BUCYRUS — With numbers alone, the game was a mismatch.
Wynford used 13 players and 11 scored. Bucyrus had eight girls in uniform.
So, it was no surprise that the Lady Royals breezed to an 82-29 victory over the Lady Redmen in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game at Alex Kish Memorial Gymnasium.
“I give Bucyrus a lot of credit,” Wynford coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon said. “The last 15 seconds (of the game), you have two kids that are trying to press and double in the half-court, trying to get a 10-second call. The merit that that effort gets and not to end up being frustrated and take out your frustrations with fouls and continue to play with integrity, I give them a lot of credit for playing hard.”
Bucyrus varsity assistant Megan Flaherty had an explanation.
“(The girls) knew coming into it too,” Flaherty said. “But I think it’s kind of the rivalry, the closeness, that keeps them motivated and keeps them pushing throughout the whole game.”
Wynford (3-2, 2-1 N10) erased any doubt as to the outcome by scoring the first 12 points of the game and building a 25-4 advantage by the end of the first quarter. Briley Pollock scored all nine of her points in the frame to lead the way. Six different Royals scored.
Savannah Tobias registered eight of her game-high 18 points in the second period as Wynford extended its lead to 40-11 at halftime. Bucyrus (0-3, 0-1) struggled shooting from the field, hitting just two of 19 shots.
“We’re coming off a huge loss (to Buckeye Central) and we had two pretty good practices after that in terms of two or three things we need to show improvement on,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “I wanted to see improvement in the next game to tone that level down when we’re trying to raise the whole level of defensive intensity.”
“We knew coming into this year that shooting was going to be one of our problems,” Flaherty said. “It wasn’t going to be effort or hustling. It was going to be scoring.”
Bucyrus did pick up the shooting percentage in the second half, hitting seven of 16 to finish at nine of 35 from the field.
Taylor-Sheldon still sees things to address, despite the lopsided win.
“I thought we were pretty undisciplined in terms of fouling,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “So, it’s pretty clear that’s an area we need to work on — being disciplined one-on-one, playing team defense instead of reaching.”
The Royals were whistled for 19 infractions, sending the Redmen to the free throw line 20 times.
Kaylee Smith, Mia Leuthold, Grace Stucky and Pollock each had nine points in support of Tobias’ 18 to lead Wynford. Lyndie Williams had eight rebounds.
Freshman Maddie Kimmel led Bucyrus with seven points, while Hayli Stoffer and Sierra Frost added six each. Caleigh Rister grabbed eight boards.
“Our goal is to try to get the girls to shoot more,” Flaherty said. “We just want them to be able to take those shots. If they fall, the fall. If the don’t fall, keep working on it in practice.”
“I’ve been there. I’ve been where they are,” Taylor-Sheldon said. “It’s hard to pick your spots and what you’re going to emphasize and where you can have success and I think Coach (Taylor) Tackett is doing a good job of doing that.”
“It’s a quick turnaround, so we’re going to push this (game) to the back and get ready for tomorrow (against Riverdale),” Flaherty said. “Hopefully, it’s competitive.”
Box score
Wynford 25 15 25 17 — 82
Bucyrus 4 7 10 8 — 29
Wynford (3-2, 1-1 N10): Shots 31-54; 3-pt. shots 6-14 (Kaylee Smith 3, Mia Leuthold 2, Grace Stucky); Free throws 14-25; Rebounds 35 (Lyndie Williams 6); Turnovers 12. Scoring: Paige Smith 2 1 5, Kaylee Smith 3 0 9, Rylee Alspach 1 0 2, Mia Leuthold 3 1 9, Grace Stucky 4 0 9, Briley Pollock 4 1 9, Maddie Coffman 1 1 3, Reese McGuire 1 3 5, Savannah Tobias 7 4 18, Hannah Messmer 3 0 6, Lyndie Williams 2 3 7.
Bucyrus (0-3, 0-2 N10): Shots 9-35; 3-pt. shots 1-11 (Hayli Stoffer); Free throws 10-20; Rebounds 25 (Caleigh Rister 8); Turnovers 28. Scoring: Caleigh Rister 1 2 5, Taisha Spears 0 1 1, Hayli Stoffer 2 1 6, Karmyn Blizzard 2 0 4, Maddie Kimmel 2 3 7, Sierra Frost 2 2 6.