FORT WAYNE - What led to a 15-point Fort Wayne Snider win over Warsaw's girls basketball team earlier in the season helped the Panthers stop Warsaw again Tuesday in the regional championship.
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
"We were lucky we got out to a good lead," said Snider coach Lamar Kilmer. "In the second and third quarter we couldn't put the ball in the basket."
After shooting 7 of 13 from the field in the opening quarter, Snider went 7 of 21 combined in the middle two quarters. And this allowed Warsaw to close the gap.
After trailing 17-10 at the end of one quarter of play, the Tigers got seven straight points from 5'8" sophomore guard Hilary O'Connell, knotting the game at 17 with 4:40 remaining in the first half.
But Snider responded with a 7-0 run of its own, pushing the lead to 24-17 at halftime.
The 18-point win improves the sixth-ranked Panthers' overall record to 23-2; Warsaw finishes its season at 14-9.
As was the case in the first meeting of the year between these two teams, Warsaw played nearly even with Snider after falling behind early. But when the Tigers got close, the officials thought they got too close, so to speak.
Seniors Christy Colt and Jenna Rooney fouled out for Warsaw as the Tigers committed 25 fouls as a team. The Panthers seized the opportunity by hitting 21 of 31 charity attempts.
Warsaw, on the other hand, couldn't take advantage of 21 Snider fouls.
"They (Snider) are a good team, obviously," said Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst, whose Tigers last won a regional in 1991. "We were where we wanted to be. We wanted to get to the foul line."
And get to the foul line the Tigers did. What they did when they got there is another story.
Warsaw made good on 16 of 30 (53.3 percent) charity tosses for the game, including a 1-of-5 performance in the third quarter when the Snider lead was under 10.
A rebound and bucket by Rooney at the 6:35 mark of the final frame brought Warsaw within seven, 39-32. But two quick field goals by 6'0" senior Jacqueline Knight put Snider back up by 11, 43-32.
Knight scored 10 points in the final frame and led all scorers with 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Knight also pulled down nine rebounds, made two steals and was 5 of 6 at the charity stripe.
The Panthers, last year's state runners-up, also got double-figure scoring from senior Jasmine Fullove, who added 12 points and three caroms. Senior Sparkle Williams added eight points in the win.
The Tigers were led by O'Connell's 21 points on 6-of-18 shooting. Senior Sara Parker had nine points and three rebounds in the loss.
For much of the season, Warsaw's bench outscored the opponent's bench - that didn't happen last night.
Snider's nonstarters outscored Warsaw's bench 21-5. Fullove came off the bench to score her 12 points.
"This time of the year your bench has to step up," said Kilmer, who got his 330th win with the regional championship.
After O'Connell brought the Tigers within seven, they were as close as nine points one time. The Panthers outscored Warsaw 28-22 in the final frame.
SNIDER 66, WARSAW 48
Warsaw (14-10) 10 7 9 22 - 48#
Snider (23-2) 17 7 14 28 - 66
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
Kesler (G) 1-4 2-4 2 1 4
O'Connell (G) 6-18 7-12 4 0 21
Parker (F) 3-4 2-4 3 1 9
Conley (C) 0-1 0-0 2 0 0
Taylor (F) 0-1 4-4 6 0 4
Colt 1-3 0-1 2 0 2
Wyatt 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Poling 1-2 0-2 2 0 3
Knisely 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Rooney 2-8 1-3 4 2 5
Overton 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Stanley 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Totals 14-42 16-30 28 5 48
Snider FG FT R S Pts.
Harris (G) 0-4 4-6 3 2 4
S. Hayden (G) 1-5 0-1 1 3 3
Heffner (F) 2-6 0-2 11 0 4
Knight (F) 10-13 5-6 9 2 25
Williams (C) 3-9 2-2 3 0 8
Neal 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
M. Hayden 1-2 1-2 0 0 3
Spicer 0-0 0-2 1 0 0
Deason 0-0 3-4 0 0 3
Fullove 4-7 4-4 3 0 12
Preston 0-0 2-2 0 0 2
Totals 22-47 21-31 32 7 66
Three-pointers - Warsaw 4 (O'Connell 2, Poling 1, Parker 1), Snider 1 (S. Hayden). Turnovers - Warsaw 13, Snider 11. Fouls - Warsaw 25, Snider 21. Fouled out - 21. [[In-content Ad]]
"We were lucky we got out to a good lead," said Snider coach Lamar Kilmer. "In the second and third quarter we couldn't put the ball in the basket."
