Lady Tigers Dominate Concord 54-29
January 24, 2021 at 11:43 p.m.
Lady Tigers Dominate Concord 54-29
By Dale [email protected]
In the 55th meeting of the Northern Lakes Conference rivals, the Warsaw Lady Tigers flexed their muscle inside the paint early and often as they rolled to a 54-29 win over the host Lady Minutemen.
Warsaw, now 15-5 overall and 6-1 in the NLC this season, scored all 16 of its points in the first quarter in the paint - 10 points from junior Abby Sanner and the other six from senior Audrey Grimm.
Concord had no answer for Warsaw’s post presence, and the Lady Tigers led 16-5 after one quarter of play, 34-11 at halftime and 45-18 heading into the fourth quarter.
Sanner led the Lady Tigers with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Grimm finished with 10 points and five boards.
With the 25-point victory, Warsaw extended its win streak over Concord to 45 and now leads the overall series 53-2.
Concord’s wins over the Lady Tigers were in 1981 and 1983.
“I hate coming to this gym because we never shoot well from the outside,” said Warsaw coach Lenny Krebs, whose team snapped a two-game skid in impressive fashion.
“That’s what we wanted to do early was establish an inside game and not throw up shots from the perimeter. Abby and Audrey did a great job of establishing an inside game, and from there we kind of fed off of it and got some good looks in transition.
“Our guards pushed the ball hard, and this was one of the better games I’ve seen Bailie Stephens play. Bailie had a great all-around game. She really pushed the basketball, and our bigs were running the floor. You could sense that energy.”
Active on both ends of the floor, Stephens finished with 12 points, eight assists, seven steals and seven rebounds.
Stephens hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to account for the Lady Tigers’ 34-11 halftime lead.
Kensie Ryman chipped in with 10 points, three rebounds and a pair of steals.
The senior guard made back-to-back three-pointers to push the guests’ advantage from 21-11 to 27-11 with 2:00 remaining in the second stanza.
Warsaw, trying to bounce back after losses to Goshen and Homestead, led by as many as 34 (52-18) early in the final frame.
“I go back to that Goshen game, and these girls wanted that game so bad,” said Krebs, who was the head coach at Goshen 14 seasons before coming to Warsaw. “I thought the Goshen game we played hard, I couldn’t fault our effort, we just didn’t execute and hit shots.
“I kind of felt like all the air went out of our sails after that loss, and they realized what that loss meant. They had worked so hard to get to that position. You go back to the last couple years, and we were playing from behind in the conference standings in a sense that we had an early loss. This year we were playing from the front so to speak and were lost that opportunity by losing to Goshen.
“It was nice to get our team back tonight. We played with a good effort, good passion and good energy.”
With its win over NorthWood Saturday, Goshen is guaranteed a share of the conference title. The Lady RedHawks are 6-0 in league play and can win the NLC championship outright with a win over Mishawaka on Thursday.
The Lady Tigers close out the regular season Tuesday with a home game against Elkhart, and will then turn their attention to next week’s Class 4A sectional at Goshen High School.
With Saturday’s loss, Concord fell to 6-13 overall and 1-6 in the NLC.
Kendal Taylor led the Lady Minutemen with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Savannah Boerema chipped in with eight points.
Latest News
E-Editions
In the 55th meeting of the Northern Lakes Conference rivals, the Warsaw Lady Tigers flexed their muscle inside the paint early and often as they rolled to a 54-29 win over the host Lady Minutemen.
Warsaw, now 15-5 overall and 6-1 in the NLC this season, scored all 16 of its points in the first quarter in the paint - 10 points from junior Abby Sanner and the other six from senior Audrey Grimm.
Concord had no answer for Warsaw’s post presence, and the Lady Tigers led 16-5 after one quarter of play, 34-11 at halftime and 45-18 heading into the fourth quarter.
Sanner led the Lady Tigers with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Grimm finished with 10 points and five boards.
With the 25-point victory, Warsaw extended its win streak over Concord to 45 and now leads the overall series 53-2.
Concord’s wins over the Lady Tigers were in 1981 and 1983.
“I hate coming to this gym because we never shoot well from the outside,” said Warsaw coach Lenny Krebs, whose team snapped a two-game skid in impressive fashion.
“That’s what we wanted to do early was establish an inside game and not throw up shots from the perimeter. Abby and Audrey did a great job of establishing an inside game, and from there we kind of fed off of it and got some good looks in transition.
“Our guards pushed the ball hard, and this was one of the better games I’ve seen Bailie Stephens play. Bailie had a great all-around game. She really pushed the basketball, and our bigs were running the floor. You could sense that energy.”
Active on both ends of the floor, Stephens finished with 12 points, eight assists, seven steals and seven rebounds.
Stephens hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to account for the Lady Tigers’ 34-11 halftime lead.
Kensie Ryman chipped in with 10 points, three rebounds and a pair of steals.
The senior guard made back-to-back three-pointers to push the guests’ advantage from 21-11 to 27-11 with 2:00 remaining in the second stanza.
Warsaw, trying to bounce back after losses to Goshen and Homestead, led by as many as 34 (52-18) early in the final frame.
“I go back to that Goshen game, and these girls wanted that game so bad,” said Krebs, who was the head coach at Goshen 14 seasons before coming to Warsaw. “I thought the Goshen game we played hard, I couldn’t fault our effort, we just didn’t execute and hit shots.
“I kind of felt like all the air went out of our sails after that loss, and they realized what that loss meant. They had worked so hard to get to that position. You go back to the last couple years, and we were playing from behind in the conference standings in a sense that we had an early loss. This year we were playing from the front so to speak and were lost that opportunity by losing to Goshen.
“It was nice to get our team back tonight. We played with a good effort, good passion and good energy.”
With its win over NorthWood Saturday, Goshen is guaranteed a share of the conference title. The Lady RedHawks are 6-0 in league play and can win the NLC championship outright with a win over Mishawaka on Thursday.
The Lady Tigers close out the regular season Tuesday with a home game against Elkhart, and will then turn their attention to next week’s Class 4A sectional at Goshen High School.
With Saturday’s loss, Concord fell to 6-13 overall and 1-6 in the NLC.
Kendal Taylor led the Lady Minutemen with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Savannah Boerema chipped in with eight points.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092