Sydney Wagner scores 30 as Spring-Ford girls prevail
"She's probably just going to gut it out," Mickey McDaniel said, matter-of-factly. The Spring-Ford girls' basketball coach was on the sideline before his squad faced off against Perkiomen Valley and talking about Sydney Wagner, a senior who was averaging almost 17 points heading into Thursday night's pivotal Pioneer Athletic Conference matchup.
"She's probably just going to gut it out," Mickey McDaniel said, matter-of-factly.
The Spring-Ford girls' basketball coach was on the sideline before his squad faced off against Perkiomen Valley and talking about Sydney Wagner, a senior who was averaging almost 17 points heading into Thursday night's pivotal Pioneer Athletic Conference matchup.
Moments before tipoff, he still wasn't quite sure what he was going to get from the guard, as Wagner woke up the morning of the game feeling nauseous.
The feeling wasn't nerves, but it also didn't subside as the day wore on. But Wagner wasn't going to miss the contest against the Vikings, especially considering that she sat out the first league game of the season with an ankle injury.
McDaniel knew Wagner was the type of player who would do what she could for the team, even if she wasn't feeling herself.
Then she went on the floor and dropped in 30 points, netting five three-pointers, as the Rams defeated PV, 58-46.
"I knew I had to be a leader out there and help the team, do whatever I can, even if I wasn't feeling well," Wagner said. "I stepped up, but my team also stepped up for me and helped me a lot out there."
The Stetson recruit was on fire from beyond the arc immediately, knocking down three first-quarter threes and scoring 12 of her team's first 14 points.
The Rams (6-2, 2-1 league) followed her lead, as Spring-Ford hit eight three-pointers against the Vikings (2-4, 1-2) and played tough defensively.
"We just knew we could not back down at all," senior guard Juliana Alessandroni said. "We had to keep it going - even when they scored we had to come back and score and then get a stop on defense. We did not back down to them. I'm really proud of how we played tonight."
Despite being sick, Wagner played 30 minutes.
"I was fine in warm-ups. I was feeling great in warm-ups," she said. "Then once the game started and I started running a lot more it really started hitting me and it wasn't good."
Then she thought about it for a second.
"Maybe I should be sick more often," she said. "I played well."
Spring-Ford 14 16 16 12 - 58
Perkiomen Valley 7 11 17 11 - 46
SF: Sydney Wagner 30, Rachel Christman 8, Abby Goodrich 8, Juliana Alessandroni 7, Maddie Haney 3, Cassie Marte 2
PV: Meg Jonassen 19, Hanan Richmond 9, Bridgette Bonjo 9, Iman Richmond 4, Sara Nijssen 2, Brynne Wacker 2, Alex Blomstrom 1
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