Margaretta edges Willard in battle of Bay leaders

CASTALIA — Margaretta knew the physicality was coming. The Polar Bears were able to withstand that battle with Willard, giving it right back to the Crimson Flashes. The defense for Division VI No. 2 Margaretta proved to be crucial late as the Polar Bears topped Division V No. 9 Willard 46-42 in a key Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division contest Saturday. "I feel like it was mainly our defense," said Margaretta senior Cassidy Lane of the difference in the fourth quarter. "Offensively, we had some turnovers that we didn't need. Our defense picked it up in the end and I thought that helped us win." The Polar Bears (9-1, 5-0 SBC Bay) got a big lift in the waning seconds of the third quarter. With the game tied at 32, Thea Wybensinger's 3-pointer gave Margaretta the lead. Ellyse Schaefer then opened the fourth quarter with a triple to push the Polar Bears' advantage to 38-32. "That was huge," Lane said. "Thea hitting that at the end of the third quarter brought so much momentum. Being able to start off with that at the beginning of the fourth quarter was all the momentum that we needed to finish." Margaretta's lead never dipped below three points the rest of the way, but that didn't mean Willard (8-2, 4-1) didn't fight. LaMya Hicks knocked down two free throws to bring the Flashes within 40-34. Later, a bucket from Lillian Belak kept Margaretta ahead 45-38, but Emelia Tallman and Daelynn Funk scored to slice the Willard deficit to three points. Margaretta used a timeout with 1:25 to go. The Polar Bears were able to milk some clock away, but a turnover with 46 seconds remaining gave Willard possession. The Flashes had maneuver around a tough Polar Bears defense before a shot was missed with 20 seconds to play. Lane grabbed the rebound and Willard was forced to foul. The Flashes had three fouls to give and used them before calling a timeout with 10 seconds on the clock. Schaefer was fouled out of the timeout and split the pair, giving the Polar Bears a 46-42 lead with 8.3 seconds to go. Willard used a timeout, but couldn't get a shot off before the ball trickled out of bounds with less than a second left. After another timeout, the Flashes got off a desperation 3, but it was airballed, giving Margaretta the win. "There's no ugly wins in a big conference game like that," Polar Bears coach Ray Neill said. "Happy for our girls. We persevered through a dog fight." Physicality was on display early as the teams combined to shoot 14 free throws in the first quarter. Willard led 12-10 after eight minutes, but a 3 from Schaefer opened the second quarter scoring. Margaretta was ahead 16-14 after an Ashlyn Kingsborough bucket, but Willard responded. The Flashes got a score from Reese Bedingfield, triple from Tallman and bucket from Corrin Gettys to go up 21-16. Needing something, Margaretta looked to its bench. After Lane made two free throws, Lanie Schaefer provided that spark. She nailed a triple and knocked in two free throws to give the Polar Bears a 23-21 halftime lead. "I thought Lanie was good off the bench for us," Neill said. "We got solid play off the bench today. The bench wasn't as deep as it has been, but that's the way this one worked out. We'll need other girls to step up down the road real quick." Foul trouble started to catch up to Willard in the third quarter. Gettys, who led the Flashes with 14 points, was called for her fourth foul with 5:50 to go in the third quarter. Bedingfield, who had eight points, went to the bench with four fouls with 4:09 remaining in the third quarter. "We were down a player and then foul trouble on top of it," Willard coach Alanna Bedingfield said. "It does weigh on the different offenses you can run when you only have one post player in. It does weigh on the different defenses. "Are you matched up OK? What defense can you be in if you don't have enough post players or enough players to face guard?" Margaretta didn't take much advantage as Willard played strong despite the issues. Wybensinger scored for a 29-26 lead on Bedingfield's fourth foul. Lane kept Margaretta ahead 32-30 before Hicks tied the game at 32. That was before Wybensinger, who played in her last game of the season due to OHSAA transfer rules, swung the momentum in Margaretta's favor. "That was a big shot by Thea," Neill said. "In the third quarter, we were able to manage the clock and run it down a little bit. We got the ball to one of our 3-point shooters and were fortunate enough for her to knock it down." The win was Margaretta's 49th straight in league play. They'll begin the second half of the league schedule next Saturday against Port Clinton. "We got through the first round of conference with a goose egg on the bad side," Neill said. "Hopefully we can be focused enough to know that we need to get better if we want to achieve that prize at the end of the season." The game was all business for the Polar Bears. Many of the girls from both sides know each other from AAU basketball. Neill said the game took on a much more serious tone from the coaches. "Before the game started, we were in talking about our matchups and one of the girls said she had her and used her first name," he said. "I told them we weren't on a first name basis today. We were on a last name basis." Tallman added eight points for Willard, which travels to Division IV No. 1 Bellevue (10-0) on Wednesday. "Bellevue is a great team obviously," coach Bedingfield said. "They're defending state champions and I think they have players in place that they could go there again. It becomes a challenge of how hard are you willing to work and how physical you're going to be? What can we do to prepare for the end of the season run? We'll use it as a tool to get better." Wybensinger scored 11 points while Kenadie Saylor had nine points for the Polar Bears. Ellyse Schaefer tallied eight points and Lane finished with seven points and 11 rebounds for Margaretta, which returns to action Tuesday when they host Norwalk (6-3). Margaretta has won consecutive games since a loss to Bellevue on Dec. 27. "Short memory and understanding prizes weren't to be won in the game against Bellevue," Neill said. "Prizes are out there for down the road and we needed to learn some things from that game on both sides. "We're not a finished product, but we're happy with where we're at." WILLARD (8-2, 4-1) Camryn Wiers 1 0-0 2, LaMya Hicks 1 2-4 4, Reese Bedingfield 3 2-2 8, Emelia Tallman 3 0-0 8, Corrin Gettys 5 4-4 14, Daelynn Funk 3 0-0 6. TOTALS 16 8-10 42 MARGARETTA (10-1, 5-0) Ashlyn Kingsborough 1 0-0 2, Thea Wybensinger 4 1-1 11, Cassidy Lane 2 3-4 7, Ellyse Schaefer 2 2-4 8, Kenadie Saylor 2 5-8 9, Lanie Schaefer 2 2-2 7, Lillian Belak 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 14 13-19 46 Willard 12 9 11 10 — 42 Margaretta 10 13 12 11 — 46 Three-point goals: Willard 2 (Tallman 2); Margaretta 5 (E. Schaefer 2, Wybensinger 2, L. Schaefer)