HOLMES TOWNSHIP — Wynford is in the thick of a league title race.
Bucyrus is young, a work-in-progress.
Those facts were on display on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Royals employed balanced scoring and pressure defense that forced 17 Lady Red turnovers en route to a 67-31 Northern 10 Athletic Conference victory.
“Their half-court pressure — I thought maybe it would cause some problems,” Bucyrus coach Brian Seybert said. “But I thought we were prepared for it better than what we were.”
It started early. Six of Wynford’s first eight points came off steals that led to layups in the first two minutes of the game.
“With a young group, we just make lazy passes against a semi-veteran group over there,” Seybert said. “That’s what they’re looking for, and they take advantage of that, get the steals and the easy layups. I thought in the second quarter, that’s what led to the separation.”
After digging an 11-0 hole following a 3-point shot by the Royals’ Jenna Filliater, Bucyrus (0-11, 0-6 N10) got on the board. Macie Hubble scored a pair of baskets and Tori Stang hit a free throw to cut the deficit to 11-5.
But the Royals finished the first quarter on a 6-0 run to lead, 17-5, after one and it was never close from there.
While pleased with the win, Wynford coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon saw some positives moving forward beyond beating an overmatched young team.
“Probably, earlier in the year, we were living and dying by the 3,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “Now that we’re getting to the rim a little more, a little more production out of transition, and more post opportunities to score, I think that’s been good for us.”
A 22-9 advantage in the second period allowed Wynford (10-2, 5-1) to take a commanding 39-14 halftime lead, which gave the coach some latitude for development in the second half.
“Today, we worked on some depth, worked on some opportunities for kids to play in a couple of different roles,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “So, I was happy for our production today.”
With post Savannah Clark sidelined with an injury, Hubble took her spot in the starting lineup and had her best offensive game of the year, leading the Lady Red with nine points.
“With Savannah being unable to play today, Hubbs inserted there as the fifth starter,” Seybert said. “Early on, she was a little unsure of what to do. She turned it on and had six nice drives. She finished at the rim.”
Another offensive bright spot for Bucyrus was freshman Ni’Cia Floyd, who seconded Hubble with eight points. Floyd is averaging a team-leading 10.7 points.
“I thought Ni’Cia Floyd did a great job, went to the rim hard, finished, rebounds — offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “She is playing really hard for them right now.”
The Royals spread the playing time around. Eleven players reached the scoring column and 13 had rebounds. Caroline Sheldon led the way with 15 points, while Filliater and Maggie Ridge added 14 each. Sheldon grabbed seven rebounds.
“I thought we showed some good depth and some consistency,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “We had lapses where we gave up too many rebounds, but we did a lot of things well today.”
Bucyrus managed 30 rebounds with Stang and Floyd hauling down seven caroms each.
Shooting plagued the Lady Red as it has most of the season. They got 48 shots but made just 12. The Royals were 28 of 59.
“I thought our zones were somewhat effective, but they shot us out of them,” Seybert said. “We had to go man. We’re not a very good man-to-man team at this point.”
Taylor-Sheldon noted that Seybert is making progress with his young team.
“He’s putting kids in the right spots to have some success,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “Hopefully, Savannah will be back.”
“There were still some bright spots in the game,” Seybert said. “When we did break the press, it looked like we’d been doing it years upon years. When we didn’t, it looked like our first time seeing it.”
Seybert plans to keep working.
“We keep playing, keep practicing, and we’re going to figure it out,” Seybert said. “Hopefully, it comes sooner than later. It’s going to eventually come.”
Wynford also won the two-quarter junior varsity game, 31-14. Megan Young led the Royals with 10 points. Arian Green and Ni’Cia Floyd had six points each for Bucyrus.
Box score
Bucyrus 5 9 8 9 — 31
Wynford 17 22 16 12 — 67
Bucyrus (0-11, 0-6 N10): Shots 12-48; 3-pt. shots 2-13 (Karlee Shull, Lillyan Butchko); Free throws 5-10; Rebounds 30 (Ni’Cia Floyd 7, Tori Stang 7); Turnovers 17. Scoring: Ni’Cia Floyd 4 0 8, Macie Hubble 3 3 9, Karlee Shull 1 0 3, Maci Messerschmidt 1 0 2, Tori Stang 0 1 1, Lillyan Butchko 2 1 6, Brianna Blankenship 1 0 2.
Wynford (10-2, 5-1 N10): Shots 28-59; 3-pt. shots 5-22 (Jenna Filliater 2, Caroline Sheldon, Maradath Engler, Ally Liming); Free throws 6-10; Rebounds 41; Turnovers 8. Scoring: Rylee Robinson 1 0 2, Caroline Sheldon 7 0 15, Megan Young 1 4 6, Maradath Engler 2 1 6, Maggie Ridge 7 0 14, Ally Liming 1 0 3, Kenah Watkins 1 0 2, Paige Sheldon 0 1 1, Reilly Teynor 1 0 2, Jenna Filliater 6 0 14, Eden Cassaro 1 0 2.
JV: Wynford 31-14 (2 quarters).