Concordia Ends Wawasee's Season
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Ryan Villanueva-
Wawasee started off hot with two quick three-pointers by senior guard Jonna Wiggs, but those were the only points she scored in the game. Shooting woes throughout the game proved to have a hand in the Lady Warriors' offensive struggles.[[In-content Ad]]In the third quarter, Wawasee didn't score over a stretch of 3:47.
Sophomore guard KiLee Knafel scored a team-high 11 points for the Lady Warriors, while seniors Amy Walker and Kalyn McDaniel added five points each.
Wawasee head coach Kem Zolman felt that Concordia had the upper-hand on them in just about every aspect.
"The better team won, so they were just a little bit better in every aspect," said Zolman. "This is us. One of the tendencies in going to regional or anything after sectionals is to want to over coach them, and we've got to remember we are who we are and what got us here, we've got to stay with it."
Concordia junior guard Lauren Marinko led all scorers with 17 points, including four three-pointers. Marinko caught fire early, scoring 10 of the Lady Cadets' 12 points in the first quarter. Senior forward Anna Goeglein added eight points and junior forward Breanne Smith added six of her own for Concordia.
"Defensively, I didn't think we did that bad," said Zolman. "There were times where we broke down and didn't have our back.
They got some easy layups. We didn't rotate quick enough to get a wide-open three. [Marinko] went off on some threes that really helped them. But this is regional, so you can't have a lot of excuses. I just think they did a great job at exploiting a lot of our weaknesses."
Concordia's defense suffocated the Lady Warriors, holding them to just four points in the second quarter and five in the third.
"[Concordia] exploits what we lack," said Zolman. "We try to hide some things, and that was just one of things that we lack was an offensive presence. This is one of the few teams we've played all year where I would say that they played really solid, good fundamental defense."
Zolman was still pleased in seeing how well the team developed over the course of the summer to the state tournament.
"We just kept with the kids and teaching them nothing huge in basketball," said Zolman. "It was all about little things and how you get a group of kids to work together. That's what we have been working on and these kids bought in to it. They bought in to the fact that now they were playing in the regional. It doesn't matter what you do in the summertime, and the progress that these kids have made has been unbelievable."
Zolman also said that what he will miss the most was the leadership that came from the senior class.
"This is a senior class that had to work extremely hard on working together," he said. "They'll always be remembered as that and that they did, and that's not a negative thing."
The four outgoing seniors in McDaniel, Walker, Wiggs and Kealah Alexander left an impression on the coaches and the underclassmen on the team, Zolman said.
"I thought Kalyn just stepped up huge to be the leader we needed her to be," said Zolman. "Jonna is just naturally a strong leader. Amy just stepped her game up in these last few weeks to help us out inside. Kealah worked for four years and I admire the fact that she stayed with us and she is a great example of someone where even though times are hard, you've just got to stay with it. You miss seniors because of their leadership and their experience."
The Lady Warriors finished the season with a 15-7 record. Concordia defeated fourth-ranked Norwell 58-39 in the regional championship Saturday night and advanced to the semistate at North Side Gym in Elkhart, where it will face No. 3 Benton Central (22-1).
CONCORDIA 41, WAWASEE 27
C 12 9 12 8 - 41
W 10 4 5 8 - 27
Concordia - Emily Hockemeyer 0 1-2 1, Annalisa Kammeyer 1 1-2 3, Shauna Watson 1 0-0 2, Courtney Smith 2 0-0 4, Anna Goeglein 4 0-0 8, Lindsay Marinko 6 1-2 17, Skylar Wright 0 0-0 0, Breanne Smith 3 0-0 6, Olivia Hahn 0 0-0 0, Madison Biddle 0 0-0 0, Taylor Sparks 0 0-0 0, Courtney Adams 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 3-6 41.
Wawasee - Kalyn McDaniel 2 1-1 5, Alexi Blunk 0 0-0 0, Amy Walker 2 1-2 5, Megan Grindle 0 0-0 0, KiLee Knafel 4 2-2 11, Kylie Norris 0 0-0 0, Kiley Cooper 0 0-0 0, Hunter Gaerte 0 0-0 0, Kealah Alexander 0 0-0 0, Kasey Napier 0 0-0 0, Jonna Wiggs 2 0-0 6. Totals 10 4-5 27.
Three-pointers - Concordia 4 (Marinko 4), Wawasee 3 (Wiggs 2, Knafel); Fouls - Concordia 12, Wawasee 8; Fouled out - none; Records: Wawasee 15-7, Concord 18-7 (after winning regional final 58-39 over Norwell).
