Four seniors to guide group of underclassmen for Buckeye Central on the court
NEW WASHINGTON — At the Division IV level, losing seven players to graduation can be devastating to a program.
But that doesn't seem to be the case this season at Buckeye Central, where four seniors are joined by a slew of underclassmen to give the Bucks talent and depth.
"We have four competitive seniors in Tyler Sanderson, Stephen Sostakowski, Manny Mullins and Drew Rose," coach Tom Howell said. "They are going to be counted on to do a lot this season. Sanderson has the most experience for us coming back."
Though Mullins is the only one of those four to have played since his freshman year (12 appearances), Sanderson burst onto the scene as a sophomore by averaging 6.7 points and increased that to 8.2 last season — along with 4.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists — to become the team's third option in the offense.
Sostakowski is the second-highest returning scorer (4.9 points, 3.0 rebounds), Rose played in 23 of the team's 24 games last season, and Mullins has been a consistent role player all three years before now slotting into the starting lineup. Junior Trevor Kirgis rounds out the five.
"On the offensive end of the floor we will have to share the basketball," Howell said. "We have some players that can score and we need to get the basketball moving to find players and take good shots. We need to limit turnovers and score in transition. We lost most of our scoring to graduation, so we'll need some players to score the basketball.
"Defensively we just want to play good solid defense. We really need to focus on defensive rebounding."
Juniors Heath Jensen, Carter Caudill and Devin Siefert, sophomores Corbin Bloomfield and Braeden Siefert, and freshmen Jack Phillips, Alec Phillips and Dom Dean all give the Bucks options off the bench and should allow the team to stay fresh throughout the season.
"We have been working hard to get better as a team," Howell said. "Defense is going to be the key for us. We don’t have much size, so defensive rebounding is a key for us in every game. The younger players are going to have to grow up quickly."
The Bucks have already gotten a taste of success this season having topped Plymouth 38-37 in the season opener on Sanderson's 10-foot jumper late in the game. They're back in action Saturday night against Crestline in the home opener before heading on the road Tuesday against South Central.
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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Buckeye Central boys look to seniors to guide youth on the court
