, but were turned away (54-46) on December 30 in their first meeting. Loy says the Blue Devils really like to push it and they are going to have to play more of a complete game to it. “They have really good guard play. They are quick, they are athletic. They are good perimeter shooters. They like to push the ball up the floor. They have a nice post player. He is a 6’4” freshman, who is a big strong kid. The first time we played them at our place we played them pretty well, but we didn’t finish the game. Hopefully we don’t have the same thing (Tuesday) night. We were up seven going to the fourth quarter and lost the lead and lost the game. It is going to take four quarters of basketball. It is going to take us playing really good defense to beat them,” said Loy.
Then if they could get a win over Bucyrus (3-13,3-9) on Saturday they would be over .500 and Loy says that would look pretty good. “Especially if we can get a win (Tuesday) on the road against a really good Carey team where it has been difficult for teams to play I think that would look good on our resume. We need some things on our resume to bump us up a notch or two. If we can get win on Saturday that will help even more,” he said.
Published 2/07/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays from 10 PM to midnight
Patience a Big Key For Buckeye Central
Buckeye Central drew the short stick this week, or at least one of them, as they travel to Upper Sandusky to play they unbeaten Rams on Friday night in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action.
They host last place Ridgedale on Saturday night.
Last Saturday, they lost to Galion (69-59) in a non-conference game.
Coach Phil Loy says the Tigers had some of their bench players really step up plus they didn’t make shots and that is a bad combination. “It is a situation where if you don’t play very good defense against a team that is somewhat athletic they can hurt you. They got out and ran on us some. They had some backup kids that hurt us, kids that where seeing some limited playing time. They had two guards that came off the bench and scored 27 points. Their main players didn’t hurt us. That was really our focus their point guard and their two bigs. I think the big difference was their backup guards came in and shot the ball very well. They were 10-21 and that was not the way they were shooting all year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “It was contagious once they made a shot. They banked in one or two and they just kept feeding off of that. You mix that in with us only being able to go 1-9 from threes and shoot 18-33 from the foul line. I don’t care who you are playing it is tough to win any game with those kind of stats. Hats off to them they played with a lot of energy. We got off to a quick start, but that quickly got wiped out by a couple of threes. Give them credit they played with a lot of heart and did what they had to do to win the game.”
Buckeye Central (7-8,5-5) plays at Upper Sandusky (16-0,10-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night. The Rams are coming off a (69-28) walloping of Ridgedale last Saturday.
Upper beat Buckeye (71-37) the first time they played. Loy said they actually had the lead early until they started making mistakes. “The first time we played them we were winning 16-12 in the first quarter and we missed a couple of shots inside and I thought it could have been 20-12 after the first quarter. We got up as much as 21-14 and then we kind of missed some shots and started turning the ball over. We have to be patient. What Upper does so well is they want to speed you up. They will speed you up and force you to take bad shots and make bad passes. Those are things we are working on this week. Don’t try to force the issue and take bad shots. If we can do that we can hopefully compete in this game. We kind of watched some of that film from early on saw some good things that we did and hopefully we can build on that,” said Loy.
The Buckeye coach says Upper is just so balanced, and has so many perimeter shooters, they are just hard to guard. “That puts a lot of pressure on you because they have so many weapons. Like in their Crawford game you put on your focus on the Dibles and Adams and Kinley will step out have four threes on you. If you try to put all your attention on someone like Wes Vent somebody else is going to hurt you. They can hurt you in so many ways offensively and they can turn you over defensively. It is hard to put your focus on one or two players because they move the ball do well and kids know their roles and even if they are not high percentage three point shooters they do a nice job of getting high percentage shots inside,” he said.
Published 1/31/17
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Reaching Goal of Consistency
All season Buckeye Central has been looking for more consistency in their performance and last week they were able to find it.
They beat Mohawk (51-44) and Seneca East (53-40) in a pair of “N10” road games.
Coach Phil Loy says on both nights they did a pretty good job of what they wanted to do on both ends. “I thought we had a really consistent weekend. I thought we played a consistent four quarters in both games. We got off to a quick start. On Friday night we got into some foul trouble. Jacob Shade picked up two quick fouls and didn’t play in the second quarter and Mohawk made a run on us and then we were able to finish the half on a run. In the second half I thought we played consistent and maintained an 8,10 point lead. Happy with that win,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Unfortunately we had a kid get hurt. One of our starters got hurt near the end of the game, middle of the fourth quarter, and he was not able to play on Saturday. That concerned me going to Seneca East, I knew that would be a tough game no matter what. Without one starter another starter calls me and says he is sicker than a dog and went to the hospital and the doc doesn’t want him to play. He ended up making the trip and playing a little bit. You tell me we are going to Seneca East without a couple of starters and come away with a 13 point win I think that a good win for us.”
That consistency, the ability to play four quarters, has been elusive for the Bucks, so last week put a smile on Loy’s face, that’s for sure. “That is probably what I was most proud of is that we played a solid four quarters in both games. We did have a big letdown in that one quarter. Hopefully we are growing and turning that corner and hopefully we are going to continue to be more consistent,” he said.
Buckeye Central (7-7) plays host to Galion (2-12,) of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference red division, in a non-conference game on Saturday night.
The Tigers have struggled to get wins, but Loy says this is going to be a challenge for them nevertheless. “You throw out their record they are a bigger school playing in a pretty nice conference and they have played a pretty tough schedule. I think watching them on film and seeing them a couple of times in person I think they are getting better. I know they are going to come in here and give us their best shot. Just like when we played Willard and they gave us everything we wanted and Willard didn’t have a very good record either. This is very much the same way. They have good athletes. They have kids that can shoot. They have just been struggling to score at times. Sometimes you look at them and they look really good,” said Loy.
Published 1/25/17
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Still Needs a Little More
Buckeye Central is a good team that is still trying to become a pretty good team.
They play two Northern 10 Athletic Conference road games this weekend at Mohawk on Friday and at Seneca East on Saturday.
Last Saturday, Buckeye lost a close one to rival Wynford (51-50) in overtime. Coach Phil Loy says it was a game where they were ahead, but they could never put the Royals away and it cost them. “It was a game that I thought, even though it was a two, four point game, six point game in the second half I thought we were in somewhat control of that game, but we could never get over the hump. We were missing free throws and putting them at the line and we had too many costly turnovers down the stretch. It is a game that we have to learn from. We need to continue to build on some leadership here and get this thing going because we are a better team than I think our record is right now. We are losing a lot of close games. We have to find a way to get over that hump,” said Loy.
Buckeye Central (5-7,3-5) plays at Mohawk (3-9,2-6) in an “N10” game on Friday night. Mohawk won the first meeting (46-44) in December. Loy says the Warriors are young, but they have quite a bit of talent they can put on the floor. “If you watch a lot of film on Mohawk and Mohawk has spurts where they play pretty well. They do some nice things they are a physical team with some nice size and they don’t shoot it that bad from the perimeter. We are going to have to be better than we were the first time we played them. I thought defensively we were not very good, consistently any how. We turned them over a lot, but we could never take advantage of it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Hopefully, Friday night we can do a much better job of playing defense, getting up and down the floor, and making shots. When we played them the first time I thought this is going to be a team that is much improved from what they were last year, but their record doesn’t show it right now. I think they played really, really well against us and we didn’t play very good and hopefully we can switch things around Friday night.”
It’s a trip to Seneca East (7-5,3-5) on Saturday night. The Bucks beat the Tigers (60-49) on December 16. It was a game where they shot the ball well and Loy hopes for a repeat on Saturday. “They are averaging around 55 a game. They have a couple of guards. One is averaging 18 and one is averaging 12 and half and the guards are good rebounding guards. You have to guard the perimeter. They have big guys inside. They have big, strong bodies. They are 7-5, they are having a decent year. We got them at home and I thought played pretty well at home and shot the ball pretty well at home. Again now we are on the road and hopefully we can shoot it well against them on Saturday,” he said.
Published 1/20/17
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays between 10 PM on midnight
Bucks With a Couple of Tough Games
Buckeye Central is closing in on being a better basketball team. It is mostly consistency that is still holding them back.
They play a non-conference home game against Willard on Thursday night and then travel to Wynford for an “N10” battle on Saturday night.
They gave Colonel Crawford a little bit of a scare last Saturday night before losing (55-44) to the Eagles.
Coach Phil Loy says they did a lot of good things they just couldn’t make enough shots when it counted. “I thought for the most part we did play pretty well. In the third quarter we had a little bit of a letdown where. We got a lot of good opportunities for shots against their zone and we just could find the basket. If we make a few of those shots. We lost a few of their shooters and lost them in transition a little bit and we had a few breakdowns in the fourth quarter. If you take that away I think that is a game we could have won. We feel that way. We just have to keep improving and making sure we are taking care of the basketball and playing four quarters. Overall I like the way we played it is just a matter of making shots,” said Loy.
Willard (1-9) plays at Buckeye Central on Thursday night. It has been a struggle for the Flashes in Northern Ohio League play this season, but Loy says the Flashes present some problems for them. “Watching them on film multiple games and I got to see them in person they have some decent size. They have a 6’5” kid that can play away from the basket and inside, a 6’2” kid that is pretty strong and likes to post up a lot and a 6’7” kid off the bench. So, I think they have some length definitely compared to us. At times they look pretty good. I really like the stuff they do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They execute things pretty well. Sometimes they also have a hard time finding the basket and turning it over much more than coach Long wants. They are a dangerous team. They have been in games. They almost beat Norwalk. I watched them on film against Hopewell-Loudon. Hopewell-Loudon is a 9-1 team and they looked really good against them and executed offensively really well and did some nice things defensively. I think it is a game we definitely can’t take lightly they are just as good as well are. We have to make sure we execute and do the things we are supposed to do to win that game.”
Buckeye Central (4-6,3-4) plays at Wynford (4-6,4-3) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Saturday night. This rivalry dates back to the 60’s and Loy says the teams are pretty comparable. “We expect nothing other than a really tight ballgame with Wynford. It always seems to be a really good contest. This is a rivalry from when I played back in the 80’s and I remember as a young kid in the 70’s watching Buckeye-Wynford. It has always been good battles, a big rivalry, big crowds. You expect nothing less on Saturday night. They have some good athletes and they are very comparable to us. They have one of the better players in the league in Jack Reed and they have a quick point guard in Hoffman. They have some size inside. It is going to be a tough contest for us,” said Loy.
Published 1/11/17
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Has to Clean Some Things Up
Sometimes when you are a team that is improving you have to take a few steps back and that is what happened to Buckeye Central in the fourth quarter last Friday against Carey.
The Blue Devils outscored them (20-5) and railed to beat the Bucks (54-46) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.
Coach Phil Loy says they didn’t execute very well. “I thought we played pretty good for the most part, but we were still missing shots and missing free throws. I thought we had a few too many turnovers at halftime. We still have a seven point lead on a really good team. Carey is very guard oriented. They handle the ball well and they shoot the ball pretty well. They are just a dangerous team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We had seven point lead and we started the fourth quarter with a missed layup and we turn it over a couple of times and missed some free throws and that is not good down the stretch against good teams. They hit a couple of threes and before we know it that seven point lead was gone and we are tied and the next thing you know we are down a possession. Those are things we need to correct and play four quarters.”
Buckeye Central (3-5,2-3) plays at Bucyrus (1-7,1-4) on Friday night in an “N10” game. Upper belted Bucyrus (83-39) last week.
Loy says the Redmen have shown a lot of growth this year and they will need to play well to beat them on Friday. “They are better than they were last year. They return a large nucleus of their team and they are very athletic. Last year they didn’t have their starting point guard. He had a knee injury, so he is back. They are struggling to win games, but I think they are a very dangerous team. For us this year we can’t over look anybody, with them especially. All of our focus is on Bucyrus Friday night. They don’t have big, physical strong guys, but I think they are athletic and they are dangerous. It is a team that we have to make sure we play four quarters and take care of the basketball. We have to make sure we rebound. We have to get better defensively as well. I think if we do those things hopefully we will put ourselves in position to win,” said Loy.
Then on Saturday, the Bucks host Colonel Crawford in the first “Battle of 602” this year, The Eagles (7-3,5-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, lost to Northmor (59-47) on Tuesday night. That broke a six game winning streak.
They stand in second in the conference and Loy says they have good players all over the floor. “They have a nice nucleus. They have size. They have good guard play and they can finish inside. This is a team that keeps getting better every game, every week. They play four freshmen. They are no longer freshmen they just keep getting better. I have watched them on film and they are very dangerous. They are a scary ball club. I think they are a team that is right there down the stretch with a chance to win the league title,” he said.
Published 1/04/17
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Meets Carey
Buckeye Central plays at home against Carey on Friday night in a game that both schools hope can help them secure a place in the upper half of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference at season’s end.
Last Friday, the Bucks played pretty well against Ridegdale in a win (67-44) in conference play.
Coach Phil Loy says over the last three quarters of that game they really played some pretty good basketball. “I am happy overall with the win. We got off to a little bit of a slow start, not so bad offensively. We were down by one after the first quarter and I didn’t think we defended or rebounded as well as we could have. Things started to change a little bit for us in the second quarter, the third quarter we really kind of opened it up and outscored them 21-6 and had a really good second half overall. I am not sure why it always seems to be a tough place to play. Maybe it is the travel. Anyhow we were pleased with the win,” said Loy.
More than a month into the season, the Bucks are still searching for more consistency. Loy says they are getting a lot closer to getting there. “I think a lot of that is the inexperience, the youth, and maybe a little bit of the leadership. Hopefully, that is slowly starting to change. The kids are starting to see a little bit of what happens when you execute things the way you are supposed to. We haven’t necessarily put four quarters together yet. We were close the other night we had probably three, good, solid quarters. For us to continue to win, or compete, we are going to have to be able to put four quarters together,” he said.
Carey (3-4,3-1) plays at Buckeye (3-4,2-2) on Friday night. Loy knows this is a pretty good Carey team that has won games and challenged some good opponents on their schedule. “Carey is a dangerous team. Their record is 3-4, the same as ours. They lost to a solid Riverdale team at the beginning of the year, they lost to a Van Buren team that is pretty good. They came from behind against Colonel Crawford, they were down 13 in that game and came back and won by seven. Then they competed against at Upper Sandusky team at Upper. They ended up losing by 13 in that game, but I thought they competed really hard and did some really nice things in that game. They turned around and beat a Mohawk team pretty handily, they beat Wynford, and ended up losing to New Riegel on the road, which we know is a tough place to play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They were without a couple of starters in that game. We know we have our hands full on Friday night. They are quick, they are athletic, they run and push the ball up the floor and they shoot the ball really well.”
Published 12/28/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays from 10 AM to midnight
Buckeye Central Has to Have Focus
Buckeye Central got handled Tuesday night by unbeaten Upper Sandusky and they have to bounce back as they play at Ridgedale on Friday night.
Upper drilled Buckeye Central (71-37) on Tuesday night. Coach Phil Loy says they got off to a good start, but they were not able to maintain that level of play. “I thought we came out and were ready to play. We played with a lot of energy and made some things happen. We created some turnovers and we got out and pushed the ball in transition. It is a game where we don’t want to get out and run with them, but we were and they are a lot deeper than we are. I knew that if we kept that pace it would come back and bite us. You try to pull the reins back on your kids a little bit and it was pretty difficult. We were up 21-14 a couple of minutes into the second quarter and playing pretty well and then all of the sudden their pressure got a little bit bigger and we started to turn it over. We made some big shots early and we continued to shoot those shots and they weren’t falling for us. We were allowing Upper Sandusky to get out and run a little bit. They did a better job of tacking care of the basketball. We are only down nine at halftime and I told the kids we have to clean up a few things. If we were in double figures of them at halftime, and you told me that at the beginning of the game, I would have told you we were fine,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “The wheels started falling off about the middle of the second quarter, so we come out in the third quarter and we just get off to a bad start with some turnovers. We ended up with I believe we had 23 turnovers, which is more than double what we normally have, so we just have to do a better job taking care of the ball. Once the wheels started falling off we couldn’t do anything to stop it and they made big shot after big shot and we couldn’t find the bottom of the basket. It was kind of an ugly ending for us, not what we wanted, and hopefully we can turn things around.”
Loy says Upper Sandusky makes it very hard to get into your offense and things that look open really aren’t. “Getting into your offense can be rather difficult, especially when they just started trapping everywhere and they force you further and further away from the basket and if your not patient, if your not strong with the ball they rotate so well out of their traps that you think you have a good shot and the next thing that you know it’s a turnover and they do a great job of getting themselves in position on drives and rotating over and taking charges. It just became a lot more difficult for us to run any type of offense. They are good and they are really deep. One of their best players was back on Tuesday that just made them that much more deeper. They just had a lot more horses than we did,” said Loy.
Buckeye Central (2-4,1-2) plays at Ridgedale (2-4,0-3) on Friday night in Northern 10 Athletic Conference. Loy says the Rockets have good point guard play and it is a gym where they lost last year. “I think they lost their best player after the second game. He hurt his knee and I think he is having surgery this week. Hopefully everything goes well for him there. He is a big 6’5” center that gave us problems last year and the year before. We went down there last year and got beat and I felt like we were the better team, but we came away with like a five point loss. They graduated a couple of nice players, but they still have a very good player in their point guard in Preston Burton. He does a lot of nice things he can attack the basket, shoot from the perimeter, handles pressure really well. Their down side is they are not really deep. They struggle to have depth and that is something we need to take advantage of,” said Loy.
Published 12/23/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Still Learning
Buckeye Central has some experience, but they also have some guys that are new to varsity basketball and are still trying to figure out what it takes a little bit.
They get two more chances this weekend as they play at home against Seneca East in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play on Friday night and then visit New Riegel for a non-conference contest on Saturday.
Last Saturday, in their opening “N10” game they lost (46-44) to Mohawk in a game where the Warriors didn’t score in the third quarter and still won.
Coach Phil Loy
says the got into a lot of foul trouble in the first half and that hurt them
a lot. “First of all give Mohawk a lot of credit their new coach has done a
nice job with them. They play with a lot of energy and they have
structure. They are buying into what he is doing. They play hard. They
play physical and they made some plays. For us, I have four guys setting on
the bench in foul trouble in the first half. I have three starters with two
fouls and another starter with three fouls sitting the bench it almost puts
kids in a tough situation. We are down 11 points at the half and I give our
guys credit they came out and played well in the second half,” he told
Swankonsports.com, “Again we are just playing a half of basketball, but I
attribute a lot of that to foul trouble. We outscore them 9-0 in the third
quarter, but we are still down two points. It was a battle back and forth
in the fourth quarter and we just kind of ran out of time. Our kids played
hard and we are still stressing to these guys how important every possession
is, taking good shots, and being patient. On the defensive end we have to
make plays. We are a little young, but we are getting there. Hopefully, we
are learning from these mistakes.
Seneca East (3-0,1-0) comes calling on Friday night in New
Washington. The Tigers were (59-34) winners over Ridgedale in their first
league game.
Loy says they have a couple of big time scorers. “They seem like they are playing much better. They have started 3-0 and have beaten pretty decent teams in Tiffin Calvert, Plymouth, and Ridgedale. Plymouth is a team that got us at their place on opening night and the next night Seneca East turned around and beat them at their place. They do have two really good scorers in Johnny Diehm and Alex Forehand that are probably scoring two-thirds of their points. They are both averaging 18.5 points a game and they are both getting about 10 rebounds a game. For a couple of guards that is really good. Our focus has got to be on those guys. They have some other players around them too. They have some good size and some good athletes,” said Loy.
New Riegle (2-1) pounded Kansas Lakota (60-37) in a river division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference last Friday. Their only loss is to Upper Sandusky. Loy says this will be another in a long line of good games against the Blue Jackets. “New Riegel has a really nice team. They have had good teams over the years. We have played them for a long time and they have always been good battles. This year we expect no different. They are a team that has some decent size to them. Some veterans, they are a little like us in that they don’t have a lot of varsity experience. We expect a really good match up when we go to New Riegel on Saturday night,” he said.
Published 12/16/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays from 10 PM to midnight
Buckeye Central Looking for Consistency
Buckeye Central lost both of their games on the opening weekend, but there are a lot good things to build on as they prepare for their first league game on Saturday night against Mohawk at home.
In their first game at Plymouth, the Bucks got off to a hot start, but they had some periods when they didn’t play well and ended losing (59-48) last Friday.
Coach Phil Loy they made some defensive mistakes and that hurt them against the Big Red. “Over the weekend I told the kids there were a lot of positives. We are a young team as far as experience at the varsity level. We go on the road at Plymouth, and I think Plymouth is going to end up being a pretty good, and they shot the ball well, especially in the second half. That is a game where we get off to a 15-2 start. We were shooting lights out and I knew that wasn’t going to last forever. We played a pretty decent second quarter, but we played a really bad second half. We just didn’t take care of the ball. We gave them some pretty easy points in transition. We lost them in their sets with their really good three point shooters and that hurt us going down the stretch,” said Loy.
On Saturday night at home, South Central edged Buckeye (52-51) in a game that was close the entire fourth quarter. Loy was happy with how they responded in the second half of the game. “We come out on Saturday we knew we were really up against the wall against a really good South Central team that is picked to win the Firelands Conference. We gave up too many points in the first quarter to them. We talked about that between quarters. We battled back and cut it to seven and they went the length of the floor in three or four seconds and got a shot off and make it at the buzzer to be up nine. We come out in the second half and played really good. We played with a lot of intensity. I felt we moved the ball a lot better. We did a lot of nice things,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We actually took a four point lead and it was back and forth throughout the rest of the game. We came up on the short end of the stick there, but there were a lot of positives. Obviously with a young team there are things we have to learn and get better at like taking care of the basketball and being able to execute things down the stretch. We are looking for consistency and if we can get that, and keep improving on that every night, I think we will be pretty good by the end of the year.”
The talent is there for Buckeye Central and Loy says by the end of the season they are going to be a pretty good team. “We have a nice mix of kids we just don’t have a whole lot of experience. We need some of these kids to step up and it may take a while before some of these kids are fully comfortable with their roles. I think once we get to that point hopefully we can play four quarters of basketball night in and night out with everybody,” he said.
Mohawk (0-1) lost to New Riegel in their opener (51-38) last Friday. Loy says they are going to field a pretty young team too. “I have not watched a whole lot on them yet. I know they lost at home to New Riegel and New Riegel is usually a decent team. They lost by 13. I know they lost four or five pretty good seniors last year. They have got a new coach. They will be young too, so it should be a pretty good match-up,” he said.
Published 12/06/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays from 10 PM to Midnight
Buckeye Central Looking For Leaders
Buckeye Central has some athletic kids this year that can do some things with the ball, but they need some leaders, especially vocal leaders, on the floor.
They host two Firelands Conference teams, Plymouth on Friday, and South Central on Saturday, in non-conference games this week.
Coach Phil Loy says they have had some bright moments during the preseason, but he needs some players to set up and be leaders for this team. “It has been going good, but I would like to see more leadership and more communication out of this group. We lost some pretty good seniors last year and some guys that were vocal. We need guys that can fill those shoes. I think if we could get that we could be pretty good,” he said.
He adds he can’t force players to become leaders they have to embrace that concept with one arms. “We definitely need guys that want to embrace that. I can’t force that on you. I want you to be a leader, but you have to want to be a leader. I need guys that when they step on the floor are always going to give 110% and guys that every time they step on the floor are going to communicate and be that coach on the floor. If we get to that point or not will make or break our season,” said Loy.
Point guard is a leadership position, but Loy says leaders don’t have to be point guards either. “We have had some good ones in the past, but we have also had leaders that haven’t necessarily been point guards, but it makes it a lot easier if the guy trying to run the show to get things started at the offensive end or the guy that is trying to dictate what we are doing defensively can just be that leader. It makes it a lot nicer if it is a point guard,” said Loy.
Plymouth was a team last year that upset two of the leaders in the Firelands in South Central and New London. Loy says they have some shooters. “I expect a team that is going to play us extremely hard. They played us extremely hard last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I think it is a good bunch of kids he has coming back. It looks to be a group of kids that can really shoot the ball. We have to make sure we defend the perimeter on Friday night.”
South Central is the defending Firelands Conference champion and they return five major contributors. Buckeye beat them by one last year and Loy expects another close game. “The last couple of years we have played three times and it seems like the game has come down to the last minute. They are a tough, well coached ball club. They have a lot of talent coming back and some good ones coming in, a couple of good freshmen. We expect a really tough ball game as well on Saturday. They are athletic and they shoot the ball well and have some good size,” said Loy.
Published 12/01/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays from 10 PM to Midnight
For Buckeye Central Defense is a Key
Buckeye Central has been one of the more consistent boys’ basketball programs in North Central Ohio over the last five to 10 years and they hope this can be another year when they can be competitive in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
Coach Phil Loy believes with the Bucks they have a group that wants to work together and one that knows what they have to do to win. “I like a lot of what I see because I think we have good team chemistry and we have a great work ethic. The kids are excited to play. They are playing hard. They don’t really care who is scoring they just want play. So, I really like that so far this season. If anything we are just a little inexperienced, so we are learning. When you are playing a team like Norwalk St. Paul that has the length they do we have got to be very fundamentally sound. That is what we are harping on here so far (Thursday) night. We have to do a better job of boxing out. We are no longer playing against our JV team where you can just kind of bump them a little bit and we are just bigger and stronger and we can go get them. We are not a very big team,” he told Swankonsports.com during a scrimmage Thursday with Norwalk St. Paul and Crestline, “You are going to play teams like this and you are going to play other teams with some length and we have to do all of the little things correctly. I think when we do that we are going to be in a lot better position to compete. Even though we are competing here (Thursday) night, we are doing a good job against both these teams, I think we are get a lot better.”
The Bucks are not very big this season and Loy says they are going to have to run the floor and get some easy looks to score. “We are going to have to push the pace as long as we can do it under control. Last year we had a player if he got the rebound he could take it down and he saw the floor better than anybody I have ever coached or played against and he was a great quarterback on the floor. I think we have some of those same players this year, but I think for us with our size we are going to have to be very good defensively and create turnovers and then push the ball. It doesn’t mean you have to get a shot, but it might give you the opportunity to get a good shot,” he said.
Defense has been a cornerstone of the success of the Buckeye Central program and Loy says playing well on that end of the floor is going to be really important this season. “I have always told kids through the years that is one thing we can control how good we are going to be defensively. We can be sound offensively, but there is no guarantee we are going to make shots. Defensively, especially this team, we have to be very good. It has to be a one done. There can not be easy looks for people. These kids are buying into it. They are working hard and I think we will get there eventually,” said Loy.
Published 11/18/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
“Out of Bounds” airs live on Swankonsports.com
Fridays from 10 PM to Midnight
Buckeye Central Ready to Play Biggest Rival
Buckeye Central isn’t going to win a league championship and they aren’t going to make the playoffs, but they can end their season with a tremendous upset.
The Bucks (2-7,2-5) play a game Friday night at Wynford (9-0,7-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action.
The Royals lead Seneca East by a game in the conference standings.
Last week, the Bucks played one of their better games of the season in a (34-6) loss to Colonel Crawford, also a very good team.
Coach Rob Detterman says his players did some very good things last week, they just made too many mistakes against a good team. “We were very physical the whole game. We probably played one of our better games. We had problems converting when we were in the red zone trying to score. What really hurt us is we made two early mistakes and kind of spotted them 14 points on fumbles. They scored on their first series. We went down and scored and then stopped them on a three and out we muffed a punt and they got it in the red zone again and were able to score in a couple of plays. We kind of dug a big hole for ourselves early, but we kept battling the whole game,” said Detterman,
When it comes to Wynford, Detterman says the Royals are good. He says they play very hard and are always hustling to make the big plays on both sides of the ball. “You can just tell how well they are coached. Coach Helbert and his staff do and awesome job with each and every position group. Every kid that is on that field plays their tail off. They come off the ball hard. They are flying everywhere they are going and they are never moving at a slow speed,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Just the overall speed at each and every position and how fast they play as a team. Even though they have a special kid in Zach Hoffman the rest of the team is also very, very good. They just move as fast as they can. They know what they are doing.”
Buckeye Central knows they are the underdog in this game. However, Detterman says they have nothing to lose, so why not come out and play hard and see what happens. “They are excited. We are realistic and we know we have a giant mountain to climb in front of us if we are going to beat these guys. We are going to have to play a perfect game and get a couple of lucky breaks our way also. We said (Monday) why not us? Why can’t it be us? We are going to give it all we’ve got and see what we can get done,” he said.
Published 10/25/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter on @swankonsports
Like on Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Click on our listen line for 24/7 audio
Buckeye Central Needs to Carry Forward
Buckeye Central produced a tremendous rally to beat Bucyrus last week and they need to take that momentum into their game at home against Colonel Crawford this week.
Trailing by three scores last week, the Bucks (2-6,2-4) rallied to beat Bucyrus (41-40) to win their second league game of the season
Coach Rob Detterman says his players really responded to what they told them during the halftime break last week. “We were down by 19 points twice. We were by 19 at halftime. We didn’t make a lot of changes in our game plan. We made some minor tweaks at halftime, but we just challenged our kids to play harder. They just weren’t playing up to snuff and what we thought they chould do in the first half. They took it to heart,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “They went out there and really started to perform in the second half. They showed the toughness they have and the resilience they have had to have all year to battle through some of the injury problems and things we have had. We are really proud of them when you see kids respond to adversity like that and actually conquer it.”
Detterman is in his first year as the Buckeye head coach after coming over from Tiffin Calvert, where he was an assistant. He says he has gotten great leadership from his seniors. “I really have to commend my seniors because those kids have continued to play hard all year and work hard in practice and never give up. It would be easy for them to get down with a first year head coach and not the season they wanted, but they have continued to work, so I couldn’t be more proud of those guys,” he said.
Colonel Crawford (6-2,4-2) beat Lucas (47-20) in a non-conference game last week. Their only losses come to unbeaten Wynford and once beaten Seneca East.
Detterman says they have to attack the game with confidence. “I have respect for coach Teglovic. He runs a great program. I have competed against him every year I have been a coach, whether it was a game or a scrimmage. They definitely do a great job. The odds are stacked against us, but we aren’t afraid we are going to continue to come out and work hard and see what we can do,” said Detterman.
The Eagles have featured the power run game this year and Detterman says they know they have to compete at the point of attack. “We have to be tough in the box and we have to make our tackles. That is something we have struggled with and it is something that changed last week. The first half we missed a lot of tackles and the second half we started making tackles. We need to bring that forward to this week. They are good at breaking tackles and they want to come right at you. Their offensive is explosive and we know we have to be ready for a battle up front,” he said.
Published 10/17/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Click on our listen line for 24/7 audio
Buckeye Wants to Keep it Fun
Buckeye Central is not going win the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title this year and they probably aren’t going to make the playoffs either, but they can still get better and they can still have fun too.
That’s what they did last Friday when they drilled Ridgedale (42-0) in an “N10” game for their first win of the season. Coach Rob Detterman says they were able to get healthy and limit their mistakes. “We had a couple of kids come back and the other thing we did is we stopped making some of the mistakes we were making and that is really something we have been concentrating on is trying to correct our own problems. That is something we were able to do last week. We had a penalty on our first drive that sort of stalled out our first drive, but after that we were able to avoid the big mistakes that were shutting us down a lot earlier in this season. So, we were happy to see that progress and hopefully we can roll forward and get our assignments correct form here on out,” said Detterman.
The first year coach admits they have had to reassess their goals this year and he says the kids continue to play hard. “We kind of redefined our goals after our rough start. We made three simple little things. We want to continue to work hard everyday, continue to get better, and continue to have fun. We want to make sure the kids are enjoying the game of football,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “I think that is something we always have to do is let them be kids and let them have fun at it and I think that has helped keep that attitude good. We have definitely continued to play hard no matter what circumstances we have had this year. Whether we were out numbered with injuries hurting us or we were down by a lot our kids have never hung their heads they have always played hard.”
Buckeye Central (1-5,1-3) plays host to Carey (2-4,2-2) in New Washington in a conference game on Friday night. Carey lost (45-30) to Ontario in a non-conference game last week.
Detterman says they are better than that record might tell you and they are physical. “Carey is definitely a much better team that their record indicates. They have had a tough schedule for sure. They have lost a couple of close games. They are very physical and have got a lot of good football players. They don’t mess around they come right at you. It is going to be a challenge to match that physicality. We will see what we can do, but it will be a challenge for sure,” said Detterman,
He adds they are going to have to battle at the point of attack against the Blue Devils. “They want to pound it right at you and I know that is going to be a challenge. They do try and lull you to sleep with their running game and then hit you with the play action pass when they get the opportunity,” said Detterman.
Published 10/03/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Click on our listen line for 24/7 audio
Buckeye Central Still Has Solid Effort
There have been a bunch of injuries and more losses than they have wanted, but the young football players at Buckeye Central still are excited about playing football and getting better.
A (32-7) loss to Upper Sandusky in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game last Friday was the Bucks fifth loss in as many games, but coach Rob Detterman says their players still have a good attitude. “It may be lost with the community, but the kids are working hard. They still have a good attitude. They are taking on the challenges and they are playing hard every down of every game. They understand they we have had a lot of injuries. Those kids are starting to come back know. They know our chances are getting better as we go on. They haven’t given up on the season in anyway at all,” he said.
Buckeye Central (0-5,0-3) plays at Ridgedale (0-5,0-3) in a game between winless teams on Friday night in “N10” action.
Ridgedale lost (36-0) to Crestline in a non-conference game last week. Despite their record, Detterman says the Rockets have some talented players in the skilled positions. “They have some pretty quick kids and athletic kids in skilled positions. We definitely have to respect that. We have to try and contain them and keep them inside. They want to run to the outside and get to the edges,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “It looks like they like to throw quite a bit and challenge you deep. Defensively they like to play a man to man defense and see if you can beat them one on one. We like our chances, but we are taking them 100 percent serious and putting everything we have into this week.”
When it comes to winning this Friday, Detterman says they have to reduce the mistakes they have been making. “We have to cut down on our own mistakes. We need to make sure we throw the ball away when it needs to be thrown away and not throw it up into double coverage. Turnovers have kind of killed us. We need to know our assignments. We have gotten better at that every week, but we need to stop making the mistakes and get it down to where we are doing the right things all of the time. That is the number one thing we need to work on,” said Detterman.
Published 9/29/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Click on our listen line for 24/7 audio
Mistakes Still Hurting Buckeye Central
With a couple of their big play makers on the sidelines with injuries, Buckeye Central has to be a very efficient team if they are going to win football games and so far that hasn’t happened.
Last week, they lost a non-conference game (36-14) to Crestline and they host Upper Sandusky (2-2,1-1) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
Coach Rob Detterman says they did some good things early in the game last week, but they just made too many mistakes. “We were able to move the ball quite a bit early. Our offensive line was dominate early in the game. We were able to drive down the field. In our second series of the game we drive right down the field and got a bad holding penalty and just made some mistakes and it’s third and long and fourth and long and we can’t convert and that gave the momentum over to them. We just can’t get out of our own way sometimes, but we are still working on it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “A lot of it has to do with how much we have had to shuffle kids around and try to get people to fit into different spots due to some our injuries. We are going to keep trying and trying to get better.”
Right now, Buckeye Central doesn’t have players that are making big plays and that means they have to play football with very few mistakes. “We don’t have a big play threat right now. The two kids that we had on the team that are capable of that haven’t played since the first half of the first game. We are trying to develop that with a couple of our younger kids. We did start to see a little bit of that in the second half last week. Something we are hoping to do is make a few more big plays. We definitely have to be able to clean up our penalties and play mistake free football if we are going to have a chance to win,” he said.
Upper Sandusky beat winless Ridgedale (48-0) last week in a conference game. Detterman says they can do a lot of things when they have the ball in their hands. “They do a couple of different things. They will spread you out and do empty backfield with five wide receivers and try to throw it quite a bit. Go with an unbalanced line and an “I” backfield. They can hit you with their big running back Shane Pack. He is a load, he is a big kid, he is about 6’2”, 240. He is probably bigger than anybody we have on our team. He is definitely a good running back with speed, but more than anything he has some toughness. He is going to be tough for us to handle,” said Detterman.
Published 9/21/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Click on out listen line for 24/7 audio
It’s a Big Week For Buckeye Central
Buckeye Central is winless so far this season and they haven’t executed very well on Friday nights. That has to change.
Last week, unbeaten Seneca East blasted the Bucks (46-14) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game. Coach Rob Detterman says they just made too many mistakes early in the game to give themselves a chance against a really good team. “They were definitely a good team. We knew that coming in. We didn’t do anything to help ourselves early. We made a lot of mistakes early. As good teams do they capitalized on every single one of them we made. They kind of set the tone early and the first half did not go our way at all,” he said.
Buckeye plays at Crestline (1-2) in a non-conference game on Friday night at Hudson Stadium.
Detterman says they must continue to work hard in practice and then be able to take those things they are trying to perfect to the field on Friday nights. “That is what has been a little frustrating this year. Some of the things we work on in practice the most are the same mistakes we keep making on Friday nights. We told the kids this is the week we have to start getting it right,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We have to gets things turned around, do what we are coached to do, and get them right on the field. We definitely have the opportunity to right the ship this week. Crestline is no push over. They are a very talented, very athletic football team, that is much better than they have been in the past.”
After losing to a solid Monroeville team (47-13) in their opener the Bulldogs have played pretty well in a (10-7) win over Grove City Christian and a (26-21) loss last week to South Central.
Crestline has struggled in recent seasons to regain their lost football tradition, but Detterman says this is a football team that has shown it can be petty good. “They are a couple of plays away from being 2-1. They lost a nail bitter last week against South Central. We have seem them on film once before and they are a very athletic team also. Crestline is definitely going to give us everything they have and it is going to be a battle. We can’t overlook them in any way at all,” he said.
Published 9/14/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @Swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Click on our listen line for 24/7 audio
Buckeye Central Ready to Fight
Buckeye Central has been fighting injuries and inconsistency so far this season and things don’t get any easier when they host Seneca East in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
The Bucks played a spirited second half last week, but fell to Mohawk (26-12) in their “N10” opener.
Coach Rob Detterman says they got behind by too much early in the game, but he really liked they way they continued to fight. “It was a physical football game. We started out a little slow and they jumped out to a 20-0 lead and that really hurt us. It limited out opportunities to come back from there. It kind of changed our game plan a little bit, but we did respond and that is something I have been looking for out of these kids for the last three weeks,” he told Swankonsports.com on Labor Day, “We have been a little beat up, but we are starting to respond and fight back. We are showing some spirit. I was proud of how our kids played last week.”
Having lost their first two games, Detterman says they need to taste some success. “We definitely want to turn that around. We play games because we want to win games. It is something we are striving to do and we practice every week to win,” he said.
It won’t be easy, as the Bucks (0-2,0-1) host Seneca East (2-0,1-0), coming off a (60-8) destruction of Ridgedale. Detterman says the Tigers are physical and they are good. “Seneca East is a very talented football team. They have lots of veterans on their team, lots of the seniors. They have great size, great athleticism, and they are well coached. So, it is going to be an uphill battle for us. They have a lot of numbers too, which is going to give them another advantage. We are up for the challenge and we are going to give it our best effort. We are going to work all week and see what we can do against them,” said Detterman.
In the past couple of years Seneca East has thrown the ball around a lot, but Detterman says what they have shown so far in 2016 is a willingness to pound the ball. “They are looking to throw it too. They have gone to more of a running game than I think they have done in the past. I really not aware of exactly what they have done in the past, but I was told that they like to throw it around a lot. They have some really good athletes. Brock Martin comes to mind as a kid that is a strong runner, very fast and very physical. We will have our hands full with that physicality and trying to match it,” said Detterman.
Published 9/06/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Trenches Big For Buckeye Central
Buckeye Central needs to get healthy and they must be able to compete at the point of attack when they play at Mohawk in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday.
Last week, they led at the Plymouth (13-7) at the half, but gave up 26 unanswered points in the third quarter and lost (39-19) to the Big Red in their opener.
Coach Rob Detterman says their lack of depth caught up to them against Plymouth. “We kind of ran into our numbers issue. We suffered a couple of injuries. One right before half and one immediately after half and with our lack of depth we struggled coming back. We did lose our running back, who was having a really good first half. He broke his collar bone. Then probably our best athlete Jeff Hall came up a little bit lame and was unable to come back into the game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “We should have Ethan back in four or five weeks and Jeff could be back this week. It hurt us when you lose a couple of players and we don’t have a lot of depth it is hard to deal with sometimes at a small school.”
He says they have told other players it is an opportunity for them to step up and play a bigger role on the team. “That has been our message the last couple of weeks because we have dealt with injuries through the preseason too. Our message to our young guys has been how do we respond to things? We don’t want to react. We want to put some thought into what we are doing. We want to respond properly and we want to take advantage of opportunities. When some guys went down some younger guys got an opportunity to step into those roles,” said Detterman.
Mohawk won their first game (39-14) at Fremont St. Joe last Friday. Detterman says the Warriors want to be a power football team and run the ball between the tackles. “Mohawk is kind of an old school team from what I can tell. They like to pound it between the tackles. A lot of a two back set. Play with a tight end. Not the stuff you see a lot of today, but the kind of football I really like. They play hardnosed football, so we look forward to a good game with them,” he said.
Battling in the trenches and playing run defense is something Detterman believes they have the tools to do. “That was something we did pretty well the other night. We had a little bit of a let down. The wind kind of went out of our sails a little bit when we lost those guys, but our young guys up front played pretty well. Hopefully, we are going to see that major improvement from week one to week two. Hopefully we can compete at the line of scrimmage,” said Detterman.
Published 8/29/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Running Game Key For Buckeye Central
The running game, on both sides of the ball, is going to likely determine the outcome when Plymouth travels to Buckeye Central for a non-conference game to open the season on Friday night.
After suffering through some injuries during the preseason first year coach Rob Detterman feels like they are going to be ready to go when they take the field Friday. “We feel pretty good about where we are at. We have went through a few bumps in the road. We’ve had a lot of injuries that we are starting to get back now, so we are excited to get going,” he said.
Detterman feels their bread and butter this year is going to be running the football. There are some young guys in spots up front, but he feels they will be able to do the job. “We feel we are going to be good at running the ball. We are young up front, but we have the mindset that we should be able to run the ball and get those three or four yards whenever we need them. That is something we are definitely going to hang our hat on,” he said.
After taking a look at Plymouth, Detterman feels they are going to see a lot of the option offense out of the Big Red on Friday. “Plymouth shows a lot of option. Coach Genders has taken their offense back over this year and I know he is an option guy. I know they have a big, strong fullback in Seth Bailey, who we have to stop. He is definitely a downhill runner. He is about 230 pounds, a very good football player,” said Detterman.
Assignment football is the name of the game when you are trying to defend the option. After seeing it in a scrimmage last week against Crestview, Detterman feels they will be able to defend it well. “All of the kids have to know their jobs and we have really been focused on that this week,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We are fortunate to have run into a similar opponent in Crestview last Friday in our final tune up scrimmage when we were petty unhealthy for that and we didn’t fare very well. A lot of kids did get some experience looking at the option. I think they have a better idea what they are up against this week.”
Published 8/25/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Buckeye Must be More Physical
Buckeye Central is going to be a young football team that is improving, but need to more physical at the point of attack.
They open the regular season a week from Friday when they host Plymouth in a non conference game.
Coach Rob Detterman says the two scrimmages they have had so far have shown them a lot of things. “We have definitely learned a lot about ourselves. We are still looking for players. We have a lot of young guys competing for spots on the offensive line. That battle is starting to thin out a little bit and we are starting to see where our guys are going to be. We have had two successful scrimmages. One we did pretty well in against Willard last Tuesday and then we scrimmaged Tiffin Calvert, who I expect to be a very good football team on Saturday. We learned a lot about ourselves and we definitely have some areas to work on,” said Detterman.
He says this is the time you want to address any issues you may be having. “We can’t fix them after the season starts, well we can, but we definitely want to fix them before we get to game one. The game that counts,” he said.
Buckeye defensive players have been getting to the ball carrier, but they have been having trouble getting him down. Plus, Detterman says their young offensive line needs to execute better. “Tacking is one thing we are working on. We really went at it (Monday.) We are doing a good job of getting to the ball, but running through our tackles as been an interesting process. We seem to be a team that can wrap up, but we are not getting our feet through the tackle,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Our young O-line we are trying to get those guys to fire off a little better. They are doing a good job with the technical stuff. They just aren’t at the speed that we want them to be at yet.”
Football is physical and successful teams know how to be that. Detterman says they do a good job of running their plays and knowing where they are supposed to be on defense, but they need be more physical. “There is no doubt about it, especially when you are going to be playing a lot of young kids like we are. You can look really good and have a lot of summer all stars. I learned through my years of coaching that when the hitting starts you start to find out who your players are. Sometimes you are surprised pleasantly and sometimes you are surprised in a bad way. We are learning and we do like what we see. We just want to get a little more physicality out of them,” said Detterman.
Published 8/15/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Detterman Brings Some New Things to Buckeye
Buckeye Central faces life without Grant Loy, but they are not devoid of Loys, his brother Max returns to the fold.
There is also a new coach in Rob Detterman, a New London grad, and former Tiffin Calvert assistant.
He says his group has been putting in good effort. “We are working hard. We are very thin in numbers. We don’t have a lot, so we know we have to be really tough and we have to get going and give it all we got. Our 31 kids have to be better than the other team’s 31 kids,” he said.
There will be some kids going both ways with the Bucks and Detterman says they are trying to make sure the kids are ready to go hard for four quarters. “We practice a little different than other teams. We have our conditioning early in practice and make sure our kids get tired fast and then we work at a really high pace. We don’t take very many breaks in practice, if any. The water is available to them at any time, but we like to practice at a high rate and keep their heart rate up the whole practice,” said Detterman.
Being up tempo will be part of the Buckeye Central offense, but Detterman says they want to be able to do a lot of things. “That is part of our plan to use several different tempos as we go, so we can switch our tempos from huddle to no huddle in the middle of a drive if we want to. We do practice that and in our practice (Tuesday) we ran four different team sessions, which four different tempos. That is something we are looking to do,” he said.
With a new coach there is always going to be an adjustment period, but Detterman believes they are kind of over that and are moving forward. He says the seniors have been great leaders. “I have been here since March. We have been lifting strong. I really have to thank the seniors. They embraced me. We have a nice group and have done a lot of senior meetings throughout the summer. They have embraced the changes, they have learned it really fast,” he told Swankonsports.com after practice on Tuesday, “That is something I was concerned about, how will the seniors react to change? My experience in my high school days, when going into your senior year if you get a new coach it could definitely be overwhelming and you think you are not going to be very good with the transition, but we tried to meet that up front, talk about that. They have bought into what we want to do. So far, so good.”
