SYCAMORE — Mohawk coach Bruce Hannam said he was waiting for his team to have that signature win, one that would propel his team to the next level.
“For a program like ours, this is a good a win as we’ve had in a long time,” Hannam said. “We talked earlier in the week, it’s kinda like having a kid and taking the training wheels off. Do you follow behind them and hope that they don’t fall down? Are they good enough to kinda understand what’s going on?
“I think that’s where this team is finally getting to,” Hannam added. “They’re able to finally able to have some vision on the floor, make some good decisions, and keep pounding.”
The Warriors did just that Friday night.
Mohawk, led by 6-foot-3 post Emily Klopp, kept Wynford out of the lane for the first three periods, building a 12-point lead early in the final period.
But the Royals came storming back and had a chance to tie the game in the final 30 seconds. Mohawk held on for a 41-39 win.
With the win, Mohawk improved to 6-5 in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, 8-8 overall. Wynford fell to 7-4 in the league, 11-5 overall.
“There was a lot of things that Mohawk did that they deserved victory today, especially in the first half,” Wynford coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon said. “They had Klopp on the inside, blocking our shots and making (3-point shots) from the perimeter.
“(Mohawk) shot from 3 better than their year average, so they shot well,” she added. “They played well in almost every area, and we had deficits in almost every area, so they put us in that position to be at a disadvantage. Give credit to them.”
Defensively, the Warriors held the Royals to just eight of 33 shots from the floor over the first three periods, five coming from Wynford junior Reese McGuire, who knocked down five 3s in the first half and finished with 15 points.
“Reese had a great shooting first half. And that’s her career-high,” Taylor-Sheldon said.
“Unfortunately, it’s not a team win but being that’s a career-high, especially to make all of them from 3. Unfortunately, we just made too many mistakes to have a chance to win.”
McGuire scored 15 of Wynford’s 17 points in the first half but Mohawk held a 22-17 lead at the break. The Warriors still led, 32-24, after three periods.
Mohawk held a 36-24 lead on a Kennedy Cleveland free throw with 5:54 left in the game.
Then the Royals came storming back. After Grace Stucky canned a free throw, Alexis Stevely knocked down a 3, then hit another 3 with 1:53 left, cutting the lead to 37-34.
Averi McMillan scored with 30 seconds left, cutting the lead to 37-36 with 30 seconds left, before Cleveland knocked down two free throws, giving Mohawk a 39-36 lead with 14 seconds left.
After Wynford missed a 3 that would have tied the game, Cleveland hit two more free throws to seal it.
“That’s a big win right there,” Hannam said. “Kennedy had a big game and shined in a big spot for a senior. She hit a couple of big 3s tonight and played really well defensively.
“We had a couple of chances to put that game away. Right down to the end, they just kept fighting and fighting, that’s a team with veteran players. We got a lot of rebounds. Emily is such a shot disrupter and Mia was hard on the boards. Hard in a good way.”
Taylor-Sheldon felt that her team began to make its move late in the third period.
“For us, when we went into the one-and-one in the third period, we tried to do a better job of attacking the basket and getting to the foul line,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “Klopp went out, we tried to go inside to Averi there and we did. We just ran out of time.
“We’ve taken a lot of pride in the last few games of limiting offensive rebounds, and they had offensive rebounds off free throws,” she added. “We just can’t put ourselves in that position to be at a disadvantage when they have the advantage on offensive rebounds.”
Cleveland led Mohawk with 13 points, while Joleigh Hamilton scored nine.
McGuire led the Royals with 15 points and McMillan added nine.
“We’ve been working on a game like this about a month now,” Hamman said. “We feel like we kinda got our identities where we are a physical team, we attack the paint and kick the ball out when the opportunities are there. We just said we had to keep bringing it and bringing it.”
Box score
Wynford 8 9 7 15 — 39
Mohawk 8 14 12 7 — 41
Wynford (11-5, 7-4 N10): Shots 13-47; 3-pt. 8-25 (Reese McGuire 5, Alexis Stevely 2, Averi McMillan); Rebounds 38; Turnovers 14. Scoring: Reese McGuire 5 0 15, Grace Stucky 1 1 3, Paige Smith 0 1 1, Averi McMillan 3 2 9, Alexis Stevely 2 0 6, Katie Wagner 2 1 5.
Mohawk (8-8, 6-5 N10): Shots 13-43; 3-pt. shots 5-19 (Joleigh Hamilton 2, Josie Granata, Kennedy Cleveland, A.J. Chevalier); Free throws 10-24; Rebounds 41; Turnovers 12. Scoring: Josie Granata 1 0 3, Kennedy Cleveland 3 5 12, Bailey Sheets 2 2 6, Emily Klopp 2 0 4, Mia Miller 1 2 4, A.J. Chevalier 1 0 3, Joleigh Hamilton 3 1 9.
JV: Mohawk 27-26.