Lady Tigers Overcome Slow Start, Beat Rival Wawasee
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
The Lady Tigers fought back to within three by halftime, tied the game at the end of three quarters and took a 36-30 win at the Hardwood Teepee Saturday night.
The turning point in the game came at the buzzer before halftime, when Warsaw junior Mariah Rivera rebounded and layed up a missed three to cut the Wawasee lead to 19-16.
“It was big for us to make a run there in that first half and get it back down to (three). Especially when we came out and we were playing sluggish and on our heels and got down 9-0, the girls could have very easily given up,” Warsaw head coach Michelle Harter said.
“But they battled back, started doing the little things that we needed to do defensively, and getting attacks offensively. So that was big for us to get it back within one possession, so we could get into halftime and make some changes and come back out on a fresh note.”
Warsaw used a full-court press against Wawasee most of the night, but the home team had no trouble moving the ball up the floor and, with patience, getting a good shot in the first half. After halftime, the Lady Tigers went to a half-court trap that took the Lady Warriors out of their game.
“In our press we were allowing them to just throw the ball where they wanted and allowing them to get the ball in the middle. So we made some adjustments about who was covering the middle and how we were going to do that, and just making sure that when we drop back, stop allowing them to dribble penetrate and get in the paint,” Harter said.
“They hit 71 percent from the paint in the first half. We needed to make sure we didn’t allow them to do that, because then they can kick out to their shooters who were set.”
Wawasee head coach Kem Zolman said his team couldn’t make the adjustment to the changes made by Warsaw.
“I thought the kids were doing great at the beginning; we looked a like a million bucks. We’re playing with confidence, we’re shooting with confidence, then all of a sudden it stopped. We give them a little (layup) at the end of the half and now we’re in a dogfight. That was the momentum change, as far as I was concerned.
“The thing is if we can’t run our offense exactly the way it’s drawn up, we can’t do anything. We’re great at running things the way we practice them, but we don’t vary from that at all when we need to.”
Neither team scored from the floor for a 10-minute stretch from the end of the third quarter to the midway point of the fourth, and soon it became a matter of which team could break its cold streak first. Graham hit one free throw with 3:19 to play to give Warsaw the lead, and 58 seconds later Wawasee’s Hannah-Marie Lamle hit both ends of a one-and-one to put her team in front.
Finally, Warsaw’s Page Desenberg hit a shot in the paint to break the ice, and from there Madie Graham hit five of seven free throws to seal the win.
“It stayed 25-25 forever, and it came to the point where it was going to be whoever can break that tie first. That’s the feel you got,” Zolman said. “And what we’ve been struggling through, I felt that was to their advantage, because every time we wouldn’t score, I could see it in our kids, that weight was getting a little heavier, instead of getting bull-headed and saying ‘we’ll get it next time.’
“We’re still struggling with that same thing; we’ve got to dig down deep somewhere to handle things in a tougher way than what we’re doing.”
Graham hit 10 of 15 free throws overall to finish with a game-high 13 points. Wawasee’s Kylee Rostochak scored 12 points.
Wawasee fell to 4-8 overall and 0-3 in the Northern Lakes Conference, and will play in the Brebeuf Jesuit Classic in Indianapolis on Jan. 2.
Warsaw improved to 2-10 on the season and 2-0 in the NLC. The Lady Tigers host Triton Tuesday night.
WARSAW 36, WAWASEE 30
War 5 11 9 11 – 36
Wawa 9 10 6 5 – 30
Warsaw – Madie Graham 1-9 10-15 13, Page Desenberg 4-7 0-0 8, Kenzie Welk 2-9 0-0 6, Mariah Rivera 1-1 0-0 2, Emma Bohnenkamper 1-4 0-0 2, Dayton Groninger 0-4 2-2 2, Kacy Bragg 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 10-38 13-19 36.
Wawasee – Kylee Rostochak 5-14 1-3 12, Hannah-Marie Lamle 3-5 2-2 8, Aubrey Schmeltz 2-3 0-0 4, Erin Wiktorowski 1-3 0-0 3, Aubrey Kuhn 1-4 0-0 3, Kabrea Rostochak 0-1 0-0 0, Hannah Haines 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 12-32 3-5 30.
Three-pointers – Warsaw 3 (Welk 2, Graham), Wawasee 3 (Kuhn, Ky. Rostochak, Wiktorowski); Rebounds – Warsaw 33 (Graham 8), Wawasee 19 (Lamle 6); Turnovers – Warsaw 10, Wawasee 14; Fouls – Warsaw 10, Wawasee 19; Fouled out – Haines; Records: Warsaw 2-10 (2-0 NLC), Wawasee 4-8 (0-3 NLC)
JV – Warsaw 33, Wawasee 23
Warsaw – Morgan Bruner 8, Kerigan Hatfield 8, Maddie Ryman 6, Kenzie Martz 4, Abby Glass 4, Miah Holdsclaw 2, Kennedy Patton 1
Wawasee – Faith Swihart 6, Tiffany Koble 5, Kiersten Beckner 4, Morgan Adkins 2, Casey Schroeder 2, Mckenzie Smith 2, Caitlin Wortinger 2[[In-content Ad]]
The Lady Tigers fought back to within three by halftime, tied the game at the end of three quarters and took a 36-30 win at the Hardwood Teepee Saturday night.
