Lady Tigers Fall Short In NLC Clash
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Coming in with an 11-game win streak against the Lady Tigers, and ending Warsaw’s season the past four seasons, Elkhart Memorial survived to extend that streak to 12 with a 39-37 victory.
“I thought I’d get a game just like this,” first-year Memorial coach Steve Scott said. “I thought it’d be close. I thought it would go right down to (the wire). They’re a real quality program. They beat (Class 4A No. 2) Penn and almost beat (Class 4A No. 1) Hamilton Southeastern, so we knew our work was cut out for us.”
And it did go down to the wire.
Down 39-36 with 4.1 seconds remaining, Warsaw senior Madison Davis was sent to the free-throw line, and after making her first attempt, missed the second.
Warsaw sophomore Nikki Grose was able to nab the rebound and was fouled in the process of going up for the putback.
At the foul line with the game on the line, Grose missed both attempts, but subsequent putbacks by senior Sarah Heagy and junior Lindsay Baker also missed, giving Memorial the narrow win.
“It’s the things that have been hurting us all year long,” Warsaw coach Michelle Harter said. “Not finishing our shots on the inside and not converting at the foul line. We rebounded with them. We played solid defense. We got in there and battled on the offensive boards. Those are all good things and we’re continuing on those things, but it comes down to - when you have the shot on the inside, you have to put the ball in the basket. Tonight, they just didn’t fall for us.”
On the night, Warsaw converted just 5 of 11 free throws, while Memorial made 11 of 14, allowing the Lady Chargers to stay in contention for the Northern Lakes Conference crown.
Both Memorial and Warsaw entered the game at 4-1 in NLC play, tied with NorthWood. But with Warsaw losing and hosting NorthWood Saturday night, all the Lady Tigers can do now is deliver Memorial a conference title with a win and a Lady Chargers victory over Goshen Saturday.
“We still want to have a strong finish in the conference,” Harter said. “We want to come out and win, being able to finish second in the conference and get ourselves refocused and ready for the sectional.”
And it’s been Memorial that has been getting the best of Warsaw in the sectional, and Harter is aware of that.
“Memorial is a good team,” she said. “We battled and we still have an opportunity, come sectional time, when we can meet them again and have the opportunity to have some revenge.”
The difference in the regular season game seemed to be Memorial sophomore Khadijah Moore, who saw limited minutes, but came up big in the fourth quarter.
Plagued by foul trouble, Moore responded in the fourth, skying to haul in three big rebounds, while also going 4 of 4 at the free-throw line, the last two coming with 15.8 seconds remaining and increasing her team’s lead to 39-36.
“She is capable of huge things,” Scott said of the 5-foot-11 Moore. “She’s had games where she’s had 35 (points) and 15 (rebounds). (Tonight), she got two early fouls and picked her third one up early in the third quarter, so she ended up sitting most of the night. But she stepped up when she had to.”
Baker’s been having big nights for the Lady Tigers, but like her teammates, she was off a bit in the loss, scoring 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting.
Heagy led Warsaw with 13 points and 10 rebounds, with Grose also playing well with 10 points and seven boards.
However, the good plays were limited as Warsaw hit 15 of 51 shots (29 percent).
But it was Memorial’s length that Harter gave credit to her team’s poor shooting night.
“It’s about relaxing when you’re coming out playing against a team like Memorial,” she said. “I’m sure, in the back of their minds, they’re thinking they can block their shots and this and that. I think we pressed ourselves and rushed some or our shots instead of just relaxing and taking the ball up strong.”
And while Warsaw was struggling with its shot, Memorial didn’t take advantage, making 12 of 39 shots (31 percent).
“It was kind of more of a grind-it-out game, defensive game,” Scott said. “I don’t think either team got into much of a flow on offense. We just happened to be lucky enough to be up two when the buzzer sounded.”
ELKHART MEMORIAL 39, WARSAW 37
M 11 14 7 7 - 39
W 11 7 11 8 - 37
Memorial - Victora Kyle 0-5 4-4 4, Brionna Barnett 4-10 2-2 12, Monica Jones 1-8 0-2 2, Alyssa Wagner 3-6 1-2 9, Khadijah Moore 3-7 4-4 10, Paige Newvine 1-2 0-0 2, Cassidy Parsons 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 12-39 11-14 39.
Warsaw - Sarah Ray 0-2 0-0 0, Lauren Burish 1-3 0-0 2, Jennifer Walker-Crawford 0-10 0-0 0, Lindsay Baker 4-15 1-2 11, Sarah Heagy 5-10 3-5 13, Ashley Ousley 0-2 0-0 0, Madison Davis 0-0 1-2 1, Eryn Leek 0-0 0-0 0, Brooklyn Harrison 0-0 0-0 0, Nikki Grose 5-9 0-2 10. Totals 15-51 5-11 37.
Three-point goals - Memorial 4-16 (Barnett 2, Wagner 2), Warsaw 2-13 (Baker 2); Team Fouls - Memorial 12, Warsaw 15; Turnovers - Memorial 12, Warsaw 9; Rebounds - Memorial 25 (Kyle 11), Warsaw 28 (Heagy 10); Assists - Memorial 4 (Barnett 3), Warsaw 5 (Baker 2, Grose 2); Steals - Memorial 7 (Barnett 3), Warsaw 1; Blocks - Memorial 3 (Wagner 2), Warsaw 1; Records: Memorial 16-2 (5-1 NLC), Warsaw 14-4 (4-2 NLC).
