WILLARD (Crawford County Now) — For Wynford to upset Margaretta in the tournament, the Lady Royals needed one thing — a nearly perfect game.
That is difficult at best. And a few shortcomings resulted in the top-seed Polar Bears pulling away to a 48-34 win in the Division VI district semifinal game on Robert Haas Court at Willard High School.
The win moves Margaretta to the district final game against Colonel Crawford — a 37-29 winner over New London — on Saturday at 2 p.m. back at Willard.
“There’s a reason why they’ve won all year. There’s a reason they’re state-ranked,” Wynford coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon said. “We did our best to prepare. We knew everything they were going to run. You can’t really make mistakes. You have to have your best game of the year.”
At first blush, Margaretta’s size is their distinct advantage. Cassidy Lane, Kenadie Saylor, and Dani Grunden are all 5-feet-10 or taller. But the Polar Bears are by no means one-dimensional. Margaretta (19-5) as a team can also shoot.
Polar Bears coach Ray Neill highlighted one of his weapons in particular.
“I think we have talk about Ellyse Schaefer tonight,” Neill said. “She has been our 3-point girl for the last couple of years, especially last year. The last two weeks she has shot it in practice like you guys saw here tonight.”
Schaefer took away any pressure her post-player teammates may have had by hitting five 3s — on just seven attempts — and finished with a game-high 21 points.
“They made some big shots. Ellyse Schaefer hit some huge 3s for them,” Taylor-Sheldon agreed. “We didn’t do a good job of taking her away. There are multiple weapons on that team. You have to pick your poison.”
The Polar Bears inside presence, especially Lane, had to be a focal point of the Royals’ defense. Post Brooke Frombaugh matched up with Lane size wise and held her own both scoring and rebounding.
“She is somebody you have to game plan for,” Neill said of Frombaugh. “Cassidy Lane did a nice job on her. To Frombaugh’s credit, Cassidy played all night in foul trouble. We can give a whole lot of credit to Dani Grunden who came in and did a yeoman’s job working down there in the post with us and limiting Frombaugh somewhat.”
Still, Frombaugh finished with a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds.
The Royals got off to a slow start, trailing 12-6 after one quarter. A theme for the night was set, as Wynford (16-6) hit just one of seven shots from the field in the frame. The Royals finished the night 10 for 32 from the field.
Settling down in the second quarter, Wynford lost only one point to the deficit, heading to the locker room on the short end of 23-16. The Royals also held their own on the boards against the bigger Polar Bears.
After the first quarter, we did a much better job on the glass, better pressure,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “Player for player, every single kid was bigger than us. We had our mind right that we knew we had to block out. We just had to do a lot of things exactly right.”
The Royals got as close as 33-27 on a basket by Maradath Engler with 1:55 left in the third quarter but a pair of free throws and a 3 by Schaefer pushed the Margaretta lead to 38-27 after three. Wynford never got closer than 10 after that.
Perimeter shooting was problematic for the Royals as they hit just four of 19 3-point attempts.
“Watching them and scouting them, you know that the 3-point line is a big part of their game,” Neill said. “We emphasized that in practice. We had girls taking turns being Caroline (Sheldon) and their other couple 3-point shooters.”
Sheldon was held scoreless. Engler had three of the four 3s and Ally Liming had the other.
“It’s disappointing. We hoped to have more shots drop,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “We didn’t. Brooke, Maradath, and Maggie (Ridge) had some good looks inside and got to the line.”
Wynford was 10 of 13 from the free throw line. Engler seconded Frombaugh’s 17 points with 11.
Saylor was next to Schaefer’s 21 with 10 for the Polar Bears.
“We somewhat controlled the 3-point line,” Neill said. “We might have given up a few too many offensive rebounds (8) on defense. But the scoreboard says we did a pretty good job.”
“We had a great year. I’m proud of this group of kids,” Taylor Sheldon said. “They won a (sectional) championship, which was our goal. We’ll do our best to enjoy the now.”
Taylor-Sheldon has everyone back next year except Bri Westrick, a four-year player who will be missed.
“From your seat, it might have looked dominant, but from my seat, it was a grind,” Neill said. “Wynford is well coached, well prepared.”
Neill looked ahead to his team’s rematch with Colonel Crawford in the final.
“We’ve had some rock ‘em, sock ‘em battles with them in the past,” Neill said. “We’re expecting the same thing to happen here again Saturday afternoon.”
Box score
Wynford 6 10 11 7 — 34
Margaretta 12 11 15 10 — 48
Wynford (16-7): Shots 10-32; 3-pt. shots 4-19 (Maradath Engler 3, Ally Liming); Free throws 10-13; Rebounds 20 (Brooke Frombaugh 9); Turnovers 14. Scoring: Maradath Engler 4 0 11, Brook Frombaugh 4 9 17, Maggie Ridge 1 1 3, Ally Liming 1 0 3.
Margaretta (19-5): Shots 18-33; 3-pt. shots 7-11 (Ellyse Schaefer 5, Kenadie Saylor); Free throws 5-12; Rebounds 22 (Cassidy Lane 4, Ellyse Schaefer 4, Kenadie Saylor 4); Turnovers 11. Scoring: Grace Paseka 2 0 5, Cassidy Lane 3 0 6, Ellyse Schaefer 7 2 21, Dani Grunden 3 0 6, Kenadie Saylor 3 3 10.