JV and Varsity Girls Basketball

Wynford Girls Sweep the Rams 

By: Kelsey Redden
On Thursday, January 17th the Wynford girls basketball teams faced the Upper Sandusky Rams in a makeup game. In varsity girls action, the defense was a major contributor for the win over Upper, 49-30. The first half of the game kept both crowds on the edges of their seat. Halfway through the first quarter Brenna Quinn went out with an injury to the face and did not return. This caused the Royals to go deep into their lineup and caused difficulty with executing as a team but managed to generate continuity as the game progressed. The Rams took the lead 15-12 at the end quarter one. As the second quarter progressed, the Rams were able to hold on to the lead, 21-19, with less than a minute left to go in the quarter. As seconds ticked off the clock before halftime, Beth DeLong gave a huge spark to her team as she hit a three point shot putting the Royals up by one 22-21. Then Meghan Harrer sank a last second shot adding two more points to the Royals lead at halftime. This five point swing and 24-21 lead gave the Royals the momentum they needed as they headed to the locker room. The Lady Royals looked like a different team after halftime as they increased their defensive and offensive intensity. The Royals only allowed the Rams to score three points in the third quarter and six points in the fourth quarter. In the the second half, the Royals used their intensity and pulled away from the Rams ending the game with a 19 point advantage. When asked after the game about the change in the Royals defensive game in the second half Meghan Harrer said “We executed our defensive game and were patient running our offense. Also, we had to try and shut out Taylor Graboski, the Rams leading scorer.” The Royals were able to keep Taylor Graboski who is also the NCC’s leading scorer to only 8 points which was a key part to the game. The top three scorers for the Royals were Ellie Richmond with 16, Meghan Harrer with 12, and Beth DeLong with 10. The leading rebounders were sisters Meghan and Alyssa Harrer. Wynford improves their overall record to 10-3 and 7-1 in the NCC.

In junior varsity action, the Royals chalked up another win on their record improving to 12-1 overall and 8-0 in the NCC. The Royals defeated the Rams 39-31 in a close win. The first quarter was a low scoring quarter with neither team seeing double digits. Maci Cooper was the only scorer for the Royals putting her team ahead 6-2 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter saw the most points of the night by the Royals, scoring 14 and increasing their lead to six points going into the half leading 20-14. In the second half, the Royals were able to maintain their lead increasing it to eight by the end of the third quarter leading 31-23. They would keep their eight point lead as the game came to an end. The top three scorers for the Royals were Hannah Kocher and Maci Cooper with 10 and Sarah Ogden with 8. The Royals post play contributed to a major part of their success in the game totaling 29 points. The girls next game is on the road as they face Bucyrus on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in a battle of rivals.