JV - Warsaw 23, Memorial 14
Warsaw - Courtney Farling 12, Jackie Ferguson 5, Vicki Harris 2, Pam Miller 2, Gabby Monroy 2.[[In-content Ad]]
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Coming in with an 11-game win streak against the Lady Tigers, and ending Warsaw’s season the past four seasons, Elkhart Memorial survived to extend that streak to 12 with a 39-37 victory.
“I thought I’d get a game just like this,” first-year Memorial coach Steve Scott said. “I thought it’d be close. I thought it would go right down to (the wire). They’re a real quality program. They beat (Class 4A No. 2) Penn and almost beat (Class 4A No. 1) Hamilton Southeastern, so we knew our work was cut out for us.”
And it did go down to the wire.
Down 39-36 with 4.1 seconds remaining, Warsaw senior Madison Davis was sent to the free-throw line, and after making her first attempt, missed the second.
Warsaw sophomore Nikki Grose was able to nab the rebound and was fouled in the process of going up for the putback.
At the foul line with the game on the line, Grose missed both attempts, but subsequent putbacks by senior Sarah Heagy and junior Lindsay Baker also missed, giving Memorial the narrow win.
“It’s the things that have been hurting us all year long,” Warsaw coach Michelle Harter said. “Not finishing our shots on the inside and not converting at the foul line. We rebounded with them. We played solid defense. We got in there and battled on the offensive boards. Those are all good things and we’re continuing on those things, but it comes down to - when you have the shot on the inside, you have to put the ball in the basket. Tonight, they just didn’t fall for us.”
On the night, Warsaw converted just 5 of 11 free throws, while Memorial made 11 of 14, allowing the Lady Chargers to stay in contention for the Northern Lakes Conference crown.
Both Memorial and Warsaw entered the game at 4-1 in NLC play, tied with NorthWood. But with Warsaw losing and hosting NorthWood Saturday night, all the Lady Tigers can do now is deliver Memorial a conference title with a win and a Lady Chargers victory over Goshen Saturday.
“We still want to have a strong finish in the conference,” Harter said. “We want to come out and win, being able to finish second in the conference and get ourselves refocused and ready for the sectional.”
And it’s been Memorial that has been getting the best of Warsaw in the sectional, and Harter is aware of that.
“Memorial is a good team,” she said. “We battled and we still have an opportunity, come sectional time, when we can meet them again and have the opportunity to have some revenge.”
The difference in the regular season game seemed to be Memorial sophomore Khadijah Moore, who saw limited minutes, but came up big in the fourth quarter.
Plagued by foul trouble, Moore responded in the fourth, skying to haul in three big rebounds, while also going 4 of 4 at the free-throw line, the last two coming with 15.8 seconds remaining and increasing her team’s lead to 39-36.
“She is capable of huge things,” Scott said of the 5-foot-11 Moore. “She’s had games where she’s had 35 (points) and 15 (rebounds). (Tonight), she got two early fouls and picked her third one up early in the third quarter, so she ended up sitting most of the night. But she stepped up when she had to.”
Baker’s been having big nights for the Lady Tigers, but like her teammates, she was off a bit in the loss, scoring 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting.
Heagy led Warsaw with 13 points and 10 rebounds, with Grose also playing well with 10 points and seven boards.
However, the good plays were limited as Warsaw hit 15 of 51 shots (29 percent).
But it was Memorial’s length that Harter gave credit to her team’s poor shooting night.
“It’s about relaxing when you’re coming out playing against a team like Memorial,” she said. “I’m sure, in the back of their minds, they’re thinking they can block their shots and this and that. I think we pressed ourselves and rushed some or our shots instead of just relaxing and taking the ball up strong.”
And while Warsaw was struggling with its shot, Memorial didn’t take advantage, making 12 of 39 shots (31 percent).
“It was kind of more of a grind-it-out game, defensive game,” Scott said. “I don’t think either team got into much of a flow on offense. We just happened to be lucky enough to be up two when the buzzer sounded.”
ELKHART MEMORIAL 39, WARSAW 37
M 11 14 7 7 - 39
W 11 7 11 8 - 37
Memorial - Victora Kyle 0-5 4-4 4, Brionna Barnett 4-10 2-2 12, Monica Jones 1-8 0-2 2, Alyssa Wagner 3-6 1-2 9, Khadijah Moore 3-7 4-4 10, Paige Newvine 1-2 0-0 2, Cassidy Parsons 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 12-39 11-14 39.
Warsaw - Sarah Ray 0-2 0-0 0, Lauren Burish 1-3 0-0 2, Jennifer Walker-Crawford 0-10 0-0 0, Lindsay Baker 4-15 1-2 11, Sarah Heagy 5-10 3-5 13, Ashley Ousley 0-2 0-0 0, Madison Davis 0-0 1-2 1, Eryn Leek 0-0 0-0 0, Brooklyn Harrison 0-0 0-0 0, Nikki Grose 5-9 0-2 10. Totals 15-51 5-11 37.
Three-point goals - Memorial 4-16 (Barnett 2, Wagner 2), Warsaw 2-13 (Baker 2); Team Fouls - Memorial 12, Warsaw 15; Turnovers - Memorial 12, Warsaw 9; Rebounds - Memorial 25 (Kyle 11), Warsaw 28 (Heagy 10); Assists - Memorial 4 (Barnett 3), Warsaw 5 (Baker 2, Grose 2); Steals - Memorial 7 (Barnett 3), Warsaw 1; Blocks - Memorial 3 (Wagner 2), Warsaw 1; Records: Memorial 16-2 (5-1 NLC), Warsaw 14-4 (4-2 NLC).
JV - Warsaw 23, Memorial 14
Warsaw - Courtney Farling 12, Jackie Ferguson 5, Vicki Harris 2, Pam Miller 2, Gabby Monroy 2.[[In-content Ad]]
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