ELMORE — Elmwood has made good use of the Senior Night’s it has been a part of this season.
Just three days earlier, on their own Senior Night, the Royals beat up on Otsego to clinch the outright
Suburban Lakes League championship, and the story was no different Friday at Woodmore.
After a last-second loss earlier in the season to the Wildcats, Elmwood out-scored Woodmore 18-9 in the
third quarter to separate itself en route to a 62-45 victory, spoiling Woodmore’s Senior Night.
“The first time we played them we didn’t play very well and I didn’t coach very well,” Elmwood head coach
Ty Traxler said. “We didn’t adjust in game against them like we probably should have on the defensive
end, and we kind of let them (Woodmore) dictate.”
But Friday was much different.
“We wanted to try to speed the game up and see if we could get their legs worn down by the time the game
was over and that ended up working out,” Traxler said. “The kids were the one’s that suggested doing
that and it worked.”
The Royals (14-4 overall, 10-1 SLL) used their up-tempo play and trapping defense to force Woodmore (9-8,
6-5) into 19 turnovers. The Wildcats shot a dismal 16-of-49 (33 percent) from the floor, compared to the
teams’ previous matchup, when Woodmore shot better than 70 percent.
“Tonight, we still got a lot of the shots we wanted, they just weren’t going in,” Woodmore head coach
Brad Sander said. “Give Elmwood credit. They did a good job. They’re a tough, physical team, and most of
the time, you’re only going to get one shot against them, and it better be a good one.”
Sander went on to say that Elmwood’s pressure had the biggest impact on the way his team shot the ball.
Like their offensive strategy, the Royals’ defensive gameplan was largely based off of what their players
felt would work.
“In practice this week, I tried to encourage coach to run a 1-2-2 and just kind of freelance a little bit
out there and try to get traps, because last time we played them we went man-to-man, and they slowed the
game up and kind of had their way with us,” Elmwood’s TJ Waldock said. “Coach always encourages us
because he isn’t out there playing so he wants us to let him know what it’s like out on the floor.”
“You’ve got to listen to a team that’s a bunch of seniors that’s been through the battles and that was
something they wanted to do and it worked out that way,” said Traxler. “I give our kids a lot of credit
for executing the gameplan.”
After a sloppy first quarter by both teams, in which Elmwood shot just 4-of-14 (29 percent) from the
field, the Royals, trailing by six points. Elmwood then used a 14-3 run in the second quarter to take a
27-22 lead into the break.
The run, which took up the final five minutes of the second quarter, was sparked by Elmwood’s Max Zyski
who finished the contest with 12 points.
Jack Waldock contributed by continuing where he left off Tuesday night, hitting 3-point baskets. He made
the last two of his three 3-pointers in the span, on his way to scoring nine points for the game.
The Royals carried their first-half momentum into the third quarter and gained a 14-point lead after the
period that was capped off by 3-point baskets from Kevin Hammer and Tyler Rosendale.
Elmwood finished the game shooting 7-of-16 (44 percent) from beyond the arc and 21-of-57 (37 percent)
overall from the field.
TJ Waldock led the Royals in the third quarter scoring seven of his team-high 15 points.
Woodmore’s Grant Weirich, who scored the game-winning basket in the previous matchup, scored 15 points in
the contest and Cody Croll added 10.
The Wildcats’ leading scorer, Donny Bowen, found himself in foul trouble throughout most of the game and
finished with eight points.
For Elmwood, avenging its only league loss of the season seemed to be a top priority.
“That was one thing the kids wanted to make sure, the second time through the league that we took care of
business against these guys,” Traxler said. “That’s been kind of our theme all week, making sure that we
get them and we prove that we are the best team in the league.”
Elmwood won the junior varsity game 44-35. Mica Robinson led the Royals with 15 points and Zach Foster
added 13.
ELMWOOD 62,
WOODMORE 45
ELMWOOD
Davis, 0-1-0—3; J. Waldock, 0-3-0—9; Rosendale, 0-1-0—3; Marsh, 0-0—0; Stewart, 0-0—0; Hammer, 0-2-2—8;
Hannah, 4-4—12; TJ Waldock, 6-3—15; Zyski, 4-4—12; Torrey, 0-0—0. TOTALS: 14-7-13—62.
WOODMORE
Croll, 5-0—10; Shrewsbury, 1-1—3; Lewandowski, 0-0—0; Weirich, 1-2-7—15; Bowen, 3-2—8; Sandwisch, 1-1—3;
Haar, 0-0—0; Kuhlman, 1-0—2; Avers, 1-2—4; Wooten, 0-0—0. TOTALS: 13-2-13—45.
ELMWOOD 8 19 18 17 —62
WOODMORE 11 11 9 14 —45
Junior varsity: Elmwood, 44-35
