Lady Tigers Score First Win Of Season
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
Such was the case Friday night for third-year Warsaw girls basketball coach Michelle Harter, whose team beat Tippecanoe Valley 56-50 after only shooting 38 percent from the field and 49 percent from the free throw line.[[In-content Ad]]"It wasn't pretty," said Harter, whose Lady Tigers finished the game 18 of 47 from the field and made just 20 of 41 free throws.
"I told the girls we had some things to work on," continued Harter. "We missed some shots, and we missed some free throws. But, we won, and now we can watch the film, learn from our mistakes and get better."
The Lady Tigers improved to 1-2 on the season, while the Lady Vikings fell to 0-3.
Not only did Warsaw have to overcome its shooting woes, but the Lady Tigers were also without senior frontliner Kayla Stout, who missed the game with an injury.
With Stout sidelined, the the Lady Tigers were left with just one player who saw significant varsity action last season - sophomore Lindsay Baker.
Baker finished the game with seven points, seven rebounds and six assists, while junior post player Sarah Heagy led the team with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
"Sarah Heagy played a great game," said Harter. "She was injured Tuesday night (in the game against Bishop Luers) but she came out and was huge for us tonight. Now we know we have another threat inside. When Kayla comes back, Sarah will take some of the pressure off her, and it'll really open things up."
Junior Madison Davis added 11 points, while sophomore Jennifer Walker-Crawford chipped in with nine points and freshman Brooklyn Harrison scored five points.
An old-fashion three-point play by Harrison gave Warsaw a 46-39 advantage after the Lady Vikings had cut the lead to four.
After Valley cut the Lady Tigers' advantage to five, 50-45, Walker-Crawford rebounded a missed free throw by teammate Lauren Burish and scored to give the home team more breathing room.
Thirty seconds later, Walker-Crawford was fouled after stealing a Valley inbound pass. She hit one of two free throws with 52 seconds remaining in the game to give Warsaw a 53-45 lead.
"This was a big win for us," said Harter. "This is big for our confidence. We're a young team, and to play without Kayla Stout, that didn't leave us with much varsity experience. We needed some people to step up, and I thought some people did step up."
Likewise, Valley had some players step up too.
The Lady Vikings trailed 25-15 at halftime and 41-28 early in the fourth quarter, but an 11-2 run cut the Warsaw advantage to four and certainly made things interesting.
"The kids never gave up," said first-year Valley coach Chris Kindig. "We could have folded up the tents. The kids played hard, and I'm really proud of them. We missed some free throws and didn't block out a couple times, otherwise maybe things would have been different. They didn't give up, and that's the important thing."
Junior Staci Groom led Valley with a game-high 18 points, while junior Tory Keirn added 10 points and senior Taylor Gast chipped in with 10 points.
Junior Brooke O'Connor led the Lady Vikings in rebounds with 10.
"We'd like to have Staci get her 20 points and have someone else score 15," said Kindig. "In the meantime, we have to have some others step up. At the beginning of the year, we talked about playing hard, and the kids played hard tonight."
The Lady Vikings finished the game 18 of 51 (35 percent) from the field and 10 of 19 at the charity stripe.
Valley turned the ball over 24 times, while the Lady Tigers commited 26 turnovers.
The two teams combined for 50 fouls, and the Lady Vikings' Keirn, Bibler and O'Connor all fouled out.
Warsaw is in action again Friday at Whitko, while Valley hosts it's annual Thanksgiving Classic next Saturday.
WARSAW 56, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 50
TV 9 6 13 22 - 50
W 10 15 14 17 - 56
Valley - Staci Groom 6-16 4-8 18, Tory Keirn 3-10 2-2 10, Taylor Gast 2-9 1-1 7, Megan Bibler 2-6 0-0 4, Conner Fraser 2-4 0-0 4, Courtney Newsome 1-1 1-2 3, Danielle Bussard 1-2 1-2 3, Brooke O'Connor 0-3 1-4 1. Totals 18-51 10-19 50.
Warsaw - Sarah Heagy 4-9 8-16 16, Madison Davis 3-5 5-8 11, Jennifer Walker-Crawford 4-5 1-3 9, Lindsay Baker 2-11 3-5 7, Brooklyn Harrison 2-9 1-1 5, Lauren Burish 1-4 0-4 2, Eryn Leek 0-2 2-2 2, Ashley Ousley 1-1 0-2 2, Nikki Grose 1-1 0-0 2, Paige Wood 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-47 20-41 56.
Three-point goals - Valley 4 (Groom 2, Keirn 2), Warsaw 0. Rebounds - Valley 28 (O'Connor 10), Warsaw 37 (Heagy 11). Turnovers - Valley 24, Warsaw 26. Fouls - Valley 30, Warsaw 20. Fouled out - Keirn, Bibler, O'Connor. Records: Valley 0-3, Warsaw 1-2
JV - Warsaw 48, Valley 8
Warsaw - Melonie Holladay 10, Abby Schue 8, Nikki Grose 8, Ashley Ousley 6, Jordyn Walker 5, Brittney Thompson 4, Kayla Snyer 3, Gabby Monroy 2, Eryn Leek 2
Valley - Connor Fraser 2, Kristen Mallot 2, Morgan Conliff 2, Kelsey Ball 1, Alaina O'Connell 1
Such was the case Friday night for third-year Warsaw girls basketball coach Michelle Harter, whose team beat Tippecanoe Valley 56-50 after only shooting 38 percent from the field and 49 percent from the free throw line.[[In-content Ad]]"It wasn't pretty," said Harter, whose Lady Tigers finished the game 18 of 47 from the field and made just 20 of 41 free throws.
