Margaretta stuns Willard at buzzer

WILLARD — There's not a lot of words to say. No matter how Alanna Bedingfield addressed her team Thursday, the feeling of a last-second loss will sting for a while. Margaretta senior Kenadie Saylor hit a 3-pointer as time expired, lifting Div. VI No. 1 Margaretta to a 39-36 Sandusky Bay Conference title-clinching win over the Crimson Flashes. Willard had a timeout it could have used, but opted not to. "We didn't want them to have a chance to set up something," Bedingfield said. "We were trying to go with it. It's the first shot Kenadie Saylor hit outside of the paint. We were willing to let that go. When you roll the dice, sometimes you lose." Willard (16-4, 8-2) had a chance to share the league championship with a win. Instead, the Polar Bears (19-1, 10-0) take the title outright, their eighth in a row. "I really think our game plan was better than theirs," Bedingfield 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 Corrin Gettys was fouled. She made both free throws to push the Flashes ahead 30-25. Margaretta kept pace though, getting scores from Cassidy 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 Bedingfield fouled out, she got to the basket, scored, and was fouled. She made the free throw to tie the game at 34 with two minutes left. "Cassidy Lane was tough to defend in the paint," coach Bedingfield said. Both teams had opportunities to take the lead, but it wasn't until Lane was fouled with 10.8 seconds left that either did. She made both free throws, but Willard inbounded quickly and got the ball up court. Gettys was fouled with 7.7 seconds left. She connected on both, setting up Saylor's heroics as time expired. "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." 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. "I thought we did a good job at the beginning being ready to shoot the ball and hit our shots," Bedingfield said. "We got in a cold streak where we weren't hitting. It wasn't necessarily anything we were doing differently." 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." Willard is back in action Monday at Upper Sandusky before hosting Lexington on Feb. 12. "We're looking forward to the tournament draw Sunday," Bedingfield said. "We're looking forward to seeing how everything goes with the new format. We're excited for a second season. We still have two games next week, so we're looking forward to them." MARGARETTA (19-1, 10-0) Lillian Belak 1 0-2 2, Cassidy Lane 6 8-8 20,, 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, 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 FGs: (M) Saylor; (W) Wiers 3, Tallman, Funk.