WILLARD — Kate Siesel put on a shooting clinic Thursday inside Robert L. Haas Gymnasium.
Siesel, Buckeye Central’s senior sharpshooter, broke her own single-game record with eight 3-pointers in three quarters of action in a 65-51 win over South Central in the Division IV district semifinals.
The top-seeded Buckettes (21-3) will play No. 2 Danbury for the district title at 6 p.m. Saturday in Willard. Danbury beat Mansfield Christian 44-35 in Thursday’s early game.
The 5-foot-6 Siesel missed her first couple of shots before catching fire. She hit four straight treys to close the first quarter as Buckeye blew out to an 18-8 advantage.
“It feels good. I love playing in this gym,” said Siesel, who scored a game-high 26 points. “We started off kind of slow, so those shots definitely helped.
“Once you make one, it just kind of keeps coming.”
Any thoughts South Central (11-13) had of springing the upset were laid to rest in the second quarter. The Buckettes outscored the Trojans 25-12 and took a 43-20 lead to the half.
“We were a little bit outmatched tonight,” South Central coach John Vogel said. “Buckeye was very well prepared. A lot of the things we were trying to do, they were taking those things away from us.
“Siesel got going … and that kind of took us out of our game plan. The 3-point shot just takes a lot of wind out of your sails.”
Siesel hit a pair of triples to start the third and by the times she hit her record-breaking eighth with 3:07 remaining in the quarter, Buckeye Central leaf 59-26. She took a seat with 34.4 seconds left in the third quarter and never returned.
“Kate has the ability to shoot really well,” BC coach Abram Kaple said. “We were able to have good ball movement and find her in open spaces.”
The Buckettes led 63-33 after three before Kaple emptied his bench. South Central outscored BC 18-2 in the fourth quarter.
Kennedy Deppen backed Siesel with 15 points. Ryley Kantzer added eight, while Grace College and Nevaeh Metzger each had seven.
Kendyl Beverly led South Central with 21 points. Grace Lamoreaux added 16.
