By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
In the opening game of the season, the “House of Thrills” lived up to its moniker as the Wynford Royals edged out the Temple Christian Crusaders 69-68.
The game started off slowly for the Royals, trailing the Crusaders by as many as 10 points in the first half; however, by the second quarter the Royals found a groove by taking a 37-26 lead into the half. The game featured five lead changes and five ties, three of which came in the fourth quarter.
Not only was the game the first game of the season, it was also the first win for Jason Engel as a varsity head coach. After the game Engel explained how the first win felt.
“It was a little sloppy but we will take it. We just happened to make a couple more plays than they did down the stretch, and they played hard,” Engel said. “That team was scrappy and quick early on in the game they were on loose ball, they were out hustling us, and we challenged our guys at halftime because that is not Wynford basketball.”
Wynford had four players reach double digits in scoring with Alex Crall leading the way at 18 points, Jordan Creel adding 14 points, Jack Reed contributing 12 points, and Nate Sparks finishing with 10 points.
Temple Christian also featured four players reaching double digits in points. Nick Standridge scored a game high 22 points, Jacob McClelland had 16 points, Abe Kurtz finished with 11 points, and Darien Davis added another 10.
Wynford also won the Junior Varsity game 77-10. Cole Heinlen and Wyatt Smith had 17 points each, and Tyler Glowaski added 13 points to the JV Royals’ romp.
With the win Wynford moves to 1-0 on the season and will next play the Shelby Whippets tonight at Wynford High School.