"I told the girls we had some things to work on," continued Harter. "We missed some shots, and we missed some free throws. But, we won, and now we can watch the film, learn from our mistakes and get better."
The Lady Tigers improved to 1-2 on the season, while the Lady Vikings fell to 0-3.
Not only did Warsaw have to overcome its shooting woes, but the Lady Tigers were also without senior frontliner Kayla Stout, who missed the game with an injury.
With Stout sidelined, the the Lady Tigers were left with just one player who saw significant varsity action last season - sophomore Lindsay Baker.
Baker finished the game with seven points, seven rebounds and six assists, while junior post player Sarah Heagy led the team with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
"Sarah Heagy played a great game," said Harter. "She was injured Tuesday night (in the game against Bishop Luers) but she came out and was huge for us tonight. Now we know we have another threat inside. When Kayla comes back, Sarah will take some of the pressure off her, and it'll really open things up."
Junior Madison Davis added 11 points, while sophomore Jennifer Walker-Crawford chipped in with nine points and freshman Brooklyn Harrison scored five points.
An old-fashion three-point play by Harrison gave Warsaw a 46-39 advantage after the Lady Vikings had cut the lead to four.
After Valley cut the Lady Tigers' advantage to five, 50-45, Walker-Crawford rebounded a missed free throw by teammate Lauren Burish and scored to give the home team more breathing room.
Thirty seconds later, Walker-Crawford was fouled after stealing a Valley inbound pass. She hit one of two free throws with 52 seconds remaining in the game to give Warsaw a 53-45 lead.
"This was a big win for us," said Harter. "This is big for our confidence. We're a young team, and to play without Kayla Stout, that didn't leave us with much varsity experience. We needed some people to step up, and I thought some people did step up."
Likewise, Valley had some players step up too.
The Lady Vikings trailed 25-15 at halftime and 41-28 early in the fourth quarter, but an 11-2 run cut the Warsaw advantage to four and certainly made things interesting.
"The kids never gave up," said first-year Valley coach Chris Kindig. "We could have folded up the tents. The kids played hard, and I'm really proud of them. We missed some free throws and didn't block out a couple times, otherwise maybe things would have been different. They didn't give up, and that's the important thing."
Junior Staci Groom led Valley with a game-high 18 points, while junior Tory Keirn added 10 points and senior Taylor Gast chipped in with 10 points.
Junior Brooke O'Connor led the Lady Vikings in rebounds with 10.
"We'd like to have Staci get her 20 points and have someone else score 15," said Kindig. "In the meantime, we have to have some others step up. At the beginning of the year, we talked about playing hard, and the kids played hard tonight."
The Lady Vikings finished the game 18 of 51 (35 percent) from the field and 10 of 19 at the charity stripe.
Valley turned the ball over 24 times, while the Lady Tigers commited 26 turnovers.
The two teams combined for 50 fouls, and the Lady Vikings' Keirn, Bibler and O'Connor all fouled out.
Warsaw is in action again Friday at Whitko, while Valley hosts it's annual Thanksgiving Classic next Saturday.
WARSAW 56, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 50
TV 9 6 13 22 - 50
W 10 15 14 17 - 56
Valley - Staci Groom 6-16 4-8 18, Tory Keirn 3-10 2-2 10, Taylor Gast 2-9 1-1 7, Megan Bibler 2-6 0-0 4, Conner Fraser 2-4 0-0 4, Courtney Newsome 1-1 1-2 3, Danielle Bussard 1-2 1-2 3, Brooke O'Connor 0-3 1-4 1. Totals 18-51 10-19 50.
Warsaw - Sarah Heagy 4-9 8-16 16, Madison Davis 3-5 5-8 11, Jennifer Walker-Crawford 4-5 1-3 9, Lindsay Baker 2-11 3-5 7, Brooklyn Harrison 2-9 1-1 5, Lauren Burish 1-4 0-4 2, Eryn Leek 0-2 2-2 2, Ashley Ousley 1-1 0-2 2, Nikki Grose 1-1 0-0 2, Paige Wood 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-47 20-41 56.
Three-point goals - Valley 4 (Groom 2, Keirn 2), Warsaw 0. Rebounds - Valley 28 (O'Connor 10), Warsaw 37 (Heagy 11). Turnovers - Valley 24, Warsaw 26. Fouls - Valley 30, Warsaw 20. Fouled out - Keirn, Bibler, O'Connor. Records: Valley 0-3, Warsaw 1-2
JV - Warsaw 48, Valley 8
Warsaw - Melonie Holladay 10, Abby Schue 8, Nikki Grose 8, Ashley Ousley 6, Jordyn Walker 5, Brittney Thompson 4, Kayla Snyer 3, Gabby Monroy 2, Eryn Leek 2
Valley - Connor Fraser 2, Kristen Mallot 2, Morgan Conliff 2, Kelsey Ball 1, Alaina O'Connell 1
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