Published 8/03/16
© Swankonsports.com
Follow us on Twitter at @Swankonsports
Like Swankonsports,com on Facebook
Buckeye Central Beats Mohawk
Buckeye Central broke an eight game losing steak with an (8-6) win over a solid Mohawk team in Northern 10 Athletic Conference baseball on Thursday in New Washington.
Grant Loy had two hits, including a grand slam, and five RBI and Tanner Zaebest added three hits for the Bucks. Sophomore Josh Dentinger got the win going six innings, allowing nine hits, walking two and striking out five.
Coach Chad Jensen says it was a relief to get a win. "Mohawk is an excellent team and we have been in a little bit of bad streak here. We kept telling the kids as long you keep playing hard and play the game the right way things will go in your favor and that's what happened (Thursday) night. We were able to get timely hits, got a few clutch hits, got a grand slam from Grant Loy, a big clutch hit from Jared Shook, and big save from Ethan Summers. It is was a good team effort," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, "In this bad streak that we have had we have told the kids to just be consistent and keep playing the game hard and things will happen."
Buckeye Central (10-13,4-11) has been on the short end of some games against tough "N10" teams like Wynford, Colonel Crawford and Seneca East over the last couple of weeks. Jensen says it has been about consistency. "We have just been inconsistent the last couple of weeks. We have hit the ball overall, all year, pretty well. It has just been being able to put seven innings together. Be able to get a quality start with quality, clutch hitting and he got that (Thursday) night. We got six quality innings from sophomore Josh Dentinger and that gave us a boost. We got some big hits along the way. Mohawk has some good hitters and is just a quality team. We hung around and where able to get some big hits. Mohawk battled back, but we got some big pitches from Josh and were able to shut the door in the seventh," said Jensen.
The postseason starts from Buckeye on Saturday when they host winless Mansfield St. Peter's in a division four first round game. Jensen believes they are going to be ready for the tournament because of who they have played in the regular season. "We have to be ready there is no question about it. We told our kids that we feel like our league has prepared us. Our league is extremely tough. It is the toughest top to bottom that I have been a part of in 15 years as a coach. So, we feel our league has prepared us. The tournament does start Saturday and the kids know it's win or go home. We have told them if you play the game the right way things will fall into place," he said.
Published 5/06/16
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Follow us on Twitter at @Swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Buckeye Wins Third Straight
Buckeye Central banged out 12 hits in route to a (8-2) win at Carey in Northern 10 Athletic Conference baseball on Monday evening.
Buckeye lost three games last week, plus had to deal with real life issues, but coach Chad Jensen says they have been able to battle back. "It was a tough week for our kids last week, but we had a good weekend at Plymouth and played well and played well against Carey, really did, got some base hits, played excellent defense, good starting pitching, good relief pitching, just solid play all around. I have great respect for our kids, we have a lot of character kids, all of our kids are great character kids. We are looking forward to playing everyday and getting better," said Jensen.
Grant Loy, Jacob Shade, Nash Ehresman, and Josh Dentinger all had two hits on Monday and Loy and Shade each had two RBI for the Bucks.
Payton Phenicie started an threw four shutout innings and Tanner Zaebest pitched the final three in notch the save.
Buckeye also had 10 stolen bases, three by Loy.
Jensen says they have shown signs they can be good on offense, but they need to be more consistent. "We have seen flashes, we have certainly go through spurts where we hit the ball pretty well. We came back and scored 13 last week after being down 13-0. We didn't quite have enough to win, but we have scored some runs here and there. We just need to be able to put it all together, put seven innings together and get solid pitching and defense and put it all together. We were able to do that (Monday.) We just need to get more consistent with everybody," said Jensen.
Buckeye Central (7-4,2-4) plays at Upper Sandusky (8-5,5-2,) who fell out of sole possession of first place in the league when Bucyrus beat them (9-5) on Monday, on Tuesday. Upper outscored Buckeye (15-13) last Thursday. They host Carey against Wednesday, as part of five games this week.
Jensen says they look forward to the challenge. "We play everyday this week. We have Upper on Tuesday, and Carey again on Wednesday, Crestline in a non-league on Thursday, and Bucyrus on Friday. So, we play everyday this week, with three more league games this week," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, "It really challenges your pitching staff. Our kids are excited about playing and playing everyday after a couple of weeks ago when it rained a lot. The "N10" is certainly a challenging league and everyday you get everybody's best. We just want to go out and put our best foot forward."
Published 4/19/16
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Follow us on Twitter at @Swankonsports
Buckeye Central Ready to Go
Just like a lot teams around North Central Ohio, the Buckeye Central Bucks are just waiting to play a little baseball and hopefully that happens on Tuesday.
With sunshine and a high temperature in the mid 40's predicted, Buckeye Central (3-1) is scheduled to host Northmor (2-2) in a non-conference game at their place on Tuesday afternoon.
Coach Chad Jensen says it has been almost a week for them and they just want to get out and play some ball in a real game. "We really want to play. Our kids are really chomping at the bit. We haven't played since Wednesday. Thursday we were in the gym, Friday we were rained out. So, we haven't been outside much in the last few days. Tuesday looks like the best day. It's going to be in the 40's and sunny. That's good baseball weather in Ohio, so we will take what we can get," he said.
In their last game, last Wednesday, they lost to defending Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion Seneca East (11-5) in a conference game and Jensen says they want to get that bad taste out of their mouth. "We definitely want to get back on the winning track. We have an opportunity to win and play well. Northmor is not going to be easy, they are well coached and those kids will be prepared for us. It will be a good game and nothing we will take for granted," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, "We want to get out and have an opportunity to play well and improve from the last time. The Seneca East game it was 6-5 in the 6th and we kind of imploded. We want to get that out of our mouth and get a better feeling and just play better. If we play better we will be pleased with that."
Of course, you can't get out and play or practice in bad weather. Plus, Jensen says it forces you to make decisions on who gets to pitch for you too. "The weather messes up your rotation. We threw four guys off the mound (Monday) indoors that haven't thrown for a while that we need to stay fresh. It does take a little bit of strategy. You have to think who is up? Who hasn't pitched? Who's turn is it? So, we have kind of gone with that. Basically who's turn it is not if is league, just who's turn it is," he said.
Also on Monday, Buckeye Central three sport star Grant Loy announced, via Twitter, that he would be furthering his academic and football career at Bowling Green State University. Loy is Buckeye's best player in three sports, football, basketball, and baseball. He is the best overall athlete in the conference and one of the best in the area. Loy is also a fine student, carrying a nearly 4.0 GPA. Although his father Phil is Buckeye's basketball coach, Grant has made it known he wanted to play football at the next level.
Published 4/04/16
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Follow us on Twitter at @Swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Buckeye Wins; Jensen Reaches Milestone
Payton Phenicie stuck out nine and allowed only two hits over five innings and Buckeye Central downed Monroeville (3-1) Monday in what was Chad Jensen's 200th win as their head coach.
Buckeye (3-0) had beaten Fremont St. Joe (8-1) and (14-1) in a doubleheader on Saturday. "We are definitely happy with what we have accomplished so far. The kids have worked hard and done everything we have asked of them. We have thrown strikes and gotten some timely hits and played solid defense. We know we have a lot more to go, but it is always nice to get off to a good start," said Jensen.
Pitching has been the key for the Bucks so far, allowing only three runs in three games. Jensen says Phenicie was able to keep Monroeville off balance on Monday. "We have been able to start our top three pitchers, numbers one and two in the doubleheader, and number three on (Monday.) Peyton Phenicie pitched really well (Monday.) He got ahead of hitters and changed locations really well and he did all kinds of little things to keep them off balance," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, "We had one of our seniors, Ethan Summers, come in a close the door and get a save for us. So, it was a good team effort and kids played well and we were able to get some key outs down the stretch."
Jacob Shade has two hits and two RBI against Monroeville on Monday.
It will be a big rest of the week for the Bucks as they play defending Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion Seneca East on Wednesday and Friday to begin league play.
Jensen says the Tigers have become a big rival and this will be their first true test of the season on Wednesday. He says Seneca East is sort of a measuring stick if you will when it comes to being competitive in the N10 this spring. "Seneca East, they were the champs last year. They are the ones that we want to emulate right now. They have a lot of kids back. We have had a lot of great games with them over the years, even before they were in our league. In baseball it certainly has been a rivalry. Several times we have played them three times because of the tournament. It has developed into a rivalry. They have gotten us, we have gotten them. It is going to be our toughest challenge to date come Wednesday and Friday. They are by far the best team we have played so far and the kids are excited to face them. We want to see what we can do to challenge them," said Jensen.
Published 3/29/16
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Follow us on Twitter at @Swankonsports
Like Swankonsports.com on Facebook
Buckeye Central Will be Experienced
Buckeye Central will be one of the more experienced baseball teams in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this spring and they hope they can turn that into wins.
Coach Chad Jensen says they have been able to get outside due to the weather and get some work in with players that already have a lot of experience. "We have been able to get outside a lot this year. We have been fortunate to have good weather. So, that has been a plus for us. We do have nine seniors, 10 letter winners, we have a lot of experience coming back. We have been able to get out on the field coupled with veteran players and leaders on our team it has been very good for us. We are just hoping to improve we each day. We had some growing pains last year with some guys playing some new spots. We are hoping we can put it all together and compete everyday this year," said Jensen.
Like any level of baseball, high school teams start with pitching and Jensen believes they have a solid starting staff and now it will be about finding other pieces. "We have some guys that threw some innings for us starting with Grant Loy, a senior, four year letter winner for us. He is our number one, the ace of our staff. It's starts with him and hopefully he can log some innings for us. Then we have Jacob Shade and Peyton Phenicie. Jacob is a junior and Payton is a sophomore, guys that have pitched for us, and Tanner Zaebst, a senior, who starts and relieves and does a little bit of everything for us," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "Those four our returners for last year. To fill in the rest of the staff we have some seniors battling and some underclassmen battling. It has been a competition to see who can fill out beyond those top four. There has been good competition for us and a lot of kids that want to play and want to fit into roles. We are just hoping that all works out for us soon."
For Bucks, (11-16) last year, to contend for the conference title this year they are going to have to be a lot more consistent at the plate than they were last year. Jensen says he likes what he sees. "Scoring runs is a must. One thing we have to get better from last year is we have to become more consistent with the bats. That is one thing we have really focused on here early the season. Again at the plate we have a lot of experience and we hope we can put it all together and be able to hit consistently. We have shown so far that we are headed in that direction, but you really never know until you get out there against another team and see where you are at. So far, I am happy with the progress we have made," he said.
Published 3/15/16
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Expects Close One
Buckeye Central and Wynford boarder each other in Crawford County and their boys' basketball teams play each other for a division four district title on Friday night at Lexington High School.
The Bucks (17-6), #4 in the final Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, won the two regular season games in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play.
They also hung on to beat Norwalk St. Paul (52-48) in semi final action on Wednesday night.
They had a significant second half lead on the Flyers, but coach Phil Loy says they had to make some free throws in the end to secure the victory. "It was an evenly matched game in the first half. We were missing a lot of shots. They did a good job of packing it in on us and limiting Grant's touches and daring us to shoot. I just thought we were a little inpatient and taking some quick shots. We weren't making them and then we were out of position and not being able to get offensive rebounds. We still had a six point lead and I felt good about it at halftime. The third quarter we came out and made some shots and we got some stuff in transition and we were able to stretch the lead to 15 and it was 12 going to the fourth. They picked up their pressure. Give them credit they changed some things up," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "They went to a diamond press, they trapped some out of the 1-3-1. The thing about Norwalk St. Paul is they've got some length. They have some kids that are really long, with some long arms, they are shot blockers. They gave us some problems early on and they made some shots and we don't and the next thing you know it's a ballgame. Especially Grant Loy goes six for six at the four line to keep our lead and keep it two possessions pretty much throughout the end of the game. So, if we don't make those we are in a lot of trouble."
Wynford (14-9) had a big second half on Wednesday night and they beat Mansfield Christian (66-52) to advance. Loy says they have very good guard play and some size too. "Wynford played really well, that doesn't surprise me, but it did surprise me with the margin of victory. I really felt that would be a tight game that could go either way. I thought they were pretty evenly matched. A little bit had to due with Mansfield Christian's big guys getting into foul trouble, so they ended up going small and Wynford kept a big guy on the floor and Mansfield Christian didn't have an answer. They were getting a lot of offensive rebounds and getting a lot of put backs. Mansfield Christian, if you go small you are going to have to rely on guard play and making perimeter shots, and they weren't doing that. Shots were going in and out and the next thing you know that lead, that was maybe a four point lead, goes up to an eight and a ten and a 15. Wynford is definitely a dangerous team. They have quick, athletic guards that can shoot it and they have some size inside," said Loy.
Buckeye Central won (52-38) and (69-49) in their two meetings with Wynford so far, but Loy believes this one will be a lot closer. "Playing an elite team for a third time we do know each other pretty well. We are close rivals and the kids know each other and this will be another tough ballgame. There won't be any secrets. They may change some things up defensively and may add a twist here and there at the offensive end. Other than that it is just a matter of going out and executing. We won the first time by 14 and second time by 20 at their place, but I expect this one here to be a tight ballgame. If you don't defend and you don't shoot it well, which could happen on any given night, you are going to have a close ballgame. Our kids will be ready and I am sure their kids will be ready, it should be a fun ballgame," said Loy.
Published 2/26/16
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Playing a St. Paul Team with Some Height
Buckeye Central takes a six game winning streak into the post season tournament, but they are going to play one of the biggest teams they have met all year.
The Bucks (16-6), #4 in the final Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, face Norwalk St. Paul (8-14) in the first round of the division four tournament on Wednesday night at Lexington High School.
Buckeye coach Phil Loy says they have be doing a lot of good things. "I am happy with the way we are playing. Defensively we have stepped it up. That is always good. That's what you want going into the tournament. You want a team that is playing really well and getting after it and hopefully we can continue that on through the tournament. Offensively I think we are doing a really good job as well, shooting the ball and executing, and moving the basketball. We are getting some good looks. We'll see, we have won our last six games and hopefully we can continue," he said.
Buckeye Central has enjoyed a lot of tournament success in recent years. Making it to the district final last year and the regional semi finals the year before. Loy hopes that helps them this year. "Tournaments are just a different feel. Everything you is just a little bit different. When you show up for a game it's about getting ready, not shooting around before a JV game. The perpetration is just a little bit different. The energy, the excitement, and all of that, is a little bit different. But, we have had kids, it all starts with Grant Loy, who has been through it for four years, with the tournaments, and is a four year letter winner. Scott Heydinger is a three year letter winner, so he has been through it. We have had some good runs getting to the regionals and the district finals. They have played in those games. We hope that experience will help us here," said Loy.
When it comes to Norwalk St. Paul, Loy believes the match-ups could spell trouble for them. "The thing is a Mike Smith basketball team is always going to be well prepared and that is the thing to look out for. He has definitely done his homework and his kids are going to be prepared. They have had a couple of nice wins there and even their losses, they have had a couple of close losses or games they have competed in for four quarters and maybe just couldn't finish the game or had one bad quarter. I believe they are playing better basketball right now. What is dangerous about them is they have some length," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "Offensively it could be a little more of a challenge because they start everybody over six foot, they bring 6'3" or 6'4" off the bench. So, they have got some size that can create some problems. They use that length to their advantage. They don't have the best record, but I think they got off to a slow start a little bit with football, so their record is a little deceiving. We have to make sure our kids are focused and ready to go."
Published 2/24/16
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Playing Really Well
It's hard to imagine a team that had a better weekend then did the Buckeye Central Bucks, who beat rivals Colonel Crawford and Wynford in "N10" games.
Coach Phil Loy was thrilled with the effort and execution he got in a (52-33) win over Crawford and a (69-49) victory at Wynford. "I am very proud of our team. If you would have told me before the weekend that we would have beaten Colonel Crawford by 19 and go to Wynford and win by 20 I wouldn't have believed you, but our kids are playing extremely well, just great team basketball and getting after it really hard defensively. I think that is what we did over the weekend. Those are two really good wins over teams that were in the top four in our conference," said Loy.
Defense has been the difference for the Bucks, now in second place in the conference. Loy says their defense has gotten a lot better as the season has gone along. "To start the year we kind of struggled with it a little bit. We weren't consistent, but it seemed as the season went on we became a lot more consistent and really getting after it and rebounding better and that is showing now with our record," he said.
Buckeye Central hosts Riverdale (4-16) in a non-conference game coming up on Tuesday night. Loy says Riverdale plays hard and has had some success against "N10" teams. "I expect a team that plays really hard. They are well coached. Coach Taylor does a nice job with them. They start three seniors and two juniors and a few juniors off the bench. They are struggling a little bit this year in a really tough conference in the "BVC." They have played some teams tough. When I saw them play, and watch them on film, they execute their stuff really well," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "They play extremely hard, it's just a matter of getting four quarters. They have played three teams in our conference. They beat Carey early in the year, which is a very good win. They beat Bucyrus by 15 at Bucyrus and they lose to Mohawk by one just a couple of weeks ago. We expect nothing but their best (Tuesday) night."
Buckeye Central (14-6,11-4) is at Mohawk (4-16,2-13) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night. The Bucks won the first meeting, but only (44-36) back in early January. Loy says they want to get down the floor. "That is a game where we will want to get up and down the floor and do some things. One of the teams they played extremely tough was us the first time around at home. They had us down 13-5. They play really hard. They play with a lot of energy. They have a really good point guard that is a tough match up. They have a really tall inside player, a four man in Alex Jeffries that is a good 15 foot jump shooter and is really long and a good rebounder. Us being down 13-5 the first time we played them at home it was a struggle for us to get a lead by halftime. It is not a game we blew them out by any means. We only won that game by eight points," said Loy.
Published 2/16/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye With Both Crawford and Wynford
Buckeye Central is coming off a pair of "N10" wins last week and now they face two of their bigger rivals in Colonel Crawford and Wynford on Friday and Saturday.
After beating Carey (61-47) last Friday, the Bucks downed Bucyrus (66-47) on Saturday. After a slow start, coach Phil Loy says they played pretty well against the Redmen. "Anytime you can win on the road in the "N10" I think it is a good win. We got off to a slow start. They did come at us and threw a lot of different defenses at us. They brought a lot of energy and our guys were kind of sluggish to start and we got down 8-2 in that game. After a time out we kind of got refocused and from that point forward, from the middle of the first quarter, I thought we played pretty well," he said.
Colonel Crawford (14-5,10-3) plays at Buckeye Central (12-6,9-4) on Friday night. The Eagles won (47-42) in North Robinson in December. Loy says they are just hard to defend. "It is a very good Colonel Crawford team, maybe not the best that they have had over the years, but they are very solid. They have some nice big men, but the strength is they have three kids that can shoot it from the perimeter and they are finding some other guys that can score for them as well," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "They are tough to guard because they run their offenses so well. They do a very good job of setting screens and getting guys open. I thought the last time that we played them we played pretty well, but there were times when we lost the shooters and they got some open shots and that hurt us down the stretch."
The three county schools in Crawford County have a rivalry dating back to the 1960's and Loy says this weekend should be fun. "This will be fun both nights. I think Friday night will be a our biggest crowd of the year. They always bring a really good crowd and we will have a really good crowd for this one as well. Kids look forward to games like this when it is two schools that are as close as we are and know each other so well it should be a lot of fun and a great atmosphere," he said.
Wynford (12-6,9-4) is one the hottest teams in North Central Ohio. They have won seven in a row since a (52-38) loss to Buckeye on January 8. Loy describes the Royals as a team playing with a bunch of confidence right now. "They just keep getting better and keep playing with more and more confidence. With a new coach as the season goes I think you start understanding things more and more and just continue to get better. The are playing with a lot of confidence. I don't think they have lost a game since the last time that we played them. That is seven straight wins for them. The last time we played them, we played pretty well and shot the ball pretty well. So, now we have to go on the road and play a team with a lot of confidence. We are going to have to shoot the ball well and play with confidence there too," said Loy.
Published 2/11/16
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Has to get back After it
Buckeye Central has now lost two straight games and they need to get back on track as they head into the tournament in a couple of weeks.
They lost at Ridgedale (66-57) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Saturday night. Coach Phil Loy says the Rockets are tough to handle and they didn't take advantage of some opportunities. "It is a tough place to play at Ridgedale I think and Ridgedale is pretty good. They are just above .500, but they have three players that are really nice players, probably first and second team players in our league. A big kid, in the Eldridge kid that is 6'5", he is good shot blocker, he finishes well, and has a nice touch, and is the leading rebounder in our league, averaging 12 rebounds a game. They have two guards that are good three point shooters and are nice players and attack the basket. Those guys are averaging 12, 15, and 18 points a game," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "If you go down there and don't shoot the ball very well you are in for a dogfight and that was what we were up against. We didn't shoot it very well, but we were still down one, with the ball, with four minutes left in the game. Some bad things happened we turned it over and they capitalized on it and the next thing you know we walk away there without a win. It is a game we would like to have back, but it is a tough place to play."
On Friday night, the Bucks (10-6,7-4) host the Carey Blue Devils (8-8,6-5) in an "N10" game. Buckeye won by 19 (62-43) the first time they played, but Loy says they are clearly better. "Carey is a young team and I think the second half of the season they have grown quite a bit. We watched them play Liberty-Benton on Monday and Liberty-Benton is a nice team, they have some good size and they are physical. It was a high scoring game and Carey hung with them. It ended up 82-72. Carey is playing with a lot of confidence. They shoot the three really well and anytime you can shoot the three, and have multiple guys that can shoot it, you are going to be in the ballgame. So, we have a tough one on Friday night," said Loy.
Then on Saturday they travel over to Bucyrus to meet the young Redmen (1-15,1-10) and Loy says they have to have focus because this could be a season maker for Bucyrus. "I think coach (Tony) Rose kind of instilled that into them, so the kids are still playing hard. They had a nice win against Mohawk and they have hung with some teams. They are young, their starting five is four sophomores and a freshman. They are a young team, but they are still playing with confidence. I think they believe if they can get this one game that is going to make their season. If they finish strong going into the tournament maybe they can win a couple of games. Anytime you go on the road in the "N10" its is not and easy day," he said.
Published 2/05/16
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Confidence Still Building For Buckeye
Buckeye Central lost to unbeaten Upper Sandusky last Saturday night, but instead of losing confidence, they may have gained some due to the way they played.
The final was (53-46) and coach Phil Loy feels they may have thrown a scare into the Rams in what was their closest final of the season so far. "I told the kids after the game I was very proud of the way they played. I thought we did a great job. Upper Sandusky is averaging 76 points a game and we hold them to 53. It was a great defensive effort. The second half we hold them to 16 points. We forced them into the turnovers, which led to some transition baskets for us. We did not want a track meet with these guys. They want to force you into a track meet and ware you down. In the first quarter, and you can't help it sometimes, it did become a track meet. It was 21-14 and I told the kids between quarters that we don't want that pace. Unfortunately they come out in the second quarter and go on a 16-5 run. A lot of that was due to that fact that Grant Loy had a bloody nose and he couldn't get it stopped, so he is in the training room the whole second quarter. So, I don't have him for the whole second quarter. They created some match up problems for us and they build an 18 point lead at halftime. At halftime my kids weren't down," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "They thought there were definitely some things we can change on the floor. We come out the third quarter and go on a 13-2 run and we have cut it to six. It ended up nine going to the fourth quarter. There were a couple of times we even cut to four and had some good looks from the perimeter that we missed. If we could have got a few of those to fall it would have been a different outcome. I was really proud of how they played and if we can continue to play that way I think we will be really successful."
Loy says you never want to lose game, but in this case he believes they learned some good things about themselves. "I think it helped our confidence, not losing helped it, but they fashion that we did. The first time that we played them we lose by 24 points and we just didn't defend the way we are capable of defending and I thought Saturday night we just defended very well. We were the one forcing them into turnovers in the second half and making it a tight ball game for them. It is exciting and I know the kids are confident, but we have to keep that going and build onto that," he said.
Buckeye Central (10-5,7-3) is at Ridgedale (7-7,4-6) for a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Saturday night. They beat the Rockets (36-32) in their first game. Loy knows this is a team that can challenge them. "They play well at their place. I think they are playing with some confidence. Upper beat them (77-51) the night before we played them and they kind of beat them up just with the style that Upper plays. Ridgedale doesn't have a whole lot of depth. They have what I would consider their big three and then they have two other good role players on that starting five. They have to be careful that they don't get into foul trouble. Those big three are averaging 18, 15, and 12 points. Their big kid inside, the Eldridge kid, is the league leader in rebounds with over 12 rebounds a game. The two role players that they have, they can make some buckets and they are good defenders. We have to go down there and have the right mindset that we know it is going to be a tough ballgame with them. We have to play well going down there Saturday," said Loy.
Published 1/27/16
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Starting to Roll
Buckeye Central understands what their identity is and what they have to do to win and they are doing it.
That has resulted in four straight wins, including a (63-47) win over Seneca East in "N10" play last Saturday. Coach Phil Loy says the players did a pretty good job of doing what he asked. "I challenged the kids that Seneca East has been really good lately at scoring when they get dribble penetration and they are also getting the ball into the post. I challenged them that we had to stop any dribble penetration and make sure we also had gap help. So, defensively we were really stressing that. Make them have to beat us from the outside. For the most part I thought we did a pretty nice job," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "In the first half they didn't get the dribble penetration and the guys that were scoring from the perimeter weren't scoring, but they were pounding into the post and we had some foul trouble there, so we had to be careful. I thought overall we did a really good job. The offensively I thought we had good ball movement. Grant (Loy) had another good night, but I felt like the other guys fed off of him as well."
The Bucks host Crestline (1-12) in a non-conference game on Friday night. Loy says they need to understand the Bulldogs are probably feeling pretty good after a (53-39) win over Bucyrus last Thursday. "They are like probably 1-12 right now, but their last game, which is their most important, was a big win. They went to Bucyrus and watching that game, they kind of dominated that game. They got up 20 in that game early, which was a surprise. Watching them play, they play with a lot of energy. They don't have a whole of experience, but I think coach Lyle has been doing a great job with them and they are getting better. They are going to start two freshmen, two sophomores and a senior. They play hard and they are continuing to get better and understand what it takes. It is not a game where we are just going to step on the floor and expect to get a win by 10 plus points. We are going to have to come out and play our game and hope for the best," said Loy.
Then on Saturday, Buckeye (9-4,7-2) is at home for league leader Upper Sandusky (13-0,9-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division. Loy says the Rams are deep. "They are all athletic. They are good athletic bunch and there is a bunch of them. They have good numbers. He has nine, 10 guys he can play in his rotation and they can just continue to do what they do. They rely on their defense as far as running and jump and trapping you, getting in passing lanes and making you hurry up and force you into turnovers. Then they go down and after the turnover they are just shooting layups. If they do set up in the half court they do have some kids that can shoot it from the perimeter and they have some good athletic post players," he said.
When trying to break the press, Loy says his guys have to have great court vision. "Ball handing, court vision, being able ton see the floor, understanding where the traps are coming from. They do a good job of rotation and they guy that is coming to set the trap they have somebody rotating to cover that guy, so it is not always the same. The guy that is setting the trap it is not always his guys that is open it might be another direction, so we have to be able to see the floor. You have to be disciplined, you have to be patient. I think if we can do those things we can make it a ball game,' said Loy.
Published 1/19/16
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Knows Who They are
Buckeye Central shares second place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with Colonel Crawford, two games behind Upper Sandusky, heading into a home game with Seneca East on Saturday night.
They beat Mohawk (44-36) last Saturday and coach Phil Loy says it was another step in the right direction. "We had some spurts there where we had some dry spells offensively. We have some things we need to correct on the defensive end, but we got a couple of wins in the "N10" and I thought overall we played pretty well," he said.
It is three straight wins for the Bucks and Loy says they are starting to understand who they are and what they need to do to be successful. "We were kind of young team at the start, but I think as the season goes on I think we are understanding more and more how important it is to be really good defensively. We have always kind of been that way. That is what we hang our hat on and the kids understand that," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "They also understand tat we want to be efficient at the offensive end. If we can push the ball and get something easy that's great, but we have to be disciplined at the offensive end. You have to know what your strengths are, what your weaknesses are and who can shoot from where and whatever. By this time of the year everybody has a good understanding of all of that."
The Bucks (8-4,6-2) host Seneca East (3-9,1-7) in a "N10" game on Saturday. Buckeye won the first one (60-51) in early December. Loy says their goal is to improve on that performance. "The first time that we played them it was a tight ball game. We were down two points going into the second quarter and we were up maybe seven at halftime. We could never really pull away from them. I think we are a better ball club than we were early in the year. We were in some serious foul trouble in that game. That has kind of changed a little bit of who we are. Hopefully we are better in the areas that we struggled with early in the year and most of that was at the defensive end," said Loy.
You have to make adjustments the second time you play a team, but Loy says there is a great deal of familiarity to. "We played them at the beginning of the year and we have changed some things around. They have seen us on film plenty of times and we get to see them quite a bit. There really isn't really any secrets. Once you played them you kind of understand the personnel. As far as them changing their offense and defense a little bit, tweaking things, we have to be prepared for it," he said.
Published 1/14/16
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Two back; Buckeye Needs Win over Wynford
Buckeye Central led Colonel Crawford last week for much of the game and let it get way and now they need a win for sure when they host rival Wynford on Friday night in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action to stay in the race.
They had the lead for about 28 minutes last Wednesday and coach Phil Loy says Crawford made the plays down the stretch and they didn't and that was the difference in the (47-42) game. "The game I thought we played solid. I thought we played well, especially for 28 minutes. We built a seven point lead and we missed shot inside that would have took it up to nine. We had four crucial turnovers down the stretch. They turned up the pressure a little bit and we didn't handle it as well as we should have. For whatever reason we just sort of fell into a panic mode and we didn't look to attack the basket and when we did we missed some shots inside. Nothing fell for us in the final three, four minutes. Give them credit for what they did defensively, but also for what the did offensively," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "The Burkhart kid hit a tough three where I thought we guarded him pretty well and another one when I thought we lost him. So, there was a quick six points and they made their free throws down the stretch. I am upset with the loss, when you lose a game that you thought you were in control of most of the game, but the kids played hard and never quit. Crawford is a very good team."
On Saturday, Buckeye Central beat Plymouth (49-48) and Loy thought they learned from the Colonel Crawford loss. "We have had some close games this year and we had another one this past Saturday and we came out on top in that. That was a game where we got ourselves down by eight. We were struggling some and we didn't play a great game. It was a little sloppy for us. We had some trouble scoring and in the last eight minutes we found a way to win. Hopefully you learn from your mistakes. Hopefully, we learned from the loss to Colonel Crawford and some of our other losses. Hopefully, we are growing and learning and getting better," he said.
Wynford (5-5,3-3) will be at Buckeye (6-4,4-2) on Friday night. The Royals has lost their last two to good teams in unbeaten Upper Sandusky (86-68) and New London (60-39,) but Loy says they are still a pretty good team that is improving. "You watch them on film and they are a very dangerous team. They have some speed. Their guards are quick. Their guards can shoot it. They have some size inside as well. They go 6'5" and 6'7", they don't start both of those guys. They are 270 or 300 pounds. Their guards like to shoot it and the like to attack the basket. They are playing with more confidence now and just getting a feel. They have had a tough time with coaching changes. It looks like they are starting to play pretty confident and play pretty well," said Loy.
The two Crawford County schools have been rivals for the last 50 years and Loy says nothing will change on Friday night. "That goes way back, even before I was playing. You have two comminutes that know each other very well and it has always been that way and it is great. It doesn't matter if one team is good and the other is bad, or we are both bad, or we are both good, it always seems to be good competitive basketball," he said.
Published 1/06/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Contenders Meet in the "N10"
Colonel Crawford and Upper Sandusky share the Northern 10 Athletic Conference lead, but Buckeye Central is just a game back.
Buckeye is at Crawford on Wednesday night in a key early season game in the "N10."
The Bucks
(5-3,4-1) have won three straight over Ridgedale (36-32), Carey (62-43) and
Bucyrus (67-43) last Wednesday. Coach Phil Loy says they are rounding into
shape. "I think in the last three games we are slowly getting back to where
we think we can be. We are playing a lot better and we are playing with
confidence and we are starting to shoot the ball a lot better. These last
three games have been confidence builders, but (Wednesday) night we play
Colonel Crawford at Colonel Crawford and it will be a tough environment. It
will be a tougher test for us, but we need to keep doing what we are doing,"
he said.
It has been nothing spectacular, Loy just says they have been
pretty good at executing their game plan. "We have to just take care of
ourselves and know what works for us and stick to the basics. That is what
has got us here in these last three games and work with your strengths.
(Wednesday) night we just have to do a really good job of defending.
Colonel Crawford is very good at executing their sets and stuff. We just
have to make sure we communicate and do a good job of execution at both ends
of the floor and we should be okay," he said.
Buckeye is at Colonel Crawford (7-1,5-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, on Wednesday night. Loy says this a typical Crawford team, a good one, that knows its strengths. "They start three guards that are really good perimeter shooters. It seems like every year they run their same stuff and they always have a guy that they can plug into those positions and they don't really lose a beat," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "This year is no different, like I said, they have three guys that are good shooters, but they have size inside. They have guys that understand their role and they just do a really good job of executing.:"
There is some intensity in this Route 602 rivalry. Loy says Wednesday night should be no different either school. "Coach Sheldon and I are really good friends. These are two communities that connect to each other that are really close. I think there will be a good crowd and their have been some good battles over the years. Since I have been coaching there have always been good battles between these teams and I expect nothing different (Wednesday) night," he said.
Published 12/30/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Starting to Turn the Corner
Buckeye Central got two conference wins last week and that is exactly what they needed to boost their confidence.
Now, they host Bucyrus in an "N10" game on Wednesday night in New Washington.
Last week, the Bucks (4-3,3-1) edged Ridgedale (36-32) and then outscored Carey (62-43) in league contests. Coach Phil Loy says they were different kinds of games, but they found a way to win each night. "Last Thursday against Ridgedale I thought we were playing better and playing better as a team, but we really struggled to score in that game. We started missing shots early and we couldn't catch any breaks and we couldn't make any shots. But, I like the way we played overall. I like the way we played defensively," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "On Saturday, we go down to Carey, which I think is always a tough place to play in that old facility. We have never really played that well there. They had played Upper Sandusky I thought really close. They got some good wins over there with a young ball club. They want an up tempo game. They want to press you and trap you. They are a team that shoots more threes than any team in the league. I really thought we did a good job overall. We shot a lot of high percentage shots in that game. We got to the line a lot in that game. I didn't necessarily like the way we handled the ball early in that game. Overall, I was very pleased with the outcome. I think we are making big strides and we are playing better as a team and we are gaining more confidence."
Bucyrus (0-7,0-4) is coming off an (85-33) drubbing at the hands of Upper Sandusky on Saturday. Loy says this is a young team, but one that is getting better. "We are going to get their best effort. Coach Rose does a really good job of getting his kids to play hard and understand the game, but they are inexperienced. If I look at my scouting report from last year, the top ten guys aren't even on there any more. It is a really young ball club, but they will play hard. They have a couple of kids that can shoot it from the perimeter and they have a little bit of size as well. It's a game where we are going to have to continue to make strides to get where we want to be. Continue to play good defense and hopefully we can continue to make some shots," he said.
Loy says they can't go into the game thinking it is going to be an easy win or they will be in for a dogfight. "That is true with any team like that. You don't want them to have any confidence that they can play with you. We hope that we can jump on them early and make some shots and try to open it up a little bit. They are a team that is going to continue to play hard. Last year, we didn't play very well when we went over to Bucyrus and we ended up losing that game. They continued to get more confidence as the game went on. We let them hang around and the next thing you know they bit us. Hopefully we have learned from things like that," said Loy.
Published 12/23/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Has Work to do
Buckeye Central is trying to break in some new players this year and right now there have been some growing pains in the process.
Last Saturday, the Bucks were drilled by "N10" co-leader Upper Sandusky (69-42) last Saturday. Coach Phil Loy says their play was not very good and they made a lot of mistakes on both ends of the floor. "We didn't play well. We didn't play well from start to finish. We talked about that afterwards. This is something we are working on. We have get better defensively, we have to be better at communicating, and better at executing our offense. We have a young team and I think we have had a good week of practice. Hopefully, things have improved," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "The other thing we have talked about is have to keep our turnovers down under 10 when we are playing a team like Upper Sandusky and we had just a lot of careless turnovers. So, we gave away a lot of possessions in that game. I think if we correct those things we are going to be a much better team."
After this week's games against Ridgedale on Thursday and Carey on Saturday the Bucks enter the holidays and Loy says that will allow them to concentrate on fixing some things. "It is tough when you are on break and the kids are not in their routine, but the good side is our whole focus will be on basketball. We are taking finals this week and we are right in the middle of it, so will see how (Thursday) goes. We started finals (Wednesday), we have finals (Thursday) and all day Friday. The kids are working hard at taking tests and hopefully that doesn't affect our play on Thursday," he said.
Ridgedale (2-2,0-2) comes to New Washington on Thursday night for an "N10" game. Loy says the Rockets can put a solid starting five on the court and they have had some problems with Ridgedale in the past. He says they will have to play well. "They play six or seven guys, but they have four guys that really never come out of the ball game unless they are in foul trouble. Those four, I think, are pretty solid players. They return four of their starters from last year and I remember when we went down to Ridgedale last year we were down nine in the first half. If you don't defend, if you don't box out, if you don't take care of the ball, they are a team that can get hot on you and the next thing you know it's a ballgame. We were tied at halftime and we could never pull away from them. Playing at home last year it was a little bit different. We didn't allow them to get any type of rhythm. I felt defensively we did a much better job and that is what we need to do (Thursday) night," said Loy.
Published 12/17/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Tough week For Buckeye Central
Buckeye Central is a developing basketball team, a good one, but a developing one, and there are going to be some bumps in the road.
There was one those last Saturday against New Riegel and now they face two tough road games this week in which they will need very good performances at Mansfield St. Peter's on Thursday and at Upper Sandusky, in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play, on Saturday.
Tied at halftime last week, things fell apart in the second half last week and they lost (54-31) to New Riegel, scoring only two points in the third quarter and only 10 in the second half. Coach Phil Loy says they have to learn from the loss. "You would like forget it ever happened, but it is something we have to set down and look at and make sure that doesn't happen again. So, we can't forget about it. We have to learn from the mistakes that we made. It seems like there were a bunch of them. It seems like when things started going wrong for us we just couldn't stop it," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "New Riegel is a really good team and once they got some momentum they took it and ran with it. This week we have just as tough a challenge. St Pete's and Upper Sandusky are two similar teams to New Riegel and maybe even better. So, we have a few days here to correct some mistakes an hopefully, be ready to play on Thursday."
The Bucks (2-1) are at St. Peter's (1-1) on Thursday. Loy says the Spartans are tough to guard, especially on the perimeter. "They are a tough guard, especially if they have a lead. They like to spread you out a little bit. Their guards are very confident with the ball. They handle the ball pretty well. They are young on the perimeter. They don't have that big, physical inside presence that they have had in the past. That is what we have seen up to this point. But, still they are just very dangerous and a tough match-up," he said.
It may be a non-conference game, but Loy knows this game with St. Peter's carries a lot of importance. "This is a quality team that could make a run in the tournament it is definitely one we could see down the line in tournament play. Games like this, the game with South Central, the game with St. Pete's, teams like that, are teams we are going to see in the tournament. What you do now, even though it is early in the season, could have an impact on how things go in the tournament draw," he said.
Upper Sandusky (3-0,1-0) was a (74-61) winner over Carey in their league opener on Saturday night. Loy says the Rams have all of the elements of a good team. "They have got some weapons. They have got some good size. They have some experienced players. They have really good shooters and smart players. We are going to go to their place and I think it is going to be a tough battle. A lot of people say they are they favorite in the league. I would like to say that we are up there, but I think we have a long, long way to go. For us to go on the road Thursday and Saturday it is a tough challenge for us this week," he said.
Published 12/08/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Ready to Play
Buckeye Central players are kind of tired of the preseason and they are eager to play someone else in a game that really matters.
In their case, it will be a visit to South Central to play the Trojans in a non-conference game on Saturday night. They beat the Trojans in last year's division four sectional final.
Coach Phil Loy says he likes what he has been seeing from his team and is looking forward to seeing what they can do against another team. "I think so far we have been having some good practices. We try to bring in some alumni occasionally to mix things up. A different look because the preseason can be kind of long and tiring, always banging against each other all of time. You kind of want to mix things up. The kids have been playing hard and have been playing with a lot of energy and enthusiasm every day and that's all we can ask," he said.
Loy doesn't want his kids to be stale, which he believes is a concern. He says Saturday night can't get here soon enough. "It just seems like even with this short preseason, and stuff starting early, it just seems like we are at a point that we want to get started. The kids just want to go out and actually play a real game. They are kind of tired of practicing here. So, you kind of mix things up in practice and make them competitive. Maybe practices aren't as long and you have to do things to keep their attention and their enthusiasm going and mix things up. The bottom line is kids want to play somebody different at this time of year," said Loy.
South Central, who plays Mansfield St. Peter's on Friday night, is the Firelands Conference favorite. Loy says with six players returning that saw a lot of time they are going to be an excellent test. "They were a really good team last year. A really, really good team last year," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We played them in the sectional finals at that game could have gone either way. They return a lot of good players. They lost some good ones like we did, but they return a lot of good ones and they have some experience. It is going to be a really good test for us early on, especially on the road."
Scoring should not be a problem for South Central and Loy says they can really stretch a defense. "They have really good guard play and they have some size inside. I feel like when they put their five guys on the floor you have to worry about all of them. It's not like we aren't going to guard this guy or help off of this guy. Right now, what we know is I think they are going to be a very dangerous team that can hurt you in different ways," he said.
Published 11/26/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Upset of Wynford Could Set up Playoff Berth for Buckeye
Buckeye Central is not going to win the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title this year, but they can still make the division seven playoffs and win this week over their arch rivals would be a big help.
Last week, they trailed (28-20) late in the third quarter, but they lost to second place Colonel Crawford (48-26) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game last Friday.
Bucks coach Jeff Niedermier says they gave great effort, but they just couldn't score enough points. "Up until the fourth quarter it was a one score game. We dropped a long pass that would have kept us in it. A couple of turnovers and things we had down in the red zone. Overall, we couldn't ask any more out of our guys. We played hard, but unfortunately we didn't get the win," said Niedermier.
On Friday night, the Bucks (5-3,3-3) play at home against first place Wynford (7-1,6-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, in an "N10" game. Niedermier says the Royals have great talent. "When you watch them on film they are a very good team. We have our work cut out for us again this week. We are going to have to play fundamental football against them and do the best we can," he said.
In many of their games Wynford has been a team that has had many more rushing yards than passing yards, but Niedermier says that is because they have not had to throw it much. "They do want to run the ball, but they haven't had to throw the ball against a lot of teams. When they have they have done very well. I feel like they do both well. It is more of a matter that they haven't had to throw the ball this year," he said.
Wynford, of course, carries a boat load of computer points and Niedermier says a win could give them a pretty good chance to play on week 11. "If we could get that win on Friday I feel it would solidify our spot in the playoffs. Then the next week we could get another win there hopefully. We have to take care of this week first and if we get it done we will be looking good for the post season," he said.
Published 10/20/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Faces Big One Against Crawford
Buckeye Central trails "N10" leader Wynford by two games and Colonel Crawford remains back by one as the Bucks lock horns with the Eagles Friday night in North Robinson.
A win is an absolute must for both teams in terms of the conference and very important for both when it comes to the playoffs. Buckeye is fifth in its division seven region and Crawford is third in its division six region.
After a tough loss to Carey (32-16) where they lost on basically the last play, Buckeye Central responded with a (48-19) win over Bucyrus last week. Coach Jeff Niedermier says that was much needed. "We needed to bounce back. It was a tough loss the week before against Carey. It was a game that our guys really tried hard in and thought we should have won, but things happened. We responded well in the week of practice and we came back and were able to get a win against Bucyrus," he said.
Colonel Crawford (6-1,4-1) has only one loss and that comes to Wynford (41-14) on week three of the season. Niedermier says the Eagles are really athletic beginning with quarterback Will Kirkpatrick. "They have some really good athletes over there. They have Kirkpatrick in their backfield. He is a dual threat. He can run the ball obviously. I think he is the top rusher in the "N10." He can pull up and throw the ball too," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "He is a dual threat back there. Defensively they are very stout up front. They are a tough defense, they are hard nosed. It is going to be a hard hitting game for us."
Normally you think of forcing the quarterback out of the pocket, but Niedermier says Kirkpatrick becomes more dangerous that way. "He is one of the quarterbacks that you don't want to flush out of the pocket. If you give him some running room out there he will pull it down and run it on you and he gains a lot of yards that way. He is a guy that you have to keep contained back in the pocket. You don't want to flush him out without any contain guys out there," he said.
Buckeye Central (5-2,2-2) has shown good balance to behind quarterback Grant Loy and running back Cody Roberts. Niedermier says the Eagles are tough to run against. "Their four down linemen up front are really good athletes and their middle linebacker is very good also. It is going to be a very good challenge and we are going to have to have some guys rise to the occasion and try and put it to them this week," said Niedermier.
Published 10/15/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Bucks ready for Bucyrus
Buckeye Central has lost two Northern 10 Athletic Conference football games, both in dramatic fashion, but they still have a positive outlook on the season.
Carey's Jonathan Rachter scored with just 16 ticks left last week and the Blue Devils upended Buckeye (32-26) in an "N10" game. Buckeye had to scored three Td's in the space of seven minutes to get back in the game, but coach Jeff Niedermier says they just couldn't pull it out. "We kind of got behind there going into half it was 8-0, which wasn't that bad, but they got the ball coming out and they put two quick scores on us. We were down 20-0. Our kids were finally able to put some scores on the board and tie it up. It kind of ended up being the last team with the ball there and unfortunately it wasn't us," said Niedermier.
Seneca East beat Buckeye (40-34) and overtime this year in their other conference loss.
Niedermier says there hasn't been any pouting this week in practice. He says the kids have come back ready to work. "They were upset after the game, you could tell. It was a tough game and not where you want to be at the end of it. They have been positive this week and they know we have to get back on track and start winning here to get our goals done. They have responded well and have had a good week of practice," he said.
Buckeye Central (4-2,2-2) is at home in New Washington for Bucyrus (1-5,0-4) in an "N10" game. Niedermier says the Redmen are starting to come around and they showed some things, especially in the first half of a (35-0) loss to Upper Sandusky last week. "Bucyrus is a good football team. We don't play a bad football team I feel. We have had a few problems that we are trying to get fixed here in practice and make sure we are sound on defense and able to stop them," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Offensively they have a really sound defense, so we are putting together a scheme we think will work for us and hopefully Friday night we will be able to get the job done."
