Lady Tigers Get Monkey Off Their Back
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
With the mindset that Saturday night’s Northern Lakes Conference opener at Plymouth was the start of a new season, Warsaw scored the most points it has this year and celebrated a 51-39 win over the Lady Pilgrims.
Warsaw is now 1-9 overall and 1-0 in the NLC standings, while Plymouth suffered its fourth-straight loss and fell to 6-5 and 0-2.
Despite losing their first nine games of the season, playing one of the toughest schedules in the state, Warsaw is just one conference win behind leaders Goshen, Northridge and NorthWood.
“For the girls, it was weighing on them, and obviously me,” said Warsaw coach Michelle Harter. “It’s not something we’re used to at Warsaw ... the girls aren’t used to it, I’m not used to it. It was just us weathering the storm, saying ‘we’re OK, we’re getting better and we need to continue to do the little things.’
“The girls did a nice job attacking, finding Kacy (Bragg) inside, Kacy going up strong and finishing, and that allowed our outside shots to be open and we got our feet set and hit some shots.”
Junior Dayton Groninger led Warsaw with 15 points, nine rebounds and five steals, while Bragg, a freshman, chipped in with 10 points, five boards and four steals.
Juniors Madi Graham and Mariah Rivera scored eight points each in the win, while classmates Kenzie Welk and Page Desenberg finished with six and four points, respectively.
“We talked all week long, ‘OK we finished 0-9 in the first part of the season, now we’re starting our second season with the conference coming up, we’re 0-0 and we need to step up at Plymouth and pick up a big road win,’” said Harter. “The conference is not going to be easy this year. Teams are getting better. Each and every game is going to be a battle, and you have to come out prepared. Tonight was our first step, coming here to Plymouth and playing a good, solid team.”
The Lady Tigers led 10-8 after the first quarter, 26-13 at halftime and 37-23 at the end of the third quarter.
The teams were tied 10-10 early in the second stanza, but a three-pointer gave the Lady Tigers the lead for good, and they stretched their advantage to as many as 17 points.
Plymouth cut into the deficit in the final frame, but got no closer than nine points.
Harter had plenty of positives to take away from the win, as well as things her team needs to work on.
The Lady Tigers played pretty solid defense, and offensively, they shot 52 percent from the field overall and also made 19 of 27 free throw attempts.
On the flip side, Warsaw turned the ball over 25 times.
“There were positives, and that’s what we have to look at, those positive things that we did,” said Harter. “The turnovers, we just got a little excited at times. We were trying to do the right things, we just didn’t jump-stop and make good, solid passes, or step and come back to our pass, and Plymouth stepped in. Those are things we’ll continue to work on and get better at.
“But yes, finally, hitting some shots, getting some points on the board and tightening up our defense. Those were things we said we had to do tonight if we wanted to win.”
The Lady Pilgrims, who were 11 of 35 from the field and committed 24 turnovers, were led by freshman Halle Reichard’s 15 points.
Junior Nicole Horvath and freshman Kacee Peters scored eight and six points, respectively.
With the longest losing streak in program history now behind them, the Lady Tigers are in action again Tuesday at Columbia City, followed by a trip to NLC foe Wawasee Saturday.
WARSAW 51, PLYMOUTH 39
War 10 16 11 14 – 51
Ply 8 5 10 16 – 39
Warsaw – Dayton Groninger 5-8 4-6 15, Kacy Bragg 4-9 2-2 10, Madi Graham 2-3 3-4 8, Mariah Rivera 2-3 4-4 8, Kenzie Welk 1-4 4-7 6, Page Desenberg 1-2 2-2 4, Emma Bohnenkamper 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 15-29 19-27 51.
Plymouth – Halle Reichard 4-10 5-6 15, Nicole Horvath 3-8 2-2 8, Kacee Peters 2-3 2-3 6, Cortni Cook 1-5 2-2 5, Alli Andrews 0-3 2-2 2, Cece Robinson 1-4 0-0 2, Kara Morwood 0-1 1-2 1, Lanae Singleton 0-0 0-0 0, Jennah Nifong 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 11-35 14-17 39.
Three-pointers – Warsaw 2 (Groninger, Graham), Plymouth 3 (Reichard 2, Cook); Rebounds – Warsaw 27 (Groninger 9), Plymouth 16 (Horvath 3, Singleton 3); Turnovers – Warsaw 25, Plymouth 24; Fouls – Warsaw 19, Plymouth 25; Fouled out – Cook, Andrews; Records: Warsaw 1-9 (1-0 NLC), Plymouth 6-5 (0-2)
JV – Plymouth 26, Warsaw 24[[In-content Ad]]
Latest News
E-Editions
With the mindset that Saturday night’s Northern Lakes Conference opener at Plymouth was the start of a new season, Warsaw scored the most points it has this year and celebrated a 51-39 win over the Lady Pilgrims.
