Defense carries Polar Bears to 5th straight district title

FREMONT — Margaretta kept Wynford scoreless in the second quarter of a Division VI girls basketball district final Saturday. That almost guaranteed that the Polar Bears would be cutting down a net. Margaretta did indeed share the scissors after a 42-24 win over Wynford to clinch the program's fifth straight district championship. "It was a rock 'em-sock 'em robot kind of game early on the defensive end," Margaretta coach Ray Neill said. "We've been preaching that defense is gonna travel and we've got some people who love doing it." The Polar Bears advance to a regional semifinal at 8 p.m. Thursday against Ottawa Hills at Bluffton University. Margaretta, ranked No. 1 in the state by MaxPreps, won its 15th straight game to improve to 24-1. The Bears have outscored three tournament opponents 176-67. Job 1 for Margaretta on Saturday was slowing down Wynford star Caroline Sheldon. The junior guard made two early 3-pointers and finished with 15 points, but the Bears limited her to 4-for-16 shooting from the field. "The communication is where it started," Margaretta senior guard Ellyse Schaefer said. "She doesn't stand still; she runs off screens and is constantly moving. We had to talk. We were switching. Lillian Belak on the defensive end is amazing. She's always the loudest, always working the hardest. "If there's gonna be someone on the floor for a loose ball it's gonna be her. After that slow first quarter, she got us moving again defensively." Belak and fellow senior Kenadie Saylor stuck with Sheldon for most of the game and Margaretta limited Wynford to 18 percent shooting from the field. "Our defense starts with Lilly Belak — go work as hard as Lilly does," Neill said. "Kenadie gets after it and people fail to see how good Cassidy (Lane) is on defense, both on the ball and reading the passing lanes. She leads us in steals on the season." Added Belak: "Sheldon's obviously a very good player. We switched about three people on to her. Whenever someone got tired, we kept rotating and that worked the best for us." Wynford also was a determined defensive unit. The Royals face-guarded Schaefer — Margaretta's top 3-point threat — and double-teamed Lane, the Bears' star center. "Wynford was very physical, very tenacious on defense, switching up their defenses on it," Neill said. "It took awhile to figure some things out. We were able to do that in the second half and somewhat methodically pulling away." Wynford's defensive focus on Schaefer and Lane meant that somebody was open. Saylor, Belak and freshman Renna Keller all hit open 3s in the first half as the Bears built a 17-8 lead at the break. "I've been face-guarded more games than I haven't this year, but I have a lot of confidence in Kenadie, Lanie (Schaefer), Ashlyn (Kingsborough), Renna," Ellyse Schaefer said. "They've been putting up points. If they're gonna take me away I'm happy my teammates are scoring." Added Lane: "It opened up everyone else. You gotta be a good teammate." Belak's 3-pointer midway through the first quarter gave Margaretta the lead for good at 8-5. "We knew coming in they would do that," said Belak of Wynford's defense. "Our coaches basically told everyone else they need to be confident to shoot it. Everyone stepped up and got confident in their shots. I was confident in the one I did shoot." Wynford went through a scoring drought that started late in the first quarter and lasted 11 minutes, 26 seconds. Still, the Royals weren't ready to waive the white flag in the second half. A 3-pointer by Saylor gave the Bears a 21-11 lead with 4:40 left in the third, but Sheldon cut it to 24-17 with a bucket at the 2:11 mark. Two big 3-pointers — one by Keller and another by Ellyse Schaefer 30 seconds into the fourth quarter — gave Margaretta a 30-18 lead that felt like more. Lane added a bucket in traffic before two Saylor free throws made it 34-18. The icing on Margaretta's postgame cookie cake came when Saylor broke Wynford's press with a long pass to Ellyse Schaefer, who nailed another 3 from the right corner to extend the Bears' lead to 37-19. Saylor led Margaretta with 13 points. Lane added 10 points and Ellyse Schaefer finished with nine points. "Everyone matters on this team, no matter what they do," Lane said. "Coming to play defense, scoring one bucket, having a good defensive stop. Everything matters in the tournament. "Thanks to our coaches. We have great scouters everywhere. Our defense really kicked it in for us." Neill expressed appreciation for the Margaretta fans and dedicated the win to Gail Wiswell, who died Christmas Eve at the age of 84. "He was one of the Margaretta superfans," Neill said. "I know he's watching us today and he's pretty proud of us for wining another district championship." WYNFORD (19-6) Rylee Robinson 0 0-0 0, Caroline Sheldon 4 5-6 15, Maradath Engler 1 0-0 3, Maggie Ridge 2 2-4 6, Jenna Filister 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 7 7-10 24 MARGARETTA (24-1) Lillian Belak 1 1-2 4, Ellaynah Schaefer 0 0-0 0, Cassidy Lane 4 2-4 10, Ellyse Schaefer 3 1-1 9, Kenadie Saylor 4 3-4 13, Renna Keller 2 0-0 6. TOTALS 14 7-11 42 Wynford 8 0 10 6 — 24 Margaretta 11 6 10 15 — 42 Three-point goals: Wynford 3 (Sheldon 2, Engler); Margaretta 7 (Ellyse Schaefer 2, Saylor 2, Keller 2, Belak)