Saylor's 3 at buzzer wins SBC Bay outright for Margaretta

WILLARD — The moment was one players dream of. Kenadie Saylor didn't expect the basketball to be in her hands, but she threw up a prayer as time expired. A foul was called on the play, but it didn't matter as her high-arcing 3-pointer found the bottom of the net as the horn sounded. Margaretta's only 3-pointer of the night came from Saylor as she lifted the Division VI No. 1 Polar Bears to a 39-36 Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division title-clinching win over Willard on Thursday. "As soon as I shot it, I thought I had to shoot free throws," said Saylor, who missed both free throws she attempted earlier in the game. "I saw it go in and knew I didn't have to shoot free throws. It's a good team win overall." The win clinches the outright Bay Division championship for Margaretta (19-1, 10-0), its eighth in a row. The Polar Bears have won 54 straight league games. Saylor, along with seniors Cassidy Lane, Ellyse Schaefer and Lillian Belak finished their careers 40-0 in league games. "Going into this, we knew it was going to be a blood bath and a dog fight," Lane said. "They wanted it. We wanted it. Over our whole career, it's been like this. They're our rivals. We never lost a game in the SBC and we knew we didn't want to lose it tonight. We came together and took a breath and settled in." The game was tied at 34 late in the fourth quarter when Lane was fouled with 10.8 seconds left. She calmly knocked down both shots, but Willard (16-4, 8-2) moved quickly. The Crimson Flashes got the ball up the court to Corrin Gettys, who was fouled with 7.7 seconds remaining. She also made both free throws to tie the game at 34. With no timeouts left, Margaretta had to go. The Polar Bears pushed the ball up court to Schaefer, who kicked to Saylor in the corner for the heroic shot that will be talked about for a while. "I told them in the huddle if they scored, we had to attack and penetrate," Margaretta coach Ray Neill said. "We wanted to get to the basket and pitch. Ellyse Schaefer did the penetrating and Kenadie Saylor fortunately and blessingly knocked it down." Saylor is as tough as they come on the defensive end. She was battered and knocked over numerous times against Willard, but had the final say. "I think people look at Kenadie as an outstanding defender," Neill said. "She obviously has the athleticism to be an above average offensive player and she's getting better every game and every night in practice." Willard coach Alanna Bedingfield struggled for words after such a tough loss. The Flashes led 9-0 in the first quarter and by five points with 3:35 to play in the game. "I really think our game plan was better than theirs," she said. "We knew everything that they were going to do. Sometimes we didn't execute everything that we had talked about. I thought our girls played their hearts out. They did exactly what we asked them to do." The game was tied at 25 late in the third quarter when Daelynn Funk hit a 3 to give Willard the edge going into the fourth quarter. More than a minute bled off the clock before Gettys was fouled. She made both free throws to push the Flashes ahead 30-25. Margaretta kept pace though, getting scores from Lane and Addyson Fitzthum to draw within 30-29 with 5:34 to go. Reese Bedingfield responded on the other end and after a Margaretta empty possession, a score from Gettys made it 34-29. After a Margaretta timeout, Lane took over. She picked a steal and scored to bring the Polar Bears within 34-31. After Reese Bedingfield fouled out, Lane got to the basket, scored and was fouled. She made the free throw to tie the game at 34 with two minutes left. "Big-time players step up in big games," said Neill of Lane, a Division I Gardner-Webb signee. "Their little funky defense they were running, we went to a pretty simple thing of flashing Cassidy high and having her give it up. But whoever she gave it up to got it right back to her. In that defense they were running, she was open." The Flashes couldn't have drawn up a better start. Camryn Wiers hit a pair of triples as Willard led 9-0 almost five minutes in. Margaretta responded, getting four points apiece from Lane and Fitzthum to get within 9-8 after one quarter. The teams went back and forth in the second quarter, but a bucket from Fitzthum helped Margaretta tie the game at 21 at halftime. "It sucks that the No. 1 team in the state is in your league," Bedingfield said. "Other people play for a league championship and it's not against No. 1 team in the state. I thought our girls did everything they could and followed the plan well." Fitzthum came off the bench to score a season-high 12 points. She was an offensive spark Margaretta needed as Schaefer had two fouls early and was face-guarded most of the night. "Addy Fitzthum off the bench is maybe the story of the game," Neill said. "That's a girl that has paid her dues and got rewarded tonight in a big game." Wiers led Willard with 11 points while Gettys added 10 points off the bench. "I thought our girls played confidently," Bedingfield said. "I thought our girls played well. We shot the ball well in the first half, particularly. We had a lead and sometimes at the end, we didn't take care of the ball well. There are things we need to get better at." Margaretta is back in action Monday for Senior Night against Eastwood. The Polar Bears host Toledo Christian on Feb. 14. "Our seniors end their high school career going 40-0 in the SBC Bay Division," Neill said. "Pretty tough to do. Extremely happy for them. If this is the so-called last game of the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division or whatever, we ended it on a pretty good note." MARGARETTA (19-1, 10-0) Ashlyn Kingsborough 0 0-0 0, Lillian Belak 1 0-2 2, Cassidy Lane 6 8-8 20, Ellyse Schaefer 0 0-0 0, Kenadie Saylor 2 0-2 5, Addyson Fitzthum 6 0-3 12. TOTALS 15 8-15 39 WILLARD (16-4, 8-2) Camryn Wiers 4 0-0 11, LaMya Hicks 1 0-0 2, Reese Bedingfield 3 1-3 7, Leah Weiss 0 0-0 0, Emelia Tallman 1 0-0 3, Corrin Gettys 3 4-4 10, Daelynn Funk 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 13 5-7 36 Margaretta 8 13 4 14 — 39 Willard 9 12 7 8 — 36 Three-point goals: Margaretta 1 (Saylor); Willard 5 (Wiers 3, Tallman, Funk)