Warsaw is now 1-9 overall and 1-0 in the NLC standings, while Plymouth suffered its fourth-straight loss and fell to 6-5 and 0-2.
Despite losing their first nine games of the season, playing one of the toughest schedules in the state, Warsaw is just one conference win behind leaders Goshen, Northridge and NorthWood.
“For the girls, it was weighing on them, and obviously me,” said Warsaw coach Michelle Harter. “It’s not something we’re used to at Warsaw ... the girls aren’t used to it, I’m not used to it. It was just us weathering the storm, saying ‘we’re OK, we’re getting better and we need to continue to do the little things.’
“The girls did a nice job attacking, finding Kacy (Bragg) inside, Kacy going up strong and finishing, and that allowed our outside shots to be open and we got our feet set and hit some shots.”
Junior Dayton Groninger led Warsaw with 15 points, nine rebounds and five steals, while Bragg, a freshman, chipped in with 10 points, five boards and four steals.
Juniors Madi Graham and Mariah Rivera scored eight points each in the win, while classmates Kenzie Welk and Page Desenberg finished with six and four points, respectively.
“We talked all week long, ‘OK we finished 0-9 in the first part of the season, now we’re starting our second season with the conference coming up, we’re 0-0 and we need to step up at Plymouth and pick up a big road win,’” said Harter. “The conference is not going to be easy this year. Teams are getting better. Each and every game is going to be a battle, and you have to come out prepared. Tonight was our first step, coming here to Plymouth and playing a good, solid team.”
The Lady Tigers led 10-8 after the first quarter, 26-13 at halftime and 37-23 at the end of the third quarter.
The teams were tied 10-10 early in the second stanza, but a three-pointer gave the Lady Tigers the lead for good, and they stretched their advantage to as many as 17 points.
Plymouth cut into the deficit in the final frame, but got no closer than nine points.
Harter had plenty of positives to take away from the win, as well as things her team needs to work on.
The Lady Tigers played pretty solid defense, and offensively, they shot 52 percent from the field overall and also made 19 of 27 free throw attempts.
On the flip side, Warsaw turned the ball over 25 times.
“There were positives, and that’s what we have to look at, those positive things that we did,” said Harter. “The turnovers, we just got a little excited at times. We were trying to do the right things, we just didn’t jump-stop and make good, solid passes, or step and come back to our pass, and Plymouth stepped in. Those are things we’ll continue to work on and get better at.
“But yes, finally, hitting some shots, getting some points on the board and tightening up our defense. Those were things we said we had to do tonight if we wanted to win.”
The Lady Pilgrims, who were 11 of 35 from the field and committed 24 turnovers, were led by freshman Halle Reichard’s 15 points.
Junior Nicole Horvath and freshman Kacee Peters scored eight and six points, respectively.
With the longest losing streak in program history now behind them, the Lady Tigers are in action again Tuesday at Columbia City, followed by a trip to NLC foe Wawasee Saturday.
WARSAW 51, PLYMOUTH 39
War 10 16 11 14 – 51
Ply 8 5 10 16 – 39
Warsaw – Dayton Groninger 5-8 4-6 15, Kacy Bragg 4-9 2-2 10, Madi Graham 2-3 3-4 8, Mariah Rivera 2-3 4-4 8, Kenzie Welk 1-4 4-7 6, Page Desenberg 1-2 2-2 4, Emma Bohnenkamper 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 15-29 19-27 51.
Plymouth – Halle Reichard 4-10 5-6 15, Nicole Horvath 3-8 2-2 8, Kacee Peters 2-3 2-3 6, Cortni Cook 1-5 2-2 5, Alli Andrews 0-3 2-2 2, Cece Robinson 1-4 0-0 2, Kara Morwood 0-1 1-2 1, Lanae Singleton 0-0 0-0 0, Jennah Nifong 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 11-35 14-17 39.
Three-pointers – Warsaw 2 (Groninger, Graham), Plymouth 3 (Reichard 2, Cook); Rebounds – Warsaw 27 (Groninger 9), Plymouth 16 (Horvath 3, Singleton 3); Turnovers – Warsaw 25, Plymouth 24; Fouls – Warsaw 19, Plymouth 25; Fouled out – Cook, Andrews; Records: Warsaw 1-9 (1-0 NLC), Plymouth 6-5 (0-2)
JV – Plymouth 26, Warsaw 24[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092