Wawasee started off hot with two quick three-pointers by senior guard Jonna Wiggs, but those were the only points she scored in the game. Shooting woes throughout the game proved to have a hand in the Lady Warriors' offensive struggles.[[In-content Ad]]In the third quarter, Wawasee didn't score over a stretch of 3:47.
Sophomore guard KiLee Knafel scored a team-high 11 points for the Lady Warriors, while seniors Amy Walker and Kalyn McDaniel added five points each.
Wawasee head coach Kem Zolman felt that Concordia had the upper-hand on them in just about every aspect.
"The better team won, so they were just a little bit better in every aspect," said Zolman. "This is us. One of the tendencies in going to regional or anything after sectionals is to want to over coach them, and we've got to remember we are who we are and what got us here, we've got to stay with it."
Concordia junior guard Lauren Marinko led all scorers with 17 points, including four three-pointers. Marinko caught fire early, scoring 10 of the Lady Cadets' 12 points in the first quarter. Senior forward Anna Goeglein added eight points and junior forward Breanne Smith added six of her own for Concordia.
"Defensively, I didn't think we did that bad," said Zolman. "There were times where we broke down and didn't have our back.
They got some easy layups. We didn't rotate quick enough to get a wide-open three. [Marinko] went off on some threes that really helped them. But this is regional, so you can't have a lot of excuses. I just think they did a great job at exploiting a lot of our weaknesses."
Concordia's defense suffocated the Lady Warriors, holding them to just four points in the second quarter and five in the third.
"[Concordia] exploits what we lack," said Zolman. "We try to hide some things, and that was just one of things that we lack was an offensive presence. This is one of the few teams we've played all year where I would say that they played really solid, good fundamental defense."
Zolman was still pleased in seeing how well the team developed over the course of the summer to the state tournament.
"We just kept with the kids and teaching them nothing huge in basketball," said Zolman. "It was all about little things and how you get a group of kids to work together. That's what we have been working on and these kids bought in to it. They bought in to the fact that now they were playing in the regional. It doesn't matter what you do in the summertime, and the progress that these kids have made has been unbelievable."
Zolman also said that what he will miss the most was the leadership that came from the senior class.
"This is a senior class that had to work extremely hard on working together," he said. "They'll always be remembered as that and that they did, and that's not a negative thing."
The four outgoing seniors in McDaniel, Walker, Wiggs and Kealah Alexander left an impression on the coaches and the underclassmen on the team, Zolman said.
"I thought Kalyn just stepped up huge to be the leader we needed her to be," said Zolman. "Jonna is just naturally a strong leader. Amy just stepped her game up in these last few weeks to help us out inside. Kealah worked for four years and I admire the fact that she stayed with us and she is a great example of someone where even though times are hard, you've just got to stay with it. You miss seniors because of their leadership and their experience."
The Lady Warriors finished the season with a 15-7 record. Concordia defeated fourth-ranked Norwell 58-39 in the regional championship Saturday night and advanced to the semistate at North Side Gym in Elkhart, where it will face No. 3 Benton Central (22-1).
CONCORDIA 41, WAWASEE 27
C 12 9 12 8 - 41
W 10 4 5 8 - 27
Concordia - Emily Hockemeyer 0 1-2 1, Annalisa Kammeyer 1 1-2 3, Shauna Watson 1 0-0 2, Courtney Smith 2 0-0 4, Anna Goeglein 4 0-0 8, Lindsay Marinko 6 1-2 17, Skylar Wright 0 0-0 0, Breanne Smith 3 0-0 6, Olivia Hahn 0 0-0 0, Madison Biddle 0 0-0 0, Taylor Sparks 0 0-0 0, Courtney Adams 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 3-6 41.
Wawasee - Kalyn McDaniel 2 1-1 5, Alexi Blunk 0 0-0 0, Amy Walker 2 1-2 5, Megan Grindle 0 0-0 0, KiLee Knafel 4 2-2 11, Kylie Norris 0 0-0 0, Kiley Cooper 0 0-0 0, Hunter Gaerte 0 0-0 0, Kealah Alexander 0 0-0 0, Kasey Napier 0 0-0 0, Jonna Wiggs 2 0-0 6. Totals 10 4-5 27.
Three-pointers - Concordia 4 (Marinko 4), Wawasee 3 (Wiggs 2, Knafel); Fouls - Concordia 12, Wawasee 8; Fouled out - none; Records: Wawasee 15-7, Concord 18-7 (after winning regional final 58-39 over Norwell).
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