Lady Tigers Improve To 7-0
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Grinding out a 57-52 win at Columbia City (4-5) Tuesday, the Tigers haven't gone this far into a season without a loss since the 2002-03 season, which saw Warsaw get off to a 9-0 start.
Until Warsaw does get a blemish on its record, second-year Tigers coach Michelle Harter is aware that each team her girls play will look to smudge that perfect image.
"I told the girls, 'Every time you step on the floor, kids are going to come out and they're going to want to beat you,'" Harter said. "'They're going to play their best game of the season and you have to be up to that challenge. You have to come out and be mentally focused and ready to play.'"
Through two-and-a-half quarters, Warsaw didn't have that focus, but things seemed to loosen up after senior Beth Plummer hit back-to-back buckets off nifty passes from senior Kelci Freds on the first and senior Cendall Ogle on the second, extending Warsaw's lead to 39-32 with 2:05 remaining in the third.
"We felt the first four minutes of the third quarter was the difference in the ballgame," Columbia City's 33rd-year coach Wayne Kreiger said. "That's where we felt we should have picked it up a little more."
Kreiger's Lady Eagles did pick it up in the fourth quarter after falling behind 47-37 on a bucket by Warsaw freshman Lindsay Baker with 6:20 to play.
Following that basket, Columbia City reeled off seven-straight points to draw to within 47-44.
With the score tight, each team turned possessions into points between the 2:18 and 0:15.5 marks, but only one of those possessions included a field goal. All the rest of the points were scored from the free-throw line, where Warsaw shot 21 more than Columbia City on the night.
"Obviously, they went to the free-throw line and converted 25 of 29 and we were 7 for 8," Kreiger said. "That makes a big difference"
And getting to the free-throw line was something Warsaw wanted to do by attacking the basket instead of settling for outside jumpers, which would explain their 53.6-percent shooting night (15 for 28).
"We want to attack the basket and get to the free-throw line," Harter said. "In the first half, we didn't get to the free-throw line, so we wanted to make sure in the second half, we were getting to that free-throw line."
Trailing 55-52 with 12 seconds remaining, Kreiger called a time-out with the hopes of drawing up a play to force overtime.
Instead, a pass to junior Kayla Dunn at the top of the key wasn't on target, and Warsaw was able to record its 11th steal of the game.
"The pass was made from the corner to the top, and that was not a pass we wanted," Kreiger said. "We wanted to go station-to-station with a screen in-between. We didn't get back to the top for the screen, so it wasn't executed exactly how it was drawn up."
Following the steal, Freds connected on two free throws, sealing the game and giving her 750 career points at Warsaw.
Freds finished the game with a team-high 15 points, but had to shake off a first-half that saw her forcing the issue, resulting in five turnovers in the first 16 minutes.
"She was trying to find her teammates and make difficult passes," Harter said of Freds, who didn't commit a turnover in the second half. "She just needs to slow herself down and look to make better passes, or maybe easier passes. She started doing that better in the second half."
She was able to settle down thanks to the post presence of junior Kayla Stout and senior Sarah Shilling, who scored eight and 10 points, respectively.
"When you have Freds, who is a wonderful outside shooter, plus you have Stout and the big kids inside - they just have a well-rounded ball club," Kreiger said.
Columbia City was led by senior Alex Bunyan's 18 points, but 12 of those were scored by the 7:42 mark in the second quarter. After that, she didn't score again until only five minutes were left in the game.
"One thing we talked about at halftime was knowing where she was at," Harter said of Bunyan, who scored 12 of her team's first 18 points. "She was hitting her shots tonight and shooting well. The games we had watched, they hadn't shot that well from outside. We just wanted to make sure we knew where she was and had a hand in her face."
Kreiger hasn't beaten Warsaw since his girls had a memorable 58-38 win in the second round of the 2001-02 sectionals, but thought his team could hang with this year's edition.
"We knew it was going to be a tough contest, but I thought from the tipoff it was a competitive game all the way through," he said. "I really didn't envision the spread getting too big."
As one of the four teams still undefeated in the Northern Lakes Conference, the Tigers will look to knock off another undefeated NLC foe Saturday when they travel to Wawasee, who sits at 6-2 overall this season.
