Donaldson, DeKalb Shoot Down Tigers
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
KENDALLVILLE - Warsaw girls basketball coach John Snyder described DeKalb High School senior Jenna Donaldson as a streaky shooter.
Unfortunately for the second-year skipper, his six senior players and the rest of the Tigers, Donaldson found her shooting touch Friday night in the second semifinal game of the Class 4A East Noble Sectional.
With Snyder's defensive game plan centered around stopping 5-foot-11 senior Courtney Beerbower, who scored 19 in DeKalb's win over Carroll in Tuesday's sectional opener, Donaldson was able to get good looks at the basket from nearly everywhere on the court.
Donaldson finished the game with 29 points, lifting the Barons to 58-53 win over the Tigers in overtime.
"She's been killing teams all year long," Snyder said when asked how concerned he was with Beerbower, who finished the game with 13 points, nine of which came at the free throw line. "She's been able to do what she wanted. We wanted to make it hard for her to catch the ball."
While the Tigers played intense defense on Beerbower, Donaldson carried her team.
She finished the game 8 of 11 from the field overall, 4 of 5 from three-point range, and hit 9 of 11 free throw attempts en route to scoring her game-high 29 points. She also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds for the Barons, who improved to 21-1 on the season with their 17th consecutive win.
"I was concerned," Snyder said of Donaldson, who scored 14 points in the first half as DeKalb led 27-20 at intermission. "She's a very streaky shooter. I told the girls in the first half I thought she would him some shots and then get tired. She hit a few. Last year at tournament time she came alive. She hit some big shots."
After the teams played to a 47-all tie in regulation, with Beerbower scoring on an inbounds play with 10 seconds remaining after a timeout to send the game into overtime, Donaldson scored seven of her team's 11 points in the four-minute extra session.
With the five-point win, a win that avenged a 54-37 loss at Warsaw Nov. 22, the Barons advanced to Saturday's 7:30 p.m. sectional championship game against Columbia City. The Eagles (15-6), whose fans cheered loudly for Warsaw Friday night, advanced by beating host East Noble (9-12) 45-23.
The loss ended the Tigers' season with a 12-9 mark.
It also ended the high school careers of Amy Abbitt, Kim Clay, Katie Logan, Jennifer Scherer, Julie Seiss and Tasia Smith.
"I'm proud of the way we battled," said Snyder. "These seniors are going to leave a huge void on the basketball floor. History may not say we did the best, going 13-10 last year and winning 12 games this year, but I'm proud of the way we improved. Last year some of these players couldn't have played in this caliber of game. They're going to leave a huge hole. Fortunately we've got some good kids coming along. I told the kids I'm very proud of them. And I'm going to be the kind of coach they can be proud of."
Seiss, who had to play timid after she picked up her fourth foul with 4:45 remaining in regulation, led the Tigers with 22 points, while Scherer added 18.
Junior Danielle DeGeeter scored eight points and had seven rebounds, while sophomore Kate Denlinger rounded out the Warsaw scoring with five points.
The Tigers trailed 39-34 after three quarters of play and tied the game at 40-all when Seiss made a steal and bucket with 4:58 left in the fourth quarter.
Warsaw took its first lead of the game, a 45-44 advantage, when DeGeeter hit the second of the two free throws with 2:11 to play in regulation.
Facing two more free throws, DeGeeter hit the first of a two with 34 seconds to play in regulation, giving the Tigers a 47-44 lead.
Lauren Kelley rebounded the miss on DeGeeter's second attempt, and Kara Boester drew the Barons within two, 47-45, when she hit one of two charity tosses with 14 seconds to play in the fourth.
DeGeeter rebounded Boester's miss on the second attempt, but a jump ball situation gave possession to DeKalb, and after a timeout Beerbower sent the game into overtime as she scored in the paint on the inbounds play.
The Tigers trailed by seven at halftime and by five going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter Warsaw made six steals to keep itself in contention.
"In the fourth quarter we were the better team," said Snyder. "We did what we wanted to do offensively and we took them out of their offensive rhythm. We played the way we're capable of playing in the fourth quarter, we just didn't hit some free throws that would have put the game away."
The Tigers finished the game 13 of 20 at the charity stripe. Warsaw was 3 of 6 from the free throw line in the final 2:11 of regulation.
To go with Donaldson's 29, Beerbower scored 13 points, while Boester scored eight points, Emily Macy scored six points and Megan Feller scored two points.
DeKalb was 14 of 27 from the field, 5 of 11 from three-point range, and hit 25 of 33 free throws.
