WILLARD — Defensively, the Wynford Lady Royals were very good, forcing 33 turnovers. Shooting the basketball was a different story, however.

Wynford made just 11 of 64 shots from the floor and struggled all night in a 54-33 loss to Sandusky St. Mary in the semifinal round of the girls’ Division IV district tournament Thursday night at Willard High School.

The Lady Royals finished their season with a 15-9 record. The Lady Panthers improved to 17-6 on the season and will face 21-3 Buckeye Central in the district championship game on Saturday night back at Willard High School.

St. Mary shot the ball very well, hitting 21 of 38 shots for 55 percent and outrebounding the Lady Royals, 31-26, despite committing 33 turnovers.

Wynford coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon said that the entire game came down to her team’s inability to shoot the basketball.

“We have played some great basketball this year, I mean, we won 15 games and you always want to be able, even when you play a great opponent, you always want to be able to say that you played the best that you could,” Taylor-Sheldon said.

“And, basically, we couldn’t have played much worse today. We forced 33 turnovers and didn’t convert on a turnover. We had 21 offensive rebounds and we were 11 of (64) from the floor. When it comes down to it, it was our worst shooting of the year, and you’re just going to have nights when you don’t just shoot it very well,” she added.

The Lady Royals struggled from the outset, as the Lady Panthers scored the first eight points of the game before Wynford guard Briley Pollack converted a three-point play with 3:36 left in the first period.

But things didn’t get much better, as the Lady Panthers held a 19-7 lead after one period.

Wynford got just three points in the entire second frame, a 3-point shot from Mia Leuthold, as St. Mary held a 28-10 lead at the half.

St. Mary was a senior-laden team, starting four seniors, while Wynford has just one senior on the entire team. But Taylor-Sheldon said that experience played no role in the first half.

“I don’t think it had any impact on it, to be honest,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “All the kids that played this year played last year. So, these are the same kids that played in the tournament last year.

“Maybe they were extra jacked up. Usually I think it goes one way or the other. It’s either too much anxiety or you’re so ready to go that you’re going to play outstanding. I thought that was the case for them. They shot well and they pressured the ball, they blocked shots, but they played great. Those kids were ready, and we just had an off-shooting night.”

Wynford did manage to come out in the third period and quickly cut the lead to 30-17 on a basket from Rylee Alspach, a 3 from Leuthold and two free throws from Olivia Grove.

But the Lady Royals managed to get just two Grove free throws over the final 6:52 of the period as the Lady Panthers held a 44-19 lead entering the final frame.

“I watched (St. Mary) five times on film,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “I saw them last week play against Lucas and this is the best I’ve seen them shoot. So, I thought they played fantastic and they were ready.

“We were ready, the kids knew their sets, they knew what they were going to do. Ultimately, we just didn’t shoot it very well and it got away from us, in terms of creating that momentum, even when we came out in the second half.

“We tried to create momentum in the second half with our press, we still didn’t convert, and they just shot outstanding. Give them a lot of credit.”

Leuthold led the Lady Royals with nine points and Grove added eight.

Guard Ashley Huntley led St. Mary with 13 points and post Allie Weilnau added 12.

Box score

St. Mary      19       9     16     10 — 54

Wynford       7       3       9      14 — 33

Stats

St. Mary (18-6): Shots 21-33; 3-pt. shots 4-6 (Ashley Huntley 2, Maggie London 2); Free throws 8-13; Rebounds 36; Turnovers 33. Scoring: Karina Near 2 3 7, Ashley Huntley 5 1 13. Annie Milkie 3 0 6, Tre McCarty 2 3 7, Maggie London 3 1 9, Allie Weilnau 6 0 12.

Wynford (15-9): Shots 11-61; 3-pt. shots 3-19 (Mia Leuthold 3); Free throws 8-10; Rebounds 30; Turnovers 16. Scoring: Chloe Kaple 2 0 4, Rylee Alspach 2 0 4, Mia Leuthold 3 0 9, Briley Pollock 1 1 3, Savannah Tobias 0 2 2, Averi McMillan 0 3 3, Olivia Grove 3 2 8.