Balanced Wynford throttles rival Bucyrus in girls basketball to halt three-game skid
BUCYRUS — Amy Taylor-Sheldon saw a post recently from legendary Michigan State coach Tom Izzo about the transfer portal that really stood out to her.
Especially as Wynford came into Tuesday's rivalry game against Bucyrus on a three-game skid.
"What he was talking about was how much more you learn from losing than winning," Taylor-Sheldon said. "We compared three straight wins and what that felt like and what we learned, compared to three straight losses, and what did we learn from that? Going through the process of failure, how can you grow from that?
"We focused on that … everyone had to say what they learned last week as opposed to the pats on the back after beating Buckeye Central, which is now ancient history."
The most apparent thing the Royals learned was shooting better often leads to successful results. After going 9 of 52 against Carey on Saturday in a 43-22 loss, Wynford bounced back Tuesday with a 24-of-50 shooting performance in an impressive 66-43 win over Bucyrus.
"We were streaky at times but we had the right streak at the right times," Taylor-Sheldon said. "We had some really big buckets from Grace Stucky, Katie Wagner and Alexis Stevely. And we made buckets at the right time. Unfortunately we put them at the foul line too much, but that's something we need to keep working at.
"We're happy to get a win here at Bucyrus."
It was Bucyrus that actually came out with a great start, taking an 11-9 lead midway through the first quarter before Wynford closed out on an 8-4 run for a 17-15 advantage. The Royals then stretched that lead to a dozen at halftime with a 16-6 second quarter powered by Alexis Stevely, who scored 14 of her 15 points in the first half, including eight in the second quarter.
"It would've been nice if they shot how they shot against Carey, but that didn't happen," Bucyrus coach Brian Seybert said. "We brought the energy again in the first quarter, then we went into our lull in the second. I thought the girls played hard the whole time. I can't doubt their effort at all."
"(The Royals) came out and were on fire. I thought they were aggressive, they were determined and they wanted it more. They worked harder on the inside than we did. Offensive rebounds there was a huge margin there. When they got those, a lot of those were put-backs by Katie (Wagner) and she did one heck of a job."
The Royals dominated the glass by a 41-21 margin, 13 of those on the offensive end. Their 12-point halftime lead was pushed to 16 through three quarters and they continued to pull away in the fourth by bolstering down defensively.
"I think we had 11 straight stops there at one point in the fourth quarter," Taylor-Sheldon said. "That was an outstanding effort compared to us putting them at the foul line 10 times in the third quarter. We just needed to be more consistent and play with our heads.
"A 20-point win here after their great game against Colonel Crawford, I'm really happy with this."
Grace Stucky led the way with 18 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Wagner added 11 points and eight rebounds, and Reese McGuire had a 10-point, 10-rebound, five-assist double-double to put four Royals in double figures. Maradath Engler (six points, six assists, two steals), Zoe Whitmeyer (five points, three rebounds) and Kenna Caldwell (one point) also contributed.
McGuire's standout performance came on both ends of the court in what was a career night for the talented senior, and Whitmeyer thriving whenever she was on the court allowed the Royals to stretch their offense and make them very difficult to defend.
"One of the things we talked about before the game is what do you expect of yourself?" Taylor-Sheldon said. "I think for (McGuire), she wants to be aggressive but under control and do that as best she can. For her size, she does an incredible job on blockouts and has the physical strength to do that consistently. She's on the bottom of the zone sometimes or guarding a bigger player defensively. She's just a great athlete that plays with a lot of intensity. I'm glad she channeled that in this game.
"Zoe has probably progressed the most from sophomore to junior year, and these are moments we see that confidence."
Bucyrus was led by Maddie Kimmel's 14 points and six rebounds, and Addison Kemery added 12 points. Marissa Middleton (six points, three steals), Brook Dennison (five points, three assists, three steals), Kendra Blizzard (three points) and Adacyn Rister (two points, three rebounds) also contributed.
"Now we get refocused," Seybert said. "We have two tough games coming up this weekend with Upper coming here Friday night, then Loudonville coming over on Saturday."
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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Wynford girls thrash rival Bucyrus in Northern 10 basketball action