The turning point in the game came at the buzzer before halftime, when Warsaw junior Mariah Rivera rebounded and layed up a missed three to cut the Wawasee lead to 19-16.
“It was big for us to make a run there in that first half and get it back down to (three). Especially when we came out and we were playing sluggish and on our heels and got down 9-0, the girls could have very easily given up,” Warsaw head coach Michelle Harter said.
“But they battled back, started doing the little things that we needed to do defensively, and getting attacks offensively. So that was big for us to get it back within one possession, so we could get into halftime and make some changes and come back out on a fresh note.”
Warsaw used a full-court press against Wawasee most of the night, but the home team had no trouble moving the ball up the floor and, with patience, getting a good shot in the first half. After halftime, the Lady Tigers went to a half-court trap that took the Lady Warriors out of their game.
“In our press we were allowing them to just throw the ball where they wanted and allowing them to get the ball in the middle. So we made some adjustments about who was covering the middle and how we were going to do that, and just making sure that when we drop back, stop allowing them to dribble penetrate and get in the paint,” Harter said.
“They hit 71 percent from the paint in the first half. We needed to make sure we didn’t allow them to do that, because then they can kick out to their shooters who were set.”
Wawasee head coach Kem Zolman said his team couldn’t make the adjustment to the changes made by Warsaw.
“I thought the kids were doing great at the beginning; we looked a like a million bucks. We’re playing with confidence, we’re shooting with confidence, then all of a sudden it stopped. We give them a little (layup) at the end of the half and now we’re in a dogfight. That was the momentum change, as far as I was concerned.
“The thing is if we can’t run our offense exactly the way it’s drawn up, we can’t do anything. We’re great at running things the way we practice them, but we don’t vary from that at all when we need to.”
Neither team scored from the floor for a 10-minute stretch from the end of the third quarter to the midway point of the fourth, and soon it became a matter of which team could break its cold streak first. Graham hit one free throw with 3:19 to play to give Warsaw the lead, and 58 seconds later Wawasee’s Hannah-Marie Lamle hit both ends of a one-and-one to put her team in front.
Finally, Warsaw’s Page Desenberg hit a shot in the paint to break the ice, and from there Madie Graham hit five of seven free throws to seal the win.
“It stayed 25-25 forever, and it came to the point where it was going to be whoever can break that tie first. That’s the feel you got,” Zolman said. “And what we’ve been struggling through, I felt that was to their advantage, because every time we wouldn’t score, I could see it in our kids, that weight was getting a little heavier, instead of getting bull-headed and saying ‘we’ll get it next time.’
“We’re still struggling with that same thing; we’ve got to dig down deep somewhere to handle things in a tougher way than what we’re doing.”
Graham hit 10 of 15 free throws overall to finish with a game-high 13 points. Wawasee’s Kylee Rostochak scored 12 points.
Wawasee fell to 4-8 overall and 0-3 in the Northern Lakes Conference, and will play in the Brebeuf Jesuit Classic in Indianapolis on Jan. 2.
Warsaw improved to 2-10 on the season and 2-0 in the NLC. The Lady Tigers host Triton Tuesday night.
WARSAW 36, WAWASEE 30
War 5 11 9 11 – 36
Wawa 9 10 6 5 – 30
Warsaw – Madie Graham 1-9 10-15 13, Page Desenberg 4-7 0-0 8, Kenzie Welk 2-9 0-0 6, Mariah Rivera 1-1 0-0 2, Emma Bohnenkamper 1-4 0-0 2, Dayton Groninger 0-4 2-2 2, Kacy Bragg 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 10-38 13-19 36.
Wawasee – Kylee Rostochak 5-14 1-3 12, Hannah-Marie Lamle 3-5 2-2 8, Aubrey Schmeltz 2-3 0-0 4, Erin Wiktorowski 1-3 0-0 3, Aubrey Kuhn 1-4 0-0 3, Kabrea Rostochak 0-1 0-0 0, Hannah Haines 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 12-32 3-5 30.
Three-pointers – Warsaw 3 (Welk 2, Graham), Wawasee 3 (Kuhn, Ky. Rostochak, Wiktorowski); Rebounds – Warsaw 33 (Graham 8), Wawasee 19 (Lamle 6); Turnovers – Warsaw 10, Wawasee 14; Fouls – Warsaw 10, Wawasee 19; Fouled out – Haines; Records: Warsaw 2-10 (2-0 NLC), Wawasee 4-8 (0-3 NLC)
JV – Warsaw 33, Wawasee 23
Warsaw – Morgan Bruner 8, Kerigan Hatfield 8, Maddie Ryman 6, Kenzie Martz 4, Abby Glass 4, Miah Holdsclaw 2, Kennedy Patton 1
Wawasee – Faith Swihart 6, Tiffany Koble 5, Kiersten Beckner 4, Morgan Adkins 2, Casey Schroeder 2, Mckenzie Smith 2, Caitlin Wortinger 2[[In-content Ad]]
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