BUCYRUS — Bucyrus senior post Addison Kemery stepped up when her team needed her the most.
Kemery scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in leading the Lady Red over Wynford 50-49 in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game Saturday afternoon on the Phil A. Joseph Court at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
The win marked the first time in 7 years that Bucyrus defeated its backyard rival. The last one came on a 43-39 overtime victory in 2017.
“This means a lot. I haven’t been at Bucyrus my whole high school career. But coming into this game all we talked about was how it’s been 7 years since Bucyrus beat Wynford. I just wanted to go out and do what I could do to help the team,” Kemery said.
She did a lot, adding a steal and a blocked shot and went head-to-head with Wynford freshman standout Brooke Frombaugh.
“I knew I had to push her back. She’s their rebounder. That was my main focus coming in; just to push her away from the boards,” Kemerly said.
However, Frombaugh still managed 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Bucyrus (5-10, 2-8) trailed 16-14 after one quarter but turned that into a 29-26 lead at halftime.
Kimmy Burling delivered 10 points off the bench for Bucyrus hitting three from three-point land.
Lady Red head coach Brian Seybert said his team never quit, even when it saw a 38-28 lead diminish in the third quarter.
“Credit to Wynford. They wanted it. They showed that by coming back from that 10-point deficit in the second half,” Seybert said.
“We preached off it that last game over there we beat them for three quarters. We’ve been that terrible first quarter over there. We’ve been that way all year long. We’ll have two good quarters. We just needed four full quarters to see what we could do. We had to trust in each other and play with heart and the most intensity you’ve ever played with.”
Wynford (11-5, 5-5) was led by Zoe Whitmeyer’s 16 points. Caroline Sheldon added 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.
“You have your top three in rebounds, points and steals. Then you have some kids who played supporting roles and hit huge shots. Kimmy hit some big shots and they got some big layups,” Wynford head coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon said.
Keeping Brook Dennison in check was part of Wynford’s game plan.
“I thought we did a good job containing the leading scorer in the league. But Addison Kemery had a big game and made free throws with the pressure on,” she said. “We had our opportunities. We had some lapses, made a good run at the end of that third quarter. It was a hard-fought game.”
Kemery hit 3-of-5 charity tosses in the fourth quarter.
Dennison showed her true value despite scoring just 6 points, by adding 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals for Bucyrus.
“Bucyrus did a great job playing tough and we couldn’t finish it at the end,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “We need to continue to evaluate and see what we probably need to stick with and where can we be a little more gritty.”
Frombaugh scored on a nice assist from Sheldon that put Wynford ahead 44-42 with 3- and 1/2-minutes left. A Whitmeyer basket put the visitors up 46-44, but Burling nailed a three and Dennison added a pair of free throws to keep Bucyrus ahead 49-46.
Caldwell then answered with a three of her own that knotted the game at 49 with 31.1 seconds remaining. Kemery then hit a free throw with 2.1 ticks left that proved the difference.
A 1-1-2-1 zone trap by Wynford challenged the Lady Red’s ball handling.
“With Marissa Middleton and with Brook Dennison bringing the ball up against any press, I feel very confident,” Seybert said.
“A few times we made some poor decisions and made poor passes and they got some tips and steals that gave them the opportunity to get some layups. But the majority of the time we did a real good job of breaking it and were patient. We’ve been working on that all year.”
Rebounding was also even with Wynford holding a slight edge at 34-33.
“Kemery had to work hard. Frombaugh’s a tough guard. She’s slippery inside and has a motor to go find rebounds. Addy had to work really hard on the glass,” Seybert added.
Bucyrus hosts Galion Tuesday and Wynford hosts Northmor in non-league contests.
Box score
Wynford 16 10 12 11 — 49
Bucyrus 14 15 9 12 — 50
Wynford (11-5, 5-5 N10): Shots 18-52; 3-pt. 7-21 (Caroline Sheldon 3, Kenna Caldwell 2, Maradath Engler); Free throws 6-13; Rebounds 34 (Brooke Frombaugh 10); Turnovers 14. Scoring: Caroline Sheldon 3 0 9, Zoe Whitmeyer 5 5 16, Maradath Engler 2 0 5, Brooke Frombaugh 6 0 12, Kenna Caldwell 2 1 7.
Bucyrus (5-10, 2-8 N10): Shots 17-46; 3-pt. shots 6-18 (Kimmy Burling 3, Addison Kemery 2, Kendra Blizzard); Free throws 10-13; Rebounds 33 (Addison Kemery 10); Turnovers 13. Scoring: Kimmy Burling 3 1 10, Addison Ricker 3 0 6, Kendra Blizzard 2 0 5, Brook Dennison 1 4 6, Addison Kemery 6 5 19, Marissa Middleton 2 0 4.
JV: Wynford 58-24.