Willard Lady Flashes lighting it up

After an opening-season loss to Mansfield Madison, the Willard girls basketball team has reeled off four straight wins.

"We opened against Madison, then went to Lexington,'' Lady Flashes coach Barry Pfahl said. "Those are two good opponents on the road. We needed something to happen to build our confidence.

"We went down to Lexington (won 68-52) and shot the ball well. We felt we could have won at Madison (52-46), but didn't shoot the ball well.''

The Lady Flashes broke open a tight game at halftime, outscoring Lexington 41-26 in the second half for the win.

Willard sits at 4-1 overall, 3-0 in the Northern Ohio League entering a big stretch of games.

"We have a lot of experience, but in terms of age and experience we have one senior, three juniors, three sophomores and one freshman of the eight that primarily play, so we're relatively young,'' Pfahl said.

After a win at home against Fostoria, Willard topped Shelby 54-52 and Upper Sandusky 43-35 on the road in its last two outings.

"It's like a domino effect,'' Pfahl said. "Shelby has two outstanding guards and Upper started five seniors. It's been a long time since we won at Shelby and it's been a long time since we won at Upper. That was big for us. We're very pleased with the wins we've gotten.''

The Lady Flashes, who went 8-13 overall last season, are led in scoring by 5-foot-10 senior forward Anna Stephens and 5-10 sophomore forward Alysun Daniel.

Both are averaging in double digits.

Stephens, an all-Northern Ohio League and District 6 performer last season, is at 16.6 points and 11 rebounds per outing. She had a double-double with 20 points and 17 rebounds against Upper.

"She's been a great senior leader,'' Pfahl said. "She's able to hit the big shot. She's an inside-outside player, so it's tough for people to deal with."

Daniel is tossing in 12.8 points and grabbing 7.6 rebounds per contest.

"Alysun has really come along,'' Pfahl said. "She's really improved in rebounding and scoring inside. She's a real compliment to Anna Stephens. They play at the back of the press and in at least two games this season have led in steals off the back of the press. Alysun is a very good athlete.''

Junior Jenna Bauerle, a 5-7 guard and another all-league and District 6 choice, has been steady and versatile, averaging 9.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 4.8 steals per game.

"Jenna is the heart and soul of the press break,'' Pfahl said. "Her real strength is her ballhandling.''

All eight players on the varsity squad are averaging at least 2.4 points per game.

"This team has a lot of things I like,'' he said. "We have a good inside presence, they play hard, we've got good defensive guards and we have great ballhandling guards.

"All eight are going to get opportunities. They have all the ingredients there for us to have a good second half heading into the tournament, which is one of our goals.''

However, Pfahl, a veteran coach with 261 career wins, knows that the season is still young.

Willard hosts Bellevue Saturday, travels to Tiffin Columbian, which is also 3-0 in the NOL, Tuesday and welcomes in Ashland Dec. 27.

"Our press is the key to what we're doing,'' Pfahl said. "We're going to need better rebounding and to prove ourselves as shooters. Tiffin is quite big inside as is Ashland. Bellevue has some shooters. We have some challenges. The key for us to rebound, shoot the ball well and maintain our focus.''