Lady Warriors Survive Wild NLC Game
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
The two teams needed a pair of overtimes and to get past a bizarre final second before the Lady Warriors took a hard-fought 57-55 win Saturday night at the Hardwood Tepee.
After Wawasee junior Hannah Haines hit a pair of free throws to give the Lady Warriors a five-point lead with 6.8 seconds left, Plymouth’s Halle Reichard hustled down court and hit a three-pointer. Lady Pilgrim coach Dave Duncan called his team’s final timeout before the buzzer sounded, and the game officials put a full second back on the clock.
Just before a five-second call, the ensuing inbound pass bounced off a Lady Warrior out of bounds under the Plymouth basket, again before the final buzzer. Duncan made the signal for a timeout, but the referees were looking to each other to decide how much time to put on the clock. While the refs were talking both teams huddled, and as soon as the decision to reset the clock to half a second was made, both teams were hustled back onto the floor.
Wawasee coach Kem Zolman and his staff wanted a technical foul called on Plymouth for calling a timeout they didn’t have, but the referees said the timeout was Wawasee’s.
Plymouth then inbounded the ball to leading scorer Nicole Horvath, who was surrounded by three Lady Warriors in the paint. Horvath had the ball knocked away as she tried to shoot, the buzzer sounded for good and the officials ruled the play a clean block before quickly leaving the floor.
Zolman wouldn’t blame the referees for the latter part of the wild conclusion.
“You know, it was so crazy there at the end. It was my fault for not calling the timeout when we threw it in (near the end of the five-second count),” he said. “When I saw what we had planned wasn’t going to work, I should have called timeout immediately. And none of that would have happened if I’d have called the timeout. Nevertheless, it ended up being a very crazy ending; I’m just glad it ended up the way it did.
“I’ve never seen an ending that crazy, but if you hang around long enough and think you’ve seen it all, you haven’t.”
Both teams had shooting slumps in parts of the game, and the lead changed hands throughout. Plymouth led by as many as eight points in the second quarter, and Wawasee had a five-point lead at least three times in the second half. Both teams had a shot to win the game, possessing the ball inside of 15 seconds left in both the fourth quarter and the first overtime. In each case, Plymouth turned the ball over inside of 10 seconds and Wawasee couldn’t get a shot off.
Each squad was diving for loose balls, working hard in the lane and the game got a little chippy from time to time, just like in the days not so long ago when each were among the state’s elite 3A teams. With Plymouth at 8-12 and Wawasee sporting a 7-13 mark, a postseason rematch seems unlikely, but the passion remained.
Zolman expected the strong feelings to show through the records.
“I didn’t anticipate anything less than that. That’s just an NLC game, a Plymouth-Wawasee game and that’s the way it goes,” he said. “I felt like we had runs and it was right there; we could grab the game. There was a point where we weren’t getting anything accomplished offensively, they weren’t getting anything accomplished offensively, and it was like they were trying to give us an opportunity to take the game and we wouldn’t do it.
“We’ve been playing like that all year. It’s just the first time I’ve been able to see us step up and take the game. As crazy as it was, it epitomizes what our season has been like all year.”
The win allowed seniors Erin Wiktorowski and Kylee Rostochak to go out in style. Wiktorowski hit a three in the second quarter to give Wawasee the lead, and Rostochak finished with a game-high 22 points.
“I really can’t say enough about Kylee; her work ethic, her amazing perseverance,” said Zolman. “I’m sure she got discouraged, but she didn’t show it. She just kept to the horn, all four years. It leaks over to everybody else. And the underclassmen wanted to (win the game) for the seniors.”
Junior Aubrey Schmeltz scored 12 points for Wawasee. Horvath had 17 points for Plymouth, and Reichard added 15. Both teams are now 1-5 in the conference.
Wawasee takes on Class 3A No. 5 Tippecanoe Valley in Akron Tuesday night.
WAWASEE 57, PLYMOUTH 55, 2OT
P 8 12 8 16 5 6 – 55
W 7 9 14 14 5 8 – 57
Plymouth – Ashley Harrell 0-1 0-0 0, Kacee Peters 2-2 0-0 4, Cortni Cook 0-2 0-0 0, Halle Reichard 4-17 6-7 15, Jenah Nifong 1-2 2-2 5, Alli Andrews 1-10 4-4 7, Kara Morwood 0-0 0-0 0, Cece Robinson 3-6 1-2 7, Lanae Singleton 0-1 0-0 0, Nicole Horvath 4-21 9-13 17. Totals 15-62 22-28 55.
Wawasee – Kabrea Rostochak 3-6, 0-2 7, Hannah-Marie Lamle 1-3 3-5 5, Hannah Haines 2-7 1-2 5, Aubrey Kuhn 0-1 1-2 1, Kylee Rostochak 6-19 8-10 22, Erin Wiktorowski 1-4 0-0 3, Seaquinn Bright 1-4 0-2 2, Aubrey Schmeltz 3-9 6-8 12. Totals 17-53, 19-31 57.
Three-pointers – Plymouth 3 (Reichard, Nifong, Andrews), Wawasee 4 (Ky. Rostochak 2, Ka. Rostochak, Wiktorowski); Rebounds – Plymouth 44 (Horvath 5), Wawasee 43 (Haines 9); Turnovers – Plymouth 17, Wawasee 16; Fouls – Plymouth 24, Wawasee 21; Fouled out – Robinson; Records – Plymouth 8-12 (1-5 NLC), Wawasee 7-13 (1-5 NLC)
JV – Plymouth 42, Wawasee 22
Wawasee scoring – Faith Swihart 5, Madison Beaman 5, Sara Pritchard 4, McKenzie Smith 3, Casey Schroeder 3, Megan Adkins 2
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The two teams needed a pair of overtimes and to get past a bizarre final second before the Lady Warriors took a hard-fought 57-55 win Saturday night at the Hardwood Tepee.
