Written by Jeff Wallner Enquirer contributor
Feb 07
cincinnati.com
NEW RICHMOND — New Richmond junior center Josie Buckingham is accustomed to being double and triple-teamed and having opposing defenses collapse on her for 32 minutes.
But after scoring just two points in the first quarter, Buckingham scored 12 of her 35 points in the third quarter and finished with 18 rebounds and nine blocks, leading the Lions to a 56-51 upset victory over Western Brown, the third-ranked team in the Enquirer Divisions II-IV coaches’ poll.
“My teammates did such a great job getting me the ball,” Buckingham said. “They really work hard in practice on getting me the ball in good position. This definitely was one of my top games.”
Bailey Workman scored 11 points, including three 3-pointers, and Maren Hance added eight points from the free-throw line, including four crucial free throws in the final seconds to seal the win.
“Those were crucial. I knew they had to go in for us to win,” said Hance. “This win was huge for us.”
Senior forward Taylor Henry scored 16 points, and guard Kylie Garrett added 12 for Western Brown, which suffered its first loss in the Southern Buckeye Conference. It was just the Broncos’ second loss in the past 14 games.
When the two teams played in December, Western Brown scored 25 points in the third quarter to blow open the game.
“We’ve been preaching being mentally and physically tough in the third quarter,” said Lions head coach Brad Hatfield. “When we played them in December, we were neither.”
But behind Buckingham, Thursday was a different story.
Western Brown went ahead 10-5 on a steal and layup by Delayne Seigla. Meanwhile, the Broncos’ full-court pressure pestered the Lions into four quick turnovers. A driving layup by Henry put the Broncos ahead 19-9 early in the second quarter.
Buckingham closed the first half with three straight baskets, a sign of things to come. She led all scorers with 13 points in the first half.
It appeared New Richmond would trail by just three points at halftime. But Garrett was fouled with no time remaining and hit both free throws, giving the Broncos a 28-23 lead and momentum heading into halftime.
Henry and Garrett each scored eight points in the first half for New Richmond. Workman’s third 3-pointer put the Lions ahead 45-41 with less than three minutes left, before Buckingham took control.
Western Brown (17-4, 9-1) – Henry 7 2 16, Garrett 4 4 12, Siegla 3 2 9, Nickell 1 0 2, Palmer 1 1 3, Ma. Fischer 2 0 4, Mo. Fischer 1 0 3, Harvey 1 0 2, Wiesenhahn 1 1 3. Totals: 21 7 51.
New Richmond (13-7, 6-4) – Buckingham 17 1 35, Workman 4 0 11, Meyer 1 0 2, Hance 0 8 8. Totals: 22 9 56.
3-pointers: WB 2 (Seigla, Fischer), NR 3 (Workman 3).