"We're playing on their home floor and we know they're going to be up for us," Harter said about playing a Wawasee team that has defeated Warsaw three-straight times. "We need to make sure we come out mentally prepared to play. Maybe on paper, yes we should come out and win, but we have to come out and play basketball. Any team can win on any night, and that's one thing we've been talking to the girls about."
WARSAW 57, COLUMBIA CITY 52
W 12 10 19 16 - 57
C 16 8 13 15 - 52
Warsaw - Kelci Freds 4-7 5-6 15, Kaelee Sands 1-4 0-0 2, Cendall Ogle 2-3 2-4 6, Kayla Stout 2-3 4-4 8, Sarah Shilling 2-2 6-6 10, Creigh Ogle 1-1 2-3 4, Beth Plummer 2-5 0-0 4, Lindsay Baker 1-3 6-6 8, Ryesha Jackson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-28 25-29 57.
CC - Alex Bunyan 8-12 0-0 18, Kayla Dunn 6-9 3-3 15, Janelle Moss 2-4 1-2 5, Sierria Burlage 1-5 3-3 5, Maddie Hinen 2-6 0-0 5, Sarah Opliger 0-1 0-0 0, Sarah Woll 1-4 0-0 2, Corinna Raypole 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 21-44 7-8 52.
Three-point goals - Warsaw 2-7 (Freds 2), CC 3-11 (Bunyan 2, Hinen); Team Fouls - Warsaw 13, CC 21; Turnovers - Warsaw 18, CC 22; Rebounds - Warsaw 17 (Ce. Ogle 4, Stout 4), CC 21 (Burlage 6); Assists - Warsaw 3, CC 0; Steals - Warsaw 11 (Sands 3), CC 8 (Burlage 2, Hinen 2); Blocks - Warsaw 1, CC 0; Records - Warsaw 7-0, CC 4-5
JV - Warsaw 38, CC 36 (2OT)
JV Warsaw Scoring - Jennifer Walker-Crawford 19, Sarah Heagy 10, Madison Davis 5, Brooke Kline 3, Tiffany Tat 1[[In-content Ad]]
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Grinding out a 57-52 win at Columbia City (4-5) Tuesday, the Tigers haven't gone this far into a season without a loss since the 2002-03 season, which saw Warsaw get off to a 9-0 start.
Until Warsaw does get a blemish on its record, second-year Tigers coach Michelle Harter is aware that each team her girls play will look to smudge that perfect image.
"I told the girls, 'Every time you step on the floor, kids are going to come out and they're going to want to beat you,'" Harter said. "'They're going to play their best game of the season and you have to be up to that challenge. You have to come out and be mentally focused and ready to play.'"
Through two-and-a-half quarters, Warsaw didn't have that focus, but things seemed to loosen up after senior Beth Plummer hit back-to-back buckets off nifty passes from senior Kelci Freds on the first and senior Cendall Ogle on the second, extending Warsaw's lead to 39-32 with 2:05 remaining in the third.
"We felt the first four minutes of the third quarter was the difference in the ballgame," Columbia City's 33rd-year coach Wayne Kreiger said. "That's where we felt we should have picked it up a little more."
Kreiger's Lady Eagles did pick it up in the fourth quarter after falling behind 47-37 on a bucket by Warsaw freshman Lindsay Baker with 6:20 to play.
Following that basket, Columbia City reeled off seven-straight points to draw to within 47-44.
With the score tight, each team turned possessions into points between the 2:18 and 0:15.5 marks, but only one of those possessions included a field goal. All the rest of the points were scored from the free-throw line, where Warsaw shot 21 more than Columbia City on the night.
"Obviously, they went to the free-throw line and converted 25 of 29 and we were 7 for 8," Kreiger said. "That makes a big difference"
And getting to the free-throw line was something Warsaw wanted to do by attacking the basket instead of settling for outside jumpers, which would explain their 53.6-percent shooting night (15 for 28).
"We want to attack the basket and get to the free-throw line," Harter said. "In the first half, we didn't get to the free-throw line, so we wanted to make sure in the second half, we were getting to that free-throw line."
Trailing 55-52 with 12 seconds remaining, Kreiger called a time-out with the hopes of drawing up a play to force overtime.
