HOLMES TOWNSHIP (Crawford County Now) — Wynford’s game plan most of the season is to get the ball into its young and talented post players, Brooke Frombaugh and Maggie Ridge.

The Lady Royals had mismatches in the post and took complete advantage, using their two sophomores.

“We did a real good job defensively; Brooke had several blocks,” Wynford coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon said. “One of the things we felt was that one thing we wanted to take advantage of was our size. I think we had 14 points on post feeds in the first half. We just wanted to keep taking advantage of that.”

Frombaugh scored 19 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Ridge added 14 points and five rebounds. Also, those two, along with freshman post Jenna Filliater adjusted many Monroeville shots in the paint, leading to a 77-39 win in the Division VI sectional championship game.

With the win, third-seeded Wynford improved to 16-6 and will face top-seeded Margaretta on Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the district tournament at Willard High School. Sixth-seeded Monroeville finished its season at 13-10. The Polar Bears advanced with a 54-33 win over Bucyrus.

Certainly, there were many important contributions for the Lady Royals, who shot 33 of 48 from the floor for 68 percent. Wynford also used a 19-0 run in the second period to put the game away.

“We tried to go stop-score-stop and get the ball out in transition,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “Our post players do a great job of running the floor. Caroline (Sheldon) does a good job of finding them, kind of like a quarterback to a wide receiver. I was really pleased on how we were able to get out.”

Wynford did a masterful job on getting the ball out in transition and making the extra pass to an open shooter. Nine players reached the scoring column in the game.

“Maradath Engler was on fire for us early and started off well there,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “Our pressure caused some problems for them. We were just able to be consistent. For this group of sophomores and freshmen, this is their first championship, so we’re just trying to enjoy the now.”

The Lady Royals scored 10 of the final 15 points of the first period to take an 18-10 lead after one,

After Monroeville’s Sophia Stieber knocked down a three to open the second period, cutting the Wynford lead to 18-13, Wynford scored the next 19 points, effectively taking the Lady Eagles out of the game.

Frombaugh scored seven points in the run and point guard Sheldon added six. At that point, Wynford held a 37-17 lead at the half.

Frombaugh and Ridge, who did a great job of getting out in transition, scored six points each in the third period as the Lady Royals scored 23 in the frame. Six players scored in the period and Wynford held a 60-27 lead, heading into the fourth period.

Taylor-Sheldon was able to get much of her bench in the game in the fourth period and got offense from them as well. Filliater scored seven in the period and Megan Young added six.

Taylor-Sheldon felt that playing in the Northern 10 has helped her team prepare for the tournament.

“As far as the N10 goes, it’s been one of the most competitive leagues this year,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “So, I think that day-in and day-out, this league has prepared us for games this year.”

Sheldon and Engler each added 11 points for Wynford.

“We are super happy to win a championship,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “This is the first time anyone has cut down a net in this gymnasium. So that’s history and we’re pretty happy about that.”

Box score

Monroeville      10        7        10       12 — 39

Wynford            18       19       23       17 — 77

Monroeville (13-10): Shots 14-48; 3-pt. shots 5-22 (Grace Stieber 3, Julia White, Sophia Stieber); Free throws 6-10; Rebounds 30; Turnovers 15. Scoring: Grace Stieber 5 4 17, Taylor Scheid 2 0 4, Julia White 4 2 11, Sophia Stieber 2 0 5, Lilly Stein 1 0 2.

Wynford (16-6): Shots 33-48; 3-pt. shots 8-17 (Maradath Engler 3, Caroline Sheldon 2, Ally Liming, Jenna Filliater, Megan Young); Free throws 3-8; Rebounds 33; Turnovers 11. Scoring: Caroline Sheldon 4 1 11, Bri Westrick 2 0 4, Maradath Engler 4 1 11, Brooke Frombaugh 9 1 19, Karsyn Pollock 1 0 2, Maggie Ridge 7 0 14, Ally Liming 1 0 3, Jenna Filliater 3 0 7, Megan Young 2 1 6.