Published 10/09/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Faces Another Challenge
Buckeye Central is in the thick of the race in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and they need to keep winning.
The Bucks destroyed Ridgedale (55-0) last week as Cody Roberts ran for than 200 yards on the night. A positive note, according to coach Jeff Niedermier, is they have continued to get better as this season has unfolded. "A couple of plays different and we could be unbeaten. Like I have said before that might have been a loss that we needed to really propel our guys to where we needed to go and improve. So, we have improved a lot each week since that one loss. I think we have a good package ready to go," he said.
Buckeye (4-1,2-1) trails Wynford by a game in the "N10" standings. Neidermier says they need to continue to get better if they are going to be there in the end. "It is the little nuances of the game that we try to get these guys. Little things, especially up front blocking," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Things that can help to make the play that much better that they recognize that help make our offense better. It is the little things that we see each week that we try to get corrected and help them. Hey if you do this a little bit different it can help the play go a lot further."
They are at Carey (1-4,0-3) on Friday night in a league game. The Blue Devils are not as good as they were last year, but Niedermier says they have some weapons. "They are a hard hitting football team. No doubt about it. They have some great athletes. They are going to come out and they are going to be ready to play. We have to be ready to play assignment football with our defense to stop their offense. On offense, we have to execute," said Niedermier.
Published 10/01/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye in "N10" Race; Must Keep Focus
Buckeye Central trails Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader Wynford by a game in the football standings as they prepare to host the Ridgedale Rockets on week five of the high school football season on Friday night.
In maybe their best performance of the year, the Bucks (3-1,1-1) held Upper Sandusky to only 190 yards of offense and two scores in a (31-14) road win last week.
Coach Jeff Niedermier says their defense was ready for a Ram team that had shown some explosiveness. He said they were really good tacklers last week and that was a positive change. "Our defense really showed up and played big time last Friday night. Guys were tackling well, they were wrapping up," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "They weren't getting yards after contact, which is what we like to see and that is something we have been working on that we hadn't necessarily done well in the three previous games before that. They really played well on Friday night."
Grant Loy threw for 199 yards and a score and the Bucks ran for three td's. Niedermier says he liked the balance they showed. "Our keys going into that game was to get into formations that were going to open up some plays for us. We were able to run the ball a little bit and throw the ball pretty well. Offensively we did very well also," he said.
Ridgedale (0-4,0-2) has found it difficult to find success on the football field again this season. They have only scored four times all year.
However, Niedermier says they aren't good enough to lose focus and still have success. He says they have to keep their noses to the grindstone. "They have some good players. They have struggled a little bit as far as wins and losses. It's a team that we can't take lightly. I was telling my guys we can't take any of these teams lightly and we have to go in and have the same focus we had as if we were up at Upper Sandusky again. Our kids can't lose any focus and we have to keep getting better every week," said Niedermier.
Published 9/22/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Back Doing Good Things
A week after losing to Seneca East in overtime, the Buckeye Central Bucks bounced back with a win last week over Ridgeway Ridgemont in a non-conference game.
Now it is time to get back to play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this week with a trip to Upper Sandusky to play the Rams on Friday night.
Buckeye (2-1,0-1) belted Ridgemont (54-6) last week and coach Jeff Niedermier says they responded to the loss to Seneca East in a positive way. "I thought our guys came out strong. We told them that this was a week that we need to fight back and get back in the grove again. We had a pretty decent week of practice. We played good football last Friday. We still have a lot of stuff that needs to be corrected from watching film, but I think we showed a little bit of growth and got back on the right track," said Niedermier.
Grant Loy threw three touchdown passes last week, but Niedermier says they were also able to run the ball and that is what they have to be able to do. "We were able to throw and run the ball despite of the weather. It showed the focus of our guys to get the job done and they played pretty well last Friday," he said.
Upper Sandusky (2-1,2-0) hammered Ridgedale (37-7) last week in conference play. Niedermier says the Rams are the biggest school in the league and they have some guys that can play, but he says so do they. "They are a good team. Division wise they are a lot bigger than us, they are three divisions up. They have a lot of bodies, so it is going to be a tough game for us," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "I think we have some stuff offensively that we can run against them. Defensively, we have watched enough film that we can find that football and stop it."
The Rams have shown the ability to break some big plays and Niedermier says they have to be good at containment. "We have been preaching already this week to our guys, the linebackers and the ends, that they have to play assignment football, they have to contain, they have to play their spot, they can't get off level with the other guys. When you create creases for these guys they take off and put up some points up on you," said Niedermier.
Published 9/16/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Still Working to get Better
Buckeye Central lost a tough one last week in overtime and now they need to continue to work to get better as they are getting ready to host Ridgeway Ridgemont in a non-conference game on Friday night in New Washington.
Last week, Buckeye put up more than 360 yards of offense. Grant Loy threw for over 220 yards and three touchdowns. However, they gave up almost 450 yards to Seneca East and the Tigers won (40-34) in overtime in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game. The difference a Brennan Martin's td run in overtime. Martin also scored with less than two minutes left in overtime to tie the game.
Coach Jeff Niedermier says they had some chances to win, but didn't take advantage. "It was a tight game. Kind of what I thought it would be. We had our chances and didn't always capitalize. At the end of the game it was all tied up and went to overtime. Our guys left it all on the field I felt we just didn't end up on the right side of the scoreboard," said Niedermier.
The coach thought his team executed better than they did in a first week win over (30-6) over Plymouth, but knows they still need to get a lot better. "A lot of things I thought we did better, but there is still a lot to improve on. Seneca East is a very good football team and it was a challenge for us and it showed us some things we can grow on and improve going into week three," he said.
With a loss in league play that means the Bucks probably can't afford any more in order to win the league title. Niedermier says they still have a lot to play for. "Absolutely and that's what we told our guys it is not even close to being over. It was a tough loss to take. It was definitely a game we felt we could have won, but we can't stop we have to keep getting ready for the next game," he said.
Ridgemont (0-2) has played two widely different games so far this year. They dominated Vanlue (43-12) on week one and lost to Mt. Gilead (48-12) on week two. Niedermier says Ridgemont has some players that can make big plays. "They are a good team. They run a 4-4 defense and it's a defense that we have already seen a couple of times already so our guys are familiar with what we have to block. They do blitz a lot which we haven't seen a lot yet this year, so we have to prepare for that in practice," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "Offensively, they like to run the ball, they are quick, and have some decent guys up front. It is going to be a good challenge for us."
Published 9/09/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Wants to Make Two in a Row
Buckeye Central put together a very nice performance on week one when they dominated Plymouth to the tune of (30-6) on the opening night of the season. Now they want a repeat.
They play at Seneca East (1-0) in the opening to the Northern 10 Athletic Conference season on Friday night.
The held Plymouth to just one score and 161 yards last week and coach Jeff Niedermier says they did a lot good things. "Our guys did really well verses Plymouth. We went in and got the job done. There is a lot we can take away from the film, a lot to learn from it, a lot to grow from and I think they did that this week," said Niedermier.
Running back Cody Roberts finished with 169 yards and three scores against Plymouth. Niedermier says they got some things done up front. "We were able to come out and our offensive line was able to open up holes and our trio of running backs were really able to pound the ball on them and get yards for us, which in turn opened up our passing game," he said.
Seneca East drilled South Central (55-28) in its first game, doing pretty much anything they wanted on offense. Niedermier says they have a nice combination of size and speed. "They are a good team," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "They have a lot of good skilled players and they are fairly big up front, so it is going to be a big challenge for us this week against them. We have to play assignment football defensively and make sure we stay at home and just make the right plays."
If they are going to compete with Wynford, Colonel Crawford and Carey for the "N10" title this is a game that the Bucks have to have and Niedermier knows it. "Every year we go into the season and our first goal is try to make a run for the league and for us that starts the week. If you want a shot in this league it is very competitive and you have to make every week count," he said.
Published 9/03/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Focus at Key For Buckeye
Buckeye Central will be the guest when Plymouth opens up its new football field on Friday night as the host the Bucks in non-conference play.
The Bucks are a veteran team this season that is led by Grant Loy at quarterback and includes a dozen more seniors on a division seven team.
Coach Jeff Niedermier says his kids, especially the seniors, are really ready to get this season started. "They are fired up and ready to go to get their season started. It's always a long camp and they are always ready for this first game," he said.
Putting up points probably won't be a problems for the Bucks and Niedermier thinks they can be pretty good on defense too as long has they don't get a lot of guys hurt. "I think they can. We are experienced, but our depth isn't what we would like it to be, especially defensively. So, as long as we stay healthy and our guys play fundamental football we should have no problem," he said.
Plymouth returns to the Buckeye schedule this year and this is a longtime rivalry featuring a number of close games. Niedermier says this one should be no different. "From what we have see Plymouth can play the game really well. They do a lot of things well. Just like in the past this is always a game that is tough, a hard hitting football game," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Two similar schools in my opinion. I think our kids always come out ready to play. It is always a hard hitting football game for us."
There will be some ceremony at Plymouth on Friday night with the opening of the new field. Niedermier says they need to remember what they are there for. "We told the kids there will be a lot of extra curriculars going on, but the end of the night we are there to play a football game. We told or guys that there will probably be a lot of extra things going on, but we have to go there and take care of business," he said.
Published 8/28/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Coming Along
Buckeye Central is one of the smallest schools in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, but don't count them out when it comes to competing for the football title.
Jeff Niedermier, the Bucks head coach, says his kids have shown the kind of improvement he is looking for. "We have had a lot of strides toward were we want to head. The offensive line is really coming together nicely. They are showing a lot of improvement over the last couple of weeks and so have our skilled guys. We have a pretty good core of skilled guys coming into this year and they have improved every day," he said.
This season the Bucks are going to be more experienced than they have the last two and that is a good thing, according to Niedermier. "We have a lot of experience all around on our football team. We only lost a few skilled guys from last year and only one offensive lineman. So, when we got back into camp this year it was really easy to get back into what we were doing last year," he said.
Four weeks of camp without playing another team in a game that counts can be a long time, but Niedermier thinks the scrimmages help in that respect. "I think the scrimmages do help out. The kids are always excited when we play another team. They are always wanting to run some play that we don't necessarily want to run at the time," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "When you are in scrimmages you want to make sure you are running your basic formations so that you have them down pat against other people. They are staying hungry and they are ready for the first week for sure, but they know we have to press through one more day of camp and another scrimmage."
Wynford is the defending "N10" champ and Niedermier says they are really the team to beat this year too. "I think Wynford is going to be tough again like they always are. I have heard a lot of good things out of the Crawford camp, so I think that is going to a good team. We have Upper, and they are a couple of divisions bigger than they rest of us, so you can't forget about them. And Carey and Bucyrus. So, there are a lot of tough teams to beat from our eyes. We just have to come to play every week," he said.
Buckeye Central opens the regular season with Plymouth in a non-conference game on August 28.
Published 8/20/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Making Progress
Buckeye Central is bringing back a football team that has some experience and that is going to help them compete again this season in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
Last season, the Buckeye won four of their first five games, but finished at .500 for the year (5-5) and in 5th (4-4) in the N10.
Coach Jeff Niedermier feels they have made some significant improvement during workouts already this summer. "We have progressed a lot over the summer I feel. We did a couple of seven on sevens there in July. The first couple of days of camp things are looking pretty good. It looks like we have taken several steps forward from last season," he said.
A big key for the Bucks is the play of three sport star Grant Loy, who will be the Bucks starting quarterback this year. "We have quite a few veterans coming back this year, one of which is Grant Loy coming back at our quarterback position. Grant has come a long way over the summer, improving from where he was at last season and everything is looking really good with him right now," he said.
In football everything starts up front and Niedermier had some concerns about the trenches, but he says those kids are really showing some improvement. "Something we had a concern with coming into the first couple of days of camp was our offensive line," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "We are a little undersized, but what we have seen so far with those positions is they have really come together. They are firing off the ball hard and getting after it. They have kind of put my nerves at ease so far with that position I think we are going to be okay."
Team chemistry is a big factor in high school football. Niedermier says players have to get along. "With the kids they see more of each other than they do the rest of their families at this time of year. They spend countless hours with each other during the day. They get that brotherhood bond. Sometimes there are some little fights we have to quash, but that happens anytime you get in that situation," he said.
Buckeye Central travels to Plymouth to kick off the season on August 28.
Published 8/05/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Gets to Wynford Early
Buckeye Central scored six times in the first inning and Austin Lutz made it stand up as the Bucks beat the Wynford Royals (8-5) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Wednesday.
Wynford had beaten Buckeye (6-0) on Monday and Bucks coach Chad Jensen says impressed by how they were able to bounce back, but he says that is not unexpected from this bunch. "One thing our kids have done all year is the next day is a new day and they definitely did that (Wednesday). Wynford got a good pitching performance on Monday against us. We hit the ball hard, but right at people. (Wednesday) we jumped out on them and got six runs in the bottom of the first and that really set the tone," he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Wednesday, "Wynford had some base runners and scored a little bit in the middle innings, but jumping on them early was really big for us. Our senior Austin Lutz pitched awfully well for us and we got a good game from him, so it was really nice for our kids to come back."
Jensen added that they stayed patient at the plate in that first inning and were able to come up with some big hits. "Their pitcher had a little bit of trouble throwing strikes and we had great at bats and went deep into counts and got some clutch hits We had a clutch single from Jaret Shook and we had a clutch single from Cody Roberts. We got some really clutch two out singles that got us runs. Then Austin Lutz threw six strong innings. We did what we had to do," he said.
Buckeye Central (9-13) will meet Mansfield St. Peter's (1-19) in a division four sectional semi-final on Saturday at Buckeye Central.
Jensen says he figured teams like Plymouth, Mohawk and Crestline would be seeded ahead of them, but he thought the process went pretty well for them, especially considering they will be at home. "We knew those three teams had similar records, a game or two above .500, and we were setting there at 8-11 and we knew we were going to be behind them and we were in a spot were we could host a game. That's important for us. We enjoy our home field advantage. That is kind of how it worked out. Then St. Pete's ended up having to play us. We are hoping to have a nice crowd. We enjoy the tournament atmosphere and we are hoping we have a nice day, " said Jensen.
Published 5/07/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Bucks Score Three in the 7th to beat Crawford
Cody Roberts RBI single punctuated a three run seventh inning and Buckeye Central rallied to beat Colonel Crawford (7-6) in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action on Wednesday.
Coach Chad Jensen says they were patient at the plate in the seventh and that was a big plus for them. "Our kids really did a great job in the seventh. You just had a feeling that we weren't out of it. It was 6-3 in the bottom of the sixth and we got a run in the sixth. Then in the seventh Jaret Shook got a nice leadoff single for us. They ended up walking three in a row. We were able to get a sac fly from Austin Lutz to tie it up. We got a big single from Cody Roberts to score the winning run. We were very patient at the plate and we did a lot of good things," he told Swankonsports.com after the win, "We have been on both sides of it. Last Thursday, we lost giving up three runs in the bottom of the seventh against Bucyrus. I'm glad we could be on good side (Wednesday) night."
Buckeye had 10 hits and Jensen says they hit the ball pretty well all night and they had some confidence entering that final inning. "We told our kids that in those clutch situations you have to treat it like any other at bat. We hit the ball hard all night, we just hit it right at people. We just said do what you have been doing. Know the strike zone, understand it, hit it where it's pitched and put it in play and we were able to do that," he said.
One of the big keys to the comeback, according to Jensen, was they understood the strike zone and made the Crawford pitchers throw strikes. "They were worn down. They threw a couple of guys that had thrown earlier in the week. It was a situation were they had to throw strikes, our kids were patient, they didn't miss by much, but our kids understood the strike zone. It was really well played on both sides. Crawford did a great job all game long and did some great things, we were just able to have last at bats and it really helped us this time," he said.
Grant Loy started and struck out eight for the Bucks. Tanner Zaebst got the win in relief.
The two teams play again Thursday, this time in North Robinson.
Published 4/30/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Pounds Carey
Jacob Shade threw a two hitter and Buckeye Central collected 16 hits on their way to a (13-2) win over Carey in Northern 10 Athletic Conference baseball action on Wednesday.
Grant Loy had two hits, one of them a double, four RBI for the Bucks. Shade and Austin Lutz both had three hits in the win. Coach Chad Jensen said they did a great job with the bats against Carey. "We are really happy with how we swung the bats (Wednesday). We hadn't hit the ball. We are very hot and cold, we are very up and down. (Tuesday) night we got beat. We hit the ball, but we hit it right at people. Crestline made a lot of good plays against us," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night after the win, "(Wednesday) I thought we swung the bats well. We had 16 hits and the shots that we had that were caught the other night fell in (Wednesday). That is kind of how baseball goes and it went in our favor (Wednesday)."
Wednesday night's game was a big contrast to Tuesday night when the Bucks dropped an N10 game to Crestline (15-5). Jensen says the kids had to understand that it is quality at bats they are seeking because if the you do that the hits will come. "That is hard for 16, 17-year-old kids because they want to get a hit every time. We try to tell them it is quality at bats that we are looking at. If they hit the ball hard and go 0-3, but have quality at bats that is the kind of stuff we are looking for. They will eventually fall in. (Wednesday) was one of those things. We have had kids hit the ball hard and made outs and (Wednesday) we got a few bloopers in. I have been doing this for a long time and it really evens out," said Jensen.
With four N10 games this week, Jensen says they needed to get a quality start from Shade and that is exactly what he provided. "We got a great pitching performance (Wednesday) from our sophomore Jacob Shade. He pitched so well. He was able to pitch five innings and he gave up two unearned runs. He allowed only two hits in five innings. We have four league games in a row here. We really needed to extend our arms and he was able to do that for us. He has really pitched well for us all season. We are really excited about him," he said.
Buckeye Central (5-10,4-6) plays Bucyrus (2-8,2-5) on Thursday. The Redmen upset Upper Sandusky (9-5) on Wednesday.
Published 4/23/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Becoming Better
Buckeye Central has won two of its three games so far this week and coach Chad Jensen believes they are headed in the right direction.
The Bucks (4-5,3-4) play at Ridgedale (2-3,2-3) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday. They beat the Rockets (7-5) at their place on Wednesday.
Coach Jensen says he has seen a lot of good signs this week. "We are definitely getting better there is no question about it. Saturday we didn't play really well, so we challenged our kids to play at a higher level, to play at a higher intensity, a higher sense of urgency. Monday we played Upper Sandusky, and got beat 5-1, but we played a lot better and hit the baseball really well. They are a good team, so I thought we were starting to play better. Tuesday we played a solid Crestline team and got by them after we were down. Then beat Ridgeale on Wednesday. Their number one pitcher Bo Britton is a very solid kid and we were able to get them after being down. So, we are getting better each day. Certainly we are not quite where we need to be yet, but we are getting there," said Jensen.
Jensen says when you are not batting or in the field you still have to be paying attention, and he says that is something they are learning. "You need to be in the zone during play. We talk about we can't be focused for two and half hours straight, but what you can do when the pitch is delivered you can be in the zone, be focused on the task, and understanding the situation," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "When we are batting making sure we are all up and paying attention to the game and focused on our teammates and watching the pitcher and watching his pickoff move and any advantage we can get when we get a chance to run the bases. Sometimes with a young team we lack that. They don't pay attention, they don't observe. Not that they are doing anything wrong. We need to be more observant and that's what we talked about."
Baseball is kind of a thinking man's game. Jensen says this is a team that has to be sound in its fundamentals in order to be successful. "You have to be a good athlete to be able to hit a round object with a round cylinder, but you certainly can have skills that you can develop though repetition. We talk with are kids all of the time about fundamentals and lots of reps. We take a ton of ground balls and tons of fly balls and stuff like that. We have to be fundamentally sound. We are starting to hit better, but we have to be sound defensively. We have to be consistent. Then when you throw in a couple of athletes that helps too," he said.
Published 4/17/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central a Work in Progress
Buckeye Central has some younger players and some veterans in new positions this spring and their success this season is going to be predicated on how well those kids adapt.
Coach Chad Jensen says at least early in the season it is going to be a learning experience for the Bucks. "It is all about improvement. We have some fresh faces and some veteran guys playing different roles. It really has been guys getting used to playing different positions and different roles early on, which has been a little bit of a struggle. We are starting to come together. We had a really nice scrimmage (Tuesday) and I think kids are starting to figure out what their role is going to be and learning how to play at the varsity level. Some of these kids haven't done that and we saw a little bit of that (Tuesday)," said Jensen.
Actually Jensen says they are still in the process of evaluating where everybody fits into their program this year. "Some other kids are not sure what their roles are. It is important in this preseason to get an idea. We have some kids that are not sure about. Can they play varsity? Would it help them to play more JV? We want assess what would help us win more as well. It is more than just kids embracing their roles, which they need to once we establish that. A key is figuring out what some of these roles will be for these kids," he said.
Of course, this is the first year for the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and they will crown their first baseball champion in May. Jensen calls Upper Sandusky the early season favorite in the N10. "I don't think there is any question that the front runner for the league is Upper Sandusky. They have two really good pitchers in Cody Gabriel and Carson Mittermeier. Those two guys are top notch pitchers and they just have a plethora of athletes. They have a lot of kids to choose from. To me they are definitely the front runner," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "Seneca East will be solid. They lost a lot of kids, but their JV's were really solid last year. Other than that it is really hard to tell. Wynford lost a lot of kids. I really think it is going to be up fro grabs. I think a lot teams are going to be looking for their identity and looking at where they stand. For us we have to get good pitching and continue to get better hitting and we will see what happens."
Buckeye opens the season on Saturday by traveling to Fremont St. Joe for a doubleheader. Their first N10 games are April 1 and 2 against Seneca East.
Published 3/25/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Knows What it Takes
Friday night, Buckeye Central will be playing in its second straight division four district final and they are hoping for the same result as last year.
Last season, they beat Sandusky St. Mary's to advance to the regional. Friday night they meet Plymouth for the district title.
They beat St. Mary's (70-54) Tuesday night in a semi-final game. It was a solid effort and coach Phil Loy says they have been expecting that in recent weeks. "You definitely want to be playing you best basketball right now and I think that is something we are doing. The kids pretty excited about it. They seem to be playing relaxed, with a lot of energy and a lot of confidence. We are finally healthy, which we weren't in the middle of the season and I think that has a lot to do with it too. This is the time of year, if you are going to play your best basketball, it better be now," he said.
Plymouth (24-1), #1 in the final Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, edged Mansfield St. Peter's (48-41) on Tuesday. Loy says district player of the year Tyrell Edmiston is a difference maker. "He is the one that makes that team roll. He is so good and you have to pay so much attention to him. If he is not in the game like he wasn't the other night, he is a game changer and it is a different ball game. You watch that game and St. Pete's is a lot more confident, and they should be, when he is out of the game. He just alters so many shots. If he is not getting the block or getting the rebound, he is changing your shot to where scoring isn't as easy as it was," said Loy.
Edmiston blocked five shots in the first quarter against St. Peter's. Loy says he makes you really execute in order to get good shots. "The shots that you have got throughout the year, that you would take, you may reconsider. If you are looking to get a shot down low and post somebody up, you may reconsider how you do things against Plymouth just because with him there," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "When you are at a standstill on the block and you are going to go up for a shot he is so good at timing things up. He has such a great vertical and long arms it is tough to shoot over him. We just have to make sure we move the basketball, get good ball movement, and hopefully we can get some good looks that way."
Austin Wrum and Grant Loy both scored 21 points in Tuesday night's win over St. Mary's. They are both tremendous scorers, but coach Loy says they need to get scoring from other sources. "We need to get scoring consistently out of Ollis and Heydinger and even Cole Stacklin. If those guys can give us five to 10 points like they have on various nights that just takes the load off Grant Loy and Austin Wurm. I'm sure most teams are putting a lot of focus on those two. That kind of leaves the other three on the floor open and we want them to be confident and take good shots. We don't want them to hesitate on anything because they are going to get good looks. If they can get some scoring for us that is a huge bonus," said Loy.
There is always going to be some trepidation in a district final, but Loy believes the success they had last year will help them Friday night. "All five of our starters played a huge role in our success last year. They know what it is like because they have been in this game before. They know what it is like, the whole environment, the whole atmosphere. They want to get back to where we were last year and take it one step further. They know Friday night is a huge, huge obstacle. We are going to have to play our best basketball, but the experience that we have from last year can go a long way," he said.
Published 3/13/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Eliminates St. Mary's
Austin Wurm and Grant Loy scored 21 points a piece and Buckeye Central advanced to the division four district final for the second year in a row with a (70-54) win over Sandusky St. Mary's on Tuesday night at Willard High School.
They play Firelands Conference champ Plymouth for the district title on Friday night.
Loy had 11 and Wurm five as the Bucks (17-8) took an eight point lead (19-11) after the first quarter. Coach Phil Loy thought they were able to get their leading scorers the ball in some good spots. "That was huge. I thought that Austin Wurm and Grant Loy did a great job of getting some shots. We ran a we plays that got them some good looks and they finished. They can create such a match-up problem and they can score inside and out. I thought they did a nice job of jump starting us," he told Swankonsports.com after the game, "I thought all of our guys played extremely well and played with a lot of confidence. It was a little struggle there for a couple of minutes, but once we got going we felt pretty comfortable and built ourselves a nice lead."
Buckeye never trailed in the game. St. Mary's (21-4) senior guard Melvin Jackson had a game high 23 points and he hit a triple that tied the score (6-6) with 3:14 left in the first half. St. Mary's coach Lyle Falknor says they had problems handling Buckeye's physicality. "Their strength and physical size hurt us. We just didn't handle that at all. I don't know how many shots we missed in a row at the beginning of the game, but it was simply because we got bumped and couldn't handle it. That's district basketball," he said.
Loy says they like to play physical defense and they did a good job of making the Panthers take tough shots. "I didn't know if we would be able to or not. We are a team that likes to play that way and I think our defense did a nice job on them," he said.
Buckeye Central led by 20 twice in the fourth quarter and they got a nice game from post player Seth Ollis, who finished with 12 points. "Seth Ollis played a nice game. If we can get some good scoring, some good rebounding, some good defense out of Cole Stacklin and Seth Ollis and if we can get Scott Heydinger to make some shots and just distributing the ball. I thought they all did a great job (Tuesday) night. We are pretty good when that all happens," said Loy.
Plymouth beat Buckeye Central (47-44) on the opening night of the season. Loy says he hopes they can be competitive on Friday night. "I hope its a good game, they are just very strong. They are playing with a lot of confidence right now. They are very well coached. It should be a good match-up," he said.
Published 3/10/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Defense the key For Buckeye Central
For the second straight year Buckeye Central faces Sandusky St. Mary's in the division four district tournament, this time in the semi-finals Tuesday night at Willard High School.
The Bucks (16-8) edged South Central (53-46) in a sectional final last Friday night. Grant Loy scored 17 points and Austin Wurm added 14 for the Bucks and coach Phil Loy says they made the key plays at the end of the game. "I thought we did a pretty solid job of finishing that game, just making some good decisions and coming up with some good plays. Austin Wurm hit the big three late. We got a turnover late that was converted into a layup. We made six of seven free throws down the stretch, actually the one we missed was with three seconds left when the game was already out of hand. We did a really good job of finishing that game, so I am really proud of them," said Loy.
Many times in district level tournament games it comes down to free throw shooting and Loy says you just have to believe you are going to make them. "You have to have a lot of confidence and step to the line and imagine yourself making that shot and having a lot of confidence in doing that and good things will happen. Two of the guys that shot free throws are 60 percent free throw shooters, but down the stretch they were seniors. They were just determined to win an had a lot of confidence and made them when they counted," he said.
Sandusky St. Mary's (21-3) hammered Mansfield Christian (71-49) in their sectional final. Loy says the Panthers are very explosive. "They do like to get up and down the floor and so did South Central. Those two teams were similar in the fact that they just want to get the rebound and go. Sandusky St. Mary's does a great job in doing that," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "Melvin Jackson, one of their guards, is very athletic, a very quick guard. He gets out, they get him the ball and he comes with a full head of steam, makes some good decisions and finishes pretty well. That will be a big test for us to make sure we get back defensively."
They did a very good job of slowing down South Central and Colonel Crawford in a (44-42) loss a couple of weeks ago. Loy says they must make St. Mary's take tough shots. "We don't have a problem playing fast we just want to make sure that if it isn't a great shot we just want to be patient. We have done a really good job of, and we have really been working hard on our defensive transition, in making sure we always have guys back and slowing them down and making them shoot tough, contested shots. Tuesday night we are going to have to make sure we do that as well," said Loy.
The Bucks won (67-60) last year and the Panthers edged Buckeye (63-62) three years ago. Loy says this has developed into kind of a rivalry. "There was a lot on the line last year in that district final game at Willard. That game came down to the wire and I expect this game to be the same. I think there is going to be a great crowd from both communities. It's going to be a great atmosphere and it's going to be a lot of fun," he said.
Published 3/10/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Has to Slow Down South Central
In one of the better sectional final match-ups in the North Central Ohio area Buckeye Central faces South Central in division four on Friday night at Norwalk High School.
Buckeye (15-8) advanced with a (61-29) win at the expense of Danbury Lakeside on Wednesday night. Coach Phil Loy thought they got it going after a bit of a slow start. "I thought our guys did a good job, especially in the second and third quarters where we outscored them 34-3. I think we settled down, in the first quarter we might have been a little hyped up or a little unfocused, I'm not sure what it was, but it was kind of a tight ballgame there for the first four minutes," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "They made some shots on us, but I didn't think we did a good job executing our offense. Once we got things settled down after about the first four minutes I thought we played very well. It gave a us a chance to play the whole bench in the fourth quarter."
South Central (18-5) drilled Lucas (75-43) on Wednesday night. Loy says the Trojans are a team that expects to be successful. "I expect this to be a really good game, South Central is a very good ball club. Right now, it seems like they playing with a lot of confidence. I watched them again (Wednesday) night before us. The seem to play together well, so it should be a really good match-up," he said.
The Trojans have shown some "spurtability" and Loy says in order to contain them they must handle the basketball, be patient, and get good shots. "We have to make sure we take care of the basketball. When they press us we just have to make sure we make good decisions. In the half court we need to take advantage of certain areas and make sure we can get some good looks inside. We want to get up the floor a little bit too, but if it's not there we want to be patient and make them have to play defense on us. They want to get out and get in the passing lanes and create turnovers and get it and go. So, we have to make sure we don't turn the ball over and we are patient in the half court to get the shot we want and then make sure we get back on defense. What we can't do is give them easy shots in transition. A steal and an easy layup or a turnover in the press. I guess the big thing is take care of the basketball and make sure we out rebound them," said Loy.
Buckeye Central went to the regionals last season and players like Austin Wurm, Grant Loy and Scott Heydinger were major contributors. Loy hopes their tournament experience is a factor Friday night. "I would like to think our tournament experience has its advantages with us being there and being in the districts the last several years these kids know what it takes. I know our kids feel this is a game that we should be able to get if we play well, but we also respect South Central tremendously and we know they are a very good ball club. I think it is a game where we are going to have trouble matching up with them a little bit, but on the flip side they are going to have trouble matching up with us, so it should be a very interesting game," said Loy.
Published 3/06/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Ready for the Tournament
Buckeye Central has been playing some pretty good basketball lately and they feel they are prepared for the post season tournament, which begins this week.
The Bucks perhaps didn't play quite as well as maybe they have the last few weeks, but they were business-like for the most part in a (52-39) win over Mohawk in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play on Friday. Coach Phil Loy says they were able to overcome some obstacles. "Mohawk is a team that is playing a lot better right now, they are playing with some confidence and they have some good athletes. They are looking to attack the basket a lot more. It seemed like they had picked up their intensity on defense prior to playing us on Friday night. It was senior night for us and we started four seniors, so it changed our lineup a little bit. A lot of times on senior night it is tough to stay focused," he told Swankonsports.com, "Even though we got to a quick lead it didn't seem like we were fully focused like we needed to be. We say that and we were up 41-17 late in the third. It wasn't exactly the fourth quarter I would have liked to have. They outscored us 19-7, but we subbed some and I think we let our guard down a little bit."
Buckeye Central advanced to the regional tournament last season and has enjoyed a lot of tournament success under Loy. He says their program is based on defense. "That is something we hang out hat on we want to make sure defensively we do a solid job. We want to create some turnovers and we want our defense to create some offense. We really want to get after it defensively and I think you have to be if you want to have some success in the tournament," he said.
Buckeye Central (14-8) will play Danbury Lakeside (3-19) in a division four sectional semi-final on Wednesday night at Norwalk High School. If they win they will play South Central (17-5) or Lucas (4-16) in the next round on Friday.
Loy says when it comes to placement on the bracket they wanted to stay away from Plymouth (21-1), the Firelands Conference champion. "It was kind of funny because I think the first five teams chose to play and not take any of the byes. Plymouth typically does that, Sandusky St. Mary's typically does that. South Central being in the conference with Plymouth chose to go away from Plymouth, so they chose to go down. That was our thinking the whole time. We felt the toughest team in the tournament was going to be Plymouth and if we were fortunate enough to get that far in the tournament that we wanted to make that a district final game. So, we wanted to stay away from that bracket as well. I was kind of hoping South Central would go up in that bracket at Ashland, but I was pretty sure they wouldn't. We decided we were going to stay away from Plymouth," said Loy.
When accessing Danbury, Loy says they are a lot like Mohawk, which is good for them. "I see a lot of Mohawk, which is good, it was like Mohawk was good preparation for us. They are real similar with not real strong post play, but some big kids that work hard. They are not a great perimeter shooting team, but they have a couple of kids that can shoot it a little bit. Maybe not as good as we have seen in the N10 or anywhere in our schedule. They have some athletic kids and that always makes teams dangerous. We are going to prepare for them very similar to what we did Mohawk. They are a team that will play you man, a team that will play you some zone, they will try to pick you up full court man and play some zone presses," said Loy.
Published 3/02/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Building for Tournament
Buckeye Central does not have the win-loss record they have had over the last several years due to injuries and some other factors, but the Bucks are team right now that nobody wants to play.
They host Mohawk (2-18,2-14) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night. Then they are scheduled to face Danbury-Lakeside in a first round division four tournament game next Wednesday in Norwalk.
Last week, they took N10 champ Colonel Crawford to the wire before losing (44-42) and then they broke Wynford's five game losing streak (52-31) last Friday. Coach Phil Loy says they have their guys back in place and they are operating on all cylinders. "I think the kids are feeling pretty confident right now. We are healthy and I think we are jelling at the right time. When we were missing guys we were kind of shuffling guys around and we were just kind of out of sink. In the long run it kind of helped us out because it got more kids involved and made our bench deeper and got kids playing other positions a little bit, so we are a little more versatile. In our last couple of games I felt we played very well," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "Going to Colonel Crawford and playing in that environment against one of the best teams in the area and we had them, we should have won that game, but we didn't finish it as well as we would like. I thought defensively against Wynford, who had been playing really well and scoring a lot of points, I thought we did a good job of holding them down. I really like where we are at right now and hopefully it can continue."
Mohawk lost to Fremont St. Joe (63-45) Monday night, breaking a modest two game winning streak. However, Loy says he thinks the Warriors are a dangerous team. "A big reason for that is their point guard is back. He had missed seven games and I really think he makes them go. When you lose your best player, and he happens to be your point guard, I think you really struggle. He is back and is averaging double figures in points and he makes them better. They lost their first 17 games, but now I think they have a little bit of life with him coming back. They play three games this week. They play Monday, Tuesday, Friday, so we could be facing a basketball team playing pretty well." he said.
Buckeye Central advanced all of the way to the regional tournament last year and they have some guys back from that team. Loy thinks that experience will help them this year. "I think the tournament experience we got last year goes a long way. When you play that much longer in the post season you had great environments to play in and we had some tough battles with some teams. I think that experience will pay off. I think we will be better this year because of that. We didn't take the bye this year and we have an extra game there and i think that give us even a little more experience. That is not something we normally do. Usually over the past several years we have always had a bye. This year we are playing that first game. Hopefully we can get rid of some jitters there and that will pay off as well," said Loy.
Published 2/24/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Even in Losses, Buckeye Getting better
Buckeye Central has probably played unbeaten Colonel Crawford tougher than anyone in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
Crawford clinched an outright title on Monday night when they beat Buckeye Central (44-42) in a hotly contested game. Todd Entemann hit a big three late and scored 21 points for the Eagles. Austin Wurm had 14 for the Bucks.
Bucks coach Phil Loy says his kids were really excited to play Crawford, one of their biggest rivals, and he says they played very well until the very end. "I am really proud of the kids and the way they played (Monday) night. That was a hostile environment. It was a packed house. It was extremely hot with the pool being in there. With the pool being in the school the locker rooms are extremely hot, the gym is extremely hot and then you pack in the people that they had it made it worse. It was a very good tournament atmosphere. Our kids played well and they were excited to pay in it," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "They were prepared. We knew it would be a game of runs. We got down and we fought back and it was back and forth. We got up seven late in the fourth and we just didn't finish the game off the way we would like to. So, I know the kids are kind of sick to their stomach right now just knowing that things didn't go like we were expecting down the stretch. They have to be really proud of their performance and I like our chances from here on out."
They were able to hold the Eagles to only 35 percent from the field. Loy says they were able to make them take tough shots. "I thought it was a great game defensively for both teams. For us to be able to hold them down in scoring like that in both games, both times we played them. I am really proud of what our kids did defensively in limiting their shots and just making everything tough for them," he said.
Buckeye (12-8,10-6) lost Wynford (73-66) last Thursday and they play the Royals again this Friday this time at home. Wynford (11-8,10-6) beat Upper Sandusky (67-59) on Monday night. Loy says the Royals are red hot. "They are playing extremely well. I think they have won five in a row. Their last two wins have been pretty impressive. They shot the ball extremely well the first time we played them. It seemed like they didn't miss a shot. Hunter Miller did not miss a shot. He went five for five from behind the arch, he made every free throw, he made every two. They shot about 70 percent from three against us. (Monday) night they did the same thing. They are playing really well. Upper got up on them early and had a good lead in the first half and then Wynford comes storming back, so they are playing with a lot of confidence. I like it that we are home, they have been shooting it very well at their place. We just have to make sure we can get out on shooters and hope they don't shoot as well as the first time we played them," said Loy.
Published 2/18/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Must contain Fast Break
Buckeye Central is going to have to continue to use defense in order to win games. They are were able to do that last week against Bucyrus and hope to do the same against Wynford and Colonel Crawford this week.
Grant Loy didn't play on Saturday night against the Bucyrus due to injury, but they held the Redmen to only 31 points in the (45-31) win. Bucyrus shot only 22 percent. Coach Phil Loy says it was their defense that turned the trick. "It was a good win for us, especially with us having injuries. I though they did a good job the night before against Upper Sandusky. They scored 62 points and I am thinking right now we can't score 62 points, so we are going to have to do a really good job defensively and I felt we did that. The only downside to that game was we had a lot of careless turnovers in that game. For us to have a lot of careless turnovers and for them to score only 31 points is a credit to our defense," said Loy.
With all the injuries they have had this season, Loy says that defense has been the biggest key for them all year. "Defense is about working hard and about communication. That is what our kids have been doing. We have been pretty solid defensively all year long," he said.
Buckeye Central (12-6,10-4) plays at Wynford (9-8,8-6) in an N10 game on Thursday night. Loy says he expect to Royals to try and pick up the pace of the game. "As a team they are probably one of the best perimeter shooters in the league. They have three guys that shoot it very, very well, around 40 percent or above. They do like to get up and down the floor. They do try to make their defense create some offense. They want to pick you up full court a lot of times. They want to trap you and switch defenses a lot. They want to pick you up at half court and trap out of that. If they force a turnover they push the ball up the court hard. They just shoot it quick and we have to know where there shooters are at all times," said Loy.
The Bucks will be at Colonel Crawford (19-0,15-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, on Saturday night for a league game. One that could give the Eagles the outright title. Loy says again transition defense will be big for them. "It is tough to slow them down because I think Dylan Gulley is probably one of the best point guards in the area. He is so quick, he makes great decisions, and handles the ball so well. He can get to the basket so well and he is also a very good perimeter shooter. They do push the ball up the floor hard and they have perimeter guys that can shoot it," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "I think our preparation with playing on Thursday against Wynford will help us will somewhat prepare us because its not like it is two totally different teams. It is teams that are very perimeter oriented. Both nights we are going to have to make sure we get back. Our defensive transition has to be good in slowing both teams down."
Published 2/11/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Two Big Ones for Buckeye This Weekend
Buckeye Central is locked in a four way battle with Upper Sandusky, Carey, and Bucyrus for second place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and they play Carey on Friday and Bucyrus on Saturday.
Colonel Crawford leads the conference standings by three games with five left to play. They can clinch no less than a share of the title this weekend with wins over Ridgedale and Crestline, two second division teams.
Buckeye kept itself in position with a (51-37) win over Ridgedale last Saturday behind 21 points from Austin Wurm. Coach Phil Loy says it was a game that he was a little nervous about before the tip-off. "It was a game I was afraid of going in with us not being healthy and not playing two starters, we struggled at their place the first time played them, they shoot the ball extremely well inside of the arch, they shoot the ball very well from 10-15 feet. Their guards do a very good job and they have two big men that are third and fourth in the league in rebounding. Without us having our point guard Scott Heydinger and Grant Loy I was definitely concerned going in, but our kids stepped up and it turned out good," said Loy.
They have enjoyed a excellent year so far, but Loy says the injuries are really starting to pile up and it has been a very big concern, more so than in any year he can remember. "For some reason this year has been our worst year for injuries. It is down to the point to where I don't want to do too much in practice. At this time of year you do shorten practices up. We are lucky to go and hour and a half because you are trying to save guys legs and everything. (Tuesday) out of our 17 guys that we have for JV/varsity 10 of them practiced. Of my starters, I think I had one starter in there because we have had little nagging injuries with everybody else. I think we are getting through it. Will we be 100 percent? No, but I am hoping we have everybody for this weekend," he said.
The Bucks (11-5,9-3) plays at Carey (13-3,10-3) in an N10 game on Friday night. Buckeye won the first meeting (56-53) at their place. Loy says the Blue Devils are just very explosive. "Carey is a very dangerous team. In my book, and I think in a lot of other coach's minds, Carey was the favorite this year in the league because they were very good last year and they returned three of probably the top seven players in the league. All three of them are just very athletic, great scorers, and just great basketball players. We got them the last time. Scott Heydinger did not play because he just suffered an ankle injury prior to the game. I think we built an 11 point lead on them going into the fourth quarter, but they are so dangerous that they got it right back and had a chance to tie it at the buzzer," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We were fortunate to get out of that with a win. Now we are going on the road and playing there. We expect their best. They play well at home. Hopefully we are healthy, but either way I expect it to be a game that comes down the wire."
Buckeye Central lost and overtime game to Bucyrus (48-46) on December 30.
Published 2/05/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Must Continue to Move Forward
Buckeye Central has worked its way into a solid position in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, a share of second place, and for a good seed in the upcoming division four tournament.
Now, they have to continue that process as they play a different kind of double weekend in the league with Ridgedale on Saturday and Wynford on Monday in conference games.
Last Saturday, the Bucks picked up a big win when they downed Upper Sandusky (45-42) in conference action. Coach Phil Loy says it is the defense they played that proved to be the difference. "I think we are headed in the right direction. Saturday night was a big game for us because we went deeper into our bench and kids had to step up and play. We have been stressing about how we have to get a little better defensively. I think last week in practice and in the games on Friday and Saturday I think we showed that pretty good and hopefully we can continue that as the season winds down," he said.
This Saturday, Buckeye (10-5,8-3) plays at home against Ridgedale (6-9,4-8) in N10 action. The Bucks won (61-52) in the first time through the double round robin, but Loy says it was far from easy. "Ridgedale is not a team that is very deep, they play six guys, and primarily five, but all five of those guys are pretty good players. It's a good mix of some inside players with some strength and size and some good guard lay that doesn't turn it cover a great deal and they shoot it pretty well. We went down there the first time and playing at their place they built a seven point lead on us after the first quarter and it was all we could do to get it back to tied at halftime. We only beat them by nine in the game and even then within five in the last minute or two," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "They were shooting it so well and they area streaky team. They don't shoot it great from the perimeter. from behind the arch, but they are a good three point shooting team in getting some penetration and some layups of just hitting that mid range jumper that you don't see a lot of teams get anymore, but they are pretty solid with that. They are a team that we have to make sure we are focused when they come in here on Saturday."
Wynford (6-8,5-6) plays host to the rival Bucks on Monday night. Loy says their perimeter shooting makes them dangerous. "It is a good rivalry that we have had for many years. Wynford is not having as good a year as they have wanted too either, they are right around .500, but I think they are getting better. What makes them dangerous is they are a good three point shooting team. They have three guys that are probably in the top 12 in the league in shooting threes, and they are dangerous with that. They want to pick you up full court and press and trap and trap in the half court and not let you get into your offense. They like to get out and go and they can be very dangerous and we have to make sure we are ready to go in that one as well," said Loy.
Published 1/30/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Improvement the Key For Buckeye
Buckeye Central has a doubleheader of Northern 10 Athletic Conference games this weekend with Crestline on Friday and Upper Sandusky on Saturday.
Coach Phil Loy says they have been working on their defense and he felt they did a good job last Saturday night in defending Seneca East in a (71-41) win over the Tigers in N10 play. "I thought we did a great job of getting off to a quick start. We were really focusing all week last week and again this week on of just getting better defensively. I think there are areas where we aren't as strong as I felt like we should be at this point. So, we have just spent a lot of time on that and I think showed on Saturday against Seneca East and hopefully it will show again this week," he said.
Offensively Loy says they are making a lot of progress in understanding what they are supposed to be doing, but he says there still some things that are holding them back on defense. "I think we are doing a better job right now of understanding what our roles are. I think we kind of had some problems with that early on. I think at the defensive end is where we need to get better. It is the small things. We need to be a better rebounding team. We need to have better weak side help, better gap help on the drive and close out better. So, those are the little things that if we can correct all of that and make it tough for teams to score, that is the big focus right there. At the offensive end it is just understanding their roles making better decisions and getting good shots and stuff. I think that is coming along," said Loy.
Buckeye Central (8-5,6-3) plays host to Crestline (1-11,1-8) on Friday night in an N10 game. They beat the Bulldogs (72-21) in their first meeting. Loy says their goal is to improve their play. "They have been playing some teams pretty good lately. They lost a close one with Mansfield Christian and Mansfield Christian is a pretty good team that lost an close game to Plymouth. Crestline is right there down the stretch and had a chance to cut it to four, six there late. They lost a close one to Bucyrus and I thought that was a good sign of them getting better. The first time we played them we played extremely well and beat them pretty good. I want our kids to focus on us getting better," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "We can't focus on that fact that the first time we played them we beat them pretty bad. We need to focus on let's get better. They can be a dangerous team. They have one of the better post players in the league in Nate Coffman. He is averaging 16.5 points a game and 11 rebounds. He is a horse inside and we have to make sure we do a good job of containing him and yet they have some guards that I think are playing better."
