BUCYRUS — On December 8, the Bucyrus Lady Redmen were on the short end of a 74-21 score at Wynford.
Five weeks later, a different Bucyrus team showed up at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium to take on the Lady Royals for a second time.
The upstart Redmen battled the veteran Royals for four quarters before falling, 65-56, in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.
Though her team has been off for most of three weeks, Wynford coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon did not use that as an excuse for the much closer game.
“Obviously, we have been off and are out of shape, but what a testament to what Coach (Britt) Ulmer is doing here at Bucyrus,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “They shot well, they played hard. Again, you have a team that’s mostly freshmen and sophomores. She is doing a great job here and we are glad to be out of here with a win.”
Ulmer’s roster was thinned with injuries before the season started to the point where she couldn’t field a junior varsity team. Recently, sophomore Maddie Kimmel has been unable to take the floor because of a back injury.
Kimmel made her return Saturday and became a big part of the Bucyrus (0-10, 0-8 N10) effort.
“The other girls jumped on the bandwagon and follow along,” Ulmer said of Kimmel’s impact. “She’s a big asset to our team. We’re glad to have her back and, hopefully, she stays healthy.”
Kimmel did not start, but played starter minutes, scoring a team-high 16 points, including 12 in the second quarter.
The Redmen built an early 12-7, the last coming on a 3-point shot by Kimmel. But Wynford (6-3, 5-3) scored the last nine points of the period to hold a 16-12 lead after one.
“We just tried to focus on the things that we can control,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “We talked about attitude and effort. On Thursday, we had our third first practice of the season. Our last game was the 29th, our last practice was the 31st and here we are.”
The young Redmen refused to fold. The Royals lead was between two and seven over the second period and they went to halftime with a 36-31 advantage.
Wynford expanded the lead to 45-33 over the first half of the third quarter — thanks in part to a pair of 3s by Kaylee Smith — but Bucyrus got off the mat, going on a 12-2 run, five by Emma Tyrrell, to get within two. Wynford led, 49-45 going to the fourth.
“Right off the jump, we were hitting shots,” Ulmer said. “That’s one of the biggest things we’ve preached all week. Our defense, it definitely has room for improvement, but our offense, we don’t even look to score.”
The Royals put the game away from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, hitting 12 of 17 attempts. Lyndie Williams was perfect on eight free tosses. Wynford finished the day 20 of 37 from the line.
“We want (Lyndie) to be at the free throw line,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “Lyndie’s been our most consistent scorer all year, even though we’ve had different kids step up and score. She always gives us 100 percent. It’s nice to have that kind of leadership.”
Even with the loss, Ulmer was pleased with the way her young charges seemed to come of age.
“They played very hard for 32 minutes,” Ulmer said. “They always work hard for me, but it’s just staying disciplined. We’ve got checkmarks and we marked off five of the six checkmarks for this game.
“Our biggest thing in our checkmarks is believing, confidence,” Ulmer continued. “You could see it in their eyes. They looked like they believed, they looked like they had confidence.”
Williams had a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Royals. Smith finished with 13 — with three 3s — and Mia Leuthold added 12.
“Right out of the half, (Kaylee) made a big 3,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “I think this was a good game for her to return.”
Tyrrell had 15 points to support Kimmel’s 16 for Bucyrus. Tyrrell and Sierra Frost had seven rebounds each. Point guard Layla Ellis had nine points and Lilly Neumann finished with eight.
“Lilly and Sierra each had three fouls going into halftime which is another learning experience,” Ulmer said. “We fouled a couple of times 90 feet from the basket which is just a young mistake.”
“The last time we played Bucyrus, they had five points at halftime and today they had 31,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “It’s a credit to them how much they’ve improved here halfway through the season.”
“I’m pleased with where they’re at,” Ulmer said. “I told them I’m happy but not satisfied. A huge improvement across the stat line from the last time we played Wynford, which is good. All we can do is keep it going.
“I just told them I hope this carries over,” Ulmer added. “It’s not just a one-night thing, it’s not a one-game thing. We still, unfortunately have 13 games this season.”
“To be where Bucyrus is and to be playing with this level of intensity and improvement shooting in the second half of the year — kudos to Coach Ulmer and those kids,” Taylor-Sheldon said.
Box score
Wynford 16 20 13 16 — 65
Bucyrus 12 19 14 11 — 56
Wynford (6-3, 5-3 N10): Shots 20-53; 3-pt. 5-23 (Kaylee Smith 3, Mia Leuthold 2); Rebounds 37 (Lyndie Williams 10); Turnovers 18. Scoring: Kaylee Smith 5 0 13, Mia Leuthold 3 4 12, Grace Stucky 4 1 9, Paige Smith 2 1 5, Lyndie Williams 4 11 19, Katie Wagner 2 3 7.
Bucyrus (0-10, 0-8 N10): Shots 24-46; 3-pt. shots 5-10; Free throws 3-9; Rebounds 29 (Emma Tyrrell 7, Sierra Frost 7); Turnovers 28. Scoring: Layla Ellis 3 1 9, Addy Ricker 1 0 2 Maddie Kimmel 6 2 16, Emma Tyrrell 7 0 15, Claire Schifer 2 0 4, Sierra Frost 1 0 2, Lilly Neumann 4 0 8.