Big Second Half Propels Tigers Past Eagles
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Warsaw's girls basketball team's 49-38 win over rival Columbia City Tuesday in the Tiger Den was a tale of two halves, to say the least.
Fortunately for Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst and his Tigers, their second-half performance far outweighed their first half as they improved their record to 7-1.
Columbia City took early control with 5-foot-10 forward Jovan Krider hitting the first two points of the game. But their lead didn't last long as 6-2 Tiger center Katie Elliott, who earlier in the day signed her letter of intent to play for John Brown University, tallied the first two Warsaw points on a rebound and bucket off of Jenna Rooney's missed three-point attempt.
The score was briefly knotted at four each before the Eagles took their second lead of the game, only to see Elliott hit her first of three three-pointers, giving Warsaw a 7-6 advantage with five minutes left to play in the first frame.
The teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the opening quarter with six lead changes taking place. At quarter's end, the Eagles held the 15-12 advantage on nine first-quarter points by Connie Myers. Myers finished the game with 16 points. Elliott led all scorers with 21.
"We played well," said Wienhorst. "There's some things we do right, then we don't do some things right. I wrote on the blackboard that we had to stop them in the paint and not allow them to get second shots. It was the Connie Myers show for a while."
Sara Parker, Warsaw's 5-8 forward, got the Tigers going offensively in the second frame with a field goal that brought the score to 15-14 in favor of the Eagles. After Columbia City hit a field goal, Rooney connected on a three-pointer, deadlocking the score at 17.
The remaining four minutes of the second stanza saw six more points scored, two by the Tigers and four by Columbia City. The Eagles took a 21-19 lead into the locker room.
"Their 21 points (in the first half) I'm happy with," said Wienhorst. "But how many of them were second chances? In the second half we did some nice things, we get a lead, and we start blocking some shots. We put them right back in the game. One girl missed three free throws and that was a big time play. We have to keep our hands out of their faces, let them shoot and block out."
Elliott knotted the tally at 21 to start the second half with two free throw. After the Eagles took a 24-21 lead, Elliott hit her second three-pointer of the game to deadlock the score again, this time at 24.
Jessica Zaugg, returning to the starting lineup since a Dec. 1 car accident, put the Tigers up 26-24, followed by an Elliott rebound and bucket and Warsaw was in charge 28-24.
Warsaw outscored Columbia City 8-5 in the remaining five minutes of the third frame to take a 36-29 lead into the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter Warsaw exploited one of Columbia City's weaknesses, foul trouble. At the 7:25 mark of the final frame Krider fouled out, taking with her some much-needed power in the post.
"We got them into foul trouble and I told them to take it inside and foul them out," said Wienhorst. "But Hillary (O'Connell) shot a three and if it goes in it's a good shot. We want to shoot the three too. I'm watching some (Boston Celtics coach) Rick Pitino tapes, he preaches the three and I'm trying to get that across to the girls. I'm tickled to death to beat Columbia City and go 7-1."
The Tigers took control of the game for good with 7:11 remaining in the game when Eagles go- to player, Myers, picked up her fourth foul and Kara Kesler hit the second of two free throws to push the Tiger lead to eight, 38-30. Warsaw outscored the Eagles 11-8 in the remaining minutes to account for the 49-38 score.
Warsaw (7-1) will travel to Plymouth Saturday to do battle with the Pilgrims.
"Plymouth is a good basketball team," said Wienhorst. "When you play on their floor they're tough. We're going over there 7-1, it's a big conference game before Christmas."
WARSAW 49
COLUMBIA CITY 38
Warsaw 12 7 17 13-49
Col. City 15 6 8 9-38
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Elliott (C) 6-12 5-8 3 0 7 21
Rooney (F) 4-10 1-1 0 0 3 10
Parker (F) 1-5 0-0 0 4 5 4
O'Connell 2-7 1-2 0 1 4 6
Kesler (G) 1-4 2-4 0 0 1 4
Zaugg (G) 1-2 0-0 0 1 0 2
Colt 1-5 0-0 1 1 0 3
Taylor 0-0 0-0 0 0 3 0
Overton 1-2 0-0 0 1 0 2
Conley 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Stanley 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Kessler 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Cavert 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 17-48 11-19 4 8 23 49
Col. City FG FT A S R Pts.
Myers (F) 6-17 4-8 1 0 7 16
Stroup (G) 2-10 2-4 0 3 4 7
King (C) 2-5 2-2 0 1 3 6
Cole 2-4 1-2 1 0 3 5
Krider (F) 2-4 0-0 0 1 2 4
Moore (G) 0-3 0-0 0 0 1 0
Peppler 0-3 0-0 0 1 3 0
Blessing 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Minnick 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Schrader 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Bills 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Three-point goals - Warsaw 6 (Elliott 3, Rooney, O'Connell Colt), Col. City 1 (Stroup). Turnovers - Warsaw 17, Col. City 19. Fouls - Warsaw 17, Col. City 19.
JV: Warsaw 25, Col. City 22
Warsaw scoring - Wyatt 7, Knisely 7, DeRenzo 2, Cook 2, Becker 2, Kessler 2.