Buckeye travels to second place Upper Sandusky (9-2,8-1) on Saturday night. Loy says at this point in the season they have to be continually improving. "Hopefully we have the right focus because at this point you don't want to take a step back. You have to make sure you are moving forward if you want to contend for the league and get yourself ready for tournament you can't let yourself have any setbacks. That is our big focus to make sure we get better on Friday night," he said.
Published 1/23/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Meets Ontario
Buckeye Central is one the better small schools basketball teams again this year they are stepping up this week to play an old rival, the Ontario Warriors, now of the Northern Ohio League.
They face Seneca East in an N10 game on Saturday. A team they beat (85-64) the first time they played them.
Last week, the Bucks downed Mohawk (63-27) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game. Coach Phil Loy says it was good to get a win, especially after losing to Colonel Crawford the week before. "It has been in interesting January here. It was good for us to get back on track. It is kind of odd for us to go from Saturday to Saturday and it had been two weeks since we had won a game. So, we wanted to make sure we got back on track with Mohawk. We knew they were down a little bit and we just wanted to make sure we got off to a quick start and we did that we got off to a 19-0 start right before the end of the first quarter. That is what we needed and I thought it was good for our confidence," he said.
Buckeye (7-4) will host Ontario (10-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night. Loy says the Warriors are athletic and they want to play fast. "They are a team that is going to want to up tempo the game and get you making quick decisions and bad decisions and try to force you into turnovers. That is something we have been working on this week. They go nine deep they are athletic," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "They have very good guards, they have good shooters, they will spread you out, Defensively they are going to get up in you and get out in passing lanes and try to deny passes and get steals. We have to make sure we control the tempo and we don't do things that we don't want to do. If we take care of the basketball I think it could be a competitive game."
If they are going to be able to have success on Friday night, Loy says they must be able to keep Ontario out of the paint where they cause so much havoc. "For one I think their post player is pretty good, Andrew Rathburn. He just works hard and he is strong and solid and can post up deep. We have to limit his touches, but you also have to limit the touches of Lennel Shelby. They like to post him up, especially if there is a smaller guard on him. They will do that multiple times. Even getting their dribble penetration out of the paint. With them you have make them beat you from the perimeter, but they do have some guys that can knock down shots. Some of them are streaky and some of them are pretty good. You have to know who is out there and kind of take your chances,' said Loy.
Published 1/15/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Must Find Ways to Score
Buckeye Central lost two tough games to good teams last week and didn't score more than 50 points either time and they need to get on the scoreboard a little more.
They lost to at Bucyrus (48-46) in overtime last Tuesday and they were beaten by undefeated Colonel Crawford (48-38) on Saturday.
Coach Phil Loy says in the Bucyrus game they were dealing with some injuries and where forced to go to bench and that was part of the reason for the set back. "These have go to be learning moments for us. It was a tough loss on Tuesday going on the road to Bucyrus. We didn't exactly play very well, but we also were hit with injuries. We were hit with injuries during the game, a couple of kids went down. One goes down right on the first possession and doesn't return and another goes down later. We are playing our point guard at like 75 percent. So, things were not stacked in our favor going over there. Give Bucyrus credit they were home for the first time in like six games and they shot the ball extremely well," said Loy.
Austin Wurm and Grant Loy have been explosive scorers for the Bucks this year, but coach Loy says they have to find some more kids they can rely on more. "We are starting to see some combination or junk defenses here these last couple of games and I guess we are learning form that because I think we will see a lot more of that. Teams are really starting to focus on shutting down Austin and Grant and we have to learn how to win games when that is going on. So, moving without the basketball and making some other things happen and hopefully we are getting better in that area," he said.
Buckeye (6-4,4-3) will be at arch rival Wynford (5-5,4-3) in a pivotal game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference at the "House of Thrills" on Friday night. Loy says the Royals are a team that likes run the floor. "They really want to get up and down. They have had some high scoring games. They scored 94 against Ridgedale in double overtime. They are not really big. They are very guard oriented. They have athletic guards that shoot the three. In a sense they are somewhat like a version of Colonel Crawford. They do have a post player, but the guards are what can hurt you," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "They like to shoot a lot of threes, so I would say similar to Crawford. We are going to have to make sure we get back defensively and guard the arch on Friday night."
Both schools trail Colonel Crawford by three games in the league standings and Loy says this is must win for them. "It's a league game and we can't afford to fall back any farther than we are. After you come off a couple of tough losses I feel we can make some corrections and we could have won those games. We have to have a good week of practice and correct some things and get better in some areas. To us this is a must win game," he said.
Published 1/06/15
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Bucks Pick up Huge Win
Buckeye Central hung the first loss of the season on the Carey Blue Devils on Saturday night and gave first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference standings to Colonel Crawford in the process.
Grant Loy scored 20 points and Austin Wurm added 19 as the Bucks beat Carey (56-53) to move in a share of second place. Plus, coach Phil Loy says they were able to win without starting point guard Scott Heydinger. "I am very proud of our kids, our starters and our bench, getting that victory with the adversity we have going in. We find out a couple of hours before game time that my starting point guard is not going to play because he rolled his ankle out in the gym shooting around. He tried to go before and he just couldn't go. That changes a lot with us being thin at the point guard position. We quickly tried to adjust our game plan and I really thought the kids stepped up and did a nice job," said Loy.
With one of their veteran leaders on the bench, Loy says they were able to circle the wagons and come together as a team against Carey. "These kids believed in each other. I think our captains did a great job of bringing the group together and feeling comfortable. When I talked to the kids I said we will be fine. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it I just wanted the kids to come in and play hard like they always do and things will work out. I am just proud of everybody," he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday, "I thought defensively we did a really good job. We got off to a quick start and made shots. Grant Loy was hitting shots, and everybody was, we got off to a quick lead, I think we were up 12-4 and we ended up scoring 24 points in the first quarter and I think that was huge."
Buckeye (6-2,4-1) plays at Bucyrus (5-2,3-2), whom lost at Upper Sandusky (81-53) on Saturday. Loy says the Redmen may be going through a tough stretch, but they have solid, veteran talent. "I told our kids enjoy that win on Saturday, but come Sunday and especially Monday morning we have to make sure we are focused because Bucyrus is always a tough match-up for everybody. We are playing over there, it's a tough place to play, and we are definitely not taking them lightly. They got off to a good start and now they are in a tough part of their schedule. We expect a tough ball game. It is a veteran group that has played a lot and is a good athletic bunch," he said.
Published 12/29/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Playing Well at Both Ends
When you are considering contenders for the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title don't forget about Buckeye Central.
The Bucks have won their last three games after a (61-32) thumping of New Riegel on Monday night. Coach Phil Loy says things are coming together for them. "I think we are a team that is getting better playing with each other. Early in the season we are trying to figure out what works best for us. Going on the road with a team like Plymouth that is a tough start for us. I think we are getting some things ironed out," he said.
Loy says Monday night at New Riegel they did an outstanding job on the defensive end of the floor. "Monday at New Riegel I was concerned about going over there. Lots of times going on the road it can be a tough game and New Riegel always gives us tough games. They have a very dominating big man, a 6'5" left handed player than finishes well around the basket, a strong kid that rebounds well and is very active, and can step out and shoot the 15 to 18 footers. We held him to seven points and he had 33 points and 15 or so rebounds against Carey. I was concerned going in there that they were going to try and pound it in the post. I thought our kids stepped up and executed the game plan," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "We were able to pressure their guards. I think they had 14 turnovers in the first half and they might have ended up with 22 turnovers. Defensively we just did a great job and they were never in the game. We were up 20 at halftime. Our kids made shots and I think we stretched that lead to 34 in the third quarter. I was very pleased with the way we played there and I hope we can continue with that."
Austin Wurm went over 1,000 points for his career earlier this month and Grant Loy scored 37 in a win Saturday over Seneca East. Loy says a key is getting contributions from other guys too. "Those two have been playing very well for us on the offensive end. What I liked about Monday is we need more scoring out of our other players because that is going to make us that much more balanced and hard to guard where teams can't just focus on Austin and Grant. Scott Heydinger was a lot more aggressive in the last couple of games and stepped up big against New Riegel. Cole Stacklin had was aggressive and getting good looks and taking and making shots. We are starting to get more production out of Seth Ollis, our big guy inside. Even our subs are coming in and giving us good minutes. It is just making us better overall," said Loy.
Buckeye Central (3-1,1-0) is at Crestline (0-3,0-1) on Friday night for an N10 game and they host Upper Sandusky (1-2,0-1) on Saturday.
Crestline lost Thursday night to Mansfield St. Peter's (56-47) and Loy says they have a quality big man in Nate Coffman. "I don't know a whole lot. We are going to watch them against St. Peter's. They play three in row and then turn around and play next Tuesday. The coach has brought in some energy and the kids are playing hard. I like what they are doing inside. They have a nice inside presence with Nate Coffman, who is having a great year averaging around 21 points a game. They are trying to feed him the ball a lot. For us this is going to be somewhat similar to New Riegel a good big man inside and decent guard play and want to push the ball a little bit. We are treating this game similar to New Riegel," he said.
Published 12/19/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Faces New Look St. Peter's
After losing to a very talented Plymouth team in their first game, Buckeye Central plays host to Mansfield St. Peter's in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.
In a battle between two of the best small school teams in North Central Ohio last Friday Plymouth edged Buckeye (47-44) with a fourth quarter rally. Bucks coach Phil Loy says Plymouth is tough to score against. "I though we played okay. We didn't shoot the ball extremely well, not as well as we have been in the preseason. Plymouth is a very good team and one of the best in the area and maybe their defense created some of those struggles that we had. We had the lead the whole time and then just couldn't finish it down the stretch," said Loy.
Buckeye (0-1) is expected to be very competitive in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this year and Loy says they just need to refine some things. "Even though we lost that game there are a lot of positive things that came out of that game and a lot of things that we learned from that game, just little things that we need to get better at," he said.
Mansfield St. Peter's (1-0) beat South Central (48-43) in its first game. They have a new coach in Joe Jakubick and Loy says they look different too. "It is a little bit of a different operation. They do return three starters and four letterman probably with Ryan Payne, who came off the bench last year. They have a really good point guard in Blunk, they have another really good guard in Shaw and then their post player Michael Barrick. When you look at their roster it is a little bit different than it was a year ago with some different kids in there," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "They have a couple of freshmen that are playing a lot that look to be pretty good. One of them is the coach's son and then their is another freshmen that is there now that looks to be a pretty good player. They are somewhat young and athletic and like to shoot the three. They don't have a whole lot of size, so hopefully we can take advantage of that. Hopefully our experience can win that battle."
Having played just one game Loy says they think the Spartans will look to be aggressive on offense and defense. "I think they will push it when they can because they do have some good guard play. I think they will be basically and man type defensive team. I think the kids will be working really hard under coach Jakubick and really get after it defensively and try to make things happen and make up for not having great size. Offensively, we are looking for them to push the ball when they can and run some five out motion and some dribble drive stuff and run some more sets than maybe they have in the past," said Loy.
Published 12/09/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Dealing with Little Things
Buckeye Central is going to be a good basketball team this year, it just a matter of how good at this point.
They play one of the more interesting games in the area on Friday night when they at Plymouth, the Firelands Conference favorite, in non-conference play.
Buckeye returns some very good talent, but they did graduate three starters, and coach Phil Loy says they are still kind of putting things together heading into that opener. "We have had a pretty good preseason with good practices and good scrimmages. Do I have everything locked in yet? No and I wish I did, but we are pretty close to that. We return six letterman and those guys are all contributing very well. I have another several guys that I am trying to fit into the mix and so far it has gone pretty good we just don't have everything settled in yet," said Loy.
Much of the Buckeye bench will be made up of last year's JV squad and Loy says they attempting to figure out where those pieces fit. "Just our depth. We have to make sure we do find that seventh or eighth guy so that we have a good bench and have good depth, so that is probably the biggest thing that concerns me right now," he said.
Plymouth on the other hand returns its entire starting five along with some of their reserves. Loy says they are a team that has many talents and they will be a difficult challenge. "They bring back a lot of experience. They might have only graduated one guy who contributed a lot to their program last year and they were very, very successful last year winning the Firelands, I think they were 20-2 in the regular season, and got beat in the district tournament," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "They can create some match-up problems. They are a very good shooting team. Of their starters they return everybody back and they are kind of comfortable because of that. They have a very good point guard and probably one of the best big men in the area."
Buckeye, last year's North Central Conference champion, beat Plymouth (63-49) in their first game last year.
A lot of what Plymouth does focuses in on post player Tyrell Edmiston, headed to Urbana to play college basketball. Loy says he is a great passer and that makes the Big Red harder to defend. "You have to watch how you defend them because you don't want to put too much on Edmiston because if you do he does see the floor very well and he is an extremely great passer, probably one of the best passers for a big man around. You really can't double team him unless you want them to shoot layups. Plymouth does a nice job of moving without the basketball and making basket cuts and stuff and Tyrell does a good job in finding them," said Loy.
Published 12/02/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Has the Tools
Buckeye Central finished the season (23-3) last year and was outright champion of the North Central Conference last year and a division four regional qualifier.
They lost some kids to graduation, including their point guard, but they still have a chance to be very good this year in the inaugural season of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
Coach Phil Loy says they lost some very good players to graduation, but they also have some very capable kids returning to the team. "We would like to think going in that we have the making for another good season, but we lost three really good seniors last year in Cade Kaple, Stone Wurm and Sam Robertson, a couple guards and a post player, all three of them were starters, and contributed a lot to our success last year, Anytime you have to replace your point guard it is difficult, especially as good as Cade was, but we also return six lettermen," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "All six of them played a valuable part in our success last year as well. We have the making for a good team. So far early in the season we are trying to find out who we are. Some things have to be different in replacing that point guard. There are some things we have to work out. I just hope as the season goes along we just continue to improve and get better and we are in contention for another league and district title in the end."
Austin Wurm will be in his fourth year with the varsity and Grant Loy, not a starter last year, but played significant minutes, are both versatile players. Coach Loy says they an score from anywhere. "We feel that balance is one of our strengths. We have some kids that can play multiple positions. Austin Wurm and Grant Loy are both 6'3" or 6'4", maybe even stretching 6'5" are good inside and outside players, they are good shooters, and they are going to be handling the ball for us from time to time, but also guys we can go down low to if we feel we need to. That is a good thing to have," said Loy.
The Bucks definitely have some kids that can put the ball in the hole, but Loy says defense is what they emphasize the most in their program. "That is something we have stressed very hard here at Buckeye is defense first. The kids have really been buying into that the last couple of years. That is something I think has made us really successful is how hard these guys play and buying into our philosophy there. That will be one of the best things for us this year," he said.
The North Central Conference is no more and Loy says by joining with Carey, Mohawk, Seneca East, and Ridgedale, there should be some very interesting games this year. "I think it will be a very good league and have some good balance. We have played these teams in non-league in the past. I think it is going to be a very competitive league and I am excited about it. There are a lot of schools of equal size. yeah we have some bigger schools in there too, but I think it is going to be very competitive," he said.
Published 11/21/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye in Must win Situation
Buckeye Central still has a chance to make the post season playoffs in division seven, but they must have a win this week against the Mohawk Warriors in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play.
Wynford, the "N10" leader, belted the Bucks (35-0) last week and Niedermier says they did everything they could, but it seemed that the Royals had all of the answers. "I thought our boys played as good a game as they could. We did have a few execution problems. In talking to their head coaching staff after the game we threw everything we could at them formation while. We really kind of kept them on their toes offensively, but they are a very good football team with a bunch of good linemen and athletes," said Nidermier.
Buckeye (4-5,3-4) began the season as a run first team, but they have been throwing a lot more lately and Niedermier says that is because of the maturity of junior quarterback Grant Loy. "Grant has learned a hole lot this season. This is kind of his sophomore season. Last year he wasn't able to play anything, JV or varsity. This is really his second year. We have thrown a lot at him and he has reacted very well and he has come a long way this season," he said.
Mohawk (4-5,3-4) comes in off a (49-20) win over Crestline and Niedermier says it is obvious they are playing some pretty good football. "They are a good ball club. They definitely have a lot of momentum headed into this week. They are 4-0 in their last four games," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "We told our guys not to take them lightly as they are going to come in with a full head of steam. They need to win this game as badly as we do to have a potential of getting into the playoffs and just finish the season at .500."
Mohawk quarterback Gunnar Johnson has run for more than 1,000 yards this season and Niedermier says he is very difficult to contain. "He absolutely runs the football very well. He is a guy that we are going to be looking for defensively this week, keeping an eye on, and making sure we do all of the things we can to keep him contained," he said.
Published 10/28/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Bucks Tangle With Wynford
It has been a tough second half of the season for the Buckeye Central Bucks with Carey and Colonel Crawford and now "N10" leading Wynford over a three week stretch.
Last week, Buckeye had the early lead and led (22-13) in the third quarter before losing to Colonel Crawford (39-30) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.
Buckeye quarterback Grant Loy completed 23 of 34 passes for 322 yards in the game. Coach Jeff Niedermier thought they really played pretty well in the loss to Crawford. "Our kids played a heck of a game last week. We were leading for a long time in that game and it just got away from us at the end. Our guys fought hard the whole time and executed very well," he said.
Buckeye Central (4-4,3-3) makes the short trip to Wynford (7-1,6-0) to face the first place Royals on Friday night. Niedermier says this is always a big game for them. "This is one of our oldest rivals. The younger generation forgets that that used to be our home field over there before Buckeye Central built their own facilities in New Washington, so that's where that rivalry started," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We still get excited about it. Wynford has been a very talented team for a lot of years, so everybody gets excited to play them and wants to beat them."
Wynford has won seven straight games, including a (48-0) destruction of very good Tiffin Calvert last Friday. Niedermier says they do a lot of good things, but in his opinion it really starts with what they do at the line of scrimmage. "They definitely have their athletes, but year after year I look at them and I am always impressed with their offensive line. They are not always the biggest guys in the league, but they are very quick and they get off the ball and they get into you. It starts up front for them," he said.
Published 10/23/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Defense Will be Stressed
Buckeye Central needs to stop a two game slide when they host Colonel Crawford in New Washington in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
Last week, Bucyrus quarterback Cole Murtiff lit them up for 231 yards and three scores in a (48-14) victory by the Redmen. Buckeye Central coach Jeff Niedermier says three Buckeye turnovers didn't help the situation any. "We didn't help them out on offense at all. We had three turnovers that resulted in scores for them. Our defense had been doing really well, and they do the best they can, but when we have those turnovers it doesn't make things look very good," said Niedermier.
Crawford (5-2,3-2) is coming off a (54-14) destruction of Crestline last week. Niedermier says the Eagles present another big challenge to that Buckeye defense. "Colonel Crawford is a really great team again. They have a lot of kids over there," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "I think they have 70 or so on there roster. They have a lot of real nice athletes, they have a really nice quarterback again this year, a kid that can run and can throw the ball just like last week against Bucyrus. They are going to be a challenge for us."
They are going to face a similar approach on offense this week and Niedermier says they have to make the right decisions if they are going to contain the Eagles. "It is a tough thing to control for the defensive line. They have to put pressure on because you can't give them all day to throw, but you also can't give them lanes to run. They will tuck the ball and take off and make plays on you anyway," he said.
Published 10/17/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central has to Run the Table
With one loss in the conference, and Wynford and Bucyrus both with none, Buckeye Central probably has two win their final four games if they expect to win the "N10" football title.
Jonathon Racheter ran for over 100 yards and two touchdowns as Carey beat Buckeye (35-14) last week handing the Bucks (4-2,3-1) their first loss in conference play. Coach Jeff Niedermier was happy with the effort. "I thought our boys came in and played very hard. They played and did what we asked them to do offensively and defensively. We were in the game into late. Carey scored one on us late that kind of put it out of reach," he said.
Bucyrus (5-1,4-0) beat Fremont St. Joe (37-0) in non-conference play last week. Quarterback Cole Murtiff ran for 127 yards and threw for 117 and was involved their first four scores. Niedermier says he can do a lot of things. "He is an extremely talented quarterback. He is very athletic and can throw the ball. If you put a little pressure on him and create some seems he is not afraid to tuck it and run it on you," he said.
Niedermier says they have to get some pressure on Murtiff, but they also can't let him break contain. "Our defensive line has to, it's a hard ting, but they have to put the pressure they need to on him, but also keep their contain and keep their responsibilities," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Once defensive linemen get off level with each other it creates creases and areas for those quarterbacks to take off."
Defensively Bucyrus has started to play better over the last couple of weeks and Niedermier says they are going to continue to get better as they get more healthy. "I think they have #44 back this week he is a very talented middle linebacker. He played a on a few downs last week against Fremont St. Joe. We just have to get on our guys and hold their blocks long enough for our guys to get through,' said Niedermier.
If they want to win the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title and make the playoffs Niedermier says they know this is a game they must win. "We have a very important game this week in terms of the conference and if our boys want to make it to the post season in football this year this is a must win for us," he said.
Published 10/09/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Starts Difficult Stretch
Buckeye Central is unbeaten in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, but it will be the month of October that tells us how good the Bucks are as they play Carey, Bucyrus, Colonel Crawford and Wynford.
Last week, they went to Ridgedale, got a balanced attack on offense, and buried the Rockets (38-6) in N10 play. Coach Jeff Niedermier says things didn't start out that well, but they got better as the night went on. "We went down there and were able to get a win. I think our boys came out a little bit flat in the first half, but we got that corrected at halftime and they came out and really moved the ball on them," he said.
Halftime is the time to make some changes in your approach if things aren't working that well and last week Niedermier says he got loud a little bit too. "Sometimes it is those rah, rah speeches and Friday night actually might have been one those. Our guys were maybe a little bit flat and not that motivated coming out," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Halftime adjustments can win or lose you a game. If you don't make the adjustments then you can definitely lose one and if you make the right ones it can put you back on top."
Carey (4-1,2-1) comes to New Washington on Friday night for another N10 battle with the Bucks (4-1,3-0). The Blue Devils put 42 on Crestline in the first quarter last week. Niedermier says they have some big play guys. "It is going to take somebody knocking off Wynford to get them back at the top of the league. They are a very, very talented football team, very athletic. They have great guys on both sides of the ball. They are able to stay fresh on both sides of the ball with different players and they present a lot of problems,' said Niedermier.
With a team like Carey that has great team speed, Niedermier says they can not let them get to the perimeter or it turns into a track meet that they will lose. "We just have to make sure we stay at home defensively in making the right plays at the right time. We can't lose contain and let them get outside. If they do that they are off to the races," he said.
Published 10/02/14
(C) Swamkonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Ready to Get Back to Winning
Buckeye Central lost its first game of the season to Sandusky St. Mary's in non-conference play on Friday night and they return to play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference when they travel to Ridgedale on Friday night.
Last week, the Panthers downed Buckeye (35-14) and coach Jeff Niedermier says St. Mary's has a lot of athletes and they just didn't have the answers. "St. Mary's has a really good program. They have tremendous athletes and we didn't match up with them and that's what the score reflected," he said.
After watching film of the game last week Niedermier says they know they have do a better job of understanding their assignments in trenches. "We saw some things up front last week that we weren't very good at and we addressed them this week in practice. They have to keep their eyes up and looking and see what's going on in front of them," he said.
They had a rough start not scoring the first two weeks of the season, but Ridgedale (2-2,1-1) has turned it around a little bit with wins over Fostoria St. Wendelin (49-18) and Crestline (22-20) last week in conference play. Niedermier says Ridgedale is not a team they can take lightly. "They are a pretty sound football team," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "We can't take this game lightly at all. They are feeling good right now they have two wins in a row. We told our guys that we really have to focus and buckle down this week and do everything right to beat these guys."
Niedermier says this is kind of a mental focus game for them with Colonel Crawford, Wynford, Bucyrus and Carey to play in the second half of the season. "We have to kind of leave that one in the past. Now it's back into the league play and we have to come back and win. I think if we refocus and do what we can do we can do very well," he said.
Published 9/26/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Has to Play Smart
Buckeye Central shares first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with Wynford and Bucyrus, but they take a break from conference play this week to play host to Sandusky St. Mary's in non-conference play.
The Bucks (3-0) scored 35 points in the second quarter and went on to throttle Crestline (49-0) last week in N10 play. Coach Jeff Niedermier says they were able to keep their focus against the winless Bulldogs. "Last Friday we had to make sure our kids stayed focused on what was going on and we came in an executed very well, especially in the second quarter and we got things done," he said.
They returned a punt and interception for a score against Crestline and Niedermier says they are starting to find their rhythm as a team. "I think we have a good mix. We have a quarterback coming off an injury that didn't play last year really coming into his own and seeing reads he needs to see," said told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We have a very young offensive line, who has definitely come into their own and really coming together as a group and getting things done for us."
Quarterback Grant Loy had back issues last year. He was 7 of 10 for 108 yards against Crestline.
St. Mary's (1-2) picked up its first win of the year last week against Danbury Lakeside (36-14) after losses to two Firelands Conference teams in Norwalk St. Paul (54-13) and Plymouth (46-39) the first two weeks.
Niedermier says the Panthers have a lot of speed. "From what we have seen in film they have some very good athletes and some very good speed. We are definitely going to have to play some sound football defensively and give up plays against them. Plus, we have to execute on offense," he said.
With a team like St. Mary's that has big play potential Niedermier says they must play smart and uses the correct pursuit angles when running down the Panther ball carriers. "We hope they never break past our linemen and our linebackers, but when they do our db's have to get on the correct angel and get down field quicker than they do if they break away," he said.
Published 9/18/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Must Keep Focus
Buckeye Central takes the road for Crestline on Friday night as they attempt to maintain a share of first place in the new Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
Last week, they had to come back on Saturday, but they were able to get past Seneca East (44-28) in a conference game. Coach Jeff Niedermier says it was an unique experience, but they were able to keep their heads in the game. "It was an interesting night. We got into the fourth quarter, about halfway through it, we just had a big play on defense, we blocked a punt and ran it in for a touchdown to go up by eight. Then the referee decided to call the game because of lightning," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "I was a little worried heading out that night because I wasn't really sure what to expect from my boys the next morning. We got them in a little bit earlier and got them ready. They were pumped up and we were able to come up with a victory."
After permitting only eight points in their opener against New London, Seneca East was able to find the end zone four times. Niedermier says the game last week had a different tempo. "They were two different kinds of offenses we saw. Seneca East had a very good quarterback back there, he is athletic. He could make the pass and if we flushed him out he could take off an rip off 20, 25 yards on you," he said.
Crestline (0-2) lost their conference opener to Bucyrus (35-0) and the Bulldogs have only won one game in the last two plus seasons. However, Niedermier thinks the Bulldogs are about to turn the corner. "They have some young athletes, they are definitely better than they were a year ago. It is not anyone that we can take lightly. I think Crestline is going to win some games this year. I hope it is not one against us," he said.
Niedermier says it will be important for them to keep their focus against Crestline or it could cost them. "That is something we talk about everyday with our kids. You can't take any game lightly even though they might not have had success in the past. If you take them lightly and don't take practice seriously bad things can happen on Friday night," he said.
Published 9/10/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central off to Good Start
Two years ago Buckeye Central was the division six state runner up, but last year they only won three games. They appear headed back in the right direction after dismantling New London last week.
Coach Jeff Niedermier was very pleased with the Bucks effort and execution on both sides last week against New London. "I felt very well coming out of the game. I thought we did quite a few things right. Offensively we were able to put quite few points on the board and defensively we held them to eight points. We did a lot of positive things, but after game one there a lot things we can improve on," he said.
They have more experience on the offensive side of the ball than they did last year and Niedermier says that allows them to do more things. "I feel like we have a lot more threats. We can throw the ball a little bit. We have receivers that can catch the ball. We have a quarterback this year that got a little experience as a junior. We were just able to do a lot more things offensively. One of our running backs back from last year was a very good threat for us," said Niedermier.
Even after the 32-8 win with a running clock in the second half, Niedermier knows there are still things they can do better this week. "Offensively our line we got a little pressure that we thought was unnecessary and we need to do better on that. If we give our quarterback a little more time to make the correct reads," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "There were a few times that are quarterback might not have seen a guy that was wide open and not make the correct reads could have been a better play for us."
Buckeye plays hosts to Seneca East (0-1) in their first ever game in the N10 on Friday night. The Tigers were outscored by South Central (39-24) in their first game. Niedermier, who has seen them live and tape, says the Tigers have guys that can make big plays. "I went and scouted them early in one of their scrimmages. They have some athletes. South Central put some points up on them, but, you know, Seneca East was also able to score some points. I think it is going to be a great match-up this weekend. It should be a good game," he said.
Published 9/02/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Some Unknowns For Buckeye
Buckeye Central is a team that is sure it is better, but they are not so sure what they are going to get from their first opponent New London on Friday night.
Bucks coach Jeff Niedermier says his kids have looked pretty good in their tune ups for Friday night, so he is pretty pleased. "I think our kids are ready to go. We had a final scrimmage last Friday night and things went well. That jamboree game has a nice structure and lets us get the bugs worked out. I think our kids are ready for this game one," he said.
With a lot of kids back on that side of the ball, Niedermier knows they are counting on their defense this year and need them to play well on Friday night. "We definitely can do very well on defense. We have a lot of returning starters this year coming back. It is going to be up to them to shut them down. If we can't stop them it is not going to end up very well at the end," he said.
New London has a new coach in former Western Reserve star Brad Pickens, who took the reins just this summer. Niedermier says that means there are going to be a lot of unknowns because their is no history to go from. "Especially week one it's tough. They have a new coach coming in so we really can't draw on what they have done in games against us in the past. What we have seen so far is the basic formations," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "They haven't done a lot offensively during their scrimmages, but we are preparing the best we can for what we see. Week one it is tough going over there and getting the scrimmage film. We just do what we can with what we have."
Not knowing what they are going to get from New London, Niedermier says adjustments are going to be pretty big for them on Friday night if they are to be successful. "We are stressing that with our kids. What we have seen on film in these scrimmages is kind of what we are preparing for, but they might come out and we are going to have to adjust to it on the fly and work out those kinks. That's where having our guys up in the box telling us what they are doing is key on Friday night," he said.
Published 8/27/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Counting on Defense
Buckeye Central is a team that has matured a lot on defense from last year, but the Bucks are still a team that will rely on the play of its defense.
Jeff Niedermier, in his second year as head coach, says he likes the way the team is progressing toward its season opener with New London. "I am extremely happy with what we have seen so far. Our team has come a long way. We were very young last season, we only had five seniors on the team. Our skilled positions have come a long way from last year. Our line is still a little young, but yeah I am extremely happy were we are right now," he said.
When Buckeye advanced to the division VI state title game in 2012 they showed some balanced on offense, but were still a run first team. Niedermier says that is what they would like to be this year. "We are still very dependant on our run. We will look to be a little more balanced if we can and try to throw the ball a little bit so teams can't key as much on our run. I am pleased with both sides of our offense. I think we are passing the ball well and also running and block well," he said.
With a lot of guys back on that side of the ball defense is going to be the name of the game in New Washington. Niedermier thinks that until will be very good. "I think we are looking very good with a lot of experience. I think we did very well on defense last year and we are just building on that. Defensively I think we are going to be fairly solid with a lot of returning starters," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Jordan Herstein is still back there at safety and we have a couple corners in Scotty Heydinger and linebackers Ross Martin, Cole Stackland, and Brady Bishop. We have a lot veteran guys that have been playing defense the last two years."
This being the third full week of preseason practice and there can be some issues regarding focus, but Niedermier says they have done a pretty good job of being ready for practice everyday. "They have their days and their moments. I think we came out on Monday and we were fairly flat and they were ready for the season to begin. They were getting a little antsy and a little sluggish because they want the season to be here, but it is our job as coaches is to get them motivated. Monday we saw that a little bit, but Tuesday they came right out hustling and getting to the line and we practiced a lot better on Tuesday," said Neidermier.
Published 8/22/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
Buckeye Central Meets New Riegel
Buckeye Central (14-12) was to play at New Riegel in the division four sectional tournament on Wednesday, but then came the thunderstorms and the tornado watch and now the game has been moved to Friday.
Bucks coach Chad Jensen says they have gotten pretty good at handling delays. "The kids know that this part of baseball and they have handled it all year. This is just one of those incontinences that you have to deal with and it's for both teams and we just need to be ready on Friday," he said.
With the game now set for Friday, Jensen says they will have some options in terms of what they do on the mound. "When you are in the tournament you have to have your best ready to go. For us we have our two best ready to go. Hopefully we don't have to go to our two, but we have them both ready we don't like taking chances," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "With some of our teams in the past when we have had tournament runs it was because of some good starting pitching, so hopefully we can duplicate that. New Riegel is certainly not an easy task, they are a very talented team, so we are going to have our work cut out for us."
New Riegel (11-10) has a great athletic tradition and Jensen says the Blue Jackets know how to play the game. "They are really solid kids. The one thing about New Riegel kids is there are hard working kids, they are nice kids, they are well coached, they play the game the right way, and they do that in all of their sports. We are familiar with them we have played them non-league for the last six, seven years. We played them earlier in the year, game two, and that was a ling time ago. We have a little bit of familiarity with them, which I think will help us a little bit," he said.
New Riegel beat Buckeye Central (10-0) back on the first week of the regular season, but Jensen expects that Friday's match-up will be a different game. "I got to see New Riegel at little recently and they are certainly better than they were and I think we are better than we were. We played them in game two and we had just been no hit by Mason McWilliams of Seneca East. We had just started the season and our basketball kids had just came off a regional run and they were quite in baseball mode yet and I would like to think that recently we have really hit our stride. It's going to be a challenge for us, but our kids are up to it," said Jensen.
Published 5/15/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
Or you can post comments on
our new forum
It's Been Up and Down For Buckeye Central
Tanner Zaebst had three hits and two RBI and Austin Lutz added two hits and two RBI as Buckeye Central outscored Riverdale (12-6) in a North Central Conference game on Monday.
Leading (3-1) after four innings the Bucks put up a seven spot in the fifth inning to take command of the game. Coach Chad Jensen says they had a better approach at the plate. "We talked after this weekend that we really didn't do a very good job of situational hitting. We really put our focus on (Monday) of just putting the bat on the ball, having a plan at the plate, understanding what to do when runners are on, and we really did a good job of shortening our swings down and hitting the ball where it was pitched and really did a nice job," he said.
Buckeye Central split a doubleheader with South Central on Saturday.
Buckeye drew winless Mansfield St. Peter's in their division four tournament opener when they host the Spartans in New Washington this Saturday. However, Jensen knows there is a lot of improving to do before then. "We are hoping we are in a pretty good spot, but you have to play one game at a time. We open tournament play on Saturday against St. Pete's and if we are fortunate enough to win that then New Riegel sets in front of us and they beat us earlier in the year. We really have to take one game at a time. We have a league game with Crestline (Tuesday) and Riverdale again on Wednesday and Bucyrus on Friday and then St. Pete's on Saturday. We have some opportunities, but we really have to play better and be more consistent," said Jensen.
The Buckeye Central coach says there isn't a game the Bucks (9-12,4-5) can't win this week or they could lose them too. He says consistency is the issue as it has been all season. "If we play like we can play they are winable games and we just have to be more consistent all of the way around. We have to throw more strikes, we have to play a little bit better defense and we just have to put the bat on the ball a little bit better. We just have to execute. We have to get our bunts down consistently. We just have to do those things. We are sometimes just a little inconsistent all of the way around," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night after the win over Riverdale, "We really responded (Monday) from being inconsistent over the weekend. So, it is just a process for us. Every one of those games are tough. I think the "NCC" is as tough as it has been in a long time and anybody can beat anybody. I really believe that and there are certainly no give mes the rest of the way."
Published 5/06/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
or you can post comments on
our new forum
Buckeye Hammers Carey
Buckeye Central broke out the bats on Monday and they beat up on Carey (14-4) in a non-conference baseball game.
The Bucks climbed over the .500 mark with the win and coach Chad Jensen says they have started to become better hitters because they have a better idea what they are doing when they get in the box. "We really have had better approaches at the plate starting with last Thursday's game at Crawford. We have had a plan at the plate. We challenged our kids last week after losing to Crawford early in the week and they really responded. We just have been more patient and swinging at better pitches and putting the ball in play and when you do that consistently good things can happen," he said.
Jensen says they are know understanding what they are supposed to be doing at the plate because they understand the situation a little bit better. "It is knowing the count. It is knowing the situation. If a kid is having trouble throwing strikes then you don't jump at the first pitch you see. We tell our kids to lay off curve balls early in the count until he proves he can get it over. Understand the fastball counts 1-0, 2-0, 3-1, 2-1, things like that. And knowing if I have a runner on second I need to move him over. If I have a runner on third I have to get a sac fly or hit it to the right side to get him in and our kids have really done a lot better job of that," said Jensen.
Buckeye has gotten some pretty good pitching this year, especially from Austin Lutz, and now their defense is starting to make some plays too, according to Jensen. "Our defense has come along. We had some shaky moments early in the year. Our focus is making the routine play an we have tried to do that most of the time. Our kids have really bought into that and we have moments here and there. The key is for us to be consistent and we have been doing that lately," he said.
The Bucks (6-5,2-2) return to North Central Conference play on Tuesday at home against first place Galion (10-2,4-0) in New Washington. Jensen hopes they can continue to play with a little confidence. "We hope we can continue to play well. We have a tough, tough schedule coming up here. We have Galion coming up twice this week. They are 10-2 and are a very good team. We have Crestline at the end of the week," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, "Then we have Calvert for a doubleheader, so we have five more games this week and then we have seven games next week, including Crestline at the beginning of the week and then Upper twice and Northmor and Seneca East thrown in there and South Central next weekend. We have a lot of game coming up and we will find out where we are at."
Published 4/22/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
Or you can post comments on
our new forum
Crawford Tops Buckeye in Pitcher's Duel
Buckeye Central made six errors on Monday and it cost them in a (4-2) loss to Colonel Crawford in North Central Conference.
The teams had to play in tough conditions, which included some rain, but Buckeye coach Chad Jensen says they decided to play because the Buckeye field was playable and if they didn't play Monday who knows when they would have been able to. "It definitely wasn't the best conditions, but we got the rain early (Monday) and we went out and checked our field and it was playable. We knew there was a possibility of snow (Monday) night and it would be cold on (Tuesday) and who knows if the fields would be playable on Wednesday and then you are moving it to Thursday and if you can't play then you are bumping it even more," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night. "We knew it wasn't the best and we dodged the rain. The games was supposed to be at Crawford and we moved it to Buckeye. With our field being all grass a lot of times we can play those kinds of games."
Austin Lutz struck our 11 Crawford hitters in six innings and frankly Jensen says the pitchers did the job. "We got six strong innings from Austin Lutz. All four runs that Crawford scored were unearned. We had some physical errors and mental errors. We didn't play real well, but our kids will get better and they understand what we have to do to get better. I as a coach have to be better. We all have to be better. We will have a good practice on (Tuesday) and be ready to go on Wednesday," he said.
Buckeye (4-5,2-1) scored two runs in the first inning Monday, but only got four hits and didn't score again. Jensen says they can't seem to get on a roll offensively. "We struggle to string hits together. We make a lot of contact. (Monday) we only struck out five times. We put the ball in play, but it seems like we hit it right at people. We can never seem to string two, three, four hits together and that's been our problem. Hopefully it will come. We are making good contact and we have had better at bats most of the time. We just have to ride it out and hopefully we can be better," said Jensen.
Colonel Crawford (4-6,1-2) will host Buckeye in the rematch in North Robinson on Wednesday, weather permitting.
Published 4/15/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
Or you can post comments on
our new forum
Buckeye Beats Rival
Starting pitcher Austin Lutz allowed just two hits and struck out 10 as the Buckeye Central Bucks downed rival Wynford (2-1) in a North Central Conference game in New Washington.
Coach Chad Jensen says Lutz was outstanding and was a real bulldog for them. "Boy did we get a great pitching performance (Wednesday) night from Austin Lutz. He really mixed it really well against a very solid Wynford team, a very well coached Wynford team. It was really great and he threw tons of strikes and really did a great job for us and really kept us is in the game. We got a couple of runs early and were able to put it away," he said.
Just like major league pitchers high school hurlers get in trouble when they have trouble with their control. On Wednesday, Jensen says Lutz was able to stay ahead in the count. "That was a key (Wednesday) that Austin got ahead. The first thing I ask after the game when we talked to our kids, I said what did Austin do well tonight? And all of our pitchers said he got ahead. That was the bottom line," he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Wednesday, "There were a lot of first pitch strikes. That is something we have tried to stress all spring with our kids and he did it. He kept Wynford off balance and that is a team that can hit the ball a little bit and he really did a great job of keeping them off balance."
Although they only got six hits on against Wynford's Alec Miller, the Bucks were able to score twice in the bottom of the first. Jensen says their hitting is starting to come around. "We did better against Plymouth in a doubleheader on Saturday. We did better (Wednesday). Their pitcher Alec Miller was fantastic too. We are hitting the ball much better. It seems like we are hitting it right at people right now. We are making better contact and having better at bats. The first couple of games I didn't feel like we were having good at bats, like we didn't have a plan at the plate, some of us. Recently I thought we have been a lot better understanding situational hitting and putting the bat on the ball. It is a work in progress with our kids," said Jensen.
Buckeye (2-3,1-0) travels to Wynford (1-2,0-1) on Thursday for the re-match in "NCC" play. Jensen says in this league you are going to have to stay focused. "In a league as tough as ours when you have Upper and Galion and Crawford and Wynford and Bucyrus. Coming out with the "W's" is the bottom line in our league. Doing that against a quality Wynford team was good for us, but it was one game and we have to come back (Thursday) and play at Wynford and the slate is clean. Our kids know that and their kids know that. We have to enjoy the win (Wednesday), but we have to come back (Thursday) against a quality opponent,' said Jensen.
Published 4/10/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
Or you can post comments on
our new forum
Buckeye Central Needs to Relax
Buckeye Central has struggled at the plate in the first week of the high school baseball season, but their coach is convinced they are going to settle in and become a better team.
On Monday, Seneca East beat the Bucks (1-0) and then Wednesday night New Riegel shutout Buckeye Central (10-0), both in non-conference play.
Coach Chad Jensen says they know what they have to do to get better. "We have been able to get outside, so that is one important thing. We haven't been able to get outside much in the preseason. We have been able to get our first couple of games in. We struggled a little bit at the plate, but that is something we will continue to work on. We faced a couple of really good pitchers, so we really have to get better. We pitched pretty well, we just need to continue to improve. Once the weather warms up some we hope we can get outside more and continue to get better," said Jensen.
In facing some outstanding pitching this week, Jensen says they just could never get into the right kind of rhythm at the plate. "In the first game we faced one of the better division four pitchers in the state in Mason McWilliams. He's outstanding and we had trouble against him. Then (Wednesday) night we faced a lefty that also gave us some problems." he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "He kept it down and changed speeds really well. We just had trouble getting into a rhythm. There are just lots of factors involved in what we are doing. Those things are all correctable and we have hard working kids and we will get all of those things corrected."
Jensen says maybe his kids have been too aggressive at the plate. He says some of the kids have just been trying too hard. "Our kids have been really excited about playing. They really want to get out and do well. We have a lot of kids that are just pressing and trying to do too much. They are trying to hit eight-run home runs with one swing and that's impossible. We need to take shorter swings and put that bat on the ball. We just have kids that are trying to do too much and we will get that corrected here in the next few days and hopefully get better and improve so we can be better on Saturday and get ready for our first league game against Wynford on Monday," said Jensen.
Buckeye Central is scheduled to play at Plymouth in a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday. Jensen hopes that Mother Nature will allow them to get on the field. "We will practice (Thursday) and we are not scheduled to play on (Friday), so we will practice again on (Friday). We do want to play against Plymouth, and we talked to their coaches, and we are going to do everything we can to get the field ready and be ready to play on Saturday. I think that is what it is for us. We just need to consistently start playing these games and getting consistent at bats and I think that has been a little bit of a problem for us. That is what those games are for to get us ready for the league. We'll get better. We have good kids that will work hard and we will get better," said Jensen.
Buckeye plays rival Wynford in North Central Conference games on Monday and Wednesday.
Published 4/04/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
Or you can post comments on
our new forum
Buckeye Central has Some Potential
Buckeye Central has been a consistent baseball power among smaller schools in North Central Ohio, they were down a little bit last year, but this spring looks promising.
Coach Chad Jensen says they are returning a lot of kids that have played varsity baseball, which is a lot different than it was a last year. "We have a lot of experience returning. We have 11 letter winners, we only have three seniors though. So, we have experience, but it is somewhat young. We have a lot of sophomores, but a lot kids that played last year. The difference between last year and this year is last year we were all new and it was a complete rebuild. This year the kids definitely have a better understanding of varsity baseball it is just a matter of finding the right combination to be successful," said Jensen.
As far as pitching is concerned, Jensen says they will have some depth with kids that may not be overpowering, but can get hitters out. "Our pitching we return everybody but one form last year. We have five pitchers that return with varsity experience, so we fell like we have some arms that we can throw out there and kids that can throw strikes. We don't have anybody overpowering, but we have kids that can change speeds and throw strikes and I think that is very important to us," he said.
On the other hand, Jensen says the hitting is a little more concerning and its his job to put the right combination players in the lineup that can put some runs on the board. "Our biggest concern has to be just consistent hitting. I think we will be able to throw strikes. I think we will be able to play solid defense. I think we need to be able to put some solid lineup combinations on the field that we help us hit the baseball," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "That was one of our problems last year consistently scoring runs. We definitely want to improve on that. The up side to that is we have 14 or 15 kids that we feel comfortable with at the varsity level. We probably aren't going to carry that many, so we have some good competition."
Buckeye Central begins the season on Saturday by hosting Tiffin Calvert in a doubleheader. Their final "NCC" schedule begins with a game against Wynford on April 7.
Published 3/25/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
Or you can post comments on
our new forum
Buckeye Ready for a Physical Battle
Buckeye Central ahs advanced to the regional tournament in division four for the first time since 2007 and will play Wayne Trace in the regional semis on Tuesday night at the Stroh Center on the campus of Bowling Green State University.
They last time Buckeye was in the regional they lost to Latham Western (53-51) in a tough one at the Columbus Fairgrounds Coliseum.
They advanced this year when they beat Sandusky St. Mary's (67-60) on Friday night at Willard High School in the district final. Cade Kaple had 18 points and seven rebounds and Austin Wurm, the Bucks leading scorer, had 13 despite sitting for more than eight minutes in the first half in fourb trouble.
