Girls Varsity Basketball

Wynford Girls Advance to District Finals

By: Todd Enders, "Royal Times"

The Wynford Lady Royals and the Genoa Lady Comets played their hearts out in a very aggressive and exciting game on the hardwood. Wynford improves to 18-6 and Genoa falls to 18-7 on the year as the Royals advance to the district finals, 59-53 . It was very evident that tournament time has arrived with the aggressiveness of both teams and the officials allowing the girls to play.
The Comets and the Royals started off with hot hands. The Comets hit two quick three pointers, but Ellie Richmond had the hot hand for the Royals hitting two three-pointers; knotting it up at 6-6. Genoa used an aggressive half court trap that had an affect on Wynford early; forcing turnovers for the Royals. As Wynford settled down on the offensive end of the court, they used their size advantage in the paint with Brenna Quinn. The Comets held an early 14-12 lead on the Royals at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter started out just as the first with each team answering each others three-pointers. Beth Delong and Meghan Harrer used back to back threes to give the Royals a 24-21 lead. The Royals, Brenna Quinn, contributed 12 points in the first half as she controlled the paint. Coach Amy Taylor-Sheldon was very pleased with the teams effort on the offensive glass, "as a team we used our size to our advantage in the first half pulling down 12 offensive rebounds." The aggressiveness of the first half found the possession arrow flipping back and forth resulting in a total of 12 possession changes due to jump balls. As the excitement of the first half came to a close and each team's student body continued to support their team, the Royals managed to hold an early four point advantage at the half, 27-23.
The start of the third quarter saw the tempo and pressure increase by the Lady Comets, but the Royals managed to maintain control of the game. Meghan Harrer hits two 3's early in the third quarter, but Genoa seemed to answer on the other end of the court. Midway through the third with the Royals controlling the pace of the game, they increased their lead to a 13 point advantage, 42-29. "Controlling the pace of the game and getting big stops on the defensive end," was a major contribution to the Royals advantage according to Coach Taylor-Sheldon. 
As the fouls continued to add up for both teams, the Royals where put in the bonus late in the third quarter. Wynford used the foul line to their advantage where they connected on 18 of 24, shooting 75% down the stretch in the second half. Ellie Richmond was a perfect eight for eight from the line during this stretch. The third ended with the Royals maintaining a slight 8 point advantage, 45-37.
The Lady Comets would just not go away. They continued to claw their way back into the game during the fourth quarter cutting into the Royals lead. Genoa continued their great outside shooting cutting the Royals lead to four, 54-50, with 2:03 left in the fourth. After a Genoa foul with 1:12 remaining, Richmond went to the line where she remained perfect, draining two more foul shots; increasing the lead to six. The intensity within the gym continued to increase as Genoa hits another big three with :51 seconds left, cutting the lead to three, 56-53. The Royals defense dug in and held the Lady Comets scoreless in the remaining seconds as they continued to foul the Royals. Meghan Harrer hit three of four foul shots down the stretch sealing the victory for the Royals, 59-53. Brenna Quinn lead all scorers with 16 on the night. The Royals used a balanced scoring attack, getting 14 points each from Richmond and Harrer and 9 points from DeLong, to advance to the district finals on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. taking on the Oak Harbor Rockets at Seneca East High School.

Announcement: Wynford Athletic Department

Tickets will be on sale for the March 1st district final game at Seneca East High School until 12:00 PM on February 28th. Adult ticket prices for the game, $6.00 and students, $4.00. All tickets at the door will be $6.00. Thank you for your support and GO ROYALS!