Col. City scoring - Minnick 8, Myers 6, Litherland 4, Snyder 3, Zickafoose 2, Blessing 2. [[In-content Ad]]
Warsaw's girls basketball team's 49-38 win over rival Columbia City Tuesday in the Tiger Den was a tale of two halves, to say the least.
Fortunately for Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst and his Tigers, their second-half performance far outweighed their first half as they improved their record to 7-1.
Columbia City took early control with 5-foot-10 forward Jovan Krider hitting the first two points of the game. But their lead didn't last long as 6-2 Tiger center Katie Elliott, who earlier in the day signed her letter of intent to play for John Brown University, tallied the first two Warsaw points on a rebound and bucket off of Jenna Rooney's missed three-point attempt.
The score was briefly knotted at four each before the Eagles took their second lead of the game, only to see Elliott hit her first of three three-pointers, giving Warsaw a 7-6 advantage with five minutes left to play in the first frame.
The teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the opening quarter with six lead changes taking place. At quarter's end, the Eagles held the 15-12 advantage on nine first-quarter points by Connie Myers. Myers finished the game with 16 points. Elliott led all scorers with 21.
"We played well," said Wienhorst. "There's some things we do right, then we don't do some things right. I wrote on the blackboard that we had to stop them in the paint and not allow them to get second shots. It was the Connie Myers show for a while."
Sara Parker, Warsaw's 5-8 forward, got the Tigers going offensively in the second frame with a field goal that brought the score to 15-14 in favor of the Eagles. After Columbia City hit a field goal, Rooney connected on a three-pointer, deadlocking the score at 17.
The remaining four minutes of the second stanza saw six more points scored, two by the Tigers and four by Columbia City. The Eagles took a 21-19 lead into the locker room.
"Their 21 points (in the first half) I'm happy with," said Wienhorst. "But how many of them were second chances? In the second half we did some nice things, we get a lead, and we start blocking some shots. We put them right back in the game. One girl missed three free throws and that was a big time play. We have to keep our hands out of their faces, let them shoot and block out."
Elliott knotted the tally at 21 to start the second half with two free throw. After the Eagles took a 24-21 lead, Elliott hit her second three-pointer of the game to deadlock the score again, this time at 24.
Jessica Zaugg, returning to the starting lineup since a Dec. 1 car accident, put the Tigers up 26-24, followed by an Elliott rebound and bucket and Warsaw was in charge 28-24.
Warsaw outscored Columbia City 8-5 in the remaining five minutes of the third frame to take a 36-29 lead into the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter Warsaw exploited one of Columbia City's weaknesses, foul trouble. At the 7:25 mark of the final frame Krider fouled out, taking with her some much-needed power in the post.
"We got them into foul trouble and I told them to take it inside and foul them out," said Wienhorst. "But Hillary (O'Connell) shot a three and if it goes in it's a good shot. We want to shoot the three too. I'm watching some (Boston Celtics coach) Rick Pitino tapes, he preaches the three and I'm trying to get that across to the girls. I'm tickled to death to beat Columbia City and go 7-1."
The Tigers took control of the game for good with 7:11 remaining in the game when Eagles go- to player, Myers, picked up her fourth foul and Kara Kesler hit the second of two free throws to push the Tiger lead to eight, 38-30. Warsaw outscored the Eagles 11-8 in the remaining minutes to account for the 49-38 score.
Warsaw (7-1) will travel to Plymouth Saturday to do battle with the Pilgrims.
"Plymouth is a good basketball team," said Wienhorst. "When you play on their floor they're tough. We're going over there 7-1, it's a big conference game before Christmas."
WARSAW 49
COLUMBIA CITY 38
Warsaw 12 7 17 13-49
Col. City 15 6 8 9-38
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Elliott (C) 6-12 5-8 3 0 7 21
Rooney (F) 4-10 1-1 0 0 3 10
Parker (F) 1-5 0-0 0 4 5 4
O'Connell 2-7 1-2 0 1 4 6
Kesler (G) 1-4 2-4 0 0 1 4
Zaugg (G) 1-2 0-0 0 1 0 2
Colt 1-5 0-0 1 1 0 3
Taylor 0-0 0-0 0 0 3 0
Overton 1-2 0-0 0 1 0 2
Conley 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Stanley 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Kessler 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Cavert 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 17-48 11-19 4 8 23 49
Col. City FG FT A S R Pts.
Myers (F) 6-17 4-8 1 0 7 16
Stroup (G) 2-10 2-4 0 3 4 7
King (C) 2-5 2-2 0 1 3 6
Cole 2-4 1-2 1 0 3 5
Krider (F) 2-4 0-0 0 1 2 4
Moore (G) 0-3 0-0 0 0 1 0
Peppler 0-3 0-0 0 1 3 0
Blessing 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Minnick 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Schrader 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Bills 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Three-point goals - Warsaw 6 (Elliott 3, Rooney, O'Connell Colt), Col. City 1 (Stroup). Turnovers - Warsaw 17, Col. City 19. Fouls - Warsaw 17, Col. City 19.
JV: Warsaw 25, Col. City 22
Warsaw scoring - Wyatt 7, Knisely 7, DeRenzo 2, Cook 2, Becker 2, Kessler 2.
Col. City scoring - Minnick 8, Myers 6, Litherland 4, Snyder 3, Zickafoose 2, Blessing 2. [[In-content Ad]]