Instead, a pass to junior Kayla Dunn at the top of the key wasn't on target, and Warsaw was able to record its 11th steal of the game.
"The pass was made from the corner to the top, and that was not a pass we wanted," Kreiger said. "We wanted to go station-to-station with a screen in-between. We didn't get back to the top for the screen, so it wasn't executed exactly how it was drawn up."
Following the steal, Freds connected on two free throws, sealing the game and giving her 750 career points at Warsaw.
Freds finished the game with a team-high 15 points, but had to shake off a first-half that saw her forcing the issue, resulting in five turnovers in the first 16 minutes.
"She was trying to find her teammates and make difficult passes," Harter said of Freds, who didn't commit a turnover in the second half. "She just needs to slow herself down and look to make better passes, or maybe easier passes. She started doing that better in the second half."
She was able to settle down thanks to the post presence of junior Kayla Stout and senior Sarah Shilling, who scored eight and 10 points, respectively.
"When you have Freds, who is a wonderful outside shooter, plus you have Stout and the big kids inside - they just have a well-rounded ball club," Kreiger said.
Columbia City was led by senior Alex Bunyan's 18 points, but 12 of those were scored by the 7:42 mark in the second quarter. After that, she didn't score again until only five minutes were left in the game.
"One thing we talked about at halftime was knowing where she was at," Harter said of Bunyan, who scored 12 of her team's first 18 points. "She was hitting her shots tonight and shooting well. The games we had watched, they hadn't shot that well from outside. We just wanted to make sure we knew where she was and had a hand in her face."
Kreiger hasn't beaten Warsaw since his girls had a memorable 58-38 win in the second round of the 2001-02 sectionals, but thought his team could hang with this year's edition.
"We knew it was going to be a tough contest, but I thought from the tipoff it was a competitive game all the way through," he said. "I really didn't envision the spread getting too big."
As one of the four teams still undefeated in the Northern Lakes Conference, the Tigers will look to knock off another undefeated NLC foe Saturday when they travel to Wawasee, who sits at 6-2 overall this season.
"We're playing on their home floor and we know they're going to be up for us," Harter said about playing a Wawasee team that has defeated Warsaw three-straight times. "We need to make sure we come out mentally prepared to play. Maybe on paper, yes we should come out and win, but we have to come out and play basketball. Any team can win on any night, and that's one thing we've been talking to the girls about."
WARSAW 57, COLUMBIA CITY 52
W 12 10 19 16 - 57
C 16 8 13 15 - 52
Warsaw - Kelci Freds 4-7 5-6 15, Kaelee Sands 1-4 0-0 2, Cendall Ogle 2-3 2-4 6, Kayla Stout 2-3 4-4 8, Sarah Shilling 2-2 6-6 10, Creigh Ogle 1-1 2-3 4, Beth Plummer 2-5 0-0 4, Lindsay Baker 1-3 6-6 8, Ryesha Jackson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-28 25-29 57.
CC - Alex Bunyan 8-12 0-0 18, Kayla Dunn 6-9 3-3 15, Janelle Moss 2-4 1-2 5, Sierria Burlage 1-5 3-3 5, Maddie Hinen 2-6 0-0 5, Sarah Opliger 0-1 0-0 0, Sarah Woll 1-4 0-0 2, Corinna Raypole 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 21-44 7-8 52.
Three-point goals - Warsaw 2-7 (Freds 2), CC 3-11 (Bunyan 2, Hinen); Team Fouls - Warsaw 13, CC 21; Turnovers - Warsaw 18, CC 22; Rebounds - Warsaw 17 (Ce. Ogle 4, Stout 4), CC 21 (Burlage 6); Assists - Warsaw 3, CC 0; Steals - Warsaw 11 (Sands 3), CC 8 (Burlage 2, Hinen 2); Blocks - Warsaw 1, CC 0; Records - Warsaw 7-0, CC 4-5
JV - Warsaw 38, CC 36 (2OT)
JV Warsaw Scoring - Jennifer Walker-Crawford 19, Sarah Heagy 10, Madison Davis 5, Brooke Kline 3, Tiffany Tat 1[[In-content Ad]]
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