By Dan Messerschmidt
HOLMES TOWNSHIP — When rivals meet, the adage is that you can ignore the records.
Bucyrus found the saying to be true in its game at Wynford Wednesday evening.
The Lady Redmen trailed the Lady Royals from early in the second quarter until late in the fourth quarter but rallied to pull out a 50-46 nail-biter in a Northern 10 Conference game at W.R. Donnenwirth Gymnasium.
“I expected nothing less,” Bucyrus coach Taylor Whitaker said. “This is always the way it is when we come here.”
Despite a roster that includes only one senior and one junior, Wynford (5-15, 3-11 N10) hung with the veteran Lady Redmen throughout.
“You have to have confidence in your ball-handling,” Wynford coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon said. “Sometimes we did, sometimes we didn’t. We need more experience handling the ball.”
Bucyrus (10-8, 7-7) pressed in the fourth quarter, forcing seven Royals’ turnovers, that eventually turned the tide in the Redmen’s favor.
“They aren’t the strongest ball handlers,” Whitaker said of the Royals. “But they also figured out how to break the press.”
Trailing 9-7 after one, Wynford began to see results of its 2-3 zone defense and denial of post entry to Bucyrus’ Shaina Orewiler.
“We tried to stay wide,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “Then we needed to find a block out (to rebound).”
The Royals held Orewiler to nine points before she fouled out of the game and they out-rebounded the Redmen, 40-35.
Fighting through foul trouble and poor shooting the entire night, Bucyrus refused to fold. Wynford led at intermission, 19-18, and after three quarters, 31-27. The Redmen hit only eight of 30 shots in the first half and ended the night with one player fouled out, two with four fouls and two more with three.
“Foul trouble hurt us,” Whitaker said. “But I tried to stress that we were getting good shots, they just weren’t going in.”
Shots may not have gone in from the field for Bucyrus, but they did from the free throw line. The Redmen 12 of 14 free throws in a 23-point fourth quarter to eventually overtake the Royals. Bucyrus finished 16 of 20 from the line.
“That’s a sign of maturity for them,” Taylor-Sheldon said of the Redmen. “I thought we did a good job of clock management. They have twice as many wins as we do.”
Bucyrus finally tied the game at 41-41 on a basket by Ni’Georia Floyd with 1:40 left in the game. Alivia Lewis gave the Redmen a 43-41 lead 13 seconds later and they never relinquished it.
Floyd, Lewis, Orewiler and Izzy Burling all scored nine points to lead Bucyrus while Caleigh Rister came off the bench to add eight. Orewiler and Burling had six rebounds each.
Kaylee Smith had a game-high 11 points — including three 3-point shots — to top Wynford. Lyndie Williams and Olivia Grove added eight apiece and Grove grabbed 10 rebounds. The Royals connected on seven of 14 3-point attempts.
“We have to realize we’re not going to just step on the floor and win,” Whitaker said. “We have to play. We want to finish the season strong going into the tournament.”
“(Bucyrus) has thrived on playing aggressively all year,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “They attacked the basket and made free throws.”
Wynford won the junior varsity game, 32-13. Addie Wood had seven points to lead the Royals. Dezera Radcliff dropped in six for Bucyrus.
Bucyrus 9 9 9 23 — 50
Wynford 7 12 12 15 — 46
Stats
Bucyrus (10-8, 7-7 N10): Shots 16-49; 3-pt. shots 2-12 (Ni’Georia Floyd, Caleigh Rister); Free throws 16-20; Rebounds 35 (Shaina Orewiler 6. Izzy Burling 6); Turnovers 15. Scoring: Ni’Georia Floyd 4 0 9, Caleigh Rister 3 1 8, Alivia Lewis 3 3 9, Izzy Burling 1 7 9, Brooklyn Spears 3 0 6, Shaina Orewiler 2 5 9.
Wynford (5-15, 3-11 N10): Shots 15-47; 3-pt shots 7-14 (Kaylee Smith 3, Lyndie Williams 2, Hannah Messmer); Free throws 9-17; Rebounds 40 (Olivia Grove 10); Turnovers 22. Scoring: Rylee Alspach 1 4 6, Hannah Messmer 1 0 3, Kaylee Smith 4 0 11, Sierra Richardson 1 0 3, Savannah Tobias 0 3 3, Mia Leuthold 1 0 2, Atlee Miller 1 0 2, Lyndie Williams 3 0 8, Olivia Grove 3 2 8.
JV: Wynford 32-13.