It was the jamboree. It doesn't count in the standings. It doesn't affect scoring averages. Sometimes, the teams will have a totally different look come the season opener.

But they play it anyway.

So coaches use it as a glorified practice or a scrimmage situation and get some evaluation for those who haven't played against varsity experience.

Here is a look at how the quarters unfolded Tuesday in the Warsaw Girls' Basketball Jamboree.

1Q: Whitko 18, Warsaw 15

The Tigers gave the Wildcats the shots, and they buried them. Whitko hit on 8 of 13 shots from the field, led by inside players Melissa Sands (2 of 4, 4 points) and Brieann Starkweather (2 of 3, 4 points).

"We took some shots when the girls were open, and we hit them," Whitko coach Ray Davis said. "We look at it as a practice, just to see where we are. We are a little further along recognizing open shots than I thought we were. In practice, they seem to want to pass the ball, but tonight we shot it."

Whitko got the shots against a Warsaw unit that will have a different look next week, but one that has been practicing together for the first weeks of the season.

"I was not pleased with the group we had on our defense," Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst said. "I kind of expected it because this group has not learned to practice hard like they are game situations. I expected us to play this way. Give Whitko credit, they hit their shots."

Whitko led 16-7 before Sherri Ross hit a three-pointer and Holli Murphy hit two free throws to cut the lead to 16-12, and the Tigers got the lead eventually down to three.

"Obviously we don't have all the girls here," Wienhorst said. "The girls we have out there haven't been practicing against varsity competition, but we still have to learn at a certain level. They have not, and it showed in the first quarter. They were nervous, and we came out scared."

The Tigers were playing without the services of last year's leading scorer, junior Tiffany Ross, along with eight players who have just gotten to basketball practice after a stint with the Tigers' volleyball squad who lost this past weekend in the semistate.

"I wish the volleyball team would have gone another week and into the state finals, but it is nice to have those ladies back," Wienhorst said. "It will make a difference. We understand that we are missing some key people, and we are 3 1/2 weeks behind. We have to be patient and press things."

Ross led Warsaw with 6 points and 3 rebounds.

2Q: Wawasee 13, Whitko 5

After exploding out of the gates in the first quarter against Warsaw, a lack of conditioning caught up with the Wildcats in the second quarter against Wawasee.

The Wildcats hit on only 2 of 14 shots and allowed the Warriors' Lydia Carpenter to go nuts inside with 9 points and 4 rebounds.

"In the second quarter, it showed we are not where we need to be conditioning-wise," Davis said. "Wawasee got some easy buckets just because we weren't getting back on defense. And Wawasee is a very athletic team.

"We got up and down the floor slowly," he said. "I am glad we don't have to play this week. We have more time to prepare."

The Warriors' athleticism, as well as their ball movement, seemed to work well against the Wildcats.

"The kids executed well on the offensive end," Wawasee coach Randy Aalbregtse said. "There were a lot of good passing and good team movement, and that is what we have to do. We have to try to keep things spread and get people open."

3Q: Wawasee 20, Tippecanoe Valley 20

Wawasee opened up a 14-7 lead on the inexperienced Vikings before watching as Valley came roaring back and eventually tied the score at 20 on a three-pointer at the buzzer by Malinda Parker.

"The third quarter had to give us some confidence," Valley coach Mike Walters said. "I was kidding the ref and told him that she was fouled on that last shot.

"We played better in the third quarter than I thought we would, but with us being young and inexperienced, we will probably see us up and down all year," he said.

The Warriors continued to get the good shots on offense and got 6 more points from Carpenter and 4 points from Aubrey Coy.

"We have a long way to go, but it was a good start," Aalbregtse said. "The kids have progressed well so far.

"I look at this like a scrimmage," he said. "I tell them it is a test. We have been studying for the test, and we have to go out and see how we are going to do on the test. They did some things well that we have been working on. I was pleasantly surprised."

Julie Shaw led Valley with 6 points off the bench.

4Q: Warsaw 15, Tippecanoe Valley 6

The Tigers' defense didn't fare much better in their second quarter, but this time around the opponent didn't connect as often from the field. Getting about the same shots as Whitko did in the first quarter against Warsaw, the Vikings hit on only 3 of 13 shots and turned the ball over 12 times to see their offense misfire.

"I knew we were going to be able to score points, but we just have to learn to play defense," Wienhorst said. "I thought Tippy had the same shots as Whitko, but Whitko was able to put them down."

But scoring wasn't as important to the Vikings as getting some court time for a majority of their players who have never seen varsity experience.

"We got to see a lot of girls who don't have experience," Walters said. "We are putting some people together who have not played very much together. It is a matter of time before we get everybody doing what we want to do. We wanted to try to give everybody some time on the floor so they can have some experience."

Sherri Ross again led Warsaw with 5 points, while Katie Elliott added 4. [[In-content Ad]]