Lady Tigers Fall To Luers

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.

By Anthony [email protected]

Fort Wayne Bishop Luers junior reserve Melissa Oberley only hit two field goals against the Warsaw Lady Tigers Tuesday, but they were big ones.

Midway through the fourth quarter, an Oberley three-pointer, followed by another bucket, turned a 37-36 lead into a 42-36 advantage, helping the Class 2A No. 8 Luers Knights claim a 56-47 win at the Tiger Den.[[In-content Ad]]"That's what she's good at," Luers coach Greg Friend said about Oberley's field goals. "She's good at spotting up and hitting that three. That's why we put her in. We call her the zone-buster."

While Oberley was busting a zone, the Tigers didn't have the same spark.

Late in the game, the Warsaw offense became stagnant against a Luers zone, connecting on just two fourth-quarter field goals, both coming with under a minute to play.

"We switched to a zone there at the end, and kind of confused them," Friend said. "If I had known that, I would have played zone in the first half."

Even without the zone, Luers still did a pretty good job defending the Tigers.

Of their 47 points, Warsaw scored 23 of them from the free-throw line, where they attempted 26 shots.

"We didn't really play the greatest defense tonight," Friend said. "We were kind of out of position, and that caused us to commit a lot of cheap fouls, and they got to the free-throw line. And they're a good free-throw shooting team. That's something we talked about in the pregame, not putting them on the free-throw line. You could see why."

Shooting 26 percent from the field, the Tigers actually did get some good shots inside the lane, but the athleticism of the Knights resulted in nine blocks, six coming from freshman Brooke Ridley, who also scored a game-high 18 points.

"That's when you need to ball-fake, get them up in the air," Warsaw coach Michelle Harter said. "That's one thing we said, 'They're going to try to block your shot. So when you get in there, give them the ball-fake, then go up, protect the ball with your body and finish the shot.'

"Luers is very athletic, and they have a very good team," Harter added. "We have a good team too, it's just that at times, we lost some players. We just got out of place defensively, and offensively, we got some good looks - we just didn't finish. When teams do have athletes like that, that's when you have to do things just a little bit better."

All season, Harter has harped on working the inside-outside game. Against Luers, it worked to an extent, just not often enough.

In the first half, Warsaw sophomore Kayla Stout scored eight points, taking advantage of her size on the inside.

"I knew Kayla Stout, because during the summer, she played for the (AAU team) Indiana Elite, which we helped out with coaching," Friend said. "So I knew all about her. Kayla's a very good ball player."

To combat Stout's size, the Knights began to take away lob passes to her, limiting her to two second-half points, finishing with a team-high 10 points and six rebounds.

"When teams start to take away that lob, now we have to step up and post up hard," Harter said. "Our offense is really at its best when we take it inside and look to kick it back out for the shot. We just need to continue to look for that."

The loss was definitely not something Harter wanted, but it was out-of-conference. The same can't be said for Saturday's game, when the Plymouth Pilgrims visit Warsaw for a Northern Lakes Conference game.

"This is a learning experience for us," Harter said. "Luers is a good team. We're going to come back and we'll be ready for Plymouth on Saturday."

Junior varsity will tip off at 11 a.m. Saturday.

LUERS 56, WARSAW 47

L 14 10 11 21 - 56

W 12 12 10 13 - 47

Luers - Young 2 2-2 7, Wyss 2 5-9 9, Hathaway 4 6-6 15, Barnett 0 0-0 0, B Ridley 8 2-4 18, Anspach 0 0-0 0, Oberley 2 2-2 7, Wyss 0 0-0 0, Gruss 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 17-23 56.

Warsaw - Freds 2 4-6 9, L. Tat 2 2-2 7, Ogle 1 6-6 8, Glenn 1 2-2 4, Stout 2 6-6 10, Long 0 0-0 0, Sands 1 2-2 4, Plummer 0 0-0 0, Shilling 2 1-2 5. Totals 11 23-26 47.

3-point goals - Luers 3 (Young, Hathaway, Oberley), Warsaw 2 (Freds, Tat). Team Fouls (fouled out) - Luers 19 (none), Warsaw 17 (Tat). Turnovers - Luers 13, Warsaw 15. Rebounds - Luers 26 (Hathaway 8, Ridley 7), Warsaw 26 (Stout 6, Glenn 5). Assists - Luers 15 (Young 6), Warsaw 7 (Freds 2, Ogle 2). Blocks - Luers 9 (Ridley 6, Hathaway 3), Warsaw 1. Steals - Luers 10 (Young 3, K. Wyss 3), Warsaw 11 (Freds 4). Records: Luers 5-2, Warsaw 5-2

JV - Warsaw 31, Luers 28

Warsaw scoring - Sarah Heagy 12, Ryesha Jackson 6, Mariah Rumple 5, Creigh Ogle 4, Madison Davis 2

Fort Wayne Bishop Luers junior reserve Melissa Oberley only hit two field goals against the Warsaw Lady Tigers Tuesday, but they were big ones.

