NEW WASHINGTON — Wynford guard Grace Stucky showed tremendous eloquence when she talked about Wynford’s battle with Buckeye Central Friday night.
“We had to come out and show we can beat them, and we wanted it more than they did,” Stucky said. “Our coaches were telling us that we were going to shock the world, or just be game number 39. And we didn’t want to be 39.”
Stucky was the main reason her Royals were not going to be 39.
The Wynford guard tossed in a game-high 22 points, hitting 10 of 12 free throws in the critical fourth quarter as Wynford snapped the Buckettes’ 38-game Northern 10 Athletic Conference win streak in a 45-39 victory.
BC fell to 6-1 in the conference, 11-2 overall, while Wynford improved to 3-3 in the league, 6-4 overall.
The last time the Buckettes lost a league game was Jan. 31, 2020, in a 27-21 loss to Carey.
Wynford used a physical nature to force the Buckettes to try to score from the perimeter and preventing the BC attack from getting into the paint.
Wynford coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon felt that her defense was the difference in the game.
“We’ve prepared for game after game after game, regardless of who we’re playing, and we try to emphasize certain things, but, most of all, we know the scouting report, but can we follow through and be consistent,” Taylor-Sheldon said.
“Everybody has their lapses, we consistently listened how to play people, we communicated,” she added. “Overall, everybody tried to do their best and tried to make their defense one-on-one airtight and then rely on teammates, so everybody was responsible for their assignments. I was happy to see that we could do that with our level of intensity.”
While Taylor-Sheldon said she was impressed with what the Buckettes have accomplished, she said that her team talked about the BC win streak.
“When you go into a game like this, somebody has a winning streak, you have that in your mind, are we going to be the one that stops it, or are we just going to be 39?” Taylor-Sheldon said. “For us the challenges are consistency, can we take our level of offense and defense consistency from today; this is only mid-season for us, we have less games than anyone else.”
Buckeye Central coach Abram Kaple thought his team simply didn’t match Wynford’s physicality.
“Give credit to Wynford, they were more physical than we were,” Kaple said. “They guarded well, we couldn’t get by anybody. And I thought we backed down from the physicality. They made shots difficult for us, they guarded, they had a good game plan. They were just better than us.
“Wynford showed us where our weaknesses are,” he added. “We’ve got to be strong with the basketball, we have to be able to absorb contact and we have to be able to score through contact.”
Wynford led most of the game. In fact, BC led only 2-0 on two Kate Siesel free throws.
From there, Stucky scored 12 of her 22 points in the first half, as she was able to get into the paint and get short jumpers.
Wynford led 11-9 after one period, before scoring the first 10 points of the second period to take a 21-11 lead. Stucky and Reese McGuire scored baskets before Zoe Whitmeyer and Alexis Stevely knocked down 3-poitn shots in the run.
After BC’s Paige Collene scored on a follow and a layup, Wynford held a 23-15 lead at the break.
From that point, every time Buckeye cut the lead to three, the Royals made a play to hold off the Buckettes’ charge.
Katie Wagner scored late in the third, as the Royals held a 31-25 lead entering the final frame.
The Buckettes cut the deficit to 37-34 midway through the final frame on a Sydney Wurm basket and got within three two more times. But each time Wynford responded.
“We tried to run the clock down, we were ahead most of the game and we just wanted to have clock management,” Stucky said. “And they kept fouling because they were trying to get a second chance and we knew that we had to make those free throws.”
In the final 1:48 of the fourth, Stucky knocked down eight free throws and she made 10 of 12 for the period.
“This is a big win for us,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “Are we going to be a one-hit wonder, are the kids going to take the challenge of building after having a below-.500 start? I’m really proud of our effort. All the kids played their roles well and played hard as a team.”
Kaple said his team’s defense wasn’t as strong as he would like.
“I thought we really struggled defensively,” Kaple said. “We didn’t communicate, we did not guard up to the standard with which we’ve tried to set here. You got to be able to guard better, period.
“When you get to the second half of league play when they’re going to take away stuff, defense travels,” he added. “We didn’t make shots offensively and, you’re high school kids, that happens. But you can control your effort and what you can do on the defensive end, and I felt we fell a little short of what we’re capable of.”
Collene led the Buckettes with nine points and nine rebounds.
“Paige was really good for us on both sides of the floor, she got a lot of offensive rebounds and she played with a lot of heart, a lot of energy,” Kaple said. “She knows her job, she knows her role and she took advantage of that tonight. I’m happy for her, I thought she played hard. We all have to play with that same intensity that she does all the time.”
Box score
Wynford 11 12 8 14 — 45
Buckeye Central 9 6 10 14 — 39
Wynford (6-4, 3-3 N10): Shots 13-35; 3-pt. shots 5-11 (Zoe Whitmeyer 2, Alexis Stevely 2, Maradath Engler); Free throws 14-21; Rebounds 25; Turnovers 11. Scoring: Zoe Whitmeyer 2 0 6, Maradath Engler 1 2 5, Reese McGuire 1 0 2, Grace Stucky 6 10 22, Alexis Stevely 2 0 6, Katie Wagner 1 2 4.
Buckeye Central (11-2, 6-1 N10): Shots 13-44; 3-pt. 3-15 (Kate Siesel 2, Sydney Wurm); Free throws 10-13; Rebounds 33; Turnovers 10. Scoring: Kate Siesel 2 2 8, Sydney Wurm 2 0 5, Kennedy Deppen 4 0 8, Nevaeh Metzger 1 3 5, Ryley Kantzer 1 2 4, Paige Collene 3 3 9.