After Wawasee junior Hannah Haines hit a pair of free throws to give the Lady Warriors a five-point lead with 6.8 seconds left, Plymouth’s Halle Reichard hustled down court and hit a three-pointer. Lady Pilgrim coach Dave Duncan called his team’s final timeout before the buzzer sounded, and the game officials put a full second back on the clock.
Just before a five-second call, the ensuing inbound pass bounced off a Lady Warrior out of bounds under the Plymouth basket, again before the final buzzer. Duncan made the signal for a timeout, but the referees were looking to each other to decide how much time to put on the clock. While the refs were talking both teams huddled, and as soon as the decision to reset the clock to half a second was made, both teams were hustled back onto the floor.
Wawasee coach Kem Zolman and his staff wanted a technical foul called on Plymouth for calling a timeout they didn’t have, but the referees said the timeout was Wawasee’s.
Plymouth then inbounded the ball to leading scorer Nicole Horvath, who was surrounded by three Lady Warriors in the paint. Horvath had the ball knocked away as she tried to shoot, the buzzer sounded for good and the officials ruled the play a clean block before quickly leaving the floor.
Zolman wouldn’t blame the referees for the latter part of the wild conclusion.
“You know, it was so crazy there at the end. It was my fault for not calling the timeout when we threw it in (near the end of the five-second count),” he said. “When I saw what we had planned wasn’t going to work, I should have called timeout immediately. And none of that would have happened if I’d have called the timeout. Nevertheless, it ended up being a very crazy ending; I’m just glad it ended up the way it did.
“I’ve never seen an ending that crazy, but if you hang around long enough and think you’ve seen it all, you haven’t.”
Both teams had shooting slumps in parts of the game, and the lead changed hands throughout. Plymouth led by as many as eight points in the second quarter, and Wawasee had a five-point lead at least three times in the second half. Both teams had a shot to win the game, possessing the ball inside of 15 seconds left in both the fourth quarter and the first overtime. In each case, Plymouth turned the ball over inside of 10 seconds and Wawasee couldn’t get a shot off.
Each squad was diving for loose balls, working hard in the lane and the game got a little chippy from time to time, just like in the days not so long ago when each were among the state’s elite 3A teams. With Plymouth at 8-12 and Wawasee sporting a 7-13 mark, a postseason rematch seems unlikely, but the passion remained.
Zolman expected the strong feelings to show through the records.
“I didn’t anticipate anything less than that. That’s just an NLC game, a Plymouth-Wawasee game and that’s the way it goes,” he said. “I felt like we had runs and it was right there; we could grab the game. There was a point where we weren’t getting anything accomplished offensively, they weren’t getting anything accomplished offensively, and it was like they were trying to give us an opportunity to take the game and we wouldn’t do it.
“We’ve been playing like that all year. It’s just the first time I’ve been able to see us step up and take the game. As crazy as it was, it epitomizes what our season has been like all year.”
The win allowed seniors Erin Wiktorowski and Kylee Rostochak to go out in style. Wiktorowski hit a three in the second quarter to give Wawasee the lead, and Rostochak finished with a game-high 22 points.
“I really can’t say enough about Kylee; her work ethic, her amazing perseverance,” said Zolman. “I’m sure she got discouraged, but she didn’t show it. She just kept to the horn, all four years. It leaks over to everybody else. And the underclassmen wanted to (win the game) for the seniors.”
Junior Aubrey Schmeltz scored 12 points for Wawasee. Horvath had 17 points for Plymouth, and Reichard added 15. Both teams are now 1-5 in the conference.
Wawasee takes on Class 3A No. 5 Tippecanoe Valley in Akron Tuesday night.
WAWASEE 57, PLYMOUTH 55, 2OT
P 8 12 8 16 5 6 – 55
W 7 9 14 14 5 8 – 57
Plymouth – Ashley Harrell 0-1 0-0 0, Kacee Peters 2-2 0-0 4, Cortni Cook 0-2 0-0 0, Halle Reichard 4-17 6-7 15, Jenah Nifong 1-2 2-2 5, Alli Andrews 1-10 4-4 7, Kara Morwood 0-0 0-0 0, Cece Robinson 3-6 1-2 7, Lanae Singleton 0-1 0-0 0, Nicole Horvath 4-21 9-13 17. Totals 15-62 22-28 55.
Wawasee – Kabrea Rostochak 3-6, 0-2 7, Hannah-Marie Lamle 1-3 3-5 5, Hannah Haines 2-7 1-2 5, Aubrey Kuhn 0-1 1-2 1, Kylee Rostochak 6-19 8-10 22, Erin Wiktorowski 1-4 0-0 3, Seaquinn Bright 1-4 0-2 2, Aubrey Schmeltz 3-9 6-8 12. Totals 17-53, 19-31 57.
Three-pointers – Plymouth 3 (Reichard, Nifong, Andrews), Wawasee 4 (Ky. Rostochak 2, Ka. Rostochak, Wiktorowski); Rebounds – Plymouth 44 (Horvath 5), Wawasee 43 (Haines 9); Turnovers – Plymouth 17, Wawasee 16; Fouls – Plymouth 24, Wawasee 21; Fouled out – Robinson; Records – Plymouth 8-12 (1-5 NLC), Wawasee 7-13 (1-5 NLC)
JV – Plymouth 42, Wawasee 22
Wawasee scoring – Faith Swihart 5, Madison Beaman 5, Sara Pritchard 4, McKenzie Smith 3, Casey Schroeder 3, Megan Adkins 2
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