NORTH ROBINSON — A lightning-fast start coupled with an aggressive style was the successful recipe that Wynford cooked up here Friday night in a win over county rival Colonel Crawford.
The Lady Royals handed the Lady Eagles their first defeat of the season, 43-24 in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play in front of a packed Mac Morrison Gymnasium.
“Crawford has shown that to be undefeated, their defense wins games. We had to get our minds right and have our defense win for us,” Wynford head coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon. “We had the shooters identified and we (talked about) limiting offensive rebounds and trying to contain people.
“We tried to press and match up and build on their defensive intensity. Games like this make us better — and probably will make them better, too,” she said.
Kenna Caldwell drained a pair of three-point shots and Maradath Engler added one as the visitors took a 9-0 lead after one quarter and they never looked back.
“In the preseason Kenna was our best shooter. She hasn’t had a great offensive scoring year. However, she has been one of our rebounders and best defenders. We kept saying this is what your role is now, and you’ll get your chance. What a game to fulfill that chance to hit two huge buckets,” Taylor-Sheldon said.
Caldwell, a senior, finished with 8 points, 2 rebounds and a steal. Wynford was led by freshman Caroline Sheldon with 9 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and a pair of steals. Classmate Brooke Frombaugh had 9 points and 8 boards.
The Lady Royals built a 20-0 lead before Allison Weithman converted on a free throw and Ayla McKibben a field goal. Wynford led at halftime 23-3.
McKibben led the Lady Eagles with 8 points. She added a rebound, 2 assists and 2 steals.
Wynford moves to 9-2, 4-2 while Colonel Crawford is 11-1, 5-1.
Colonel Crawford head coach Zac Bauer said falling behind by that margin was impossible to overcome against a top-tier opponent.
“You can’t spot a quality team or any team in our league that much. We spot Seneca East 11, and we fight to get back in it. But we shot the lights out. We didn’t do that tonight,” he said.
“Our defense wasn’t as sharp as it normally is. We want to hang our hats on defense and that being our bread and butter. We spot them 20 and that’s not acceptable. With the tradition and history that Wynford has … you’re fighting an uphill battle.”
Bauer thought the difference was an aggressive approach by the Lady Royals.
“Wynford did a good job of coming in and attacking, being aggressive. We were on our heels a lot. You just can’t do that,” Bauer said.
“They played like they wanted this, and it meant something. When they came out and kind of got in our face, we kind of backed up a step. That was the biggest difference in my eyes.”
Rebounding favored Wynford by a 28-23 margin.
“When the ball was in the air they went and got it with 2 hands, and we waited for them to take it. And they just took it from us and that snowballed,” he said.
The Lady Eagles also had 18 turnovers with Wynford registering 10 steals. Frombaugh and Engler had 4 thefts apiece.
The Lady Royals turned it over 16 times, with 11 of those coming in the second half.
Wynford ended the third quarter on a nifty Sheldon-to-Frombaugh assist and basket that made it 34-12.
“Maradath had her best game of the year. Going into the second half, we knew they would make a run. They got loose balls and offensive rebounds. How are we going to maintain that intensity? Our composure and with the lead we had, we were able to manage the clock and make that extra pass,” Taylor-Sheldon said.
Colonel Crawford struggled from the floor, shooting just 23% overall and hit just 4-of-22 from beyond the arc. Coming into the game the team was shooting 35% from the three-point line.
“Clearly they hadn’t shot as well as they have from three. It’s such a hard matchup with the inside presence of Brooke and Maggie Ridge clogging up the middle on the drive,” she added.
“We were really thinking through of how to we match up. We played zone most of the year and they have all guards and good shooting guards. We tried to evaluate what can we give up, and keeping Brooke in the middle to get rebounds and then match up on the shooters on the perimeter.”
Bauer knows his team must turn the page quickly and look toward the remainder of the season.
“This is the first game of the second half of our season. In life you’re going to face adversity and never be perfect in life, let alone basketball. The greats find ways to respond to adversity. This is our first adversity as far as wins and losses go,” Bauer said.
“If you want to be great, we told them in the locker room greatness means facing adversity and stepping up and doing things that are uncomfortable. Do you challenge yourself mentally every day in practice? Do you challenge yourself physically in practice and in the games? We’ll see how they respond tomorrow.”
Seneca East visits Wynford and Colonel Crawford travels to Mohawk next Tuesday night.
Box score
Wynford 9 14 11 9 — 43
Colonel Crawford 0 3 9 12 — 24
Wynford (9-2, 4-2 N10): Shots 17-33; 3-pt. 6-15 (Caroline Sheldon 3, Kenna Caldwell 2, Maradath Engler); Free throws 3-4; Rebounds 28 (Brooke Frombaugh 10); Turnovers 16. Scoring: Caroline Sheldon 4 0 11, Bri Westrick 1 0 2, Zoe Whitmeyer 1 0 2, Maradath Engler 3 2 9, Brooke Frombaugh 4 1 9, Kenna Caldwell 3 0 8, Maggie Ridge 1 0 2.
Colonel Crawford (11-1, 5-1 N10): Shots 9-40; 3-pt. shots 4-22 (Ayla McKibben 2, Mira Holt, Lexi Rush); Free throws 2-6; Rebounds 23 (Mira Holt 6); Turnovers 18. Scoring: Gabby Roston 1 1 3, Mira Holt 1 0 3, Allison Weithman 1 0 3, Lexi Rush 2 0 5, Lexi Dure 1 0 2, Ayla McKibben 3 0 8.