HOLMES TOWNSHIP — Wynford and Pleasant came into Tuesday night’s game in what was expected to be a battle of two good defenses. Both teams lived up to their billing and played well at that end of the floor.
The Spartans, however, were a little bit better, holding the Royals to just 36 percent shooting (18-50) on the night, while shooting 46 percent (19-41) themselves and came away with a 59-43 win.
With the win, Pleasant improved to 2-0 on the young season, while the Royals fell to 1-1.
Wynford coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon and Pleasant coach Keriann Pratt both felt that their squads picked it up on the defensive end of the floor.
“That’s kind of our specialty,” Pratt said of her defense. “We kind of get more points defensively. Get a lot of transitions and defensive points. So just being scrappy. I mean, they gave it all that we wanted going after the ball.”
Pleasant has the bulk of a team returning from a squad that won 20 games and reached the district a year ago. Taylor-Sheldon said that while her team played well defensively, they lack the experience that the Spartans possess.
“I did not expect that Caroline (Sheldon) would get face-guarded, so we tried to run her off a couple of screens,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “She had shots, but she missed them. We had some good post feeds. I probably should have done a few more things off of the baseline and just spread the floor out a little bit, half-court.
“We turned the ball over against the press a little bit, which wasn’t great and that kind of sucked some life out of us a little bit,” she added.
The two teams battled evenly in the first half, as the Spartans grabbed a 10-9 lead after one period and held a 24-19 lead at the half. Pleasant wing Avah Steele scored 10 of her team-high 13 points in the first two periods.
“We were balanced offensively, team effort,” Pratt said. “Wynford is extremely well-coached, very competitive. They have a bright, bright future. Excellent, excellent group of girls there.”
Pleasant came right out of the break and got back-to-back 3-point shots from Madolyn Murphy and added a bucket from Taydon Obenour to increase the margin to 32-21 just three minutes into the period,
Wynford did get the lead down to five, 37-32, on a Maradath Engler basket with about two minutes left in the third but could get no closer. Baskets from Adyson Foster and Mary Aurigemma, coupled with a free throw from Aurigemma and Foster, increased the lead to 43-32, entering the final frame.
Pratt felt that some adjustments on the defensive end at the break was big for her team.
“We tried to kind of mess the defense up a little bit and tried to do a couple of little things,” Pratt said. “They were dominant in the post and rebounding, so that’s a part we really needed to improve on.
“(Wynford) was always crashing the boards, very physical but a very good basketball squad there.”
Brooke Frombaugh scored 12 of her game-high 14 points for the Royals in the second half and Ally Liming scored 10 points.
“We got to make shots from the perimeter,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “I thought we did a great job defensively, limited their offensive rebounds, talked on the shooters and kind of set the pace.
“I think, overall, they made more free throws than we did and that was an opportunity we didn’t really take advantage of. Even in the fourth, to have a chance, we had to put everyone in to press and trap.”
Box score
Pleasant 10 14 19 16 — 59
Wynford 9 10 13 11 — 43
Pleasant (2-0): Shots 19-41; 3-pt. shots 5-9 (Madalyn Murphy 3, Kaivyn Cocherl, Taydon Obenour); Free throws 16-24; Rebounds 23; Turnovers 16. Scoring: Kaivyn Cocherl 1 0 3, Taydon Obenour 2 3 8, Mary Aurigemma 4 1 9, Avah Steel 4 5 13, Adyson Foster 4 1 9, Brooklin Davis 1 5 7, Madalyn Murphy 3 1 10.
Wynford (1-1): Shots 18-50; 3-pt. shots 3-21 (Amy Liming 2, Liv Ritzler); Free throws 4-10; Rebounds 30; Turnovers 14. Scoring: Caroline Sheldon 1 0 3, Maradath Engler 3 0 6, Brook Frombaugh 6 2 14, Maggie Ridge 2 0 4, Ally Liming 4 0 10, Liv Ritzler 2 1 6.