Midway through the fourth quarter, an Oberley three-pointer, followed by another bucket, turned a 37-36 lead into a 42-36 advantage, helping the Class 2A No. 8 Luers Knights claim a 56-47 win at the Tiger Den.[[In-content Ad]]"That's what she's good at," Luers coach Greg Friend said about Oberley's field goals. "She's good at spotting up and hitting that three. That's why we put her in. We call her the zone-buster."

While Oberley was busting a zone, the Tigers didn't have the same spark.

Late in the game, the Warsaw offense became stagnant against a Luers zone, connecting on just two fourth-quarter field goals, both coming with under a minute to play.

"We switched to a zone there at the end, and kind of confused them," Friend said. "If I had known that, I would have played zone in the first half."

Even without the zone, Luers still did a pretty good job defending the Tigers.

Of their 47 points, Warsaw scored 23 of them from the free-throw line, where they attempted 26 shots.

"We didn't really play the greatest defense tonight," Friend said. "We were kind of out of position, and that caused us to commit a lot of cheap fouls, and they got to the free-throw line. And they're a good free-throw shooting team. That's something we talked about in the pregame, not putting them on the free-throw line. You could see why."

Shooting 26 percent from the field, the Tigers actually did get some good shots inside the lane, but the athleticism of the Knights resulted in nine blocks, six coming from freshman Brooke Ridley, who also scored a game-high 18 points.

"That's when you need to ball-fake, get them up in the air," Warsaw coach Michelle Harter said. "That's one thing we said, 'They're going to try to block your shot. So when you get in there, give them the ball-fake, then go up, protect the ball with your body and finish the shot.'

"Luers is very athletic, and they have a very good team," Harter added. "We have a good team too, it's just that at times, we lost some players. We just got out of place defensively, and offensively, we got some good looks - we just didn't finish. When teams do have athletes like that, that's when you have to do things just a little bit better."

All season, Harter has harped on working the inside-outside game. Against Luers, it worked to an extent, just not often enough.

In the first half, Warsaw sophomore Kayla Stout scored eight points, taking advantage of her size on the inside.

"I knew Kayla Stout, because during the summer, she played for the (AAU team) Indiana Elite, which we helped out with coaching," Friend said. "So I knew all about her. Kayla's a very good ball player."

To combat Stout's size, the Knights began to take away lob passes to her, limiting her to two second-half points, finishing with a team-high 10 points and six rebounds.

"When teams start to take away that lob, now we have to step up and post up hard," Harter said. "Our offense is really at its best when we take it inside and look to kick it back out for the shot. We just need to continue to look for that."

The loss was definitely not something Harter wanted, but it was out-of-conference. The same can't be said for Saturday's game, when the Plymouth Pilgrims visit Warsaw for a Northern Lakes Conference game.

"This is a learning experience for us," Harter said. "Luers is a good team. We're going to come back and we'll be ready for Plymouth on Saturday."

Junior varsity will tip off at 11 a.m. Saturday.

LUERS 56, WARSAW 47

L 14 10 11 21 - 56

W 12 12 10 13 - 47

Luers - Young 2 2-2 7, Wyss 2 5-9 9, Hathaway 4 6-6 15, Barnett 0 0-0 0, B Ridley 8 2-4 18, Anspach 0 0-0 0, Oberley 2 2-2 7, Wyss 0 0-0 0, Gruss 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 17-23 56.

Warsaw - Freds 2 4-6 9, L. Tat 2 2-2 7, Ogle 1 6-6 8, Glenn 1 2-2 4, Stout 2 6-6 10, Long 0 0-0 0, Sands 1 2-2 4, Plummer 0 0-0 0, Shilling 2 1-2 5. Totals 11 23-26 47.

3-point goals - Luers 3 (Young, Hathaway, Oberley), Warsaw 2 (Freds, Tat). Team Fouls (fouled out) - Luers 19 (none), Warsaw 17 (Tat). Turnovers - Luers 13, Warsaw 15. Rebounds - Luers 26 (Hathaway 8, Ridley 7), Warsaw 26 (Stout 6, Glenn 5). Assists - Luers 15 (Young 6), Warsaw 7 (Freds 2, Ogle 2). Blocks - Luers 9 (Ridley 6, Hathaway 3), Warsaw 1. Steals - Luers 10 (Young 3, K. Wyss 3), Warsaw 11 (Freds 4). Records: Luers 5-2, Warsaw 5-2

JV - Warsaw 31, Luers 28

Warsaw scoring - Sarah Heagy 12, Ryesha Jackson 6, Mariah Rumple 5, Creigh Ogle 4, Madison Davis 2
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