Coach Phil Loy says their play late in the third quarter was critical in their win over the Panthers. "The end of the third quarter was critical because at one point there they went up five. They had outscored us by 10 at one time. We were up five and the next thing you know they are up five. We were able to cut it down to two going into the fourth quarter and I thought was huge because it very easily could have gone the other way," he told Swankonsports.com, " If it did I think they would have spread us out and we would have been in trouble. To our kid's credit they fought back and got some key stops and made some points in transition. I really thought that gave us momentum in the fourth quarter and we turned up the pressure. We got some one and dones, got some steals, and just got some good stuff in transition."
Coaches in the North Central Conference and around the area have talked about Buckeye's defense all year and Loy thinks that really paid dividends for them in the district final. "Especially against an opponent like Sandusky St. Mary's you have to have a great defensive team and I think we do. These kids have bought into what we have wanted from them all year long. They really just get up and guard. I give a lot of that credit to Scott Heydinger, the smallest guy on the floor, was guarding probably one of the best players in our district and held him to six points. He just really harassed him. I thought our defense switching it up a little bit gave them some problems and I thought in the second half we really rebounded better," said Loy.
Kaple, a senior point forward, was a second team all district selection, the Bucks second leading scorer, and led the "NCC" in assists this year. Loy says he is great leader for them and that is just as important. "Everybody is a leader in a different way. Cade (Kaple) isn't a really vocal guy, but kids look up to him. He is probably one of the best leaders i Have had in 10 years of coaching. everybody just knows when he is on the floor I think we have a good chance at winning the basketball game because of how good he is and how good of a leader he is," he said.
Wayne Trace beat Defiance Ayersville (53-25) in their district final on Friday night at Van Wert High School. Loy says they are a physical team. "They are a physical team with decent size, but they like a physical like game. They look to be a very good defensive team. They are a team that is going to switch up zone defenses and try to trap you in the full court, half court and quarter court. This will be a tough match-up. I think it is one though that we match up well with them and I think it is one that if we continue to play well and play good defense like we have I think we will be there at the end," said Loy.
With some bigger teams in their league, Galion and Upper Sandusky most notably, Loy thinks that has prepared them well for what they might see against Wayne Trace. "Playing those teams and the way those games turned out, two games each, so four games there. I thought they had some good size inside with athletic kids and teams that like to play physical and I think that prepared us for games like Tuesday night," he said
Published 3/10/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
Or you can post comments on
our new forum
Bucks Pound St. Paul in Districts
Buckeye Central outscored Norwalk St. Paul 6-0 to open the game and 7-0 in the first three minutes of the second half and went on to pound the Flyers (46-21) in the division four district semi-finals at Willard High School on Tuesday night.
The Bucks (22-2) will play Sandusky St. Mary's (19-6) in the district final at Willard on Friday night. The Panthers beat Plymouth (22-3) by the score of (64-52) in Tuesday's nightcap.
Buckeye coach Phil Loy is a coach that thinks the beginning of the game is critical. "That's what we talked about we wanted to get off to a quick start and the start of the second half I thought was good. Sam Robertson did a good job early on of getting us some rebounds and got us off to a quick 6-0 lead, which was nice," he said.
Leading (24-17) aft halftime, the Bucks scored the first seven points of the second half and led (31-17) before the Flyers called time out with 4:59 to play in the third quarter.
Norwalk St. Paul shot just 18% from the field (7-38) and had difficulty getting good looks all night. "That's what we talked about all week. We can't always control what we do offensively as far as shots going in, but I though defensively we played very solid and I am very happy about that. I told the kids we didn't shoot it very well from the field or free throw line, but hey when you win by 25 points in a district semi-final game we will be happy with that and move on. I thought defensively we did a very solid job," said Loy.
There weren't many second shots for the Flyers either as Buckeye Central won the battle of the boards 44-25 and Loy thought competing on the glass was key. "With their size I thought that was key that we box out and out rebound them. They are physical and I told the kids they are going to let you play at this time of year and expect it to be even more physical on Friday night, so we just have to make sure we secure the basketball and do a better job boxing out, but hey we still won the rebounding battle," he said.
Austin Wurm had 17 points to lead the Bucks in scoring and Sam Roberston had 12 points. Loy thought that Roberston, one of the Bucks post players, did a good job converting his chances. "He did early on. He has some good length. If people want to key on Austin Wurm or Cade Kaple, that's what most teams do. I think with our dribble penetration and Sam has good hands and finishes well and I thought he had a good game (Tuesday) night," he said.
St. Mary's turned a four point (32-28) halftime deficit into an eight point lead heading into the fourth period by outscoring Plymouth (21-9) in the third quarter.
Denarius Harris had 20 points for the Panthers and Lucas Will added 15.
Plymouth has counted on its outside shooting this year, but they were as cold as the air outside Willard High School Tuesday night as they made just 30 percent of the field goals (21-71) on the night.
Tyson Beebe, Plymouth's leading scorer on the year, was held to only eight points and fouled out midway through the fourth quarter. Tyrell Edmiston led the Big Red with 21 points and 16 rebounds.
Published 3/05/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
or you can post comments on
our new forum
Buckeye Preparing for St. Paul
Buckeye Central has advanced to the division four district semi finals at Willard for the third straight year and will play Norwalk St. Paul on Tuesday night.
Plymouth (22-2) and Sandusky St. Mary's (18-6) compete in the other semi-final.
Last Friday, Buckeye Central (21-2), #1 in the final Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coach's poll in the small school division, bested a pretty good Mansfield St. Peter's team (70-58) to advance. They had beaten the Spartans (67-47) in December, but coach Phil Loy says the team they played last week was much better. "I thought we played pretty solid. Mansfield St. Pete's was much improved. When we played them the first time they were just trying to adjust to not having Cole Philips and playing a style that they had played for most of the season. If you look that game David Hall is much improved and played a very solid game. I think Richard Shaw improved as the season went on, so did Adam Blunk, actually all of them. When you look at their scores with some of their wins and even some of their losses they hung tuff with some of the bigger schools," said Loy.
Grant Loy, the son of the coach, had 16 points and eight rebounds as the Bucks gradually pulled away leading by six at the half and double figures after three. Coach Loy says they still had too many turnovers. "We felt going in that we would have to play a solid game and I really felt we did. We had five guys in double figures. We out rebounded them. I felt Grant Loy probably played the best game of her career. He is starting to get more and more comfortable since his injury. They only downside of things was we still had too many turnovers. That is something we talked about before the game. I still thought those were a little bit high," he said.
St. Paul (10-13) beat South Central (50-49) and Fremont St. Joe (52-43) in their sectional games last week at Norwalk High School. Loy says they have some athletic players and calls them dangerous. "I got a chance to see them on Wednesday and sent somebody up to watch them after our game on Friday. They are playing pretty good right now. The thing about a Norwalk St. Paul team is they are going to be organized. Coach Smith, I have the most respect for him. He is going to have them ready to play. They can be a dangerous team. I think they are an athletic team. They have two bigs inside and I think they do a very nice job. It should be a good ball game," said Loy.
Flyers coach Mike Smith devotes hours to breaking down film and Loy says they will know everything they do on offense and defense. "He will have a lot of game film on us. He spends a lot of time getting his team prepared. They will know everything we do. They may know more about us than we do. That's why they have success and I am expecting the same thing Tuesday night," he said.
Buckeye is the outright North Central Conference champion and they would be considered the favorite to win on Tuesday. Loy say they need to get the lead early. "I think it is going to be a great environment. I think it is going to be a packed house. I think it is key for us to get a quick start. We talk about this every game. We never want the opponent to feel like they are in the game," he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, "This is a game I think we will have to play well, but if we get off to a slow start it could be a long night. I think a little bit of that was happening on Friday. I thought we played well and got off to a good start, but St. Pete's came out and shot the ball very well in the first quarter. That is something we do not want Norwalk St. Paul to do on Tuesday night."
Published 3/03/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
Or you can post comments on
our new forum
Buckeye Plays Improved St. Peter's
Northern Central Conference champion Buckeye Central takes on Mid-Buckeye Conference runner-up Mansfield St. Peter's in the division four sectional final at Ontario High School on Friday night.
Buckeye is state ranked in division four and earlier this week was crowned Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coach's poll champion in the small school division. Swankonsports.com covers more than 90 schools in North Central Ohio.
Coach Phil Loy says they are at least starting to peak. "I think we are playing pretty good right now. We have been consistent throughout the season. Hopefully that can continue for a while here yet," he said.
St. Peter's (13-10) have won five of their last seven. including a (71-51) win over Crestline, in Tuesday's semi-finals. Buckeye beat then (67-47) in early December, buy Loy thinks they are a lot better now. "I think they are much improved from when we last saw them. I think we are a better team, but I think they are as well. I think both teams take good care of the basketball," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "They are a dangerous teams with their size inside and their athleticism, the quickness with the guards. They have some guys that can shoot it on the perimeter. It is a game where we are going to have to go in and make sure we are focused and play well."
The Spartans have been running the floor at lot better looking for scores in recent weeks. Loy thinks that fits their personnel. "I think that's the best thing for them. Early in the year when they were big I think they were going to play a little more in the half court style offense, but once Phillips got hurt they adapted to more of a transition type game. Now, they are pretty comfortable doing that. That is their strength and I think they are pretty good at it," said Loy.
Buckeye Central (20-2) has been able to win this year against teams playing a variety of styles. Loy says if they are going to make it to the districts for the third straight year they need to limit they turnovers and do a great job on the boards. "First of all we have to take care of the basketball. Last time we played them I felt we had too many turnovers, so that is a big focus this time. We have to do a good job keeping them off the offensive boards. I think they do a good job attacking the boards. We have to do a good job of rebounding and win that battle and keep our turnovers down," he said.
Published 2/28/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
Or you can post comments on
our new forum
Buckeye Central Meets New Riegel in Districts
After a last second win over rival Colonel Crawford on Saturday night, Buckeye Central will play Midland Athletic League runner-up New Riegel in the girls' division four district semi finals on Thursday night at Shelby High School.
The Buckettes won (39-38) in dramatic fashion.
The Lady Eagles made a two free throws with little time left to take a 38-36 lead, but Buckeye Central coach Greg Moore says they were able to set up a play to get the ball to Brooke Karl and she bagged a three pointer. "They let us throw the ball down and I called a time out with what I thought was about 1.8 seconds to play, but they only gave us .9 tenths. We brought Tyler Kimble out as a sort of a decoy and told her if it is there we will throw it to you and shoot it. We put Brooke Karl on the backside wing and told her if they aren't face guarding you catch and shoot," he told Swankonsports.com during a live Saturday night broadcast, "If they are face guarding you then we are going to throw a backdoor lob and we will go to overtime. They didn't face guard her and she catches it and shoots at the buzzer and hits a three, so we come away very, very fortunate. When we came in for a shoot around (Saturday) afternoon, she hit 14 straight threes."
Moore is in his first year at Buckeye after a successful stay at Bucyrus. He says he is just happy to bring some success back to the traditional power. "You hate to see anybody lose in that kind of game. It was just a fierce rival game. It's what high school sports in about. I am just happy for the community of New Washington and our kids, they have really bought in to what I am selling,"
Buckeye (11-11) will play New Riegel (20-2), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com girls' basketball coach's poll in the small school division, on Thursday night. Moore says the Lady Blue Jackets have an outstanding team again this season. "We are going to face a very, very good New Riegel team that is state ranked. Steve Lucius, as good a coach he is, he is a better person. He probably has 600 wins. He is just phenomenal. We are going to have our hands full, but I am just happy for the community that we get to go up to Shelby and represent Buckeye Central," he said.
Lucius is famous, or infamous, depending on your viewpoint for the pressure he brings to the other team. Moore says they will have to handle that without a bunch of turnovers. "They are going to diamond press us and drop into a 1-2-2 zone. we have seen that 1-2-2 all year, but we are going to have to do a great job against their pressure. Their community is just like ours, they love sports," he said.
Published 2/24/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
Or you can post comments on
our new forum
Defense the key in "NCC" Title Game
Buckeye Central holds a one game lead on Colonel Crawford in the North Central Conference standings heading into their huge game on Tuesday night in New Washington.
It will likely determine if there will be an outright title for the Bucks or the two will share the crown in the final year of the conference.
Buckeye Central (18-2,11-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coach's poll in the small school division, put itself in this position with a (79-57) rump over Riverdale on Saturday night. Coach Phil Loy says it wasn't so easy in the first half. "We couldn't look ahead we had to take care of a very good Riverdale team first and foremost. They came out and shot the ball very well. We had a tough time guarding them in the first half. I though we were a step behind maybe. It was tied at 35. We could never get away from them. We led by five and they would come back and maybe take a one-point lead. We talked at halftime about how our defense needed to step up. I thought we just needed to communicate more on the defensive end and we did that. We ended up outscoring them and at one point we up by 26 in the second half. It was a very good second half and I was really happy with how the guys played," said Loy.
Colonel Crawford (16-4,10-2), #4 in the poll, is the only team to have beaten Buckeye in a conference game this year. The downed them (60-48) the Friday before Christmas. Loy they must play better defense and limit the Eagles to one shot. "I think we are a better defensive team now. We were pretty good back then, but that night we didn't defend very well. I also think we didn't take care of the rebounds as well as we needed too. I thought they got too many offensive rebounds," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "We got ourselves into foul trouble. We weren't 100 percent healthy. I give Colonel Crawford a lot of credit they came out and they executed their offense very well. They just shot the ball extremely well. They have five really good players that they put on the floor and they are very capable of scoring. I believe that (Tuesday) night's game to be very good for both."
Crawford has a number of guys that can make outside jumpers led by senior guard, and leading scorer, Conner McCreary. Loy says they can't let them have open shots. "They have had some nights when they just haven't shot the ball as well as they are capable of and they have nights when they just shoot it extremely well. Hopefully with the way we have been playing defense all year we can create some problems for them. Their shots have to be tough shots. We have to make things tough for them. We can't give them open looks. The first time we played them I thought they were allowed to step in and shoot some open jumpers and good shooters are going to make them. I think with the way we are playing right now hopefully we play that way (Tuesday) night. We just make executing their offense very tough for them," said Loy.
A big, if not sell out, crowd is expect at Buckeye Central for what for an intents and purposes is the "NCC" title game and Loy says this is the kind of game you are eager to play in. "That is what I was telling the kids on (Sunday). We had them come in and shoot around and go over some stuff. This is why we play the game. This is going to be a great atmosphere. We think this could be the biggest crowd this school has ever seen in this gym. This gym is about five, six years old. I would like to think we would sell this out (Tuesday) night. This is going to be an exciting game and one the kids are going to remember for a long time," he said.
Published 2/18/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
or you can post comments on
our new forum
Buckeye Central Needs Wins to Keep Lead
With two weeks left in the season, and four games to play for each, Buckeye Central continues to lead Colonel Crawford by a game in the North Central Conference standings.
They play each other in New Washington next Tuesday.
Last Saturday, the Bucks (16-2,9-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coach's poll in the small school division, blasted Crestline (69-35) to maintain their lead. Coach Phil Loy says once again they were able to get off to a good start. "I thought we played well Saturday. I thought it was huge for us to go out and play with intensity. I was hoping that was a game that we could get up early and maybe rest some of our guys and let some of our other guys play some more minutes and get to play together more because I think that is going to be huge down the road in tough games if we got some more experience and it will definitely help us come tournament time as well," said Loy.
You never know when a role player will need to play some important minutes and Loy feels like he wants to get those kids in the game as much as he can. "You want them to be comfortable out there and you want them to be part of the mix and really understand what's going on and like I said just get comfortable, so whenever you can get them minutes. I am not about beating somebody up I'd rather when you know you are going to win to mix guys in and get them some experience," he said.
Upper Sandusky (10-9,7-4) will be at Buckeye on Friday night. The Bucks beat them the first time (69-58) at Upper and Loy says they have some kids that know how to score. "When you watch them on film and even the last time we played them they can do some things. When we were at Upper earlier this year, we built a good lead, they do play really hard on defense, they have really good athletes, but they just have guys that can step up and score," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "They have Wes Vent, who doesn't play like he is a freshman. He looks to be very comfortable out there. They have really good guard play. They have those 6'2" athletic kids that can rebound the ball and get after it. I expect this to be a really tough game for us."
Riverdale (6-9,3-7) will be the guest on Saturday night. Loy says no mater who they are playing they have to win because he does not expect Colonel Crawford to lose before next Tuesday, they play Wynford and Upper Sandusky this weekend. Loy says they have to take care of business. "We have to make sure we focus on every game. Every night is very important as we head down the stretch here. We only have four games left and we can't afford to slip up because I don't expect Colonel Crawford to anytime before we play them next Tuesday. We have to make sure we play with a lot of intensity and be focused and I think we will be okay," he said.
Published 2/14/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
Or you can post comments on
our new forum
Buckeye Faces Big Week
It was just their second loss of the season and Buckeye Central coach Phil Loy says Carey was just better than his guys on Saturday night.
Buckeye lost to Carey, now #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coach's poll in the small school division, (79-66) in a non-conference contest.
Loy says Carey just played some unbelievable basketball when they took (32-12) lead after the first quarter. He says they just made everything they looked at despite some pretty good defense. "I don't think I have ever experienced anything like it in the first quarter. It was like we backed ourselves into a buzz saw. They were very, very good and we knew they were good going in. They have three very good players. One is the second leading scorer in the "MAL," he is averaging 22 points a game, Jared Wentling, and they have two guards in Brian Powers and Zach Boes that are averaging 16.5 and 12 points a game. They are just so athletic and they rebound so well. They can soot the ball and they can do about anything. They have been kind of up and down a little bit this year, but at their place they have been playing very, very well," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "They came out in the first quarter, mainly the Powers kid, and just shot lights out. It's not like we didn't have a hand in his face, it's not like we left him open. He would come down in transition and just shoot over the top of us. He could take us off the dribble. He kind of exposed us in that first quarter. He had 16 points in the first quarter. We got down pretty good in that first quarter, but to our kids credit they kept fighting back and over the last three quarter we outscored them by seven. The kids never quit even though we knew it would be tough to overcome that. It was fun for the fans, maybe not our fans, but their fans. They shot 85 percent in that first quarter. It was just crazy everything they put up went in."
Buckeye plays host to Mid-Buckeye Conference champion Mansfield Christian (11-4) in a non-conference game on Thursday night. Loy says the Flames are tough to score on. "They have always been just very solid defensively. They really work hard, they get after it, they take away a lot of things that you do well. They play so well together. Coach Kurtz team is always well prepared and just very solid defensively," he said.
The Bucks (14-2,8-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coach's poll in the small school division, and in first place in the "NCC" by a game over Colonel Crawford, travels to Crestline (3-13,1-9) for a conference game on Saturday night. Buckeye won the first game between the two (81-42) in New Washington, but Loy expects a much better game this time. "I think they play well at home, so for us to travel over there will be a tough match-up for us. The first time we played them at home I felt they did a lot of things well. I expect a much tougher game on Saturday. I know they are coming off a loss to Galion and Galion is really tough match-up as well. Anytime we are playing a league game it is very important and we will be sure we are prepared for that one. These next two games, Mansfield Christian and Crestline, are both teams are in our sectional with the draw on Sunday," said Loy.
Published 12/04/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
Or you can post comments on
our new forum
Buckeye Needs Ball Handing, Rebounding Against Galion
North Central Conference leader Buckeye Central plays one of the hotter teams in North Central Ohio, the Galion Tigers, on Friday night, but they may have gotten a little break.
Reports from Galion say that starter, and Wisconsin football recruit Darian Watkins, is out for the remainder of the season with a leg injury suffered in practice this week.
On Monday night the Bucks throttled the Mohawk Warriors (84-42) in a non-conference game. Coach Phil Loy says they were happy to get on the floor and take advantage of an opportunity. "It was our second Monday in a row playing, a little bit out of the norm, but I thought our kids were ready. We didn't know if we were even going to have that game. We came in at one o'clock for a shoot around or practice for this weekend's games, but we heard right at one o'clock that the game was on, so we focused for Mohawk, and I thought the kids did a really nice job," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Mohawk is down this year, they have some really good shooters, but we got out and jumped on them hard. I think we were up 25-9 in the first quarter and the kids played really well."
The Bucks have lost only once this year and a real key has been they have been able to get quick starts, although Loy says that didn't happen when they beat the Tigers (65-56) in December. "That is huge and we want to make sure we are focused and ready to go and we do get off to a quick start, especially games like this weekend when we are on the road we can't afford to be down, so we have to make sure this weekend we get off to a quick start. The last time we played Galion it was a tight game in the first half. We were actually down in the first half and down in the first quarter. That is something we need to focus on for this weekend," he said.
Buckeye (13-1,7-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coach's poll in the small school division, visits Galion (6-7,4-3) on Friday night. The Tigers beat Colonel Crawford (60-51) in their last league game. Loy says they are athletic. "They are playing pretty well right now and playing with a lot of confidence. I thought they played pretty well against us the first time. They are just so athletic and they crash the boards really hard. They have good three point shooters, but they like to push the ball in transition, so this will be a tough match-up for us," said Loy.
To maintain that first place standing by beating the Tigers, Loy says they can't have a bunch of turnovers and they need to rebound well. "We need to take care of the basketball for one and we need to keep them off the boards, number two. If we can do that and we can execute our offense and share the ball I think we will be fine. We were in foul trouble the last time we played them. We were down a couple of guys to start with and then as they game went on we got in early foul trouble. So, we had to really get into our bench early and often and we have to make sure we don't do that," he said.
Published 1/30/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
Or you can post comments on
our new forum
Buckeye With Big Opportunity
Right now, Buckeye Central holds a one game lead over Colonel Crawford in the North Central Conference standings and they play the Eagles on Saturday night in New Washington.
The Bucks (12-1,7-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coach's poll in the small school division, won two more "NCC" games over the last week to extend their winning steak to seven.
They got out to a good start on Saturday night and belted rival Wynford (74-49) and coach Phil Loy thinks they did a solid job of adjusting to the Royals. "Wynford is a team that likes to come out and play different defenses on you and mix things up. They like to press you. They will go some triangle and two, some zone defenses, and some man in the half court. They just like to keep you off balance, but I thought our kids did a really nice job attacking it. We gut up early on them. I thought it was a very nice win," he said.
Then on Monday in a game that was rescheduled from last Friday the Bucks handled Bucyrus (55-40) and Loy says the had a nice fourth quarter. "We had the kids come in on Sunday and practice a little bit. The nice thing was there was no school on Monday, so we were able to come in get more prepared for Bucyrus. That was a good solid win too I thought. Bucyrus has been playing everybody really tough. they got it down to three in the third quarter, but our kids did a nice job of sticking to the game plan and we came out and made some shots in the fourth quarter and outscored them, I think, by 10 in the fourth quarter," said Loy.
What about playing on Monday? Almost no games are originally schedule for that day an Loy says that can make things challenging. "We are in the second half of the season and we are kind of running short on times when you can reschedule games. This Saturday's game doesn't look too promising weather wise and we have a make up game again this coming Monday with Mohawk. So, we are having to adjust and play at different times. It hasn't been real normal here in the month of January, but our kids have done a good job of staying focused and you never know what is ahead of us here," he said.
Colonel Crawford (10-3,5-2) is the only team to beat Buckeye Central this year (60-48) in North Robinson. This time Loy says they have to play better defense. "The first time we played them they played very well. That was the one game defensively that I thought we didn't do as good as job as we have all year. It seemed like we were over thinking things too much on how we wanted to defend certain situations. I thought we gave up too much dribble penetration. They shot the ball very well against us. They are a very well prepared basketball team," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "They have five guys on the floor that can hurt you in different ways and I felt we really didn't defend the way we needed to. We also go into some early foul trouble and we had to sit some kids in the second quarter and they were able to build a lead. Hopefully we can correct of few of those things."
A positive for this week is that the Bucks have had most of the week to get ready for Crawford. Loy says that is a good thing. "I like that. We played Monday and when you look back it's not so bad. I mean it's tough playing in a Monday, but we got a win and you can consider that a very hard practice and now we have four days to prepare for Colonel Crawford. It's better than having one or two days to prepare for them because there is a lot to prepare for with a team like Colonel Crawford that runs a lot of different things and are very good at coming off screens, so it's nice to have four days to prepare for them," said Loy.
A win on Saturday night gives Buckeye Central a two game lead and Loy says that would allow them to breath just a little easier. "This would be huge for us. We would like to have a two game lead, but there is still a lot of basketball to play yet and a lot can happen. We have a lot of tough games in front of us to finish out the league. It would definitely be a nice one to get," he said.
Published 1/24/14
(C) Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
swankonsports@gmail.com
Or you can post comments on
our brand new forum
“NCC” Co-Leaders Face Two Games
Click here to listen to an interview with coach Phil Loy
Buckeye Central shares the lead in the North Central Conference with Colonel Crawford heading into a big double weekend of conference games Friday and Saturday.
The Bucks (10-1,5-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the small school division, kept their share of the conference lead with a (71-56) win over Riverdale last Saturday.
Coach Phil Loy says a quick start, which has been common for the Bucks this year, was a big key against Riverdale. “I thought our kids came out and really played well right from the start. It can be a tough place to play. It is a long bus ride over to Riverdale and you don’t know sometimes how the kids are going to react. I thought we did a good job of getting out of the gate early. In previous games that Riverdale has had this season I know when Colonel Crawford played them they got off to a quick start and Riverdale played even with them and that’s kind of what they did with us. They are very athletic. They like to run and they shoot a lot of threes, so we had to make sure we limited them to one shot. They were off a little in the first quarter and we were able to get a lead on them and hang on,” said Loy.
Bucyrus (8-4,4-2), a game behind the co-leaders, is at Buckeye this week. Loy says the Redmen aren’t very big, but they play very good defense. “They are a very solid team. They don’t have anybody that stands out as a big scorer for them, but they have a lot of guys that can contribute to their offense and defensively they do a pretty good job. I would compare them a lot to a Riverdale. That was just a two point game in overtime the last time they played,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They don’t have that one guy that is going to score a lot of points, but they have multiple guys that can score. They don’t have a whole lot of size, but they have good guard play. The way we prepared for Riverdale is very similar to how we have prepared for Bucyrus.”
With a size advantage, Loy hopes they can get the ball down on the block, especially if his two top scores face some sort of junk defense. “That was something that we looked at against Riverdale. They didn’t have a whole lot of size inside. Bucyrus doesn’t have a whole lot of size inside, but I do think they have strong kids inside even though they don’t have the size. Our post players have been playing very well, finishing very well. We have some decent size there, so that is something we would like to take advantage of if we can, especially if teams are going to try and do anything special with Cade Kaple and Austin Wurm. We need the other guys to step up and that is one area that we really look at,” said Loy.
Saturday night, the Bucks host Wynford (4-7,2-4) in another “NCC” game. The Bucks won the first meeting (65-49) in December. Loy says the Royals will force them to adapt well. “They like to get the ball up the floor and on the defensive end they like to switch things up. They like to do some combination like defenses and zone defenses and really just try to keep you off balance. That is something we have to be ready for. They have good athletes. They have been struggling a little bit lately, but anytime it is a Buckeye Central-Wynford game we expect to get their best and we expect it to be a pretty good game,” he said.
Published 1/17/14
© Swankonsports.com
comments can be e-mailed to
You can also post comments
On our new forum
Buckeye Can’t be Lazy
Buckeye Central has worked its way back into a share of the North Central Conference lead after wins Crestline and Upper Sandusky last weekend.
Now they must keep their collective noses to the grindstone as they travel to Riverdale on Saturday night.
After belting Crestline (81-42) on Friday night behind 30 from Austin Wurm, the Bucks went to Upper Sandusky and knocked off the Rams (68-59), Upper had the league lead heading into last weekend.
Coach Phil Loy knows it was a good win against the Rams because he knew they were going to battle them. “That was a very good win I was a little nervous going over there. They are so athletic. They have good size. They have quick guards. They have guys that can shoot the three. They just play so hard. I thought it was key for us to get off to a good start. We did have a first quarter lead and ended building a 14-point lead at the half. I thought at halftime that this is a team that always seems to make big comebacks,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They play really good in the second half. We jumped out to a 10-0 lead and starting in the third quarter we are up to a 24-point lead and sure enough they became more aggressive, more physical and they started knocking down shots, they started feeding off their defense, and they started running in transition. They cut it to nine in the third quarter. It was one of those games where you never felt comfortable into that final minute and we were still up nine of ten at that point.”
Buckeye (9-1,4-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball poll in the small school division, plays at Riverdale (4-5,1-4) on Saturday and Loy says the Falcons tend to play well at home and they have some shooters. “They beat Galion at Riverdale. They have always played very well at Riverdale. It is a game that we have to make sure we are ready. They are dangerous because they are very guard oriented and they shoot a lot of threes. They like to get up and down in transition. We have to make sure we get out on shooters. If we close out too hard they are really good at getting back door cuts and beat you that way as well. The thing about them is they don’t have a whole lot of depth. They play six guys. Occasionally they play the seventh guy and they don’t have a whole lot of size inside. The guys that do start I think are pretty good and pretty athletic,” he said.
With the longer than normal holiday break, Loy is concerned that his kids will not be sharp come Saturday night. “We have to make sure we are focused when we go over there. Believe it or not we are still on break here. We were supposed to start school Monday and we haven’t back to school yet. We thought we were going to start back (Thursday) and Seneca County was on a level two, and part our school district covers Seneca County, so we had to close school. So, we haven’t been to school since December 20. I worry about that because you are lying around a lot, but so far we have been handling it pretty good. If we don’t have school (Friday) that is going to be another concern. I wonder how these kids are going to be. Are they going to be feeling lazy as we take that long bus ride over to Riverdale? We have to make sure we are ready to go right form the start,” said Loy.
Published 1/10/14
© Swankonsports.com
comments can be e-mailed to
Or you can post comments on
Our new forum
Buckeye Central Faces Two Big “NCC” Games
Buckeye Central is a game behind Upper Sandusky in the North Central Conference race and they play the Rams on Saturday, but they must play an improved Crestline team on Friday night.
Last week, the Bucks pulled away in the second half to beat Galion (65-56) as Cade Kaple scored 25 points and Austin Wurm added 20. Coach Phil Loy says they also got some big play off their bench. “I was really happy with the way we played, especially in the second half. The first half was a really tight game, back and forth, and then the second half I really felt we stepped things up defensively, especially my bench. We didn’t have much of a bench, we were short, we were down two guys that are normally part of our rotation, occasional starters and we didn’t have them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Or bench was a little thin, but I thought the guys that came in off the bench did a really nice job. It was just a good all around effort. Galion is a very athletic team, strong, with good shooters, so I really thought that was a good win for us.”
Loy says the Bucks have good chemistry and they find ways to win games no matter what the situation. “That is what I like about this team. It is a good hard working team and they play well together and it just seems like we stick together when the game is tough and on the line. We play well defensively and things will work out,” he said.
Crestline (3-4,1-2) will be in New Washington to face the Bucks (7-1,2-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the small school division, in a conference game. Crestline is coming off a (79-77) win over Riverdale and Loy says they can do some things. “I told my kids these guys can not be taken lightly. I like that team. I think they play hard. They are very active. I think they have three kids that can score for them from the perimeter. They like to get to the hole. They are very active rebounders. They are putting up some numbers. They are scoring in the upper 70’s. They like to get up and down and can make threes. They have played some people tough. Their record may not be the greatest, but they have lost some really close games to some pretty good competition, so we just have to make sure we go in there with the right mindset,” said Loy.
It’s a double weekend in the “NCC” and Saturday night Bucks are in Upper Sandusky (6-3,3-0) to play the first place Rams. Loy says Upper has good guard play. “I like this team as well, especially going on the road it will make it tougher. They have had some interesting scorers are well. They have a good mix. They have three good guards that can score inside and out. They are very active defensively, they rebound well, they like to get and down the floor, so that is going to be a tough game for us,” he said.
Published 1/03/14
© Swankonsports.com
comments can be e-mailed to
Or you can post comments on
Our brand new forum
Buckeye Looking to Bounce Back Against Galion
Buckeye Central lost their first meeting with Colonel Crawford last week, but the Bucks are a solid team that remains a big factor in the North Central Conference race.
Both teams were unbeaten when they squared off last week in North Robinson. The Eagles won (60-48) and Buckeye Central coach Phil Loy Crawford got some big efforts from some unexpected sources. “We knew going in that this was going to be one our toughest games of the year, especially on the road. Crawford is playing very well. It was a great atmosphere. It was a full house. We didn’t play our best basketball. I thought we played good defensively. We struggled to make some shots offensively. Crawford in the other hand I thought shot the ball very well. They made seven more threes than we did and those add up pretty quick. We thought going in there were three people that we wanted to make sure didn’t go off on us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “McCreary, who is a very good shooter, a very good player, Todd Entenmann, and Nate Klingenberger. We wanted to make sure we held them in check somewhat. McCreary still got 20, but Entenmann and Klingenberger got eight and four, so that was good, but they had other guys that stepped up and scored. Logan Sager scored 17 and shot the ball extremely well and Dylan Gulley, the point guard, who doesn’t normally score a whole lot, ended up having 11, so those 28 points from those two really hurt us. I guess we have to keep that in mind for the next time we play them. They are very good team and have a lot of shooters, execute very well, and played very well on Friday night.”
Buckeye Central (6-1,1-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in a small school division, got right back on track with a (75-39) win over Seneca East on Saturday. Loy says it was good to get back on the floor quickly and play well. “That is the nice things about basketball you usually don’t have to wait a full week and you can get right back and try to get some things corrected. It was a good game for us. It was on the road. It was our fifth straight road game. I thought it was important for us to get off to a quick start. Even though we might not have jumped on them as much as I wanted to in the first half I thought it was a pretty solid game. I thought we had some good contributions from various people. Cade Kaple played an outstaying game. He dished out nine assists and really penetrated their zone. Sam Robertson played a very solid game in the post for us and Austin Wurm shot the ball very well. It was good to get back on track,” said Loy.
Galion (2-4,1-1) will visit New Washington for an “NCC” game on Friday night. Loy says the Tigers have as an athletic line-up as they will face all year. “They are very athletic. It’s a team that scares you. They might not have dominating post play, but they have good guys inside, who are athletic and can rebound. They have quick guards. They have guys that can shoot deep threes. They like to get up and down the floor. They like to press you a little bit. They are a very dangerous type team. That is a team that had Crawford beat and took them right down to the wire and kind of lost it there in the fourth quarter. It is a team where we have to make sure we control the tempo and not let them beat us in transition and not let them beat us on the boards. We have to make shots tough for them. It will be nice that this will be our first home game in a long time. It could be a good ball game,’ said Loy.
Published 12/24/13
© Swankonsports.com
comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Facing Big Week
Buckeye Central, #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the small school division, has proven to be one the best small school basketball teams in North Central Ohio and we find out this week if they are the best when they play at Old Fort on Tuesday and at Colonel Crawford on Friday, both teams are unbeaten.
Old Fort (4-0) is led by guard Hunter Perry, who averages more than 40 points a game, and scored 55 against North Baltimore earlier this month. Buckeye coach Phil Loy says they must make Perry take tough shots. “He is going to be a very tough match-up. He will probably take 80 percent of their shots and we have to guard him as soon as he crosses half court. He is pretty comfortable if he can step right into a shot. We have to do a good job of running guys at him and maybe doubling him up a little bit to try and get the ball out of his hands. We have to make him shoot off balance shots. If we give him a little space he is going to knock down a three that could be 26 feet,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “It’s pretty crazy to see, but he feels comfortable taking that shot and he makes, I would say, 50 percent of his threes from that deep range, which is pretty good. If you get up on him I think he is really good at getting to the basket and maybe getting all of the way to hole or maybe shooting a 15 footer. He is dangerous because he sees the floor real well and if you help too much on him he does a good job of finding open guys for a shot. We will have our hands full. We just have to make sure he doesn’t go off for 40 points against us and try to make some of the other guys beat us.”
Colonel Crawford (5-0), #1 in our small school poll, has a big time score in Conner McCreary, but Loy says they are more than that. “I think there is going to be a great crowd and a great atmosphere at Colonel Crawford the first time around. They are very good and I would like to think that we are up there with them, but it should be a fun match-up. They have a player similar to Hunter Perry in Conner McCreary. I think Conner does a better job of coming off screens and getting his shots, but both of those guys if they get going can put up some big numbers. The thing with Colonel Crawford is they have other guys that can score. They have a good mix of guys that can score inside, guys that can dribble penetrate and get to the hole, they have guys that shoot threes and handle the ball very well. We have our hands full with them too and it would be a nice one to get, especially over there,” said Loy.
Loy says it would be great to steal this one on the road. “You want to get that jump and have that lead in the league. You don’t want to get behind and force yourself to where you definitely have to win the second one. There are other teams in our league that can knock people off. I think Galion is a very good, athletic team and that definitely would be a tough match-up and there are other teams that can knock teams off as well. It would be a nice one to get early on,” he said.
Published 12/17/13
© Swankonsports.com
comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Looking to New Challenges
So far Buckeye Central is three for three and they have looked very good in winning those three games.
This week they play their most traditional rival in the Wynford Royals in their first North Central Conference game and then Saturday play the high scoring Old Fort Stockaders.
Last Saturday, Austin Wurm scored 22 points and the Bucks took a (17-8) lead after the first quarter and went on to beat Mansfield St. Peter’s (67-47) in non-conference play.
Coach Phil Loy thought that first quarter was crucial. “I think it was key for us to get off to a quick start because if you let a team like St. Pete’s hang around and it’s still a tight game in the third and fourth quarter, especially playing over there it’s tough to pull out a win. Our kids did a good job of getting out in transition and making shots early. I though we had some good stops. They have some tough players. They have three players that can be tough match ups. They are without the (Cole) Phillips kid probably all season or at least most of the season. They want to get up and down the floor a lot now. They get our passing lanes and look for steals. They have some good athletes and they can make some shots. I was worried going into that game, I thought the key was getting a quick start, and we did,” said Loy.
Buckeye (3-0) will be at Wynford (2-2) for the conference opener for both on Friday. Loy says coach Steve Mohr has the Royals playing hard and well. “I got a chance to see them play last Thursday and they are definitely an athletic team. They have some good looking athletes there and they do want to get up and down the floor. They like to run in transition. Defensively they mix up some man and some zone and some combination type defenses and try to keep you off balance. They have good guards and they had good inside play the night I saw them play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The Glowaski kid had 22 points. They just work very hard. Steve has them working hard and running the floor. It’s another situation where we are going on the road and we need to make sure we get off to a quick start. Anytime we play Wynford it really doesn’t matter, it’s going to be a good battle.”
The Bucks are considered one of the favorites for the league title and Loy feels a win Friday would be a big boost. “You want to get off to a good start if you want to win the league. You want to get off to a quick start and not have to fight from behind. This is a game that I think if we play extremely well we should be okay, but we definitely want to make sure we do that,” he said.
Saturday night shapes up to be a very interesting non-conference game as the Bucks visit Old Fort (3-0) to meet the Stockaders. Hunter Perry scored 55 points in Old Fort’s (89-76) win over North Baltimore last Friday. Loy says they can’t let him explode. “I hope he doesn’t do it on us. He is a very good player, but to score 55 is just unheard of any more. They did lose some key players from last year, the post player Dalton Perry, and they had some good perimeter shooters. They had a nice mix of kids last year. We hung with them for a while and ended up losing by 14 last year. We didn’t have one our better players in Cade Kaple when we played them. This year I think is going to be a tough match-up as well. We have to make sure we defend Hunter Perry. He will definitely be a guy we pay a lot of attention to. I would like to hold him to 20. I don’t know how good the rest of their personnel is to put up numbers, but we can not let him score 30, 40, 50 points,” said Loy.
Published 12/10/13
© Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central off to fast Start
Buckeye Central put together two of the better efforts of any school in North Central Ohio last week and now they want to build on that Saturday afternoon.
Last week, Buckeye played an excellent first game of the season in beating Plymouth (63-49) and followed that up with a solid game against Midland Athletic League power New Riegel (57-25) on Saturday night.
Coach Phil Loy thought they did a lot of good things in both games. “I just thought we had a really good weekend. I thought the kids played extremely hard and I thought we played well together. We got off to quick starts in both games. I thought defensively we just put a lot of emphasis on pressuring them and it seemed to work out good,” he said.
A good start yes, but now Loy says it is about maintaining that level of play as the season continues. “We have to keep pushing. We got two big wins, but that is over with. We have to make sure we are playing the same way we have been and getting better and I think we will be okay,” he said.
Coaches tend to be perfectionist and Loy says he thought in the second half of the New Riegel game they lost their focus a little bit and started turning the ball over too much. “We are a little young in certain spots. We are getting some good minutes out of kids that played JV last year for us. Saturday night I thought we had too many turnovers. It was a game that was up and down quite a bit. We were pressuring and trying to get up and down. We forced New Riegel into 32 turnovers, but I was concerned we had too many ourselves. As they game went on and we got ourselves a big lead we lost a little bit of focus and got careless with the ball. We need to cut our turnovers in half. That’s a big thing we have to make sure we work on,” said Loy.
Buckeye’s road game this Saturday at Mansfield St. Peter’s has been moved to one in the afternoon as to not conflict with Ohio State’s Big Ten Championship football game against Michigan State in Indianapolis.
St. Peter’s (1-1) beat South Central (63-61) in overtime last week, but that win came at a heavy cost as they likely have lost center Cole Phillips for the season. Loy says without him the Spartans are still a very athletic team. “I understand that Phillips is hurt and that is really too bad for his senior year and I’m sot sure how long he’s out, but that affects their play inside, but they are very athletic and have some quick guards,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I really like the Rall kid. I really like the Blunk kid. Rall is a good solid all around player. Some of their other kids are just athletic kids. David Hall, maybe he might start now, if he does, he is just a very athletic kid with long arms. They are going to play hard and try and force you into some turnovers. This will be our first road game of the year and playing at one ‘clock is going to be a little bit different. They are definitely not a team we are going to overlook.”
Published 12/6/13
© Swankonsports.com
Comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central With Challenging Start
Buckeye Central looks like they could be one of the better boys’ basketball teams in the North Central Conference and maybe in the division four district.
They will find out right away what kind of team they have this season as host both Plymouth and New Riegel in non-conference play in New Washington this weekend.
Coach Phil Loy says the preseason has drug on long enough and his kids are ready to play a game for real. “I think the kids are ready to play somebody new rather than beat up on each other here in practice. We have had five really good scrimmages. I was really happy with the way we progressed throughout the preseason. I am really interested in how we do on Friday night. As of right now I think we are ready,” he said.
Coach Loy’s son Grant is still experiencing some back problems. The coach says they hope to have him back soon, but they have done fine without him so far. “We still have one that is slowly trying to get back into things. My son Grant has been nursing some back injuries that he got right at the beginning of football season. He had to sit out the whole football season with some stress fractures in his lower back. He will be back soon we hope. He is starting to do more and more each day, so we will see how that goes. We definitely need him, but we didn’t have him all preseason and the kids did great without him. I know he is getting anxious to play and hopefully that is soon,” said Loy.
Plymouth and Buckeye Central have developed quite a good rivalry. Buckeye won the non-conference game (51-39) last season, but the Big Red won the tournament game (43-37) last March. Loy says Plymouth has a well balanced team. “They are pretty balanced. They have the main part of their team back from last year and they had a really great year. That was the first team we played last year and the last team we played. They beat us in the district semi-finals over at Willard,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I know we are looking forward to playing them again. They will definitely be a tough match-up. They have one of the best big men in the area. Very athletic, very skilled and their guard play is really good. They have good three point shooters, so this will be a good opening test for us.”
New Riegel has a new coach in former JV coach David Losey. Loy says they will have a lot of new players too, but that never seems to matter with the Blue Jackets. “We always play New Riegel early and I always give my AD a hard time about that because they don’t have football and it always seems like they are in mid-season form on week one. It’s like boy you really put the pressure on us early on. Every year they are good. They graduated eight seniors last year and they have a new coach, but I would expect nothing different. They have great JV teams and they always have guys that can step right in and fill those spots. They always seem to be a team that works very hard. We haven’t beaten them in several years. We’ll see how Saturday night goes,” said Loy.
Published 11/29/13
© Swankonsports.com
comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Central Stepping up
Buckeye Central chased Colonel Crawford in the silver division of the North Central Conference last year before finishing in second, a game back, and they look like they have the kind of team that can be successful this year too.
There have been some depth concerns this year for the Bucks, especially with an injury to the coach’s son Grant Loy, but Phil Loy says his players have done a lot of good things during the preseason. “I have been pretty happy so far with the preseason. The kids are working really hard. We return four lettermen. We graduated two seniors last year. We had a couple of kids that deiced not to go out, some role players for us, a couple of letter winners. Everybody that I have right now has been playing really hard. They have good attitudes and I like what I see so far,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We are doing some good things. Defensively I am really happy. One of my returning lettermen that had been hurt all through football season, I not sure when I going to get him back, it’s my son, who has stress fractures in his lower back. He is still waiting to get cleared to play. Hopefully that is soon. I was little worried about our depth because of that, but I have been really happy with how the other guys have stepped up.”
Right now, coach Loy’s biggest concern is making sure they are consistent at both ends of the floor. “We just need to keep getting better at what we are doing. We do a lot of good things and then there are times when we have lapses. We need to be more consistent, just with the little things, defensively, and just execution offensively. We are asking some of the JV kids to step up. It’s a different level, just getting them used to playing with some of the older guys. I think if these guys continue to grow I think we will be okay,” he said.
Although he thinks Colonel Crawford is the favorite in the “NCC” this year, remember no divisions and no Ontario, but Loy thinks the Bucks can challenge too. “I think right now with the attitude and the work ethic that we have. The kids are playing hard and I think we can be right there. Crawford is going to be the favorite in the league right now with what they have back and the success they have had over the last several years. I like Galion with their athleticism and what they have coming back. I think there are a lot of other teams that are going to be right there in the mix, Upper Sandusky, Bucyrus, Wynford, traditionally they are going to be good and competing, but I think we can be right there,” said Loy.
Published 11/22/13
© Swankonsports.com
comments can be e-mailed to
Buckeye Starting to Find it
Buckeye Central has won its last three games and four of its last six as the young Bucks are starting to understand what it takes to become a good team.
Monday night, they downed Lucas (6-1) in a silver division game in the North Central Conference. Coach Chad Jensen says they are beginning to do the things you need to do to win. “We are doing the little things much better. We are playing better defense and have better situational hitting and having better at bats and throwing strikes more consistently. We played well (Monday) night against Lucas,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday after the win, “We got good pitching and good hitting. We played well over the weekend against South Central. Last week we beat Crestline. We got beat by Galion and Ontario, but those two are outstanding teams. We are getting better. The key is we have to continue to do that and that is really, really important because we have a big week coming up.”
Monday night’s game was played at Buckeye’s old field in downtown New Washington rather than the high school due to poor field conditions at the new field.
