Strong start powers Wynford girls over rival Bucyrus for first Northern 10 win
HOLMES TOWNSHIP - A hot start on a cold, rainy Friday night was all Wynford needed to halt a three-game skid and secure its first Northern 10 win of the season.
"You look for your first N10 win, we missed that opportunity on Tuesday so we're happy to get that first win in the league," Wynford coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon said after beating rival Bucyrus 46-31. "When we consider things on possessions where we did what we wanted to do defensively and offensively, if we can combine that and get consistency we'll hopefully go on a streak here for the rest of December."
Reese McGuire got the offense going with eight of her 10 points in the first quarter alone as the Royals stormed out to a 17-4 lead after one despite having key players in foul trouble. Starting post Katie Wagner had three fouls heading into the second quarter while point guard Maradath Engler and forward Kenna Caldwell each had two.
This brought in 5-foot-3 sophomore Briana Westrick who only recorded one rebound on the night, but logged quality minutes to help the Royals get through stretches without starters on the court.
"This is the first game she has played in," Taylor-Sheldon said. "She came off the bench and gave us good minutes, she played hard. We were trying to decide what we needed to change out, we had some streaks where we were careless and got in foul trouble. But we were still scoring, they were just getting to the foul line numerous times.
"That's a place we need to be a little more disciplined."
Wynford took a 27-11 lead into halftime before Bucyrus coach Brian Seybert sparked his girls at halftime to come out strong in the third opening on a 9-1 run to cut the lead to eight (28-20).
"It was not the start we wanted," he said. "I told them we had to come out and start fast, but we didn't … and we had to fight back. Third quarter we come out with good intensity, make some shots and cut it to eight to give ourselves a chance. But then what we did in the third quarter we didn't do in the fourth."
A 14-6 Bucyrus third quarter was met with a 13-6 fourth from Wynford to close out the 15-point win.
"We had some good stretches defensively," Taylor-Sheldon said. "I think our biggest focus was that we needed to be more consistent in the long haul. We came out hot offensively, we're just too streaky on offense and defense. But this is still only game five for us, hopefully we can improve each game to be more consistent."
Grace Stucky's 15-point, 10-rebound double-double led the way for the Royals along with four steals, two assists and one block. Adjusting to a new role isn't always easy, but Taylor-Sheldon knew Stucky had the potential to thrive in a more offensive position this season.
"She's definitely capable of that and doing that every game," Taylor-Sheldon said. "She has been our point guard the last three years and with the great addition of Maradath Engler — and us losing Paige Smith and Averi McMillan — in my mind she's a great athlete who is very coachable and can do a lot of different things.
'"It has really opened Grace up to a much broader offensive game. With Maradath running it from the top and her playing every other position, I've only had two kids that could play all five positions and they were pretty darn good players."
Caldwell added eight points and three rebounds, Wagner five points and six rebounds, Engler five points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals, Zoe Whitmeyer three points.
"Our Achilles' heel the last three games, we're not making shots," Seybert said. "The other team is making them and we're not. If we make half of those, it's a close ball game."
Bucyrus was held without a bucket for more than 10 minutes to start the game with the only points in the first quarter being a single free throw made by Brook Dennison and Adacyn Rister.
"Overall we shot 25% from two-point range and barely over 10% from 3," Seybert said. "When we're not hitting anything outside, we have to drive. When that worked we got some fouls and got a couple of them in trouble, then made a little dent into the lead."
Madalyn Kimmel paced the Lady Red with 11 points and six rebounds, Dennison added six points, four rebounds and three steals, Addison Ricker had six points and three rebounds, Addison Kemery five points, five rebounds, Rister, Kendra Blizzard and Marissa Middleton a point each.
"Shots just didn't fall," Seybert said. "The heart was there, the girls gave 100% effort from the second quarter on. Eventually the shots will fall and we get some wins coming our way."
Both teams are back in nonleague action next week with Bucyrus hosting Cardington-Lincoln on Monday and Wynford traveling to Ashland Crestview on Tuesday. Next Saturday they'll resume league play at Upper Sandusky and home against Mohawk respectively.
419-617-6018
Twitter: @Zachary_Holden
This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Wynford beats rival Bucyrus for first Northern 10 win