After shooting 7 of 13 from the field in the opening quarter, Snider went 7 of 21 combined in the middle two quarters. And this allowed Warsaw to close the gap.
After trailing 17-10 at the end of one quarter of play, the Tigers got seven straight points from 5'8" sophomore guard Hilary O'Connell, knotting the game at 17 with 4:40 remaining in the first half.
But Snider responded with a 7-0 run of its own, pushing the lead to 24-17 at halftime.
The 18-point win improves the sixth-ranked Panthers' overall record to 23-2; Warsaw finishes its season at 14-9.
As was the case in the first meeting of the year between these two teams, Warsaw played nearly even with Snider after falling behind early. But when the Tigers got close, the officials thought they got too close, so to speak.
Seniors Christy Colt and Jenna Rooney fouled out for Warsaw as the Tigers committed 25 fouls as a team. The Panthers seized the opportunity by hitting 21 of 31 charity attempts.
Warsaw, on the other hand, couldn't take advantage of 21 Snider fouls.
"They (Snider) are a good team, obviously," said Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst, whose Tigers last won a regional in 1991. "We were where we wanted to be. We wanted to get to the foul line."
And get to the foul line the Tigers did. What they did when they got there is another story.
Warsaw made good on 16 of 30 (53.3 percent) charity tosses for the game, including a 1-of-5 performance in the third quarter when the Snider lead was under 10.
A rebound and bucket by Rooney at the 6:35 mark of the final frame brought Warsaw within seven, 39-32. But two quick field goals by 6'0" senior Jacqueline Knight put Snider back up by 11, 43-32.
Knight scored 10 points in the final frame and led all scorers with 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Knight also pulled down nine rebounds, made two steals and was 5 of 6 at the charity stripe.
The Panthers, last year's state runners-up, also got double-figure scoring from senior Jasmine Fullove, who added 12 points and three caroms. Senior Sparkle Williams added eight points in the win.
The Tigers were led by O'Connell's 21 points on 6-of-18 shooting. Senior Sara Parker had nine points and three rebounds in the loss.
For much of the season, Warsaw's bench outscored the opponent's bench - that didn't happen last night.
Snider's nonstarters outscored Warsaw's bench 21-5. Fullove came off the bench to score her 12 points.
"This time of the year your bench has to step up," said Kilmer, who got his 330th win with the regional championship.
After O'Connell brought the Tigers within seven, they were as close as nine points one time. The Panthers outscored Warsaw 28-22 in the final frame.
SNIDER 66, WARSAW 48
Warsaw (14-10) 10 7 9 22 - 48#
Snider (23-2) 17 7 14 28 - 66
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
Kesler (G) 1-4 2-4 2 1 4
O'Connell (G) 6-18 7-12 4 0 21
Parker (F) 3-4 2-4 3 1 9
Conley (C) 0-1 0-0 2 0 0
Taylor (F) 0-1 4-4 6 0 4
Colt 1-3 0-1 2 0 2
Wyatt 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Poling 1-2 0-2 2 0 3
Knisely 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Rooney 2-8 1-3 4 2 5
Overton 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Stanley 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Totals 14-42 16-30 28 5 48
Snider FG FT R S Pts.
Harris (G) 0-4 4-6 3 2 4
S. Hayden (G) 1-5 0-1 1 3 3
Heffner (F) 2-6 0-2 11 0 4
Knight (F) 10-13 5-6 9 2 25
Williams (C) 3-9 2-2 3 0 8
Neal 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
M. Hayden 1-2 1-2 0 0 3
Spicer 0-0 0-2 1 0 0
Deason 0-0 3-4 0 0 3
Fullove 4-7 4-4 3 0 12
Preston 0-0 2-2 0 0 2
Totals 22-47 21-31 32 7 66
Three-pointers - Warsaw 4 (O'Connell 2, Poling 1, Parker 1), Snider 1 (S. Hayden). Turnovers - Warsaw 13, Snider 11. Fouls - Warsaw 25, Snider 21. Fouled out - 21. [[In-content Ad]]