Buckeye Central is not a team that is going to pound an opponent with offensive firepower, so Jensen says they have to be very sound in the fundamentals of the game. “You have to do the little things well all of the time. We really stress fundamentals and making the routine play and doing that all of the time. Our kids get tired of constantly doing tons of reps, but we really believe that. You get lots of reps in practice and pre game and that will help in the game. We really have to continue to get better. We are not where we need to be yet, but we are getting there slowly and surely,” said Jensen.
The Bucks play Crestline on Tuesday, Lucas again on Wednesday and Upper Sandusky on Friday in conference games, plus talented Seneca East, #2 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coach’s poll in the small school division, in non-conference play on Thursday.
Temperatures are expected to warm into the 80’s this week and Jensen hopes that helps to warm up the bats a little bit. “It has been a cold wet spring so far and we have gotten most of our game in, but it hasn’t been real warm. When it gets warmer kids are looser and move better. We are hoping that helps us. We are still learning how to play varsity baseball. We are still at that point where we are still a little bit inconsistent with the bats. As long as we have good, smart approaches at the plate I think we will continue to improve,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central Making Progress
Buckeye Central seems to be a team that is moving forward as their younger kids gain needed experience.
The Bucks have two wins in their first eight games, but their coach believes they are making strides in the right direction.
Wynford beat the Bucks (5-4) in a non-conference game between “NCC” members on Monday. Coach Chad Jensen says they just couldn’t hold on. “We lost to a very good Wynford team on Monday. They are an outstanding team and have some excellent veteran players. We were ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh. We were ahead the whole game and Wynford chipped away and scored a couple on us in the bottom of the seventh to win it. Our kids stepped up and continue to get better,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They made plays in the ballgame that kept us in that game. We got excellent pitching from our senior Bryce Christie. We had some clutch hits early in the ballgame. Our kids continue to get better. It’s unfortunate that we lost. We can definitely see the positives.”
Sometimes lessons learned through experience can be tough. Jensen thinks Monday was a good example. Wynford just knew what they had to do to win. “I was talking to my assistant coach after we lost and there have been many times when we had veteran teams and Wynford would be a lot like we are now, young and inexperienced. They would be ahead of us and we would steal it from them in the seventh being a veteran team. This time the tables were turned. John Amicone does a great job over there. We respect Wynford a lot. It was a situation where they made plays with some of their veteran guys. We can learn from it,” said Jensen.
On Thursday, weather permitting, and it looks like it probably won’t, the Bucks play host to Northmor (4-3) in a non-conference game. Jensen says he looks forward to game against the Golden Knights. “We have a lot of respect for Buck Workman and Northmor and that is why we play them. He has done a great job down there. They are consistent year after year. He gets the most out of his kids. He is one of the best coaches in the area. I really enjoy coaching against Buck. We always have really good ballgames. We love to play unfortunately it doesn’t look very good with the weather, but hopefully if we don’t play we can reschedule them,” he said.
Buckeye Central Focused on Improvement
Buckeye Central is the defending silver division champion in the North Central Conference. When it comes to the defense of that title don’t count them out just yet.
Buckeye lost to New Riegel (14-7) in non-conference play on Wednesday.
The Bucks (1-3) feature a much younger line up than they have over the last several years. Coach Chad Jensen is confident they will be much better in May than they are right now. “There is no doubt that we are learning on the fly. I’ll tell you we got better (Wednesday) night. The score may not show that. We got shut out by Seneca East on Monday. We got a good day of practice on (Tuesday). We go over to New Riegel and they are a veteran team with 11 letter winners,” he told Swankonsports.com Wednesday night. “You know, we were up for a while and hung with them. We hit the ball as well as we did all year. We communicated better on defense. We got bunts down. We did make some mistakes, no doubt about it. We are coming along. We are getting better. It’s baby steps, but we continue to improve. That’s all we can ask.”
Jensen says there are a number of aspects of the game in which they need to show improvement if they are going to start winning games more consistently. “I know this seems real general, but it’s everything. How to hold runners in the middle infield. How to communicate cuts and to protect with two strikes. How to advance a runner and getting good leads from second base and throwing strikes, swinging at good pitches and understanding fastball counts. I could go on and on, but there are a lot of things that quite frankly we have taken for granted with the veteran teams we have had the last couple of years and now we are kind of re-teaching that stuff. That’s okay because they are getting it. We will take some lumps, but hopefully we will continue to improve,” said Jensen.
With a young team like this Jensen says they are searching for what would be their best lineup by going with a lot of different combinations. “We have played four games and we have switched lineups every game and I generally don’t do that. In the past I have started a lineup and kind of stuck with it for a while. We have had different kids start in different positions every game. That will be the same (Thursday). We are just trying to see. We have four freshmen on our roster and four sophomores and only five juniors and seniors. There was one point in the game (Wednesday) when we had a freshman in left, a sophomore in center and a freshman in right. We are definitely taking some lumps. We are going to be okay. Our kids work hard and they always have. They listen and they are coachable,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Looking Better
Buckeye Central was a very experienced baseball team the last two years and that resulted in a lot of success. This year they are going to be counting on a lot of younger players in a spring that is going to be a process.
Coach Chad Jensen has been impressed with the process he has seen in a spring that has been trying due to the cold and wet weather. “We are really improving a lot. We have a great group of kids that are really coachable. They want to get better. We improve every day. There is no doubt about it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “It is really just our lack of field time that is the biggest thing we are going to have. We are going to have to grow on the fly. It’s going to be on the job training for us. We are definitely looking forward to getting the season going.”
Because the rain and snow it has been almost impossible to get out on the field. Jensen says there first game situation is likely to be a real game. “We have been on the field three times and we have tried to get as much as we can. It’s going to be learning on the fly. Our pregame infield is going to be a practice for us. That is how we are going to approach it. Every game is going to be about getting better and just seeing where we are,” he said.
The Bucks have a lack of experience in almost every position, but Jensen says that is no more apparent then on the pitcher’s mound. “We don’t have a lot of experience, but we do have kids that can throw strikes. We have kids that have worked hard at it and have really gotten better as the spring has progressed. I think we have some arms that we can throw out there. I wouldn’t say we have an ace, but I think we have a handful of kids that can come our there and throw well on a given day. With our lack of experience we are going to see who emerges as the one and the two. Right now, we don’t really know, we only return 12 innings from last year out of 199,” said Jensen.
Buckeye is scheduled to play Tiffin Calvert in a doubleheader on Saturday. Jensen, of course, isn’t sure, but he thinks they have a chance to play. He thinks the design of their new field helps. “I’d say it is pretty difficult to tell. It really depends on whether we get any more precipitation. I think if it doesn’t snow anymore. If it doesn’t rain anymore I think our field could be playable. The biggest thing that concerns me is it’s going to get cold at night. It freezes and it thralls, which causes that moister. We are optimistic. We are planning on playing on Saturday. I would say we have as good a shot as any with our field being all grass with dirt pits,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central Building With Young Kids
Buckeye Central was a baseball team loaded with experience last year, but this year they will be counting on a number of underclassmen, including freshmen.
Coach Chad Jensen says they are a team that is going to have to learn what varsity baseball is all about and quickly. “We lost eight seniors from last year’s 23-win “NCC” silver division championship team. We have a lot of holes to fill. We have four returning letter winners. We have three seniors and two juniors, that’s five total. We have 20 freshmen and sophomores in the program. We are definitely going to be young. We think we have some talent, but it’s at a younger level. Hopefully we can mature quickly to complete,” he said.
In high school sports players are still learning and their improvement is more noticeable than at any other level. Jensen says a lot of his players are facing a pretty sizeable learning curve. “We are going to ask our kids to step up and play some roles that maybe they haven’t played before. We have kids that have to come form JV to varsity and some in cases from junior high to varsity. We are definitely asking a lot,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “It’s a marathon not a sprint. We know that we are going to take some lumps, but the kids are working their butts off. They are coachable and they are listening. They expect to win and they expect success, so that’s really good. Our biggest problem now is just getting on the field with the weather. Hopefully we can get some scrimmages in soon.”
If the Bucks are to claim another silver division title their main competition will come from Colonel Crawford. Jensen says Riverdale is going to be pretty good too. “In our “NCC” silver I don’t think there is any question that Colonel Crawford has a leg up on everybody. They have some good kids coming back. They have been competitive and I definitely think they are the one to look for. Riverdale has a couple of pitchers. Sometimes they get over looked because they are over in Mt. Blanchard. They have a couple of pitchers that are pretty good. They played us very tough last year and we were pretty good. I think they will definitely be a team to look at. In the black I just think there is no question it’s Ontario. I think it is their’s to lose honestly,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Must Handle the Press
Buckeye Central has been one of the more consistent basketball teams in North Central Ohio this year and they hope to be able to continue that as they play in the division four district semis on Tuesday night.
They meet Plymouth (13-11) in the division four districts at Willard High School.
Buckeye (15-8) beat Plymouth (51-39) back in the first game of the year on November 30. Bucks coach Phil Loy doesn’t know how much of a factor that will be, but he does look for a close contest. “It was the very first game we played at their place. I think both teams are still pretty similar. Personnel wise we are pretty much the same. We were a young team back then and I would like to think that we are better team than we were then. Plymouth on the other hand is still a young team as well. They are a team that kind of went through a funk there in the middle of the season and lost some games and now I think they are playing very good basketball. (Tuesday) night should be a very good game,” said Loy.
Tyrell Edmiston is a first team all district player for Plymouth. He is 6’4” and plays everywhere, especially on defense. Loy says he is an exceptional passer. “You have to pay so much attention to Tyrell Edmiston. He is so good. He is so athletic. I think he is one of the better big men in the lower divisions in this area because he is so athletic and he finishes so well. He has great hands and is such a great passer,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “If you look to double down on him to take away anything around the basket he is such a good passer that is how Beebe gets a lot of his scoring by cutting to the basket and Tyrell does a good job finding him. Beebe is very dangerous. He is their leading scorer. He can shoot it from the outside. They look to post him up some. Those two guys especially are guys we have to key on.”
Plymouth generates a lot of their offense from their press defense and Loy says they must handle that press without a lot of turnovers or it’s going to be difficult to beat Plymouth. “We told the kids this week that you have to be able to handle the press. You have to be patient. Tyrell does such a good job on the front of that press because he has such long arms. He does a very good job of trapping you without fouling. They get a lot of tips out of that. A lot of their scoring comes off that press. The first time we played them we did not handle that press well, especially late in the game. In the fourth quarter when we were up 10 or 11 and we let that press get to us a little bit and before we knew it it was a three point game and they had the ball. Once we settled down we kind of opened that up again. That is something we have to make sure we do a good job of taking care of the basketball and being patient against that press,” said Loy.
What makes Buckeye tough to guard is they have shown pretty good balance this year on offense, which means Plymouth must guard the whole floor. “You don’t want teams to be able to key on just a couple of players. I thought last Friday night was a very good balance scoring out of our team. We had five guys in double figures anywhere between 10 and 15 points. That makes us tougher to guard and that much better of a team,” he said.
Buckeye Central Needs Playmakers
Buckeye has been one of the more consistently performing teams in North Central Ohio this year and it led them to a runner up finish in the silver division of the North Central Conference.
They did lose their final regular season game to Wynford (55-47) and that loss allowed Colonel Crawford to claim an outright division title.
The Bucks (14-8) face Mansfield St. Peter’s (16-7) in the division four sectional final on Friday night at Ontario High School.
One thing that coach Phil Loy wants is a better start to the game than they have had in the last three. “It was an interesting week of practice. It’s hard to say. I think our kids will be ready. We did not come out in the first quarter and play very well against Wynford and that’s a concern of mine because that has happened three games in a row,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Upper Sandusky they jumped on us early and we go to Lucas and don’t play exceptionally well either and Wynford jumps on us hard to start the game. That is something we can not afford to do against a team like Mansfield St. Pete’s during a tournament game. I am a little concerned there. We have to make sure we are mentally ready to play for Friday night.”
It’s not like they need to lead by 10 after the first quarter of the game, but Loy says they need to find a rhythm in the first eight minutes of the game. “We have got to do things to get guys in the flow of the game early. We have to make sure that defensively we are very solid and offensively we take good shots, high percentage shots. If we do that I think we will be okay,” he said.
Buckeye beat St. Peter’s (55-53) with a couple of late free throws on December 8. Loy says the Spartans have a well balanced team. “I like their guard play. I like their inside game. They like to get up and down the floor. They have got some guys that can shoot the ball. A number of kids that can shoot it from the perimeter. They play well together. He has got them playing well. They seem like they are really into it and playing well together. It’s going to be a tough match-up,” he said.
Joe Rall is a second team all district performer for St. Peter’s and Loy agrees that he is their best player because he is physical and can do a lot of things. “He is the biggest concern that we have. The other ones are good players and they can get hot like Bacon and Howell. Rall is the engine of that team. He can do so many things for them. He runs the point a little bit. He is a decent outside shooter. He plays so hard. He is strong inside. He reminds me a lot of Cade Kaple on our team. He is a guy that can do multiple things. He is a tough match-up,” said Loy.
Neither team has that much size except for St. Peter’s reserve 6’8” Cole Phillips and Loy thinks rebounding will be a big factor. “We have to make plays. We have to be fundamentally sound. We have to do all of the little things. We have to make sure that we keep them off of the boards. I think they are a good offensive rebounding team. Down the stretch we have to be able to make free throws,” he said.
Title within Buckeye’s Grasp
IF betting were allowed on high school basketball Colonel Crawford would likely have been established as something like a 9-5 favorite to win the silver division of the North Central Conference.
They still might, but they also might share it with Buckeye Central or have to settle for second place.
Right now, the two Crawford County schools share first place with 10-2 conference records. Crawford plays Upper Sandusky and Buckeye hosts arch rival Wynford.
Last week, the Bucks (14-7,10-2) beat Upper (45-34) in a game that was not typical of most Upper Sandusky games over the last couple of seasons. Buckeye coach Phil Loy says they were able to rally and win. “Over at least the last two and half quarters we played very well. We got down 20-7 early in the second quarter and we finished out the second quarter outscoring them 8-2 to cut it back to seven points at halftime. The kids did a great job of coming back in the third quarter. We went on a 7-0 run and tied the game up,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The game was kind of back and forth them until early in the fourth quarter and we kind of pulled away a little to where it was six or eight. Upper Sandusky wants to have that early lead and they want to control the tempo. With us taking the lead there in fourth quarter it forced them to play a little more hurry up and that worked to our advantage.”
They kept their share with a win over winless Lucas (68-47) on Saturday night. Loy says they did a lot of the little things right. “Cade Kaple did not play. He had banged his head Friday night diving for a loose ball against Upper Sandusky and it was just a precautionary thing. It is nothing major, but we thought it wasn’t worth it. We went down there and Lucas was pretty fired up. I thought they played very well and played hard. The thing that kept them in was they were 9-17 from behind the arc. They shot it extremely well. We were sill able to come away with a 20-point win. It was a good win to win on the road. Now we turn our focus to this last game,” said Loy.
This has not been one of the better years in the storied history of the Wynford program. However, Loy knows the Royals will be fired up to play them. “This is a big rivalry game for us, probably the biggest, Buckeye-Wynford. We expect to get their best shot on Friday. They are coming off a tough run here. They have played some pretty tough teams and maybe not playing their best, but we expect them to be playing their best against us this Friday,” he said.
Wynford (8-13,5-7) has shown the ability to score this year and Loy is counting on what has been a pretty solid and consistent Buckeye Central defense. “This is a game that we really have to focus on being sound defensively. They have two guards in Powers and Fortner that can put up some big numbers. They have a big kid inside in the Carter kid that is leading the league in rebounding and is in double digits scoring. They have a couple of other kids that can do some scoring for them as well. They are capable of putting up big numbers. They have in the past. I think our kids will definitely be aware of that. We have to make sure we do a good job shutting them down, just like we have been for the most part all year. We have done a really good job defensively on the good teams. That has allowed us to stay in games and win games,” said Loy.
Buckeye Central Must Keep Winning
If Buckeye Central wants to claim part of the silver division title in the North Central Conference they need to beat Upper Sandusky and Lucas this weekend and likely Wynford next.
They share the lead with Colonel Crawford who ends the season with Wynford and Upper Sandusky. Both of the schools have two losses in conference play.
Last Saturday, Buckeye beat Bucyrus (38-20) in a low scoring game to keep their share of the lead. Coach Phil Loy says it was won on the defensive end of the floor. “It was definitely a low scoring game, but I thought defensively we played very well. We didn’t necessarily shoot the ball very well ourselves, but I thought we did a very good job at the other end of the floor. It turned out for us. It was a nice win. We had a good crowd. Now, we know we have to get better this week and I feel we had a good week of practice,” he said.
Upper Sandusky (11-8,7-3), in second place in the black division, comes to New Washington on Friday night. Of course, the Rams will make 15 passes in a possession. Loy says the start of the game will be important for them. “We have to be very smart (Friday) night with our game. Every possession is important,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “What we do not want to do is get down and get down early because they are a very patient team, especially when they have the lead. They really want to control the tempo. If they have the lead they are really going to slow the game down and they really like that low scoring game. We have to make sure we value every possession and we are smart and don’t take bad shots and we don’t turn the ball over.”
The first quarter is so critical against Upper because Loy says that is where it will be determined which team has the tempo and you don’t want that to be Upper. “We want to make sure we get off to a quick start and then they play our tempo because otherwise it could be long night. They defend so well because they are a physical type team. If we are down and struggling to score it is trouble for us,” he said
The Bucks (12-7,9-2) complete the double weekend at Lucas (0-16,0-10) on Saturday night. Loy says that is going to be a game that is about them getting better. “Saturday is another “NCC” game and game that is very important to us, especially if we can get a win on Friday. We have got to go in there with the right mind set and make sure we become a better basketball team when we leave there and play not to have a sloppy game. Yeah, we will be confident that we can go in and win that game, but we have to make sure we keep getting better. I think that is what that game will be all about,” said Loy.
Buckeye Faces Two Important Games
Buckeye Central plays two games this week that will have a bearing on their seed in the division four sectional tournament and one of them they need to maintain their share of the lead in the silver division of the North Central Conference.
They travel to Mansfield Christian (14-3) on Thursday night, the Flames are in the same sectional. They host Bucyrus on Saturday night in an “NCC: game.
` Last week, they downed Riverdale (58-43) in a conference game to maintain a tie with Colonel Crawford for the top spot. Buckeye coach Phil Loy says they need great focus. “We have to keep staying focused here and make sure we are doing what we need to do. We know that Crawford is a very good team and chances are they aren’t going to lose. They have a couple of tough tests in front of them. We expect them to find a way to win, at least that is the approach we are taking. We have to make sure we are taking care of business,” he said.
Buckeye (10-7,8-2) is a team with a number of first year varsity players and Loy says they have been maturing quickly to the varsity game. “I like the effort that we are getting, I like the chemistry that we have. It is kind of a share all attitude here, nobody is in for themselves. We are playing really together as a team here. I think that is a big reason why we have been successful here lately. We are a young team, but we are a team that is growing pretty fast. The kids are learning just by playing together and I think that is helping us out a lot,” said Loy.
Late last month, the Flames suffered a knee injury to Ryan Smith and a concussion to Bryce Ernsberger and that has dealt a blow to their season. Loy says it really affects the rotation of their players. “It is a typical coach Kurtz type team in that they play extremely hard. It’s just very unfortunate, he went through the same thing last year in that two of his better players go down with injuries about the same time,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “It really affects them. Hopefully they will be okay and will have a speedy recovery, but it does hurt their depth when you lose two players of their caliper on a team like that. They are also a team that just plays extremely hard.”
However, Loy says Christian still does a number of things well and they will have to ready to play. “It is always a tough test when you go over to Mansfield Christian. They still have good athletes. They still have pretty good basketball players there that we have to be concerned with. They have a young freshman that is really playing well right now. I really like their point guard. He does a nice job of running the show and getting them into their offense. They have got another kid in Caleb Young that is a very good shooter and a very good athlete. Even with their injuries they have had a very successful year. It is definitely not anybody that we can overlook. It’s a team that we have got to be concerned with. This is a game that can mean a lot as far as seedings go in our sectional draw,” said Loy.
Right now, it’s a battle between Buckeye Central, Mansfield Christian as well as Mansfield St. Peter’s for that second through fourth seed.
Now, on Saturday Buckeye and Bucyrus are attempting something rather unique. “I am not sure how this all got started. I think we are the only ones in the area doing this. Both JVs, boys and girls, are playing at Bucyrus in the afternoon and then later on in the evening we come back to Buckeye and the varsity girls are playing at six o’clock with the varsity boys following. We have to make sure our kids stay focused and stay in their same routine.” Said Loy.
Bucyrus (4-13,2-8) has struggled to get wins this year. Loy believes they are prepared. “We have to make sure our kids are ready to play against a dangerous Bucyrus team. I guess the thing to our benefit is we have three games in a row, going back to Riverdale, those teams are very similar. They don’t have big inside presence, they are very guard oriented, and they like to shoot the three. It has kind of helped us as far as preparation,” he said.
Buckeye Understands the Assignment
After losing to Ontario last week, the Buckeye Central Bucks have slipped back into a share of the silver division in the North Central Conference with Colonel Crawford.
Both are 7-2 in conference games.
Ontario, the black division leader, beat Buckeye (52-37) last Saturday in conference action. Bucks coach Phil Loy says the Warriors were just too athletic for them to handle in many cases. “I thought our kids played extremely hard. We got off to a decent start then we allowed Ontario to get some buckets in transition and we knew this could happen and we kind of lost focus toward the end of the first quarter and they were able to run off eight points there to finish the quarter. That lead stayed until the beginning of the fourth quarter and we made a little run and got it back to five, but their length, their size, I think just hurt us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are deep, the play 11 guys, and we were playing only seven. I think playing on a big floor and both teams wanting to run a little bit it just kind of wore us down. I was happy overall with the way we played and we knew Ontario is a very good team. It was a tough loss, but we have to keep going from there.”
Buckeye (9-7, 7-2) plays at Riverdale (3-10,2-6) in a silver division game on Friday night. Loy says they need to get right back on the beam. “Us and Crawford are tied for the lead in the silver division. We have to get back on track. We have to get back to winning. The kids have been playing pretty well and hopefully last week is not a let down. I also want our kids to know that even though Riverdale is 3-10 they are a very good team. They are a very dangerous team, especially at Riverdale,” he said.
The Falcons record may not be very good, but Loy says they have outstanding guard play and that makes them a dangerous team on any night. “A couple of weeks ago Crawford only beat them by 10. Galion last week had to have a little bit of luck there down the stretch, some missed free throws by Riverdale, and Galion ends up winning by one in overtime. The thing with Riverdale is coach Taylor has them playing extremely hard. They are not a big team. They are not going to overwhelm you inside, but they have a lot of good guards and they are good shooters. Because they play so hard, if they get on a little streak and gets some threes we have to make sure we defend very well (Friday) night,” said Loy.
Riverdale is located in Mt. Blanchard, south of Findlay, and that is fair piece for anyone else in the league, plus Loy says the Falcons always seem to shoot better at home. “This is an hour drive for us. It is a long trip, just like going to Lucas. Riverdale always seems to play very well at home. Every time through my years if we win at home it is definitely a lot tougher game on the road. That is a place they play well and shoot the ball well. We have to make sure we execute and we defend,” he said.
Buckeye Central on Top
I must be honest, I fall into the category of people that are surprised that the Buckeye Central Bucks are first place in the silver division of the North Central Conference.
Based on returning talent it looked like Colonel Crawford was a big favorite to win, but that is why you play the games. Last Friday, the Bucks beat Colonel Crawford (49-42) in North Robinson. Coach Phil Loy says it was a tremendous win for his team. “Especially going on the road. Colonel Crawford always has a great atmosphere with a packed house. Our kids were pretty pumped up. We went into that game and actually shot it well early on, which allowed us to build a 16-7 lead to start the game and we were able to hang on. Defensively I thought we played really well in that game. We rebounded pretty decent, but it was just making shots early. We shot it really well, especially from two. I think we were like 80-some percent from two point range in that game,” said Loy.
When they started to make shots, Loy says that affected the rest of their game in a positive way. “When you start making shots, we start getting comfortable and feeling good about yourself the energy level picks up at the defensive end and that helped us out a lot. I think we kind of fed off of even our crowd, especially late. Down the stretch a concern of mine was we were making free throws early, but down the stretch we were missing front ends of one and ones and keeping them in the game. There in the last minute we were able to make enough to survive,” he said.
Buckeye (8-6,6-1) then backed up their win over Crawford by beating Crestline (55-25) on Saturday night. They play the Bulldogs (3-10,1-5) again this Thursday in Crestline in a game being made up from earlier this season. Loy says he can’t remember a back to back situation like this in the regular season. “Our athletic director Jan Bates says he doesn’t think in his time being involved in sports that that has ever happened where we have played them back to back like that home and home. We won kind of convincingly the first time we played them, but I expect it to be a lot tougher game on Thursday playing at their place,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “It’s a new facility and their kids and fans are going to be pretty pumped up about playing in that gym. They won their first game in there. My biggest concern is we won convincingly the first time around. We didn’t play the greatest and I want to make sure our kids don’t have a let down and overlooking them and to the next game.”
Buckeye plays black division leader Ontario on Saturday and must play Upper Sandusky down the road too. Loy says he knows they have to keep winning. “I think every team that we play we can compete with and it’s going to fun. We haven’t been in that position in while. We control our own destiny, but we also know that Colonel Crawford is a very good team and they are going to be breathing down our neck. I don’t expect them to lose again, so we have to make sure we take care of ourselves. Anytime you are in the hunt for a league title that last month is very exciting,” said Loy.
Buckeye Getting it Together
Buckeye Central is starting to play some pretty good basketball and they hope they can become a challenge to Colonel Crawford for the silver division title in the “NCC.”
Last week, they picked up two critical wins at Bucyrus (54-37) last Thursday and (58-48) at Galion on Saturday. The Bucks have won four of their last five and coach Phil Loy says he is very pleased. “I am happy with the way we played this past week with a good win over Bucyrus and a very good win at Galion, both of them on the road. That was a huge win for us. Our guys are starting to put things together. It helps when you are healthy. We get everybody back. We were battling a little bit of the flu bug there the pervious week,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday night, “Then we got the return Cade Kaple, who was out since game one. We are starting to jell together and the kids are staring to buy into what we are doing. We are a young group. We are kind of learning on the fly here. I think right now in the middle of the season I couldn’t be any happier in the way we are playing.”
Loy says they knew defense was going to be a key for them, but they have been able to play some solid offense lately and that has helped even more. “These guys are really working hard. It seems like everybody we put on the floor are really just getting after it. We have stressed since day one that is what is going to keep us in the game. We didn’t have a whole lot of scoring returning from last year. We didn’t know how some of these guys were going to step up, so we knew in order for us to be in ball games that we were going to have to limit the scoring of other teams and we doing a pretty good job of that. On top of that we are staring to get more guys to score for us and that is helping us win,” said Loy.
Buckeye (6-6,4-1) is at Colonel Crawford (11-2,5-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the small school division, in a big game in the silver division on Friday night. Loy says it is almost a must win for them. “We talked after the game Saturday with the kids that they got us the first time around and if we have any hopes of winning the “NCC” silver division we can’t let them get us twice and be down two games to them. It will be tough to fight back,” he said.
In their first meeting on December 14 in New Washington the Eagles won (50-43) behind 16 points from their point guard Conner McCreary. Loy says Crawford has a lot of scorers. “Crawford just has lots of experience. They have good shooters and a good inside game. They have really good balance. That’s what makes it tough to beat them and plus we go over to their place and there will be a big crowd. It will be a tough game for us. I think the way our kids are playing we can stay with them,” said Loy.
Buckeye Needs Wins
Right now Buckeye Central is the closest pursuer to Colonel Crawford in the North Central Conference silver division, but they are already two games back and in need of wins.
They got one last week when they downed Riverdale (53-41) on Friday night. Coach Phil Loy says they didn’t handle the ball very well, but they did enough to win. “I thought our kids played hard. We were kind of going through the flu bug there over the weekend. I though Friday night with Riverdale we played pretty well with the exception of we just had too many turnovers. Our goal is to get the turnovers to 10, 11 and we had 10 turnovers the first quarter. Fortunately our defense was creating a lot of turnovers with Riverdale to keep it a close game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We were a little careless and I don’t know if it had anything to do with the holiday break. We were a little under the weather and the kids didn’t practice much. We finally got a kid back from knee surgery and that was his first game back and he was a little rusty as well. Other than that I thought we played well against a pretty good Riverdale team. They have been playing everybody tough.”
On Saturday night, the Bucks (4-6,2-1) lost to Seneca East (52-49) in non-conference play. Loy says this time they reduced their turnovers, but they couldn’t control big Ben Hahler. “Saturday we went against a much better ball club in Seneca East. They have a little more balance. They have one of the better big men in the area in Ben Hahler. That created some problems for us. They have some nice guards. We came out and took care of the basketball. We only had nine turnovers in that game. We played pretty well for the most part with the exception that we got out rebounded mainly because of the big kid inside. On both nights we got to the line a lot, but we were only making about 50 percent of our shots. In close games against good ball clubs we have to do better than that at the line,” said Loy.
On Thursday night, the Bucks play at Bucyrus (2-8,1-3) in a conference game. Loy says despite their record the Redmen are a pretty good team that is improving as is evidenced by their win over Wynford (53-47) last week. “I think it has given their kids a lot of confidence. They don’t have the greatest record, but they have been playing a lot of teams tough. They are streaky. They are a team similar to Riverdale in that they don’t have a lot of height. They are very guard oriented. They are going to shoot a lot of threes. If they are making them it keeps them in the game. If they aren’t making them it kind of hurts them. They seem to attack the boards really hard. When you shoot a lot of threes you get long rebounds and if you give a team like that second shots and another chance at the basket they can hurt you. It’s a game where we have to take care of the turnovers. We have to get to the foul line and make sure we finish and keep them off the boards and I think we will be okay,” says Loy.
With a game at Galion (2-6,1-3) on Saturday, Loy says these are games they have to win to stay in contention with Colonel Crawford. “Crawford is finding ways to win the close games. That is what we have been stressing with our kids. We are young. We are trying to learn how to win here. The kids are working hard, but we have had four games where we have lost by four points or less. Instead of losing we have to find a way to win those close games. We have been stressing just how important it is to do all of the little things. With a possession here and a possession there we win those games. We have a tough week here with Bucyrus and Galion and if Crawford is winning those games we have to too,” said Loy.
Buckeye Central Needs to Continue to Improve
Buckeye Central carries a 3-5 record into the new year and their coach has seem improvement from his young squad.
They play Riverdale at home in a North Central Conference game on Friday night and entertain Seneca East on Saturday.
Last week, they beat Lucas (57-31) to earn their second “NCC” win of the year. Coach Phil Loy feels like they are improving as a team. “I think we are getting a little better. The holidays are always kind of tough just keeping yourself on a good schedule. We are getting more experience being such a young group. I’m happy with the way we are playing coming off a good win last Friday against Lucas. We have a tough schedule ahead of us both Riverdale and Seneca East are going to be tough match-ups for us,” he said.
Riverdale (2-5,1-2) is in New Washington on Friday night and coach Loy says the Falcons are better than that record would indicate. “They are playing everybody tough. Against Colonel Crawford, who is one of the better teams in our league, they are tied with them in the middle of the fourth quarter. Wynford, who is having a good start this season, beats them by seven. It’s a tight game to the last couple of minutes. They took an undefeated Carey team down to the wire and lost by three,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They are very guard oriented. They have four guards that can drive shoot pretty good and play hard. Their weakness is they don’t have size inside and they aren’t very deep. Those four guards, if you lose them and don’t defend on the perimeter they are going to hurt you.”
Loy says they want to force the Riverdale guards to use their other hand. “We really have to try and take away their strengths. They are really good at right hand drives and we really have to force them to their weak side. We have to keep them in front of us. If we get beat on penetration and we step in to help that is where they are good at kicking it out to an open shooter. We have to sit down and make sure we force them to the weak side and I think we will be okay,” said Loy.
Seneca East (5-3) will come to Buckeye Central (3-5,1-1) on Saturday night. Loy says they are a much different team than Riverdale. “Their big man is probably one of the better big men in the area and we have to make sure we keep him our away from the basket. The thing he is also very good at is he is a really good passer, so ever though he might be 15, 20 feet away he always seems to find the open man cutting to the basket. We have to do a good job of keeping him off the boards and make sure they don’t get multiple shots. They have a couple of really good guards that are scoring well for them. They are not deep either. We have to force the other kids on the team to beat you,” said Loy.
Buckeye Central Wants Quick Start
Buckeye Central wants to keep in contact with North Central Conference leader Colonel Crawford and they need to keep winning to do it.
They trail the Eagles by a game in loss column.
Last Saturday, they responded to the early challenge of unbeaten Carey (7-0) and battled back to make it a game with the Blue Devils before (54-52) losing at the buzzer. Coach Phil Loy was proud of that never give up attitude. “I told the kids take away the first quarter and I’m pretty proud of the way we played. We got down 16-2 and I thought this could be ugly. Carey is playing very well. They are averaging more than 70 points a game. They were well on their way to meet that or exceed that. We were just struggling at the beginning of the game, but in the second quarter we started to fight back. I thought if we get this under 10 at halftime we are good. We did that, we got it down to nine. In the third we kind of played even with them and we were down 10 going into the fourth,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “In the fourth quarter, I’m really proud of the way we played defensively and offensively. We fought back and tied the ball game with about 30 second to play. They ended up calling a time out with about 10, 12 seconds. They ran a play, we switched defenses on them. Their guard penetrated and lost the ball, it was rolling out of bounds, and a kid picked it up and put it in. It was kind of a tough loss for us. Holding them to 54 points was good for us defensively, but getting off to that slow start really hurt us.”
They host Lucas (0-6,0-2) in an “NCC” silver division game on Friday night. Loy says the Cubs have struggled, but that can’t matter to them. “The last couple of years they have struggled. They didn’t have a JV team a couple of years ago. Last year, the JV team was really hurting. They lost a couple of their key players from last year, the ones that really did the scoring for them, so they are really struggling this year. Lucas is always a team though ever since I have bee coaching that if they are down they can still give you fits. It is a game where we really need to worry about ourselves and make sure we come ready to play and really work on executing offensively. I think we will be okay, but we can’t take them lightly,” said Loy.
If you are the better team, you have to make your stance early and Loy knows that need to establish control right at the tip. “Don’t let them feel like they can play with you. If we come out sluggish and it’s a close game the first half they are going to come and play with a lot of energy. They seem like they never quit. They always play for four quarters. We have to come ready to play right away,” he said.
Execution on Offense the Key For Buckeye
A young Buckeye Central team has played a lot of teams tough this year, but more times than not they haven’t been able to get over the final hurdle and win the game.
Coach Phil Loy is very pleased with what has been taking place when they are defending the other guys. He says his guys play hard. “I am happy with the way we are playing defensively. We knew we were going to be a very young team going in. I return two lettermen and one of them goes down after the first game and we become very, very young. The kids are buying into what we want to do defensively. They are doing a very good job,” he said.
Scoring has been the big concern, but playing teams like Wynford, New Riegel, Old Fort and Colonel Crawford, the Bucks have seen a tough schedule this year too and Loy says that has been a factor. “With a young team execution has been a problem, so we are struggling a little bit to score. If you look back at the teams we have played, and the records of these teams, it has been a pretty tough schedule for us. We have been playing a lot of teams that are senior dominated and teams that have winning records, if not undefeated,” said Loy.
On Friday night, Buckeye Central (2-4,0-1) plays at Crestline (2-4,0-1) on Friday night in a silver division game in the North Central Conference. Loy says with a new coach in Steve Lyons the Bulldogs are doing things a little different. “I got a chance to see them play once and got some film on them. They return a couple of starters from last year. They are running a few different things from what they have done in the past,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They are fairly young as well. We are worried more about ourselves and keep doing what we do defensively and keep getting better with our offensive execution. Crestline is a pretty solid team. They have some size and some guys that shoot it. When I saw them play, they played very hard.”
Finding out what Crestline might be doing and being prepared for that is important, but Loy says at this point in the season it is more about them. “We want to make sure the next two games here we finish strong going into the break. Hopefully during that break we get healthy and that will bring another dimension to our game,” said Loy.
Buckeye Central is Rebuilding
The last couple of seasons the Buckeye Central basketball team as been loaded with experience, but sometime that has to come to and end and this the year for the Bucks.
Coach Phil Loy says they only have two players that saw varsity playing time, or very much of it, a year ago. “We are very young. The last two years we have had senior dominated teams and this year we have three seniors and none of them are returning lettermen. I have two returning lettermen, one junior and one sophomore. We are young, we are inexperienced,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “I like our effort. I thought we had a pretty good preseason. We have been working hard. We go in spurts where we look pretty good and we go in spurts were we look like a young team. I think this is a team with their work ethic that we are going to continue to grow as the season goes and hopefully be in the hunt for a league title.”
Loy says the young Bucks have been just what you would think a young team would be like in the preseason. “They have been enthusiastic. I think they believe they can be good. With the right attitude and the right work ethic it has been fun so far coaching them, so we will see how it goes,” he said.
There is some talent at Buckeye, no question, but these are players that are just finding out what varsity basketball is all about. “There is a big step. Some of these guys played freshmen ball last season and some of them played a lot of JV’s last year. They found out in the preseason that it is another level. It’s another step up at the varsity level with the speed and the strength and the competition. It has been a good learning experience so far,” said Loy.
Here on the opening week of the season, Buckeye plays at Plymouth on Friday night and at Midland Athletic League favorite New Riegel on Saturday night. Loy says Plymouth has some outstanding players even though they are young. “Plymouth had a pretty good team last year and they are returning some good guys and some young guys. They played two freshmen a lot last year that were probably two of their better players. They are going to be a tough match-up for us, especially Edmiston inside. He is just so athletic and rebounds well and has a good touch inside. It will be a good first test and a good first test on the road,” said Loy.
New Riegel has been one of the better small school teams in the area for a number of years. Loy says the Blue Jackets know how to play the game. “They return nine seniors. They lost some key scorers from last year. It seems like every year they replace these guys. They are very strong. They are always so fundamentally sound. Going on the road the first two games is going to be a test for us,” he said.
Buckeye Central in Final Four
Buckeye Central is getting used to winning and with two more the Bucketts will be state champions.
They play Maria Stein Marion Local in the division four state semi-finals on Friday afternoon at the Nutter Center on the campus of Wright State University is Fairborn.
They beat McComb, the Blanchard Valley Conference champion, in three sets (25-23, 25-18, and 25-20) on Saturday in Elida. Coach Bill Bonham says winning the regional was a great experience. “Everyone wants to talk about going to the state. Everybody has dreams of going to the state. You have to go through every level first. Each level is rewarding within itself. Obviously the higher you go the more prestigious those levels are. Just making it to regional finals alone was awesome for us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “That has been the term we have been using the coaches, the players, it’s the way we have been defining the entire season. We just keep reaching higher and higher and finding out what we can achieve. What we have done so far has been great. Regionals were awesome it was a great trophy to have back at Buckeye Central. The trip down to Dayton is just going to be exciting for everybody.”
Buckeye Central (26-2) is making its 10th state tournament appearance, but their first since 2008. They finished sixth in the AP statewide poll and #2 in the Swankonsports.com volleyball coaches poll in the small school division. Bonham says they remain focused on winning. “It is exciting to be there. The nerves are the same for everybody. The nerves aren’t just there for our girls. The other teams are going to be just as nervous. With the season that we have had we are hoping we are putting pressure on the other schools too. When they stop and look at our schedule and see how tough our schedule was this year and look at the matches we have played. We would like to think we can some pressure on these other teams as well. We think we are a good match up for Marion Local. There is no reason why can’t continue to succeed. This group loves the challenges. They like to be challenged. They are up for every challenge. They accept every challenged and this is going to be no different,” said Bonham.
Marion Local (24-3) ranks number one in AP poll. Bonham says the Lady Flyers are good because they have solid coaching. “They have great coaching. They have great coaches renowned state wide and nationally. Amy Steininger of Marion Local is national coach of the year. So, we know they are a well coached team. They have a couple of big time hitters in Josie Winter and the Heitcamp girl. They are going to be tough to stop defensive wise, but hopefully we can attack them and keep them out of their offense,” he said.
Bonham says Marion Local is really different than any team they have played this year. “They are mix of teams that we have played not necessarily any one team that we have played. They are bringing a powerful offense with two very elite hitters. We know that they can definitely earn their points. They are well coached and well trained on defense, but we think that is were they are venerable with their serve receive. With our aggressive serving I think we can neutralize that. They have a little more offensive firepower than a St. Paul, maybe similar to a Lexington or a Monroeville as far as big hitters. Obviously they are there for a reason. They have been there in recent years too. Overall they are a good balanced team or they wouldn’t be there,” said Bonham.
Buckeye One Step From the State Tournament
Buckeye Central, the silver division champions of the North Central Conference, is now just one step away from the state final four in division four.
They meet McComb, the Blanchard Valley Conference champion, in the regional final on Saturday afternoon at the Elida Fieldhouse.
The Bucketts (25-2), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com volleyball coach’s poll in the small school division, beat Oregon Cardinal Stritch (25-13, 25-17, 25-16) in Wednesday night’s semi-finals. Coach Bill Bonham feels they could have played better and with more focus. “We were pretty confident going in here, in fact, the girls got a little too confident at times. We played pretty relaxed on Wednesday. We didn’t play as aggressive as we should have. We didn’t bring all of our guns a blazing so to speak. We knew we were under control. We knew on paper we were better. Our girls have been playing with that type of confidence. This time of year it was a little too confident a little too relaxed. In the tournament anything can happen. Obviously when you get to this point in the tournament anybody can win on any given day. One of the goals I set for them was, we like to challenge our team on points, and one our goals was to keep Cardinal Stritch to around 15 points per game and we actually did that, but we could have played better,” said Bonham.
With 22 straight match victories, their only losses to defending state champion St. Henry and New Riegel, Bonham says they have played pretty consistently this fall. “We haven’t had many letdowns at all. We have had a couple of mild letdowns here and there. You are going to get that in any sport with any team. We haven’t had the big letdowns. We have kept our composure and we have kept our consistency and that has been big for us. They have carried us through the season quite a bit. We haven’t had to play a powerhouse game every night on the flipside of that we haven’t letdown either. Now we have to turn it up a little bit, one more notch,” said Bonham.
McComb pulled a mild upset with a (14-25, 25-15, 25-22, and 25-21) win over Midland Athletic League champ Mohawk in semi-final play. Bonham says McComb features a lot of height. “They are big. Anybody that has seen them play the first and foremost thing that stands out is their size. They run 6’4”, 6’3”, 6’2” and 6’0” are their biggest four girls. They are a big team, but with that big and young doesn’t always add up. Their quickness isn’t there. They are not quite as athletic as our girls. We are going to be outmatched at the net, but hopefully it’s going to be all of the supplemental positions that add up for us. The big girls can hit, so they don’t necessarily have a strong defense. They aren’t going to pass the ball as solid as some of the other teams we face like a New Riegel or a Wynford. We need to stay aggressive with that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We need to make the big girls play, to make the big girls move and get that them out of their comfort zone. They do have a couple of seniors that play, but overall they are younger and inexperienced. Hopefully we get them frustrated a little bit. Mohawk made them unconformable in the first game, but they didn’t continue to do that. We are going to have to sustain that pressure and make them outplay us.”
Buckeye Central has played a tremendous non-league schedule and Bonham feels an advantage for them will be their experience in big matches. “Practice this week has been focused on our mental aspect and pushing and handling that pressure, but generating the excitement too. Hopefully we get our crowd into it and they can support us. We have some kids that have played in some big time games. You talk a lot about club volleyball these days. We have those kids that have played on the big stages in the club volleyball world. This team has never been to the state tournament themselves, but they have seen it. A lot of them have sisters that have played there. Along with the club aspect I believe we have the experience and hopefully we can exploit that out of McComb,” said Bonham.
Buckeye Central Rolling
Buckeye Central’s win streak is now at 22 in a row and the Bucketts play Oregon Cardinal Stritch in the girls’ volleyball division four regional semi-finals on Wednesday night at the Elida Fieldhouse.
Buckeye beat Firelands Conference champion Norwalk St. Paul, #1 in the final Swankonsports.com volleyball coach’s poll in the small school division, (25-18, 25-22, 25-18) in the district finals last Thursday at Willard High School. Bucketts coach Bill Bonham says they were able to attack St. Paul from every angle. “Our girls played well that night. I thought St. Paul played well also. Our girls just preformed. They came out there and they played with confidence and they trusted each other quite a bit. We executed in every possible way that we needed to. We served well, our passing played well. Our defense picked up especially our cover defense. We continued to put pressure on the St. Paul defense. We attacked from every angle, front row and back row. As a team we played as good as we could play,” said Bonham.
Buckeye started the season with some inexperienced players and with a lot to prove and that is exactly what they have done. Bonham says they like the role of underdog. “This group plays with a chip on their shoulder. Even I have challenged them several times and they don’t like to be challenged. They don’t like being told they aren’t good or they can’t succeed or anything like that. It is definitely a group that accepts every challenge that you throw at them. It doesn’t matter if it’s coming from myself, the parents, the community, from opposing teams, or whatever. Anytime they are up against the wall they like to fight it out,” said Bonham.
Cardinal Stritch (17-8) has the worst record of the four regional participants, but Bonham says they have some good talent, especially their libero. “They have won some games. We do know their libero. She is originally from Tiffin. She was a Tiffin Calvert girl, Abby Maas. Her sister Alley Mass was a great player and Tiffin Calvert a few years back. So, Abby is familiar with our girls and we are familiar with her. Some of our girls have played club ball with her,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They have a couple of club coaches on that coaching staff as well. We know they can hit the ball. We know they can play defense. It is just going to be a matter of execution I think. Definitely on paper I think we have the advantage this time. It’s going to come down to discipline on our end and taking care of the ball.”
The winner of the semi-final will face Mohawk, the Middle Athletic League champion, or McComb, the Blanchard Valley Conference champ, in the regional final on Saturday. Bonham says they are not looking past Stritch. “We are not overlooking this match by any means. We are taking it one day at a time. We were the underdog with St. Paul. We were kind of an underdog all season. Even in our own league people didn’t expect us to have the kind of year that we had. Everything right now for me is a bonus. If I an get the girls to believe that too we are just going to continue to ride this wave that we are on. The good thing for us is we play Wednesday and we have two days to practice and think about it. We are definitely going to think about (Wednesday) first,” said Bonham.
Buckeye Central and St. Paul Square Off
The top two teams in the Swankonsports.com volleyball coach’s poll in the small school division meet in the division four district final on Thursday night at Willard High School as Buckeye Central takes on Norwalk St. Paul.
