HOLMES TOWNSHIP — Wynford coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon is stressing consistency and balance from her team this year.
Both were on full display when backyard rival Bucyrus came to Dr. Michael A. Johnson Gymnasium Friday.
The Royals got scoring from eight different players and three were in double figures as Wynford pulled away from the Lady Redmen, 58-31, in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.
“We had eight different people score in the first half,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “With a zone, yes, we’re going to shoot a lot of 3s because we have the ability to do that. Then we came out in the second half and balanced it a little bit more with the post.”
Alexis Stevely hit three from beyond the arc in the first 4:20 of the game to help the Royals to a 17-6 lead.
But Bucyrus (1-4, 0-3 N10) stemmed the tide by scoring the next eight points on 3s by Addison Ricker and Maddie Kimmel and a basket by Emma Tyrrell to get back within 17-14.
Wynford (3-2, 2-1) led 19-14 by period’s end, But the Redmen had weathered the early onslaught despite being outshot 24-8 in the frame.
“What were they from the 3-point line? Fifty percent, 40 percent?” Bucyrus coach Brian Seybert said. “They were hot, whatever it was. That’s why we got out of the 2-3 (zone) when we did because we weren’t finding Stevely very well. She was killing us early.”
More than the 3-point shooting, which sank to 28 percent for the game for the Royals, it was rebounding, especially on the offensive end that hurt Bucyrus. Wynford had a 10-4 edge on the offensive glass in the first two quarters, which allowed the Royals to build a 37-20 lead at halftime.
“Thirteen of (Bucyrus’) 20 points in the first half were all on first shots,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “So, they were free throws but not offensive rebounds They shot the ball well in the first half.”
The Redmen scored the first six points of the second half to trim the deficit to 37-26, the last on a free throw by Karmyn Blizzard. But that was as close as Bucyrus could get.
Wynford scored the final nine point of the third period to take a commanding 46-26 lead. The Redmen hit only three of 28 shots in the second half.
“I thought once we went to the man (defense), we played a lot better,” Seybert said. “We were closing out a lot better. Stevely didn’t go off as much. But then there were getting some lobs inside to (Averi) McMillan and that was kind of hurting.”
“She has shot well all season,” Taylor-Sheldon said of Stevely. “Obviously, she missed some in the second half. She could have easily been over 50 percent for the game. The thing I liked about what she did in the second half was she put the ball on the floor a little more, that yin and yang we need to be successful.”
Maddie Kimmel led Bucyrus with 13 points and Emma Tyrrell added eight points and 10 rebounds.
“Especially in the first quarter, we fought very well,” Seybert said. “We were in it. We were getting to the line, knocking down some free throws. End of the first quarter, it was 19-14. We’ll take that. We’ve been on some pretty bad ends of it to start the season.”
“Maddie has definitely improved, to attack the basket,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “Her dribble is really low. She makes an extra pass there into the paint. She hits a 3, made her free throws.”
Stevely finished with 15 to lead the Royals. Reese McGuire and McMillan had 13 each and Grace Stucky grabbed eight rebounds.
“The girls gave effort all the way through,” Seybert said. “I’m proud of that. They’ve done it every single game so far and I know they’re going to continue doing it.
“We get rebound, we get shots inside, we get in the paint, but we’re not going strong enough,” Seybert added. “We’re practicing that. We’re practicing to collect your balance, you come down, reposition, keep your pivot foot, and go right back up through the arms and through the people. We’re slowly coming around to doing that but we’re not in control yet.”
“It’s hard to pass up set 3s,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “Our kids have to understand why we have to have balance. I thought we had more chances at the break (in the second half).
“I was happy for our win,” Taylor-Sheldon added. “We need that balance in our scoring, we need to be consistent. Today for us was progress because we were pretty consistent.”
Wynford also won the junior varsity game, 29-16. Zoe Whitmeyer led the Royals with 10 points. Ady Rister dropped seven for Bucyrus.
Box score
Bucyrus 14 6 6 5 — 31
Wynford 19 18 9 12 — 58
Bucyrus (1-4, 0-3 N10): Shots 9-45; 3-pt. shots 5-17 (Maddie Kimmel 2, Addison Ricker, Ady Rister, Karmyn Blizzard); Free throws 8-15; Rebounds 37 (Emma Tyrrell 10); Turnovers 18. Scoring: Addison Ricker 1 0 3, Maddie Kimmel 3 5 13, Emma Tyrrell 3 2 8, Adacyn Rister 1 0 3, Karmyn Blizzard 1 1 4.
Wynford (3-2, 2-1 N10): Shots 23-60; 3-pt. shots 9-32 (Alexis Stevely 4, Reese McGuire 3, Averi McMillan, Katie Wagner); Free throws 3-4; Rebounds 37; Turnovers 9. Scoring: Maddie Coffman 1 2 4, Reese McGuire 5 0 13, Kenna Caldwell 1 0 2, Grace Stucky 2 0 4, Paige Smith 1 0 2, Averi McMillan 6 0 13, Alexis Stevely 5 1 15, Katie Wagner 2 0 5.
JV: Wynford 29-16.