The Tigers hit 19 of 48 shots from the field overall and were 2 of 12 from three-point range. [[In-content Ad]]
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KENDALLVILLE - Warsaw girls basketball coach John Snyder described DeKalb High School senior Jenna Donaldson as a streaky shooter.
Unfortunately for the second-year skipper, his six senior players and the rest of the Tigers, Donaldson found her shooting touch Friday night in the second semifinal game of the Class 4A East Noble Sectional.
With Snyder's defensive game plan centered around stopping 5-foot-11 senior Courtney Beerbower, who scored 19 in DeKalb's win over Carroll in Tuesday's sectional opener, Donaldson was able to get good looks at the basket from nearly everywhere on the court.
Donaldson finished the game with 29 points, lifting the Barons to 58-53 win over the Tigers in overtime.
"She's been killing teams all year long," Snyder said when asked how concerned he was with Beerbower, who finished the game with 13 points, nine of which came at the free throw line. "She's been able to do what she wanted. We wanted to make it hard for her to catch the ball."
While the Tigers played intense defense on Beerbower, Donaldson carried her team.
She finished the game 8 of 11 from the field overall, 4 of 5 from three-point range, and hit 9 of 11 free throw attempts en route to scoring her game-high 29 points. She also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds for the Barons, who improved to 21-1 on the season with their 17th consecutive win.
"I was concerned," Snyder said of Donaldson, who scored 14 points in the first half as DeKalb led 27-20 at intermission. "She's a very streaky shooter. I told the girls in the first half I thought she would him some shots and then get tired. She hit a few. Last year at tournament time she came alive. She hit some big shots."
After the teams played to a 47-all tie in regulation, with Beerbower scoring on an inbounds play with 10 seconds remaining after a timeout to send the game into overtime, Donaldson scored seven of her team's 11 points in the four-minute extra session.
With the five-point win, a win that avenged a 54-37 loss at Warsaw Nov. 22, the Barons advanced to Saturday's 7:30 p.m. sectional championship game against Columbia City. The Eagles (15-6), whose fans cheered loudly for Warsaw Friday night, advanced by beating host East Noble (9-12) 45-23.
The loss ended the Tigers' season with a 12-9 mark.
It also ended the high school careers of Amy Abbitt, Kim Clay, Katie Logan, Jennifer Scherer, Julie Seiss and Tasia Smith.
"I'm proud of the way we battled," said Snyder. "These seniors are going to leave a huge void on the basketball floor. History may not say we did the best, going 13-10 last year and winning 12 games this year, but I'm proud of the way we improved. Last year some of these players couldn't have played in this caliber of game. They're going to leave a huge hole. Fortunately we've got some good kids coming along. I told the kids I'm very proud of them. And I'm going to be the kind of coach they can be proud of."
Seiss, who had to play timid after she picked up her fourth foul with 4:45 remaining in regulation, led the Tigers with 22 points, while Scherer added 18.
Junior Danielle DeGeeter scored eight points and had seven rebounds, while sophomore Kate Denlinger rounded out the Warsaw scoring with five points.
The Tigers trailed 39-34 after three quarters of play and tied the game at 40-all when Seiss made a steal and bucket with 4:58 left in the fourth quarter.
Warsaw took its first lead of the game, a 45-44 advantage, when DeGeeter hit the second of the two free throws with 2:11 to play in regulation.
Facing two more free throws, DeGeeter hit the first of a two with 34 seconds to play in regulation, giving the Tigers a 47-44 lead.
Lauren Kelley rebounded the miss on DeGeeter's second attempt, and Kara Boester drew the Barons within two, 47-45, when she hit one of two charity tosses with 14 seconds to play in the fourth.
DeGeeter rebounded Boester's miss on the second attempt, but a jump ball situation gave possession to DeKalb, and after a timeout Beerbower sent the game into overtime as she scored in the paint on the inbounds play.
The Tigers trailed by seven at halftime and by five going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter Warsaw made six steals to keep itself in contention.
"In the fourth quarter we were the better team," said Snyder. "We did what we wanted to do offensively and we took them out of their offensive rhythm. We played the way we're capable of playing in the fourth quarter, we just didn't hit some free throws that would have put the game away."
The Tigers finished the game 13 of 20 at the charity stripe. Warsaw was 3 of 6 from the free throw line in the final 2:11 of regulation.
To go with Donaldson's 29, Beerbower scored 13 points, while Boester scored eight points, Emily Macy scored six points and Megan Feller scored two points.
DeKalb was 14 of 27 from the field, 5 of 11 from three-point range, and hit 25 of 33 free throws.
The Tigers hit 19 of 48 shots from the field overall and were 2 of 12 from three-point range. [[In-content Ad]]