The Bucketts (23-2), #2 in the poll, beat Monroeville (25-19, 25-19, 27-29, and 25-16) on Tuesday night to advance. Buckeye coach Bill Bonham says Monroeville was certainly a challenge. “Monroeville played really well. We saw them early in the year in our own tournament at Buckeye Central. We played the best two out of three that day and it went three. They took us in game two in our first tournament there. They took us 25-27 was the game they won. They turned around and did the same thing to us (Tuesday) night. They took a game from us in a high scoring game. They played a lot better this time around than they did the last time. There is no doubt about it. They played with a little more fire, a little more energy. That was expected, Kendra Snook does a very good job getting those kids pumped up over there. We knew they were going to come at us, but basically we stuck to our game plan. We have been playing ball a certain way all season and we don’t want to change now by any means. The faith and trust in each other right now is carrying us. Despite Monroeville coming at us pretty good we were able to keep it together and come out on top,” said Bonham.
Meanwhile, St. Paul (22-1), #1 our poll, eliminated Colonel Crawford on Tuesday (25-18, 23-25, 25-14, and 25-21) to force a district re-match. Bonham says St. Paul knows what it is like top play in big matches. “They have tradition to start with. Those kids grow up in the St. Paul system and they know what winning is like. They have had success here recently beyond the district tournament. They have been able to advance farther than anybody else in our area. They made it to regionals last year before they saw Mohawk. They have been to the state in recent years. Those kids all know what it is like. They have had a taste of it first hand. Nancy Miller has done a good job. She pushes a lot of things. She pushes a lot of fundamentals. She pushes limiting the mistakes. Those kids listen and they play with a lot of heart and a lot of desire. That is what they have. They have a very hungry program that knows winning. Not only do they know winning, they know how to win, and that is what we are facing,” said Bonham.
Last season, the Lady Fliers beat Buckeye (25-13, 25-17, 25-17) in the district semis. Bonham says they will have to better at the three critical elements of volleyball to be the one that advances to the regionals this time. “How about some luck? We will start with that. It definitely takes some luck to go your way, some calls, some plays. Overall you are looking at two teams that can hit the ball and pass the ball. I would like to think that we are a little stronger in all of those categories. I think right now we are playing with a lot of confidence, of course so is St. Paul,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I think every coach is going to tell you it is going to come down to three main things. It’s going to be serving, serve-receive and defense. The thing in our sport you don’t have to score the point to win the point, you can score off other team’s mistakes. If you can get the ball off your own floor and put it back across the net and maybe the other team makes a mistake. In the end that might be what it comes down to is a couple more mistakes by one team compared to the other.”
Buckeye Needs Patience
Buckeye Central has won 20 straight volleyball games as they take a lot of momentum into the division four district semi-finals on Tuesday night at Willard High School against Firelands Conference runner-up Monroeville.
The Bucketts, the winner of the silver division of the North Central Conference, dispatched of fellow “NCC” member Crestline (25-3, 25-6 and 25-15) in Saturday’s sectional championship at Ontario. Coach Bill Bonham says they were able to keep their mental focus. “One thing we keep pushing with our girls is to minimize our mistakes. That was one of our big goals going in there knowing that we have already beaten Crestline twice, but you don’t want to overlook them a third time. Our goal was to just continue to execute and keep those mistakes to a minimum and once again we did that,” he said.
Buckeye Central (22-2), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com volleyball coach’s poll in the small school division only behind Norwalk St. Paul, beat Monroeville in a Saturday tournament (25-16, 25-27, 25-17) they hosted in New Washington on September 15. Bonham says Monroeville (17-6) is a team that plays outstanding defense year in and year out. “You never want to look over a Monroeville team, especially with Kendra Snook up there. Kendra is a good coach and a good friend of mine. She pushes defense. She is a defensive coach. That is what the Firelands Conference is known for. St. Paul has always had pretty good defense and they have a good defense again this year. I think Monroeville’s defense was stronger last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “This year they are more of an offensive mined team. They have some hitters. If we can’t make their defense struggle a little bit they are going to get the ball to those big hitters and that is what is going to give us some problems. They are not as strong as they were last year all of the way around. We need to play them as hard as we can because they are a good young team.”
The hitters on the Buckeye Central side are used to getting kills and Bonham says if they don’t Tuesday night, they have to keep their focus. “As a defensive team they are going to frustrate you. St. Paul has been good at that the last several years. They had Corynne Smith one of the best liberos in the State of Ohio the last few years and that’s what St. Paul did. New Riegel is the same way. They are a very good defensive team and we saw them in the very first match of the season. That was definitely a defensive battle. When you have an offensive team that is used to scoring and used to getting kills and a defensive team comes in and takes that away from you that frustrates your hitters. If they don’t stay focused it can be a long night on the losing end,” said Bonham.
The Buckeye coach feels that one of differences for them over the last six weeks has been their ability to play defense. He says that is going to have to continue against Monroeville. “Right now we like to think that our defense is one the stronger defenses around. We like to think we can do that to other teams and in turn offensively we want to keep firing back. Hopefully this year our defense is stronger than Monroeville’s,” he said.
Buckeye Needs to Control Ontario Speed
Buckeye Central has matured as a football team and they are a dangerous one over the final three weeks of the season.
The Bucks (2-5,1-3) beat Crestline (36-7) to pick up their first North Central Conference win and break a five game losing streak. Leading 8-0 at halftime, Buckeye coach Jason Ratliff says they put some things together after the break. “Well, last week in the second half I felt we cut down on the mistakes that we made. We were able to take advantage of some things as the result and that’s what helped us in the second half,” he said.
Michael Adkins had almost 200 yards and four touchdowns against Crestline. Ratliff says he has played very well on defense too. “He is our workhorse. When you play us you know he is going to get the football. He is doing very well this year both offensively and defensively. He is kind our leader on both sides of the football,” he said.
Ontario (4-3,3-1) plays outside of New Washington on Friday night. Ratliff is impressed with the Warriors athleticism. “I think when you look at Ontario the first thing that comes to mind is their team speed. They have several kids that can catch the football or they can run with the football and score anytime. That’s our biggest concern, their team speed,” said Ratliff. He says they are going to have to be able to get the Ontario runners down when they get their hands on them. “We have to tackle very well on Friday night. That is one thing we are going to stress all week in practice,” said Ratliff.
It’s probably fair to say that the Warriors are the more athletic team. Ratliff says that means they are going to have to keep their hands on the ball as much as possible. “Against the bigger school we also try to work the clock a little bit just from the fact that is hard for us to match up. You know, they are two divisions higher than us, just like it would if they were playing Ashland,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “It would be hard for them to match-up with Ashland. It is the same thing for us. The more that we can hold onto the ball and keep the ball the better off we will be.”
Buckeye Central Improving
Buckeye Central is maturing as a football team and hopefully that results in a win on Friday night at Crestline.
Last week, the Bucks scored twice in the fourth quarter, but lost to Upper Sandusky (32-20) in a North Central Conference game. Coach Jason Ratliff believes they competed with a good Upper team for the entire game. “I think we were very pleased about how we played the entire game. Upper is a good football team. We were concerned about how physical they were going to be. Throughout the game I thought we went toe to toe with them. We hung in there and we played four quarters for the first time I think this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday.
After being hurt a lot by graduation this year, Ratliff says their younger players have been forced to play a lot of minutes. He says they are becoming better football players. “We have had some young kids from the start. Now we are at the point that we have some injuries and we have some younger kids that have to step up. This is one of those learning things that you have to go through,” he said.
Buckeye Central (1-5,0-3) is at Crestline (0-6,0-3) for a battle to get out of the basement of the NCC’s silver division. Ratliff, like every other coach in the league, likes Crestline quarterback Nick Reynolds. “They have a very nice quarterback that runs the show. He can scramble out of pressure and gain yardage. He can also run the football as well when he needs to. He is a great athlete and he is someone that we have to be concerned with when we play them on Friday,” said Ratliff.
In order to get a win this week, and break a five game losing skid, Ratliff says they have to control the point of attack and they have to get the Bulldog players to the ground when they get to the ball carrier. “I think up front our offensive line has to get after it. We need to tackle well on defense. We tackled well last week against Upper Sandusky and we hope it carries over to this week as well,” he said.
Buckeye With Growing Pains
Over the last couple of seasons Buckeye Central counted a on a group of kids that graduated this summer to carry them in football, basketball and baseball. Now they are trying to develop a new group and there are some growing pains.
After qualifying for the state championship game in division six last year the Bucks (1-4) have struggled this year, losing their last four in a row, including both of the North Central Conference games to Wynford (34-0) and Riverdale (21-20) last week.
Coach Jason Ratliff says he saw some positive signs last week, but they didn’t play well enough in end of the game situations. “In some aspects we were better. It boiled down to not making plays at the end and committing too many penalties. The penalties caused us to loose field position and blew a couple of chances to score,” he said.
Buckeye Central travels to Upper Sandusky (3-2,1-1) on Friday night for an inter-divisional game in the “NCC.” Upper came up with a big win last week as they went to Ontario and stuffed the Warriors running game and won (18-14) a black division game. Ratliff says they are tough to deal with up front. “They are very physical. We watched the Ontario film and they pretty much dominated up front at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football versus Ontario, who is a very good football team. Their physicality really causes us a concern,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday.
Upper quarterback Taylor Pritchard scored three times against Ontario and Ratliff says he can hurt you both running and passing the ball. “He can run and he can throw both. He has gotten a little bit bigger. He was a sophomore last year, now he is a junior. He probably grew two or three inches and probably added about 30 pounds. He does a nice job for them,” he said.
Upper Sandusky is a good team and has great potential, however, in this game Ratliff says they have to quit shooting themselves in the foot with mental errors and stupid penalties to give themselves a chance to win. “We have to get after it and quit making so many mental errors and give ourselves a chance to win the football game,” said Ratliff.
Buckeye Central Looking For Balance
Buckeye Central’s offense continues to struggle and as a result the Bucks are having trouble winning games.
Rival Wynford blanked Buckeye (34-0) last week to give the Bucks three losses in a row. Coach Jason Ratliff says the defense gave them a chance to be successful, at least early in the game against unbeaten Wynford. “I thought our defense played very well last Friday night. I know we got beat 34-0, but it was 28-0 going to the fourth quarter. With about three minutes left they threw a pass to score another touchdown to make it 34, but we had a couple of goal line stands earlier in the game. We need to tackle better, obviously, but we played a lot better defensively last Friday,” said Ratliff.
With Tyler Erwin graduated Buckeye Central (1-3,0-1) has had trouble finding its passing game. Ratliff says they are still looking for that balance that is so crucial for an offense. “We are trying to get our passing game going. We lost a quarterback that was there for three years. We are trying a couple of other guys at quarterback. We are struggling passing the football right now, but we are working on it every day and we are trying to improve on it and get better at it,” Ratliff told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday.
On Friday night, Riverdale (2-2,1-0) beat Lucas (28-14) in their first North Central Conference game last week. Running back Josh Bushong ran for 86 yards and two scores against the Cubs. Ratliff says they have some kids that can make plays. “They have some nice skilled kids. They have three different kids they will use at different times. All three bring something a little bit different to the table. They have a little power back and a couple of speed guys. We have to be very cautious about who is in the backfield and be aware of where they are on the football field,” said Ratliff.
Unbeaten Colonel Crawford appears to be the clear favorite in the silver division. Friday night’s game in New Washington is one of those games to determine who will challenge Crawford. Ratliff says they will be ready for the game. “We are looking forward to Friday night. It’s another home game for us, it’s actually homecoming for us. It’s a chance to play in front of the home crowd. Our kids are getting better week in and week out and we hope to continue to improve,” he said.
Bucks Face Tough One
Buckeye Central is on a rare two game losing streak and to make matters worse they host Wynford on Friday night, a school that has won 61 straight regular season games and has not lost a North Central Conference games since 2004.
It’s the “NCC” opener for both.
After a 13-7 loss to Plymouth last week coach Jason Ratliff says the Bucks are shooting themselves in the foot way too much. “I think we have to do things the right way. There have been situations that we have had seven or eight kids doing the right thing and we have a few kids that doing things they aren’t supposed to do and that is one thing that we have to get fixed as quickly has we possibly can,” he told Swankonsports.com. Ratliff says another thing is they have been making some plays only to have them called back by penalty. “Another thing we have to fix is stupid penalties. We have had a lot of penalties that have put us in bad positions field position wise and we have had a lot penalties bring back runs and returns we have had for big yardage,” said Ratliff.
Wynford (3-0) is coming off a big win over Riverdale (44-0) last week in a game that was played Friday night and was finished on Saturday afternoon. Ratliff has great respect for the Wynford program. “They are doing the same things they did when Travis was there. Travis kind of laid the foundation for the program and what they have done to this point is amazing to run off the win streak that they have. Their kids just keep plugging along and doing what they are asked,” said Ratliff.
Wynford has had great success in recent years running the ball out of the quarterback position. Ratliff says they have not changed their approach much and they still have an outstanding offensive line. “They are very similar to what they have done in the past. They have always had good quarterbacks, good running backs, and good receivers, but what makes Wynford one of the better teams around is their offensive line. Those guys don’t make mistakes. They get off the football and into the second level. Like I said, no disrespect to their backs, but what makes them go is their offensive line,” said Ratliff.
It hasn’t been done since 2006 during the regular season and Ratliff says the script to beat the Royals is hard to execute. He says you can’t make mistakes. “When you play them you have to do things the right way. They don’t make mistakes, they don’t kill themselves. That is something they have done really well. They don’t turn the ball over. They don’t commit very many penalties. For a lot of teams that is tough when they are disciplined like that,” he said.
Buckeye Central Ready to Get Back at it
Buckeye Central, last year’s division six state runner-up, suffered an upset loss to the Mapleton last week and now they are just chomping at the bit to get back on the field.
Mapleton beat Buckeye (36-32) last week in one of the biggest upsets in the area. Coach Jason Ratliff says the players have responded this week to what they have been telling them. “Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty good, probably a couple of the best practices we have had in a long time, so that was a good thing to see out of our kids,” he said.
Buckeye travels to Plymouth (1-1) this week in non-conference play. Plymouth was 5-5 last year in posting their best record since 1998. They graduated a lot of talent, but Ratliff says they have replaced those guys. “I think the first thing that I see is their offensive and defensive lines. They get off the football, and if they are on offense, they get on you, and if they’re on defense they get on you pretty well,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They have a couple of big kids up front. They have replaced the kids that they have lost. They have some good speed in the backfield as well.”
The last couple of years Plymouth has tried to be a power running team. Ratliff says they still try and feature that with a few wrinkles. “They still have that mindset that they want to run it at you. They are starting to spread it out a little more. They have a nice quarterback that can throw the ball a little bit and he can also run, so that posses another threat for us,” said Ratliff.
After the loss to Mapleton last week, Ratliff says he and the players can’t wait to get back on the field this week. “I have been waiting for this game for a long time it seems like. We just want to get back on the field and start playing again,” he said.
Buckeye Must Tackle Better
Buckeye Central railed to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and beat New London in their first game, but they must be better tacklers if they are going to continue to win.
Michael Adkins, one of the few returnees from last year’s state runner-up team, scored on touchdowns runs of eight and 12 yards in the fourth quarter, to lift the Bucks to a 28-19 win over visiting New London last week. “We knew going in that New London was a good team. They have some skilled kids and some pretty good kids all around. We were able to in the fourth quarter turn it on a bit. We scored 16 points in the fourth quarter to wrap the game up,” said Buckeye Central coach Jason Ratliff.
Buckeye had two turnovers and five penalties against New London. Ratliff says he challenged his players to get better and play with intensity in the fourth quarter and they responded. “We have so many new kids on the field this year. It was especially important for them to step up and play. In the third quarter New London kind of took it to us. At the start of the fourth quarter I kind of challenged our kids to fight back and get back after them. I think we did and I think we grew up a lot in the fourth quarter as a team,” he said.
Adkins ended the night with 19 carries for 165 yards and three scores. Ratliff says you are never sure what you are going to get when you put guys in starting positions for the first time in a varsity game. “In the scrimmages you get a little bit of a look, but when it’s the real thing and you are doing everything, you are doing special teams. You are playing a whole game and not just a half. It’s hard on the kids. I think the kids kind of found out how hard it is to play both ways and play on special teams on Friday night,” Ratliff told Swankonsports.com on Sunday night.
Buckeye (1-0) plays at Mapleton (0-1) in non-conference play on Friday night. The Mounties have only 17 players on the roster and lost to Carrollton (50-23) on week one. Ratliff says the Mounties have some skilled players with some talent. “They played a division three school. A school of their size to play a division three school and do what they did, they played pretty well. They have a lot of good skilled kids and a lot good speed on the outside. That was how they were able to score with their speed,” he said.
Ratliff says they need to contain that Mapleton speed and when they get their hands on the ball carrier, bring them down. “We have to have people on defense do their jobs by turning the ball back inside and we have to make tackles. There were times in our first game that we didn’t tackle very well and we have to improve on that in our second game here,” said Ratliff.
Travis Pickering picked up 120 yards on 15 carries for the Mounties, including a 62-yeard touchdown run.
Buckeye Central Returns to the Field
Buckeye Central was one a step away from a state title in division six a year ago, but many of those kids have now graduated and a new group of young men are trying to make their mark.
Buckeye plays host to New London of the Firelands Conference in a non-conference game in New Washington on Friday night.
Coach Jason Ratliff says they are going to find out where they really stand. “We have a lot of new guys on the field this year so it’s going to be exciting for them. A lot of them are going to have their first varsity experience, so it will be a good time (Friday,)” he said.
Yes there have been many practices and scrimmages, but Ratliff knows that Friday nights in the fall, or late summer, are very different. “You get different guys to step up. It’s going to be interesting to see who steps up for us. We have a lot of guys that this is their first varsity experience. It’s going to be interesting to see who steps up and plays well for us,” said Ratliff.
Last season, the Bucks could do a lot of things on offense and Ratliff thinks they are headed in that direction again. “I think our offense has evolved to the point where we can run or pass and with our multiple formations we are able to do a number of things. I think it benefits us with both aspects depending on what we are trying to do with our formations,” he told Swankonsports.com.
New London was a 2-8 team a year ago, but Ratliff says they have a lot of potential led by an outstanding senior class. “They have a big senior class. The senior class has been starting for three years, so this is like their year basically. There is a new coach, but he has been on the staff before. They are very athletic with a lot of speed. They like to run the football and throw about 50, 50. Defensively they are very aggressive,” said Ratliff.
Just because this is week one Ratliff says things are going to be difficult to predict. “The first one is probably the hardest one because you don’t know how your team is going to react to game night situations. So, (Friday) will be very interesting to see how we take the field now that we have prepared all week for New London,” he said.
Buckeye Hoping to Build
Last season, Buckeye Central had a magical year in football as the Bucks won the silver division of the North Central Conference and advanced all of the way to the state title game in division six before losing to Marion Local.
The Bucks will be a lot younger and less experienced this season, but head coach Jason Ratliff says they still expect to accomplish a lot. “We lost 10 seniors from last year, nine of the seniors started on offense and eight of them started on defense, so that leaves us with two returners on offense and three on defense. We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of kids that got some experience last year and we also have some new kids that are trying to step up and fill roles. Our expectations are still the same. We are still trying to win our league and make the playoffs,” said Ratliff.
Winning can bread winning and Ratliff says one thing the success last year has earned them is an increase in numbers at the small school and that gives them many more options. “Last year was great for our community. It was great for Buckeye Central High School and it was great for our kids that played football. What it has done for us this year is last year we had 36 kids out and this year we have 47 kids out nine through 12,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We have a strong freshmen class, we have 16 in the freshmen class, which the most since I have been here. The 47 is the most since I have been here as well. We are excited it gives us more kids to look at in practice and it gives us more kids to put on the field on Friday night.”
With so many positions up for grabs this year, Ratliff says they are still trying to figure out what players fit into what positions. “I think we are still trying to figure some stuff out. We are still trying to find a starting quarterback. We have a race between a junior, a sophomore and a freshman. We still have to continue to throw the ball and run the ball. It worked well for us last year. When you are able to do that you keep people off balance,” he said. Buckeye will also be featuring a new offensive line. Ratliff says they have a number of big guys to choose from. “We lost all five offensive linemen from last year. They all graduated. Right now we have about 10 guys that are in the mix. We are just trying to sort things out and see who fits in where and trying to find five guys to put in that unit. We have 10 to choose from which is awesome. We have never been in that situation before. We have never had numbers, now we do,” he said.
Last year, Wynford also reached the football playoffs and both Galion and Ontario were 8-2 and didn’t qualify. Ratliff believes this year’s “NCC” will be pretty strong too. “In the upper division I think you have Wynford, Galion and Ontario. They are going to be really good ball clubs. Upper Sandusky was young last year. They played a lot of sophomores and they return a lot. Bucyrus has a new coach. It’s hard to know what to expect from them yet. In our smaller division, you have Colonel Crawford, who returns a boatload and has a great quarterback and they have a good coaching staff as well. Riverdale returns a lot of kids back. Lucas has two 1,000 yard backs. Crestline has low numbers, but they have a good quarterback coming back. I think each division is going to be a real good race,” said Ratliff.
Buckeye Central Wins in Nine
Justin Hernstein’s RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Buckeye Central to a 2-1 win over Sandusky St. Mary’s in the division four district semi-finals on Wednesday at Colonel Crawford High School.
Buckeye, #3 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coach’s poll in the small school division, coach Chad Jensen says both teams played well, but they got the biggest hit of the game. “It was a game with everything. It had great pitching by both teams, good execution in some sports, bad execution in some sports by both teams. Both pitchers went the distance. We were able to get a big single by Justin Hernstein that scored Bryce Christy in the bottom of the ninth with two outs,” he said.
Tyler Erwin got the win for the Bucks in going all nine innings and Jensen says they were able to flash a little leather behind him as well. “We got great defense (Wednesday). We got a great pitching performance from our senior Tyler Erwin, but we had great defense all day, especially from our shortstop Adam Paynter. He doesn’t always play shortstop, Tyler Erwin is our shortstop when he doesn’t pitch, Adam is when Tyler pitches. He made play after play (Wednesday). I don’t know how many assists he had, but is probably six or seven, he did a great job. Our whole team played great defense. St. Mary’s put the bat on the ball. We knew that going in. We knew Tyler wasn’t going to strike out 15 or anything. We knew they were going to put the bat on the ball,” said Jensen.
With a number of chances to win before the ninth, Jensen was proud they were able to keep their heads together. “That was the key (Wednesday) there were highs and lows and we had to stay focused. We had the winning run on second base in the seventh, eighth and ninth inning. We had a suicide squeeze attempts that didn’t work and that got St. Mary’s out of that inning,” he told Swankonsports.com, “There were a lot of highs and lows, a lot of emotions, and I was really proud of our kids for staying even keel and handling adversity not letting it get to them. We just went out and battled, Tyler threw strikes and we played get defense. We definitely could have folded, but we really showed the character of our kids.”
Buckeye Central (22-6) plays Seneca East (19-8) in district finals at Colonel Crawford on Friday afternoon. The two teams played twice during the regular season with Buckeye winning the first game (6-5) and the Tigers the second (11-1) in games that where both finished April 26. Jensen says this game is going to be about execution. “There are really no secrets with Seneca East. We do play them twice in non-league games because they are close location to New Washington. We did spilt with them this year and they are a quality team. Last year we played them twice and the year before that. We are familiar with them and they are familiar with us. Our kids know each other, so it’s going to be one of those games where it will be who can outlast each other. It’s going to be a challenge for us, but I know our kids are up to it,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Prepares For Tournament With Win
Buckeye Central is trying to advance to the division four regional tournament for the third consecutive year.
They play Sandusky St. Mary’s (14-10) the district semi-finals on Wednesday at Colonel Crawford High School.
They beat Bucyrus (13-5) in their final North Central Conference game of the season on Monday evening. They have earned an outright silver division title. After losing to Wynford (8-3) on Saturday, coach Chad Jensen says the Bucks turned it up a notch on Monday. “We don’t want to be sitting around. We are lucky the way the make ups worked out so we could play Saturday and Monday. We didn’t play real well on Saturday. We didn’t play really well Saturday against Wynford and made some mistakes, but got them corrected (Monday),” he told Swankonsports.com. “Played much better (Monday) against Bucyrus and played with a tournament type intensity, especially early on, which is something we wanted to do. It was definitely a nice game in getting ready for the tournament. We hadn’t hit well in a couple of weeks. I thought we hit better (Monday). Hopefully that will propel us into the tournament.”
The pitching has been there for the Bucks, but lately they have struggled with the sticks. Jensen says they started to show signs on Saturday and really broke out of the slump on Monday. “We really haven’t consistently hit it in a couple of weeks. We have kind of had some bad luck. We hit the ball hard against Wynford, but right at people. I thought against Wynford we were starting to get out of our funk a little bit and (Monday) we definitely hit the ball hard, so that’s a good thing we found some gaps. We are concerned about consistently hitting the baseball, getting base runners, moving runners over and being smart about it,” said Jensen.
Sandusky St. Mary’s plays in the Sandusky Bay Conference and they are the only division four school in that conference. Jensen says the Panthers have been tested, but so they have they. “They do play bigger schools and we certainly respect them. We saw them play last week in the sectional final against St. Paul at Plymouth. They are very athletic. They are young. They have four sophomores, two freshmen, two seniors and a junior. They do play tough competition, but we feel we play in a very high quality league as well. We don’t have a bunch of twos, but we do have threes and the poll champion in division three is in our league. We respect them and they are very quality team,” he said.
The Panthers beat Norwalk St. Paul (9-5) last Wednesday in their sectional final at Plymouth High School. Jensen says they are going to have to hit some breaking stuff if they are going to score many runs. “I was able to see their one and their two. Their number one pitcher that they threw against St. Paul is an off speed kind of kid. He throws four pitches for strikes, fastball, change, curveball, knuckleball. He keeps teams off balance. The second one that we saw throws harder and has a really nice curveball. Both of them bring different things to the table. We haven’t seen pitchers that throw that much off speed. They are good. They are solid pitchers. They throw strikes and mix it up. They will be a challenge to our hitters,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central Gets First Taste of the Tournament
Buckeye Central is the top seed in the division four sectional baseball tournament at Shelby and the Bucks see their first action on Monday against Mansfield St. Peter’s.
Buckeye (19-5), #4 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coach’s poll in the smaller school division, has already earned a share of the North Central Conference silver division title.
St. Peter’s (3-15) rallied on Saturday to knock of Lucas (6-4) in their sectional opener at Shelby.
This will not be the first meeting this year between the two squads. Buckeye swept a doubleheader on April 14 (18-3 and 20-6) at Spartan Field in Mansfield. Coach Chad Jensen says St. Peter’s has improved since then. “We played them in a doubleheader earlier in the year and I had an opportunity to watch them on Saturday. They are playing with a lot of confidence. They were up most of the game against Lucas. They were behind in the seventh and they scored three runs to secure it. They are playing with a lot of confidence and a lot of enthusiasm. They are definitely somebody we can’t overlook,” said Jensen.
They may not have the best record in the world, but Jensen says with the win on Saturday the Spartans are playing with renewed confidence in their ability. “Having confidence when you are a young team like they are and happy to be were they are at. There is no questionable about it. I have been in that situation before. In 2008, we were young and didn’t have a senior and made the regionals with a team that was well under .500. I definitely know that momentum can carry you for a while. We are going to tell our kids to not allow them to get on a roll and gain momentum and confidence. That’s going to be our theme going into Monday,” he said.
With a much better record and two convincing wins earlier this year over St. Peter’s, Jensen admits there is a little fear of over confidence. “As a coach you are always concerned about that kind of stuff. I am the kind of guy that is always analyzing something like that, so that’s always a concern to make sure we address that with our kids. Our kids have been there and they understand what it takes to win tournament games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday, “Will they be confident? Sure, but I don’t think they will be overconfident. I think they will know what we have to do to get the job done. I think they are going to respect St. Pete’s. I think we will put our best foot forward and see what we can do.”
Jensen would like to score early in this game, but he says they can’t be too aggressive and jump at the first pitch they see either. “That is one of the things we are going to try and do. It is no secret that our top five players are the ones that drive in the runs. At the same time we are going to be patient at the plate. In watching St. Pete’s if we are patient they will walk some people. We are going to tell our kids to be patient and get good pitches to hit. Sometimes we get a little anxious. We want to hit the ball hard in every at bat and sometimes we swing at pitches we shouldn’t. We know if we can get on base we know we can do some things with our speed. I think once we get base runners early at think that will be huge for us,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Earns Share
Buckeye Central has led the silver division standings all season and they clinched no less than a share of the division title in the North Central Conference with a 3-1 win over Riverdale in New Washington on Monday night.
Coach Chad Jensen says the Bucks (19-5,8-2), ranked #5 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coach’s poll in the small school division, are not just ready for the tournament now, he says they want to have only their name on the trophy. “Our seniors have really stepped up. We lost some really great players from last year, but last year we lost the league basically by one run to Bucyrus and the year before that we lost in the final week. We have been in the hunt and to win at least a share of it (Monday) really means a lot for our kids, but they are definitely not satisfied. They want to win it outright. There was not celebration (Monday) there wasn’t even any discussion of it. So, we will see what we can do Wednesday against Riverdale,” said Jensen.
Buckeye has played excellent baseball in recent years, including three trips to the regional tournament in division four, but Jensen says they haven’t won a league baseball league title since the Nixon presidency. “We don’t want to share. We do want to be selfish with titles. This the first title for Buckeye Central since 1973, the second in baseball in league history. We don’t want to share with anybody,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Monday night, “That is definitely our goal. You could see it (Monday) after the win. We beat Riverdale and the kids just walked off the field. There was nothing. I even said do you guys want to talk about it? And they said no, not until we win it outright. I like the fact that we are really staying focused on what we want.”
Senior Chase Finney toed the rubber for the Bucks against Riverdale and Jensen says he did everything he could to put his team over the top. “Everybody brings their best against us. We have seen that all year. Riverdale didn’t have a good record coming in, but their kids are great. We only had four hits (Monday), but we did what we could do with those four hits and scored three runs. We had senior pitcher Chase Finney who struggled a little bit with control. He was injured earlier in the year. He was outstanding with 10 strikeouts and no walks and did a great job. It certainly was a great win (Monday) and we have had to do different things each game because everybody does bring their best against us. The kids love the challenge and we want to win another one,” Jensen said.
Buckeye Central, who has scored some runs this season, made the very most out of the opportunities they had against the Falcons with some clutch hitting early and late in the game. “We had two runners on in the first and two outs and Thomas Kaple, our five hitter, had a big two out single and scored two. We kept that lead for a while, but like I said their pitcher pitched great and we had some base runners, but couldn’t get a hit. Then in the bottom of the sixth we got a lead off triple by Tyler Erwin and our four hitter Jacob Zeiter squeezed him home. That was a big run for us that put us up 3-0 and they scored a meaningless run in the seventh, but it wouldn’t have been meaningless had it been 2-1. It was a great all around job by our kids,” Jensen said.
Hernstein Breaks Two Buckeye Central Records
Buckeye Central senior Justin Hernstein crushed three home runs and drove in nine runs, both school records, in a 20-11 destruction of Lucas on Monday evening in a North Central Conference game.
Lucas has a small field and coach Chad Jensen says Hernstein was able to take advantage of that are create some offense for the Bucks. “We hit the ball well. Down at Lucas it’s a short porch, but we were able to hit some gaps. Justin Hernstein had s school record three home runs and a school record nine RBI and tied a record with five hits. Tyler Erwin hit a home run and we had a bunch of doubles. Lucas stayed with it because they also hit a grand slam and you are never out of it down there. We were able to keep hitting and hit a lot and that helped out our pitching staff quite a bit,” said Jensen.
Jensen says he doesn’t believe there will any future ill affects from the power outburst on Monday. He says he was actually more concerned that some his players were out there trying to hit home runs. “My biggest concern is them swinging different down at Lucas because they try to hit home runs. When you try to hit them is when you don’t. We were able to get some good swings. I really thought that Justin really did a nice job of putting the bat on the ball and not trying to hit homers. He was able to get it up in the wind a little bit,” he told Swankonsports.com, “When we go back at home Wednesday against Lucas our kids will be back to normal and swinging better. I just think a lot of our kids (Monday) were swinging too hard and trying to hit homers. We had 20 hits, but I still think we didn’t play as well as we could have.”
Buckeye Central (15-4,5-2) leads the sliver division and likely will be a top seed in the division four tournament, but Jensen does not allow his players to become satisfied with how they are playing. “I tell our kids sometimes we nit pick a lot, but when you have talented players, and we’ve had good players over the years, we are going to nit pick. Sometimes they get a little upset at us. We talk about it. It’s the little things that are going to give us the chance to win championships and win games. Our kids expect that. We had a base running error (Monday) and a couple of other things we can be better at. Our kids expect us to point out the little things and help us improve and we are going to continue to do that,” Jensen said.
Buckeye may be in first place, but Jensen says he, and the players, understand that there is still a long way to go when it comes to winning a title. “We keep telling our kids that every league game is important. We can’t go into cruise control. Our kids know that playing a team like Lucas that has only won one game, but we go down there and anything is possible. They hit the ball a little bit (Monday) and the kids know that we have to take one game at a time. We really have a long way to go. We have six more league games and they are all important,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Maintains First Place in Silver Division
A win over Crestline Monday evening kept Buckeye Central in first place in the North Central Conference baseball standings in the silver division.
Tyler Erwin allowed only two hits and stuck out 12 for the Bucks. Adam Paytner had three hits in Buckeye Central’s win (9-1) over the Bulldogs. The win moves the Bucks record to 3-1 in conference play. They beat Colonel Crawford twice last week and lost an inter-divisional game to Galion last week. Coach Chad Jensen says it was an important win for the Bucks. “It was a big win for us. Crestline is in our division, the “NCC: is divided into two divisions this year, and Crestline is in our silver division. We want to do well against those teams. Galion is an excellent team in the black. We lost to them, but they are a good team. I was happy how we picked it back up (Monday) and took care of Crestline on a windy day,” he said.
Crestline is greatly improved this year and Jensen says they knew they had to maintain their focus against the Bulldogs. “We talk to our kids about every “NCC” game is important. Our kids know Crestline and they know they aren’t going to look past us and we know we can’t take Crestline lightly. Our kids were prepared and knew what we had to do. We definitely preach to our kids not to look past people. They didn’t (Monday) and we have to make sure they don’t do it on Wednesday either,” he said.
Erwin is one of the best pitchers in the area and he is expected to toe the rubber again Friday when the Bucks (11-3,3-1) face black division co-leader Ontario (14-0,4-0) in an “NCC” game. “We try to look at that depending on who is ready to go. This week we were able to pitch Tyler Erwin (Monday), our number one, and he will be able to throw again on Friday. It depends on weather and it depends on lots of things. Three games a week is really difficult and I’m definitely not a fan of that. We do the best we can and it depends on how it works out,” said Jensen.
Outside of last Saturday this has been a pretty good spring weather wise so far. However, it was extremely windy on Monday and Jensen says wind is a bigger factor in baseball than anything. “I have been a high school coach for 16 years and I have never seen as windy a day as (Monday). It was unbelievable, luckily it was warm, so we didn’t have to worry about that. Fortunately for us Tyler Erwin was throwing hard and Crestline didn’t hit one out of the infield. Our outfielders didn’t have to worry about it too much. There were a couple of weak pop ups to the infield,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “It is very challenging with wind because of communication factors, kids can’t hear each other. It does cause havoc in the outfield, so wind a lot of times is a bigger problem than cold quite frankly because it affects the baseball.”
Buckeye Edges Crawford in Bottom of Seventh
Buckeye Central three sport star Adam Paynter ripped an RBI double Wednesday night to give the Buckeye Central Bucks a come from behind 8-7 win over the rival Colonel Crawford Eagles in a North Central Conference game.
Buckeye (7-2,1-0) is the co-favorite in the silver division with Crawford, so given that, Bucks coach Chris Jensen knows it was a big win for his club. “We are happy with our effort because definitely Crawford is an outstanding team. We have them early in the year and we know we want to get off to a good start. We were down 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh and put together a couple of hits and we were able to pull it out at home,” he said.
In scoring the two runs in the bottom of the seventh it was the bottom third of the Buckeye Central order that set the table for Paynter’s heroics. “Our bottom the order really stepped up. We were down 7-6 and we had our six, seven and eight coming up. We had a walk and a big hit from our eight hitter Justin Miller and we were able to get our nine hitter on with a fielder’s choice. Adam Paynter hit a walk off double for us. We are really proud of our effort from the bottom of our order to get the job done for us,” said Jensen.
Although they share first place in the silver division with Crestline (an 11-5 winner over Lucas Wednesday), Jensen says they are far from comfortable. “We know we have a lot more to go. We have Crawford again (Thursday). It shows the character of our kids. We talked about it was a great win (Wednesday) enjoy it, but we have to travel to Crawford (Thursday),” he told Swankonsports.com, “They are a quality team with some excellent players. It’s going to be tough. We just have to strap it on (Thursday) and see if we can get it done, but it’s not going to be easy.”
The re-match is Thursday in North Robinson. Colonel Crawford (1-7,0-1) has lost some frustrating games this season, but Jensen knows the talent the Eagles have and he expects them to come out fighting. “We have to refocus again (Thursday) and get ready for Crawford because they are going to forget. They definitely feel they had a chance to win. Their kids are resilient and have been successful in other sports as well. It’s going to be tough and I think our kids know that, but we definitely have to come ready to play because I know Crawford will be,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central Ready to Compete
Buckeye Central lost some talent from a year ago, but they still have a lot back, and they will be heard from in the silver division race of the North Central Conference.
After downing Carey (13-3) on Thursday night, the Bucks have improved to 6-2 on the season. Coach Chad Jensen says they have played well in spots, but they still have a lot to prove as a baseball team. “We lost 3-2 to Northmor, a quality team, and we lost 7-5 to New Riegel, who was able to string together a bunch of hits. We had a chance to win in the seventh. We have lost two games by three runs, so we are doing fine,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We are still getting a feel for our team. We are replacing some kids that we lost from last year. We are still young. We haven’t played a league game yet, but I’m excited about our kids. They work hard. They do what is asked of them. We start league play next week against Colonel Crawford and Galion.”
Jensen says during non-conference play over the first couple of weeks of the season they have been seeing who is ready to contribute at the varsity level and who might need more seasoning. “This year maybe a little bit because have two weeks before our league starts. We start seven seniors, but we have some other kids that we aren’t sure about. We have changed some lineups here and there and got some kids in and took a look at them. You can do that in non-league play and we have been able to do that. We are out to win every game, don’t get me wrong. But, we can check some things out that maybe we couldn’t do playing league games early. Some kids have stepped up, which has helped us. These non league games help us prepare for the league,” said Jensen.
Much has been made of the new bb-core bats in use in high school baseball this year. However, Jensen doesn’t believe that it has been all that big of a factor when it comes to pitching techniques. “I think it definitely helps our pitchers, but I’m not sure that our kids are conscious of that. Not matter what year it is or what bats they are using we try to get ahead and we try to keep it down and that doesn’t change. I think the results have changed, but how we attack hitters hasn’t changed. If you get the ball up they are going to get base hits no matter what bats they are using,” said Jensen.
There might be a little bit more small ball in baseball, but Jensen doesn’t believe the new bats have made that much of a difference when it comes to the way coaches are managing the game. “We have played eight games and I really haven’t seen that much of a difference in the way teams have approached the game to be honest. It does affect the outcome. The bottom line with these bats is if you hit it on the sweet spot you are going to hit it hard and get base hits,” he said.
Based on what he has seen from his team this season, Jensen believes they can compete in the “NCC,” but he believes that Colonel Crawford is the favorite to win the silver division. “I definitely think we can be competitive in the race. Like I said before I think Crawford is a team to watch in our silver division. They have a lot of kids back. I think they have a lot of strong arms and I think they have a top four or five kids that can really hit the baseball. I think we can be competitive, no question about it. I really just want us to get better and improve each game. We start off with Crawford on Tuesday and we will find out where we are at,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central Hitting the Ball
Buckeye Central is playing some pretty good baseball and they have been able to score some runs over the first week of the season.
Coach Chad Jensen says in order to win some games they have to play with the same sort of passion that has been associated with Buckeye Central baseball over the last several seasons. “We started out the first weekend we played and really hit the ball well and were aggressive and played with enthusiasm and all the things we have done in the past to make ourselves successful,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We just have to make sure that we are always prepared and focused. We have a lot of seniors and sometimes we think we can just step on the field and win and that is certainly not the case and our kids know that. We’ve addressed that in practice.”
Buckeye’s only loss this season came to a talented Northmor team (3-2) last Wednesday. They downed Plymouth in both ends of a doubleheader on Saturday, winning the first game 17-11 and the second game 9-0.
The Bucks (4-1) qualified for the regional tournament in two of the last three years and the play traditional rival Wynford (4-1) in a non-conference game between conference rivals on Monday. They play a couple teams out of the Midland Athletic League in New Riegel on Tuesday and Carey on Thursday.
Jensen says they have been able to get out on the practice field and make the improvements that they need to in order to become a good team. “Last year was an unusually wet spring. Even compared to other years this year has been incredibly great. There have been lots of days when we have been able to get out and be comfortable. We have been pretty fortunate. It all evens out I guess,” he said.
Jensen is also an assistant varsity football coach at Buckeye Central. He says he supports the Bucks leaving the North Central Conference to help form the Northern Ten. “I have been a big supporter of the new league. You have schools that are all similar in size. That is a huge factor. I have been one that has come out and said that I wasn’t an advocate of the ten team “NCC.” I have told that to anyone who would care to listen. I was not in favor of it. I felt like two divisions and playing teams once wasn’t going to work out and ultimately it didn’t. I think it is going to better for us. I do feel for some of the schools that were left out, but unfortunately that’s the way things go,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Needs Younger Kids to Play Well
Buckeye Central returns the core a very good baseball team from a year ago, but they have to fill some holes as well is they are going to be competitive in the North Central Conference this season.
They finished third in the “NCC” and qualified for the division four regional tournament last year. Coach Chad Jensen says they have a group of players with experience, but they lost some key players to graduation as well. “We return six letter winners and they all played on our last two teams that made it to the regionals. So, we have some experience there. We return Tyler Erwin, who our number two pitcher last year behind Sam Schafer, who went to Ohio State. We return Chase Finney, who was our number three last year. We return the top half of our line up,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have a little bit of inexperience in the bottom half of the lineup. We are going to have to have some young kids fill some spots. We have eight seniors overall and I would say a veteran group of kids, even the younger kids that fill in have played a little bit. Our expectations are high, but we know that we have some spots to fill. We lost some very good players last year in Sam Schafer and Alex Finney and Neil Fortney.”
Buckeye Central advanced to the division six state title game in football and won a sectional title in basketball. Jensen says hey have players that know of to win and expect too. “Our kids expect to win. Even if they are not the best team on the field they expect to win everything they take the field in any sport. That is what is so special with this group of seniors. Most of this group has played since they were sophomores. Tyler has played since he was a freshman. Most of these kids expect to win. They work hard at it to get those results. We definitely have that experience factor. We have some holes to fill, which does concern me a little bit. I would say last year with the team that we had, all juniors and seniors, we were petty solid. Some kids have to step up, it will be interesting to see what happens,” said Jensen.
Right now, Buckeye is a team with a lot of potential, according to Jensen, but he says some younger players are going to need to step up for the potential to be realized. “We return our top four hitters from last year, so the top of our lineup is going to be solid. We have a lot of kids with potential and every coach uses that “P” word. We have kids with potential, but quite honestly can they produce at the varsity level? I don’t know. A lot of people are going to pick us to be successful. It really depends on that and pitching depth. I mean we lost Sam Schafer and he was the best pitcher in the area last year and we lose him. Paul Richardson was a kid that threw 35 innings for us last year with an ERA under 2.00, and we lose him. We definitely have to have some kids step up. We feel good about the kids we’ve got, however we have to see,” said Jensen.
It might be the same in baseball as it was in basketball. Jensen says he believes that Colonel Crawford is the best team in the small school division. “I think without question in our silver division that Colonel Crawford is the team to beat. They return Matt Metcalf, who is an outstanding pitcher, as well as Austin Adams and Jordan Shell. They return some kids that are busy playing basketball right now. They return a lot of kids in their lineup. They return some kids that are pretty good. In our silver division I don’t think there is any question that the team to beat is Crawford,” said Jensen.
Bucks Must Have Patience
Buckeye Central has the athletic skill to get down the floor and make some easy baskets, but they also have to have the patience when those transition baskets aren’t there.
The Bucks (12-9) plays Sandusky St. Mary’s (13-9) in the division four district semi-finals on Tuesday night at Willard High School.
In sectional final action last Friday night at Ontario, the Bucks held Crestline scoreless in the first quarter and went on to beat the Bulldogs (56-41) to win the sectional title. Buckeye coach Phil Loy feels they were able to control things early and that was the big key. “Playing a team like Crestline who had given a lot of teams in our league fits, especially at their place. Plying them a third time is also a concern. I was a little concerned going in there and wanted to make sure we did get off to a good start. If they jump out on you and get the lead they have the tendency to spread the floor and that just makes for a long night for us guarding them on a big floor like they have at Ontario,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I thought our kids did a good job, it was 9-0 after the first quarter. They are a good enough team they made a run and cut it back to six at halftime. We were fortunate to stretch it out again in the second half and get it up to as many as 17 or 18.”
St. Mary’s is the smallest school in the Sandusky Bay Conference and they come into the district tournament well tested. Loy says they have an athletic team that has a lot of height for the Bucks to contend with. “Sandusky St. Mary’s is definitely a good team. Their record is similar to ours and they play in a tough conference also. They are definitely no slouch. They can put five guys on the floor that can absolutely score. They have quickness, they have shooters. They have some athletic kids. On the inside they create some problems with 6-5 Joe Youskievicz or 6-6 maybe. He is a big, strong kid and the guy that backs him up is a 6-5 post player, who also is very strong. It’s going to create some problems for us a little bit, but we’ll see what happens,” said Loy.
Loy says that Youskievicz does a nice job of getting up and down the floor for a big man and he can be very difficult to keep off the offensive boards. “I think he does a real good job of running the floor, getting to the low block, being big and you have to make sure you get into a good position because he does a really good job sealing you. They do a very good job of looking at him on the reversal to throw it inside. He is also very good at just going after offensive rebounds. He is big and strong and if you don’t get down low and get a good box out on him he is just going to go get it. Their guards seem to attack the board hard too. If we don’t box out (Tuesday) night it could be a long night,” said Loy.
Buckeye would like to get some easy transitions hoops in this game, but if they don’t get that chance on a particular possession then they have to be able to get a good shot out of their half court offense. “I think that if we do not get something in transition, which will obviously be our first look, we want to make sure they have to play defense on us for more than just a couple of passes. I think we can get some good looks (Tuesday) night either by dribble penetration or coming off screens,” said Loy.
Buckeye Has Things to Work on
Buckeye Central closes the regular season with a North Central Conference game against rival Wynford on Friday night.
They played a non-conference game against the Royals (one that doesn’t count in the league standings) on January 26 and Wynford won (65-49) that night. Bucks coach Phil Loy says they must play better defense this time, especially against the Royals top two scorers. “Well, the last time we played them Steh Rall and Zach Chatlian just went off on us and scored about 90 percent of their points. I didn’t think we did a very good job defending, especially those two. At the offensive end I didn’t think we executed our offense very well. We didn’t set very good screens. We still got some good looks inside and didn’t finish. In that game we were down four at halftime and we could never get over that hump. We have to focus defending, especially those two, do a better job of rebounding, and just executing our offense,” said Loy.
It isn’t just Buckeye Central that Chatlain and Rall have had big numbers against they both average over 16 points per game and are first tam all-district selections. Loy says they can not lose those two guys on the floor. “We will mix things up a little bit. We will primarily be in a man defense. I just think the last time we played them we just didn’t put enough attention on them. We tried to play them straight up. We will look to double down on them and not help off of them as much,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are a team where you are going to have to take some chances. You really have to keep the Butler kid off the boards. He is averaging over 10 rebounds a game. We can’t help off of him because we have to keep him off the boards. I thought we did a good job with that the first time. We are just going to have to pay more attention to Chatlian and Rall and make the other kids beat you.”
Buckeye (10-9,6-6) will play either Mansfield St. Peter’s (6-14) or Crestline (5-14) in the division four sectional finals at Ontario High School March 2. Loy wants his team to work on making better decisions with the basketball. “We keep stressing to our kids that we have to be more disciplined at the offensive end. The kids like to get out and run and that is fine when we have something in transition, but we have to set it up. We typically have a hard time running an offense and making the other team play defense for any length of time. After one or two passes we feel like we have to get a shot up and it’s not always a good shot. If it’s a good look, then that’s great. I want us to focus more on getting the ball inside. If we don’t like what we have we can kick it out and we will get a lot better looks that way. That has sort of been our focus the last couple of games,” said Loy.
Buckeye Facing Tough One
Buckeye Central might have its most difficult game of the season on Friday night as they travel to black division leader Upper Sandusky for a North Central Conference game.
It has been a season for the Bucks (9-8,5-5) in which they have won the games you thought they would win for sure, but they haven’t gotten those 50-50 games or pulled a big upset. They get that chance on Friday.
Coach Phil Loy was pretty positive they were headed in the right direction, but last week a loss (58-51) to Bucyrus was a step back. “I was thinking so prior to Saturday, but we went over to Bucyrus and I didn’t think we played very well. We could never get over the hump there. I thought we didn’t do a very good job executing our offense. For the most part we got a lot of good looks, but we couldn’t make shots. Bucyrus was very efficient. They were very patient offensively and made shots. To me that was tough loss, so hopefully this is a good week of practice. Friday is going to be one of our toughest tests of the season with the Upper Sandusky Rams. They are the leader in the black division. They are very disciplined, they play you physical. We are going to have to play our best game on Friday,” said Loy.
Upper Sandusky (14-3,10-1) is clearly one of the most patient teams in the State of Ohio, having won a number of games this season when they didn’t score 35 points. Loy says they need patience, but more than that they have to rebound well. “We like to play an up tempo game. I think if our kids had their way, I think we would be in transition every possession as we get a little inpatient offensively. We are trying to teach them if we don’t have anything, we have to make them play defense. And because Upper plays defense so hard, we can’t relieve the pressure by just taking quick shots. We have to make every possession count. They don’t score a whole lot of points, but they are pretty good. They get good looks. What we have to concentrate on is keeping them off the boards and not giving them second opportunities,” said Loy.
Rebounding is going to be a big factor in this game and Loy knows they are going to have to get their share if they expect to stay in the game. “They are so athletic. They have some good size and their big guys are so quick with long arms. We just have to focus and have one of our better rebounding nights against them because if we don’t they are just going to go to the glass, and go to the glass hard. They are going to get the rebound and put the shot back in and we can’t afford to do that,” he said.
On Saturday night, the Bucks play host to Lucas (0-16,0-10) in a game within the sliver division. Loy says they certainly don’t want to be Lucas’ first victim and that could happen if they don’t play well. “It’s going to be senior night for us, our last home game. Lucas is playing better. Last week, they lost a heartbreaker to Riverdale. I know they were right there and actually had the lead and let it slip away. They are starting to play with more confidence. It’s definitely not game where you go in and think you are going to walk all over them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They are team that if they get a little bit of confidence and get a lead on you early we could be in for a long night. We have to make sure we are focused there and not have a let down from Friday night playing the best team in the league to playing one of the teams that has struggled a little bit.”
Buckeye Building For Postseason
Chances of catching Colonel Crawford the for the silver division title in the North Central Conference are slim, so Buckeye Central has turned its attention to being ready for the postseason tournament, which begins in three weeks.
The Bucks (8-7,5-4) beat Riverdale (57-40) last Saturday. Coach Phil Loy says went out and got and early lead in the game, which was critical because the Falcons had been slowing the game down if they got any kind of lead in the game. “I thought our last two games our effort has been a lot better. Riverdale is a dangerous team, even though their record isn’t real good. They are a team that gave Crawford all they wanted and ended losing by four at Crawford. They lost to Galion by 12 at Galion. This was a team that we could not take lightly. If they get a little bit of a lead they are going to stretch you out and go four corners. We were focused early and disciplined early. We took good shots. We wanted to take an early lead and we did that,” said Loy.
Buckeye shot well in the game, making more than 50 percent of their field goals. They are a pretty athletic for a division four school and when they shoot well they are hard to beat.
On Thursday night, the Bucks play at home in New Washington against the Mansfield Christian Flames (8-7), who despite some injuries won all three of their game last week. Loy says they may have some depth concerns, but Christian is still a very dangerous team. “I got a chance to see them against Marion Catholic and the thing with them is they play hard. They still have some good athletes there now. They lost a starter and I think they lost the first guy off the bench. That really hurts their depth and they had to pull a few JV kids up,” Loy told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Depth is an issue for them, but they still have three kids that are very solid. The night that I saw them one those kids had 26 points against Marion Catholic. They scored a lot form the perimeter and got some stuff inside. They have some athletic kids. They have some quickness. It’s a team like Riverdale that we have to make sure that we are focused early and get the job done.”
With similar records Buckeye Central and Mansfield Christian are in the same division four sectional at Ontario, so this could be a game that might affect seeding.
To close the weekend on Saturday night, Buckeye travels to Bucyrus (5-11,2-7) for an intra divisional game in the “NCC” with the Redmen. Loy says with the teams they have left to play they should be prepared for the tournament. “As far as winning the silver division for us, that might be out of our control now. We have to focus on each game and worry about getting better each game. We have a tough schedule ahead of us and Bucyrus is no exception. We also have an Upper Sandusky team on the road and a Wynford team on the road. Those games are really going to prepare us well for the tournament. Our main focus is keep getting better and preparing ourselves for the tournament,” said Loy.
Buckeye Central Must Keep Focus
If Buckeye Central has any chance of catching Colonel Crawford in the race for the silver division title in the North Central Conference they have to run the table and that starts Friday night at home with Riverdale.
Right now, Crawford holds a two game lead over Buckeye Central in the standings.
Last Saturday, Buckeye (8-6,5-4) played well, but lost at home to Ontario (64-54) in an inter-divisional game. Bucks coach Phil Loy says he was very pleased with the effort his kids gave against Ontario. “I thought our effort was a lot better against Ontario than it had been the last three or four games. That is something we have really been talking about. I think our kids can do a lot more. Win of lose against Ontario I just wanted to make sure we had a lot better effort and I really did see that Saturday night. We jumped on Ontario. We were up 17-8 in the first quarter and playing really hard, but unfortunately we hard a few turnovers and a few missed shots. They hit some big shots. I was happy, even though we lost, just because of the effort,” said Loy.
Riverdale is a basketball team that has tried a number of different things to try and get better this year and Loy thinks it is working. They haven’t won lately, but they have pushed some good teams pretty hard. “Even though their record is 3-10 and they are 1-7 in the league. They have only won one game out of their last ten and that was against a struggling Lucas team. If you look at their last few games,” Loy told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They played Colonel Crawford really tough down to the wire. They lost by four at Colonel Crawford. They go to Galion last Thursday and they lose by 12 in a game that Galion could never pull away. That was on the road too. They are a team that plays hard to the end. They aren’t big, but they have good guards. I think it’s a team that we can definitely not over look.”
On January 21, Riverdale almost upset the division leading Colonel Crawford Eagles. They became very patient and took the Eagles down to the final minutes of the game. Loy thinks if they don’t get off to a good start Riverdale could employ the same strategy against them. He says they have to get off to a good start against the Falcons. “I think they definitely would if they had the lead. We have to make sure we jump out and get a lead and be very efficient offensively, get some stops defensively and rebound the basketball. We need to do everything we can to make sure we get off to a lead. I think if it is a close game or if we have a two of four point lead they were go four corners and try really to control the tempo and limit our possessions,” said Loy.
Buckeye Central Needs to Improve
Buckeye Central maybe at a crossroads of its season and they need a good performance in a Monday night game against New Riegel to get back on track a little bit.
On Saturday night, Galion shot 50 percent from field and they beat Buckeye (72-58) in a North Central Conference game. Bucks (6-3) coach Phil Loy says Galion’s athleticism game them some problems and the Tigers just shot it very well. “We ran into the good Galion on Saturday night. Galion has been up and down, but they are very athletic, very quick and have good size. They are capable of shooting it well and we saw all of that Saturday night. McCuen inside and out he shot the ball very well. Their guards are very quick and caused us some problems. It’s not that we played a bad game. It definitely wasn’t our best effort, but Galion just shot the ball very well,” said Loy.
Galion’s record of 4-8 isn’t that impressive, but Loy says they had beaten some very good teams and lost to some good ones too and he knew the Tigers were going to be a challenge. “Their wins were over quality opponents in Mansfield Madison, Colonel Crawford and Ontario. You know, some of their losses were against very good opponents as well. Looking at that with us being a smaller school I knew definitely we couldn’t take them lightly because they have played a strong schedule,” he said.
New Riegel (8-1) stands in second place in the Midland Athletic League. The Blue Jackets only loss comes to Carey (58-56) in a league game. Loy says the Blue Jackets aren’t biggest or fastest team they will face, but they know you to play the game. “Coach Aichholz does a nice job with his kids. The JV teams are always strong. The varsity team is always right there in the hunt. They are 8-1 right now. They play nine guys who are just athletic kids,” Loy told Swankonsports.com, “They don’t have the size of like a Galion or the quickness of a Galion, but New Riegel teams are always fundamentally sound. They do all of the little things correct. I was telling our kids they rebound well, they box out well, they close out on shooters well, and they execute their offense. They will try to get up and pressure us and get an up tempo game going. We have to be very solid in what we do.”
In their last two games New Riegel has destroyed “MAL” opponents in Mohawk (89-22) and North Baltimore (81-26) last Friday night. Loy says to compete with the Blue Jackets they have to play a little more like them. “We have to make sure we keep getting better in those areas. I think we are a little behind for some reason is those areas. We don’t box out every possession like we need to. Defensively we are just not where we need to be. Hopefully, we just keep getting better and we see some good results Monday night,” said Loy.
Buckeye Central is Finally Home
After a long road trip the Buckeye Central Bucks will host the Plymouth Big Red in a non-conference game on Tuesday night in New Washington.
Buckeye put together two wins over weekend. They downed Riverdale (59-44) on Friday night in a silver division game in the North Central Conference. They beat Seneca East (58-51) in non-conference play on Saturday night. Bucks coach Phil Loy was pleased with the effort he got both nights from his players. “It was a very good weekend for us. That finishes a stretch of five road games for us. That was kind of tough with the preseason that we have had. Going to Riverdale is always a tough place for us to play no matter what their record is. It seems like they always give us a good battle. I thought we played pretty solid in that game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We go to Seneca East and there was a good crowd out there and they are playing a lot better basketball. Fortunately for us Chase Finney shot the ball form the perimeter very well. He was five for five from behind the arch in the first half and that gave us a pretty good 10 point lead and we were able to hang on.”
Buckeye Central (5-2) got a very late start to the season. They didn’t play their first game until December 20 after they made it to the division six state finals in football. Loy says they are trying to work themselves into basketball shape, but that has been difficult for a couple of reasons. “I think that we are pretty good. I don’t think we are there yet. I don’t know if everybody completely has their basketball legs. There are a few guys I would say are in really good basketball shape right now. We are not really deep so it’s forcing a lot of our guys to play a lot of minutes. Unfortunately the same guys that are playing a lot of minutes for me in basketball played every down in football. We have to be careful with our practices. We can’t beat them too hard and make them run too much in practice. So, most of their conditioning is coming on game night and I think they have handled it pretty well,” said Loy.
Plymouth (4-3) has played well too. They have been very competitive in the Firelands Conference. Loy says the Big Red has a good balance of players on the perimeter and inside. “Plymouth is scary. Seeing them on film they have some good speed and some good height. They like to pound the ball inside. They have the experience with Ryan Benfer, who a 6-4 junior, who is doing the majority of their scoring. They have another senior in Craig Miller, their point guard, who I think is very quick and dangerous. Tyrell Edmiston, a freshman, has great touch inside. He is a very good leaper and a strong kid. He definitely doesn’t look like a freshman when you watch him. Tyson Beebe is a 5-11 freshmen and gets very good minutes for them. It just seems like they play with a lot of energy,” said Loy.
Right now, the Bucks are a half game behind Colonel Crawford in the silver division of the “NCC,” but Loy says this game with Plymouth will make them a better team. “It’s going to be a good atmosphere I think even though it’s a Tuesday night game. With the location of the two schools I think it will be a nice crowd like it was with Seneca East. It will kind of be like a sectional, district type game,” said Loy.
Buckeye Central Needs to Maintain
Buckeye Central now sits in a three way tie for first place in the silver division of the North Central Conference and they need to stick with the leaders, especially Colonel Crawford, until they get their chance at revenge.
Crawford rallied in the second half to beat Buckeye Central (69-56) on Tuesday night in a conference game. Crawford, Buckeye and Crestline are all 2-1 in conference play. Buckeye beat Crestline (68-47) December 23. Bucks coach Phil Loy says they kind of ran out of gas against Crawford on Tuesday night. “I thought our kids played really well. It just was in the second half Crawford played better. In first half I thought we executed the game plan very well. We did have a ten point lead at halftime. We pounded it inside and got shots and got to the foul line. I thought key for us in that game was to handle their pressure. They like to full court pressure you and trap. We did an excellent job of breaking that. What we wanted to do is if we couldn’t get anything out of transition was to pull it out and make them have to play half court defense. I really felt in the first half we did a really good job of that,” Loy told swankonsports.com, “In the second half we still got the same looks. I think our kids wore down a little bit, we aren’t real deep right now. We were missing the shots that we were making in the first half, which allowed Crawford to get out in transition and they started making some shots. They started feeding off of each other when they started making threes. They made 12 threes for the game and that was hard for us to overcome.”
Buckeye Central (3-2,2-1) travels to Riverdale on Friday night for a silver division game with the Falcons (3-5,0-3). Loy says games in Mt. Blanchard never seem easy for them. “It is always tough to go to Riverdale and play no matter how good they are. It always seems like it’s a game where we can never separate ourselves from them. They return five guys from a pretty decent team last year. They have a real good point guard who is just a sophomore in Steve Holderman. They return their post player. They are going to be pretty good. We got to see them play the first game of the year against a pretty good Carey team. They had them beat and lost at the buzzer. Carey is a team that beat us in our first game. We have to make sure we execute and do the little things so we come out on top,” said Loy.
Colonel Crawford (7-2,2-1) is a very good team as was proven in the second half Tuesday night. Loy says they must keep winning because they can’t fall many games behind the Eagles. “We have to take care and win the games that we think we should win, especially on the road. We have to hope that some of the schools beat, or upset Colonel Crawford, weather it is the big division or the small division. We have to make sure we stay in line with them as much as possible and then hopefully get them the next time we play them,” said Loy.
Buckeye Central Wants to Build
Buckeye Central might take a while to get going consistently, but the Bucks have the potential to be one of the better small school teams in the area this season.
They play twice on this week between Christmas and New Year’s. They play at Mansfield St. Peter’s (2-5) on Thursday and at Lucas (0-6) in a North Central Conference game on Friday night.
Buckeye shares first place in the silver division of the “NCC” with Colonel Crawford after beating Crestline (68-47) last week behind 18 from Tyler Erwin. “We came out and for three quarters we shot the ball very well. I think we started each quarter six for six or seven for seven. Our whole emphasis that night was to push the ball inside and try to take advantage inside and if we don’t like what we have, If we get doubled up, them we pitch it,” Buckeye Central coach Phil Loy told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday. “I felt like in our loss to Carey that we were perimeter happy. Down the stretch when we could have cut into the lead even more I felt we settled for perimeter shots that weren’t falling. So, our whole emphasis against Crestline was to push the ball inside and I think that was why we shot a better percentage.”
It can be a very good season for the Bucks, especially if they are good decision makers with the basketball in their hands. Loy feels they have to know what a good shot is. “We just have to make sure we are patient here early on. We have to understand that we aren’t going to shoot as well as we would like right now, but that’s why we really have to look at going inside and then go out. If we are hitting, we are hitting. We can’t settle for that. I think as the season goes on we will be a pretty good perimeter shooting team,” he said.
Mansfield St. Peter’s is a much better team that they were a year ago and Loy says the Spartans have a lot of treats on offense and they have the ability to stretch a defense. “Dangerous is a good word for St. Peter’s. Their record might not show it. Just from what we have seen on them they have good guard play, they have some wings that, in my mind, can flat out shoot it, especially if you give them some time and space. They have the Rall kid inside, who can play outside too, that can be very dangerous. They are team that seems like they never quit. If they are down 10, 15, even 20 they are going to keep battling and feel like they are in the game. You have to keep battling because they are just going to keep creeping back on you and end up making it a ballgame. We have to make sure we go in there and are focused and take care of business,” said Loy.
Buckeye Central is 6-2 to 6-4 at the guard position and they are much taller than St. Peter’s. Loy hopes to be able to take advantage of that. “Their guards are athletic, but we would like to think that we can take them inside, either off the dribble or post them up or shoot over the top of them. We are trying to take advantage where we can, but we have to make sure we don’t force the issue,” he said.
On Friday night, the Bucks will be in Lucas to take on the Cubs. It’s has been a difficult start to the season for the Cubs, but Loy says they have to go there with a mission in mind. “It’s on the road at Lucas and we have to make sure we are ready and that is tough for any team that goes there. Maybe it’s because of the drive, it’s an hour for us and it’s easy to lose focus, especially because they aren’t having that great of a year. They have gotten beaten up pretty good by some teams. We have to go down there and take care of Buckeye Central,” said Loy.
Buckeye Central Begins Season
Buckeye Central hopes to be able to take the success they had on the football field to the basketball floor and that process begins on Tuesday night when they travel to Carey for a non-conference game.
Buckeye Central finished as the state runner-up in football’s division six.
Coach Phil Loy says they are ready to get started and he hopes they don’t have too much rust as they are going to have to play well to have a chance to win. “This will be Carey’s sixth game, so it will be interesting. The kids are excited. It’s been a different preseason for us trying to get ready. Most of the time we have only had seven kids. I just got the football kids back December 8th, so we have only had them for a week and a half. We are ready to get going,” said Loy.
Buckeye put together a 15-7 record a year ago and they return a lot of talent from that team. Loy says they have a number of different options because they can play players at a number of different spots. “I have five seniors and four them played football. We have a good post player in Bryce Collins. He is powerful and a good wide body. We have Tyler Erwin and he is going to be a four year player for us,” Loy told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “He can play pretty much any position. We will run him some at point guard, but when Bryce Collins goes out, he will also play in the post. We will play him on the wing some. It will be the same with Chase Finney. Adam Paynter is just a very good athlete. He is very quick and plays great defense. We will get some scoring inside and out from him. This year with this group we will get a lot of versatility.” Plus, they have the experience of winning they bring from the football field.
Defense is going to be key early in the season because other teams might be a little ahead in terms of the depth their offensive attack. However, Loy says that may not be as much of a factor for them. “We are not changing a whole lot of stuff this year and the kids seem to be picking up on it pretty well, but we are going to have to be good defensively. We can’t allow teams to have second chances at the basket. We are going to have to try and control the game and really not get out and run until we get our legs under us. Defense is going to have to be good in the early season because who knows how well we will be able to shoot it,” said Loy.
Carey (4-1) is a co-leader in the Midland Athletic League and Loy says the Blue Devils also have some kids that can do a lot of things with the ball. “Since we have been off we have gotten a chance to see them three times. They are smart and they have some athletic kids. They have some quickness at the guards. They are athletic inside. It will be a challenge for us for our first game,” said Loy.
Buckeye Must Deal With Speed
Buckeye Central meets four-time state champion Maria Stein Marion Local for the division six state football championship Saturday morning at 11 at Fawcett Stadium in Canton.
It is Buckeye’s second appearance in the state finals having advanced to the title game in 1995. That year they lost to St. Henry 10-7. Marion Local and St. Henry are both members of the famed Midwest Athletic Conference. Buckeye hopes history doesn’t repeat itself.
Last week, Buckeye Central (12-2) edged unbeaten Berlin Center Western Reserve 22-21 to advance to the state title game. “”No doubt we had some kids make some big plays for us. None bigger than Thomas Kaple making that play on fourth down for us,” said Bucks coach Jason Ratliff. Kaple deflected a Western Reserve fourth down pass with just 26 seconds left after the Blue Devils decided against a game winning field goal try.
Buckeye had won their previous three playoff games by significant margins. One thing that was uncharacteristic of the Bucks was the four interceptions thrown by district offensive player of the year Tyler Erwin. “Yeah we had a few turnovers, but our kids adjusted very well and rebounded very well. We try to limit out turnovers as much as possible, but sometimes they happen,” said Ratliff.
Marion Local (12-2) has appeared in the state playoffs in 11 of the last 12 years and they won division six state titles in 2000, 2001, 2006 and 2007. Last Saturday night they beat Delphos St. John’s 21-14 to advance to the final. “They are a well coached team. They have great team speed. Offensively they can either throw or run. The get on you on the offensive line and they have good, fast running backs,” Ratliff told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Their quarterback is only a sophomore, but he makes good decisions. On defense, they get after you and blitz from every angle. It will be a key for our offensive line to pick up the blitzes this week.”
The unsung aspect of the Buckeye Central team is the play of their offensive line, which has been good all season. Ratliff has confidence that they will be able to pick up the blitzes they will see on Saturday. “They do a lot of different things defensively we have to make sure we pick up. We are fortunate to have five seniors on the offensive line, so they do a pretty good job communication with each other. They have been playing together for years now and they usually get things picked up,” said Ratliff.
At this level all teams are outstanding, but some are easier to prepare for than others because of the things they do. Ratliff says the Marion Local defense does some things that have made them make some tweaks to their game plan. “Their defense causes some problems both running the football and throwing the football. We have to be able to adjust to what we see on the field,” he said.
In order to bring home the state championship to Crawford County Ratliff says they Bucks have to contain that Marion Local speed and get to the ball carrier and bring him down. “We have to try and control their speed. Up front they are very quick on both sides of the football offensively and defensively. We have to try and neutralize that. We need to be solid on the line of scrimmage. We have to get off blocks and make plays and tackle well,” said Ratliff.
Again Buckeye Central Must Compete
We keep saying that Buckeye Central is going to face a tough opponent and it keeps not happening, well again I say the buck stops here.
Buckeye Central (11-2) meets Berlin Center Western Reserve (13-0) in the division six state semi finals on Saturday night at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon on Saturday night with kickoff at 7PM.
Last week, Buckeye Central walloped their third straight playoff opponent taking out Bealsville 40-0. “Our defense played great again. Like I said last week they were quick at all of the positions on the field. Our defense got after it and shut their running game down,” said Buckeye Central coach Jason Ratliff. Another thing that had Ratliff concerned going into the game last week was the multiple fronts that Bealsville was going to show them. “The offensive line did a nice job once again. They did pick up the blitz several times. We had a few slip through, but for the most part they took care of the job. The whole night we were able to run and throw the ball,” he added.
Berlin Center Western Reserve finished the regular season ranked as the number one team in Ohio in division six by the Associated Press and they have not been beaten and rarely challenged this year. “They are the AP number one team in the state and there is a reason for that. They are very big up front. They average about 280 pounds up front,” Ratliff told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They have a running back that went over 2,000 yards. Their quarterback, they will spread you out sometimes and let him run the football. He is very dangerous as well and he can also throw. Defensively, they are very aggressive. They blitz their linebackers. It’s just going to be a tough challenge for us.” Running back Donnie Bolton has 65 carries in three playoff games for 492 yards. Quarterback Jeff Clegg has thrown for more than 1,500 yards on the season.
Western Reserve’s skilled players are very talented, but Ratliff believes the real battles are going to be in the trenches of the game. “Our guys up front are going to have to maintain their position even though they are out weighed. They are going to have to play the game like they are taught to play,” said Ratliff.
Buckeye Central has won its three playoff games by a combined score of 123-7 and these are against good teams, not the little sisters of the poor. “Our kids have a lot of confidence now. They really believe in each other and what they are trying to do on the field. Nobody is trying to do too much. They are trying to do their own job. Our kids don’t care who gets all of the glory. They just want to win football games and move on. They are having the time of their lives,” said Ratliff. Buckeye Central is now one of just four teams remaining in the state in division six, but Ratliff says they are not in aye of their station. He says they just love playing football. “I think our kids are just excited to get to continue to play. Everyday they show up at practice they are excited to be there again. It’s a close knit group. They have a lot of fun and they just want to continue to play as long as possible,” he said.
Berlin Center Western Reserve might be the best team they have played this season but Ratliff says the keys aren’t much different than they have been all season. “We can’t turn the ball over,” he said, “We have to control the ball if we are running or passing. Our special teams have to play really well. They get after it and try to block punts. Our offensive line has to maintain blocks and pick up blitzes from their defense,” he said.
Buckeye Central Faces Quick Team
Buckeye Central has not been challenged in its two playoff games so far, but that is likely to change when they play Bealsville in the division six regional finals on Saturday night at Westerville Central High School.
Buckeye (10-2) has blasted South Gallia (46-0) and Zanesville Rosecrans (37-7) in its two playoff contests so far this season. “We have played very well defensively. Our kids have prepared themselves well each week and they have done a good job following the game plan,” Buckeye Central coach Jason Ratliff told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Our kids have done a real nice job. Our defensive coordinator Terry Oswald has done a good job with these kids. They listen to what he says. He has those kids prepared and they have been showing up ready to play.”
Another key is the balance that Buckeye has shown on offense between its run game and its pass game. Unlike most teams Buckeye Central uses the pass the set up it run. Tyler Erwin has really opened up the pass game early on and then in the second half, once they have built a lead, they have been able to run the ball and take time off the clock. “You face teams that have good defenses and they try to take one thing away and you have to be able to go with something else and we are able to do that. It’s allowed us to be successful the last couple of weeks,” said Ratliff.
Bealsville (10-2) is located down by the Ohio River in southeastern Ohio and the Blue Devils got to this level with an exciting 35-34 win over Symms Valley last week. Their only losses this season come to Strasburg-Franklin (27-17) and Shadyside (7-6). Ratliff says they are a very quick team that can make big plays in an instant. “They are a very quick team. They have great team speed as a whole. They can throw the ball and run the ball. They are about 50/50 run and pass, kind of like us. Defensively, they have several different fronts. They will give you four or five different looks. That’s a concern for us to make sure we get that blocked and that we are able to move the football consistently,” he said. One of Buckeye’s losses this season comes to Ontario in North Central Conference action and the Warriors have some speed, but Ratliff believes that Bealsville is quicker. “As an overall team they are quicker than Ontario. Ontario has some real fast kids, but some of the kids up front aren’t as fast as these kids we will see on Saturday night,” he said.
Along with being able to block that Bealsville defensive front, Ratliff says they can’t be giving the ball away if they expect to win. “We can’t have any turnovers. We can’t throw pics and we can’t fumble the ball,” he said.
Buckeye Central Must Limit Mistakes
Buckeye Central continues to roll this high school football season and the Bucks have advanced to the second round of the division six playoffs and face Zanesville Rosecrans on Saturday night at Westerville Central High School.
Last week, Buckeye Central (9-2) blasted South Gallia 46-0 in a game played in New Washington. “Our Kids played pretty well on both sides of the ball on Saturday. It was a nice win at home in front of our home fans,” said Buckeye Central coach Jason Ratliff.
Teams want to be peaking at this time of the year because you have to be at your best to beat teams in the playoffs. Ratliff says he doesn’t necessarily think they are peaking because they have been so consistent this year. “Our kids have done a good job all year long of preparing for every team we play. No matter if we won or lost they came back on Monday ready to go, looking at the scouting report, looking at the film and seeing what we have to do to beat the teams we play. So, our kids have been focused all year long,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday.
Zanesville Rosecrans (7-4) downed Danville, of the Mid-Buckeye Conference, 34-7 in a first round game played last Saturday. Ratliff says Rosecrans doesn’t have great numbers, but what they do have is very good talent. “They don’t have many players first of all, but the players they do have are quality kids. They have a big offensive line. They have three very fast running backs. They have a big tight end. He’s 6-6 and 220 pounds. They have a good quarterback. He can run and throw and he’s 6-4 and 230,” he said.
Buckeye Central has been one of the more versatile offensive teams in the Greater Mansfield Area led by outstanding quarterback Tyler Erwin. Ratliff says the Rosecrans defense will be athletic and offer a tremendous challenge. “Those same kids go both ways. They are going to be big up front on the defensive line. Their quarterback is actually one of their linebackers inside. Their skilled kids, their quick kids, are in their secondary. They have a real nice team, not very many weaknesses,” he said.
Ratliff says the things they have to do to win Saturday night aren’t much different from what they have been every week this fall. “We have to be able to throw the football and run the football evenly. Getting off to a good start is a key. You can’t have stupid penalties that kill our drives,” said Ratliff.
Buckeye Central Needs That Balance
Buckeye Central, the small school division winner in the North Central Conference this fall, plays host to South Gallia in the division six regional quarterfinals on Saturday night in New Washington.
Buckeye (8-2) beat Colonel Crawford 30-27 in overtime to win the division title last Friday night. Bucks coach Jason Ratliff told Swankonsports.com it was exactly the kind of game they thought it was going to be. “It sure was. We knew all week long that we would be in for a battle with Crawford having everybody back. They can pass and run affectively. We knew it was going to be a tough task and it ended up being a good ball game,” he said. In big games you have to have big plays by your best players and that happened last week for the Bucks. “Adam Paynter was excellent in the overtime. He kicked the game winning field goal and made a couple nice stops on their last possession. Good players have to step up and he did,” said Ratliff.
South Gallia (7-3) was the runner up this season in the Tri-Valley Hocking Conference in southern Ohio. They will be making the three hour bus ride to New Washington on Saturday. “They like to run the football. They come at you with a lot of different formations. They like to run sweeps outside. They have a sophomore running back that runs very hard. The like to run him up in the middle. With their different formations they try to get you in different things. We have to be ready defensively for a lot of different formations,” said Ratliff. Buckeye has faced some teams this year that look to do a lot of the same things. “They remind us of Crawford and possibly Ontario a little bit too. Both of those teams like to run the football,” added Ratliff, “And it was good to play both of those teams latter in the season to help prepare us for the playoffs,” he said.
Tyler Erwin is one of the better quarterbacks in the area, but the Bucks have been able to run the ball well behind their offensive line and running back Matt Adkins. Ratliff says they will need that balance again against South Gallia. “As balanced as we have been all year. We will try and continue that on Saturday night,” said Ratliff.
Buckeye Central Squares off with Crawford for Division Title
Going into the final night of the regular season Buckeye Central and Colonel Crawford are tied for the lead in the small school division of the North Central Conference and they play each other in New Washington. The winner goes home with the outright title.
Buckeye Central (7-2) blasted Lucas 46-0 last week to maintain its share of first place. Lucas has two 1,000 yard rushers and Buckeye coach Jason Ratliff says they did a very good job in containing the Cubs running game. “Last week we were able to play very well defensively and stop Lucas’s running game. That was our main concern going in and we were able to do that,” he said. They held Lucas to only 64 yards rushing on the night. The Buckeye defense has been getting better and better as time goes along and Ratliff says they have been able to get kids in the right positions. “Our kids work pretty hard whether it’s offense or defense. Our defensive coordinator does a good job with that group. He has them prepared every game we play,” said Ratliff.
Colonel Crawford buried Riverdale 40-7 last week and Ratliff knows the Eagles will come ready to play on Friday night. “They are a good football team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They are well coached. You can see that when you watch film and you watch their players. Offensively, they have a big offensive line. They have good running backs and a quarterback that can throw it. They have some good receivers as well.” Crawford showed good balance against Riverdale with 286 yards rushing and 180 through the air. The Eagles have been a different team with Nate Klingenberger back at quarterback the second half of the season and Ratliff says they show more confidence. “He gives them stability. That’s who their kids thought would be their starter all along. Now he’s back and everybody has calmed down a little bit and made some plays,” he said.
The Buckeye Central coach says Colonel Crawford is very aggressive in the way they play defense. “Defensively they are very active at the linebacker position and they stunt a little bit up front. That will cause some problems for us,” said Ratliff.
It was pretty obvious from at least mid-season on that this was the game that was going to be the difference in the small school division. “Our kids have prepared themselves throughout the whole season for this game. It should be interesting on Friday night,” said Ratliff.
Buckeye Central Has No Breather
Buckeye Central is in position to win the first ever small school division title in the North Central Conference and make the playoffs for the second straight year, but they are going to have to win their last two games to accomplish those goals.
The Bucks (6-2) play at Lucas against the Cubs in a divisional game on Friday night. Buckeye Central is tied with Colonel Crawford for the divisional lead and they play the Eagles next week.
Buckeye absorbed just its second loss of the season last week when Ontario (7-1) beat them 28-19. Bucks coach Jason Ratliff believes they actually played very well in the game and had a chance to win until the very end. “I thought we played very good versus Ontario. It’s a tough team for us to play due to their size. I was proud of our kid’s effort. I thought we gave it all we had. Now we move on,” he said.
Lucas (3-5) is in third place in the small school division, just a game behind the co-leaders. They feature a very good running game led by wingbacks Levi Harris and Nick Swainhart. “They have double tights and double wings. It looks like a rugby scrum, but they do a nice job up front blocking guys. They have two backs over 1,000 yards each and with the weather conditions, with the sloppy field I’m sure it’s going to play right into their hands,” Ratliff told Swankonsports.com.
Buckeye Central has the one of the top quarterbacks in the area in Tyler Erwin, but a key for the Bucks all season is their offensive line has also blocked the run well and opened some holes for running back Michael Adkins. “We have relied on that all year long, the give and take. We take what the defense gives us. We try to do the best we can with what we have,” said Ratliff.
With Colonel Crawford looming are the Bucks peaking ahead? Ratliff says they better not be. “I won’t let them look past Lucas. They know how important this game is to set up that game next week, so I don’t think they will be looking past it,” he said.
Defense Leads to Better Play For Buckeye
Buckeye Central finished the regular season with a 20-1 record and a small school division title in the North Central Conference and now they are poised to begin the postseason volleyball tournament on Tuesday night.
Last year, they lost in three games to Norwalk St. Paul in the district finals in division four, but coach Bill Bonham believes the Buckettes are an improved team this year because of a couple of reasons. “We have challenged them this year to start games strong and finish games strong and pick up our defense. And that is exactly what we have done. We’ve had some matches this year that last year we would stalled out in the end and not finished off the game. A good example was last week against Wynford. Defensively we have come a long way and we haven’t had to rely on one person to play defense,” he said.
With improved defense Bonham thinks they have a chance to advance farther down the tournament trail. He told Swankonsports.com that the girls have been committed to defense all year long. “If you look at a lot of the teams that make it to the regionals or to the state they are going to be backed up by some great defensive players. Whether it is the use of a good libero or just a couple of people in the back row together and their hitters stepping up and playing defense on top of offense. That’s what we have right now. Our defense has gotten better each year I have been here. This year there is no doubt this is our best defensive year. As good as our hitters are we don’t do it without the passes first,” said Bonham.
Buckeye went unbeaten with year in the “NCC,” including a fine 25-23, 25-16 and 25-23 win over large school division champ Wynford last Thursday night. “When you go to a Colonel Crawford or you go to a Wynford with the rivalry that these schools have with each other you expect to play a hard match. They rise to the occasion and we rise to the occasion. The great thing about our kids this year is they aren’t backing down. A great example was Wynford had a 22-20 lead in game three, last year we would have stalled out and let them win that game. We didn’t do that this time. We won five of the last six points to prove we can close out a game,” said Bonham. The Buckettes only loss this season was to number one ranked St. Henry.
Instead of taking the first round bye with the top seed in the division four sectional at Ontario High School this week, Buckeye Central chose to play a semi final against Plymouth (1-21) on Tuesday night. “The first reason is we are one match short on the season because Mohawk had double booked. We were just trying to get our kids a few more numbers. In the past, the more we sit around it seems like the less energy we have when we come back out. We’ve had some fairly easy matches here at the end of the season. Our intensity has not been there, so we didn’t want to wait until we see a Norwalk St. Paul or a Monroeville before we find our timing again,” said Bonham.
Buckeye Central Must Contain Ontario Backs
Buckeye Central, in a share of first place in the North Central Conference small school division, plays one of the better teams on its schedule on Friday night as they travel to Ontario to meet the Warriors.
The Bucks are tied with Colonel Crawford and they play the Eagles on week ten and lead Lucas by a game and they meet the Cubs next week.
Buckeye (6-1) crushed Crestline (3-4) last week 57-7 in an “NCC” game. Buckeye ran for 223 yards, 212 by running back Michael Adkins, and quarterback Tyler Erwin completed nine of 13 passes for 223 yards and two scores. Bucks coach Jason Ratliff was pleased with the balance. “I thought our kids played well in all aspects of the game last week. Offensively we were able to run the football and throw as well. Defensively we played better as well,” he said. Buckeye Central limited Crestline to only 93 total yards. Erwin is one of the more efficient passers in this area, but Ratliff says to be successful they have to be able to run the football. “I think in high school football you have to be able to run the football as well as throw it. We have been fortunate to have a pretty good running game here at Buckeye the last few years. With Tyler being able to throw the football it just adds another dimension to our offense,” he told Swankonsports.com. on Tuesday. Plus, Ratliff believes his defense has improved a bunch since the beginning of the season. “Our defense has gotten better each time out. They are in for a tough task with the speed of Ontario. From the start to where we are now they have done a pretty good job,” said Ratliff.
After losing their first game of the season two weeks ago to unbeaten Wynford, the Ontario Warriors battled back to destroy Lucas 63-20 last week behind a running attack that totaled 252 yards and quarterback Mitchell Phelps completed all five of his passes. “They are huge up front and they have fast kids in the backfield. That big quarterback and decent receivers. They have speed all over the place and that’s a big concern for us,” said Ratliff. He says they can’t let those speedy Ontario backs get to the perimeter of their defense. “We have to contain them as much as possible and tackle well. We can’t give them second chances because of missed tackles,” he said.
Buckeye Central Plays Athletic Upper Sandusky
Buckeye Central and Colonel Crawford appear to be the two best teams in the small school division of the North Central Conference this year and they play the final week of the regular season in New Washington.
However, for that to matter for the Bucks they have to continue to play good football until that point. They play Upper Sandusky, Crestline, Ontario and Lucas over the next month.
Buckeye quarterback Tyler Erwin threw for 384 yards and five touchdowns in a 41-6 win last week over Riverdale. “Riverdale loaded the box up on us a little bit, so we just went to our pass game. We were able to complete some passes to our receivers,” Buckeye Central coach Jason Ratliff told Swankonsports.com on Sunday night. Wide out Justin Hernstein caught six passes for 218 yards on the night. “We are fortunate enough to have some receivers that are athletic and we were able to have some time to throw the football,” added Ratliff. Adam Paynter caught a 98 yard scoring pass from Erwin in the fourth quarter of the game.
Upper Sandusky is 0-2 in the “NCC” after a 41-14 loss to unbeaten Ontario last week. Ratliff says the Rams have some playmakers on both offense and defense. “They are very athletic. They have a lot of kids that can move around very well. Defensively they get after you. They bring a lot of people on the blitz. Offensively their quarterback in a good runner and a good thrower and they have some good running backs,” he said. Gyen Musgrave had 17 carries for 86 yards last week for the Rams in their loss to Ontario.
Upper has run a lot of formations this season. Ratliff says they have been in a spread a lot lately, put they will be prepared for almost anything on Friday night. “They are settling into the spread more than the power game. We will be prepared for both,” he said.
Big Battle on Opening Night of “NCC” Action
Buckeye Central and Wynford are the favorites to win their divisions of the newly designed North Central Conference and they meet on the opening night of “NCC” play on Friday night in suburban Bucyrus.
Wynford has won 47 straight North Central Conference games dating back to September 24, 2004, when the Lucas Cubs beat them 14-13. Last year, the Royals handed Buckeye Central their only loss of the regular season, beating the Bucks 28-13 in early October.
Last week, Buckeye moved its record to 3-0 on the season by thumping Plymouth 41-12. “We were able to play pretty well offensively and defensively. Plymouth is improved. They stacked the box on us on defense and they forced us to the pass game, which we were fortunate to complete some passes,” Buckeye Central coach Jason Ratliff told Swankonsports.com. Tyler Erwin is in his second season as the signal caller for the Bucks and he gives them great flexibility because when the running game is bottled up he gets them going with the pass game. “It’s a good problem to have. We are fortunate enough to have a good quarterback and receivers to go with our running game. It’s nice to be balanced on offense,” added Ratliff.
Ratliff knows the reputation that Wynford carries into any “NCC” game. They have talent on both sides of the ball, but what impresses the Buckeye Central coach the most is how assignment oriented the Royals are this year. “They are a very disciplined team.” he said, “You can tell when you watch film that they are well coached. They do what they are supposed to do. They don’t make mistakes. It’s going to be a tough task for us on Friday night.”
Buckeye knows what they want to do, but doing it against Wynford is another thing. Ratliff believes the game will be won in the trenches. “We have to try and establish the line of scrimmage. Their offensive and defensive lines are very good. We have to be able to move the ball a little bit,” he said.
Plymouth Will Challenge Buckeye Defense
Buckeye Central plays host the Plymouth Big Red on Friday in a non-conference high school football game in New Washington.
The Bucks are 2-0 after wins over New London (28-7) and Mapleton (41-7) last week. Buckeye is coming off a season when they finished second in the North Central Conference and qualified for the post season. They were the preseason choice to win their division of the newly designed “NCC” this fall.
Coach Jason Ratliff believes they survived the heat about was well as he could have hoped and they were able to get solid play out of their offensive line last week against Mapleton. “We able to control the line of scrimmage as the game wore on,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We wore them down a little bit wit the heat. We were able to move the ball in the second half with the run and that was good for us.” Buckeye ran for 260 yards and threw for 149 against the Mounties.
The heat was a factor for everyone in the area last Friday with 95 degree heat. “I know it affected our players,” said Ratliff, “Our players were worn out at halftime. We had to a good job of hydrating them and cooling them down. That’s as warm as I can remember it in a long time.”
Plymouth is 1-1 for the year after beating Lucas (21-18) and losing to Seneca East (34-7) over the first two weeks. Buckeye hammered Plymouth 42-7 last year, but Ratliff knows the Big Red is a lot better this year. “Plymouth is a much improved team. When I walked away from the scrimmage I saw I was very impressed. They have kids that have been starters for three of four years,” he said.
Plymouth is a team that runs the ball more than 85% of the time and Buckeye coach Ratliff knows they are going to have to execute well on defense in order to contain them. “There offense is based on misdirection. It fits their personnel very well. They have three good running backs. Their quarterback is a good runner as well. When you work on stopping the running backs then the quarterback keeps it and he is around the end. It’s going to be a tough task for our defense,” he said.
Line of Scrimmage Key For Bucks
Buckeye Central scored three times in the second half last week and beat New London in their first game of the year, but their coach is looking for a lot of improvement this week.
Buckeye, a playoff team a year ago, downed the Wildcats 28-7. Coach Jason Ratliff told Swankonsports.com they did have a better effort in the second half. “We had some guys that had some jitters in the first half and we didn’t play very well. We picked it up in the second half. The offensive line got after it a little bit better and we were able to sustain some drives,” he said.
Buckeye Central hosts a second straight Firelands Conference team in the Mapleton Mounties on Friday night.
Hillsdale destroyed Mapleton last week 55-0 and Ratliff says it was a little difficult to see how good Mapleton really can be. “Mapleton lost to what is probably another playoff bound Hillsdale team. They return everybody from last year’s team except two kids. They have good size up front and they have a good running back that kind of hides behind that line,” said Ratliff.
Ratliff believes that defense will be the key for them. He says they have to make Mapleton throw the ball. “Our offense line has to play better than it did last week,” he said, “It will be a big task for them with their size. Defensively, we have to stop their run. We have to force them to pass.”
Buckeye Central Gearing For More
Buckeye Central finished second in the North Central Conference and qualified for the division six playoffs last season. This year they are the preseason favorite to win their division in the new “NCC.”
Their first game of the year will be Friday night at New London, of the Firelands Conference.
Coach Jason Ratliff believes the playoff appearance, a 37-21 loss to Mogadore, really gave them momentum going into this year. “It was good for our program to make the playoffs,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We had a really good off season. A lot of kids in the weight room. A lot kids trying to focus on what we did last year and improve on that.”
Buckeye’s offensive will again be explosive with the return of their quarterback and much of his receiving corp. “We have our quarterback back in Tyler Erwin. He’s done an outstanding job working with our receivers. We have two good receivers back in Adam Painter and Justin Hernstein. Up front on the offensive line we have four out of five starters back from last year,” said Ratliff.
Defense might be another thing. The Bucks have to mature a little bit there. “We have some new kids that are trying to step up and start. You always have concerns with nerves on whether they are going to be able to handle it. They have improved in every scrimmage,” he said.
New London has been a second division team in the Firelands over the last half decade, but Ratliff believes the Wildcats have some weapons at their disposal this year. “New London has a lot of talented skilled kids,” said Ratliff, “A good quarterback, good running backs, and two good receivers. They have good speed. They like to run the jet sweep.”
Buckeye Central news can also be heard on the SwankonSports 24/7 Listen Line