Lady Wildcats Return To Sectional 21
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Due to enrollment numbers at Columbia City, the Whitko Lady Wildcats were moved from Sectional 21 to take part in Sectional 23 the past two years, but success didn’t come in either.
Now back at Sectional 21, which will be played at NorthWood High School this season, the 14-6 Lady Wildcats are on the hunt for their first sectional championship.
“One of the bigger differences for us is going to a seven-team sectional from a six-team sectional,” third-year Whitko coach Brandon Bradley said. “It doesn’t really affect the number of games an individual team plays, but now it’s four nights instead of three. So, there’s just a little bit more driving.
“The sectional, top to bottom, is a lot deeper,” he added. “The teams are stronger and the ones that don’t even have winning records are still very competitive.”
Whitko’s first Sectional 21 opponent is indeed a formidable one in 11-9 West Noble, Tuesday at 7 p.m.
“They play hard,” Bradley said of West Noble. “It’s one of those teams that compete every game. Sometimes it’s not pretty, but they fight til the end of the game.”
Whitko saw that fight as it posted a buzzer-beating 64-62 home win over the Lady Chargers back on Dec. 19.
“The previous time we played them, we won by two at the buzzer,” Bradley said. “So it’s going to be a competitive game. We just have to be focused for 32 minutes.”
And his girls will need to be focused on West Noble senior Kelsie Peterson, who’s averaging around 20 points per game this season and netted 27 on Dec. 19.
“I thought we defended her pretty well for about 20 minutes, then she got into a rhythm and just shot the lights out the last quarter-and-a-half,” he said.
If Whitko can take down West Noble once again, it would move on to face Lakeland in the first semifinal Friday at 6 p.m.
In the other half of the bracket, Fairfield and Tippecanoe Valley meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday, followed by Wawasee and NorthWood. The winners of those two games will meet up in the second semifinal Friday night.
The championship game is slated to take place Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
NorthWood has won the sectional the past two seasons and looks to be the favorite once again this year.
Despite the host team looking primed to make it three sectional titles in three years, Bradley’s not counting his girls out.
“We’re seeking our first sectional title and on any given night, we can compete with anybody,” he said. “I would have to say that all the other coaches in the sectional would agree that NorthWood is a heavy favorite. But at the same time, we want an opportunity against NorthWood. We want that shot. We want them to prove that to us. At the same time, we have to come out Tuesday against West Noble with the same type of energy we’d use against NorthWood.”
Making Bradley feel pretty confident is the play of his freshman point guard Aly Reiff.
In just her first prep season, Reiff’s averaging 15.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 4.5 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.
Whitko’s second-leading scorer is another freshman, as Brianna Cumberland is averaging 11 points per game, as well as 2.8 steals, 2.2 assists and 2.1 rebounds.
Despite the youth of the backcourt, Bradley says he’s not at all concerned with the stage overwhelming them.
“We had a really big game (Feb. 1 at Wabash) and I thought our young kids handled themselves very well,” Bradley said of the game his team lost 48-38. “They had a few moments early in the game, but they got through it pretty quick.”
Along with the youth, Whitko also has two starting seniors in Kelly Reiff and Jordan Hall.
Kelly Reiff is leading the Lady Wildcats with 25 made three-pointers, while Hall’s been the team’s presence in the post, averaging 9.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.6 blocks.
Their output on the court is evident, but Bradley has been most pleased with how the seniors have been leading during practice.
“They make sure everybody is focused and dialed in when we’re preparing for games,” Bradley said. “You don’t see that. All anybody else sees is the production on the floor. They’ve both had better years than they’ve had in the past and they’re major impact players for us, but I think they’ve come up the biggest in making sure everyone else is dialed in in the days leading up to games.”
In-between the freshmen and seniors is sophomore Jennifer Reiff, who’s length makes her a tough matchup and helped her average 8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.5 assists per game.[[In-content Ad]]
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Due to enrollment numbers at Columbia City, the Whitko Lady Wildcats were moved from Sectional 21 to take part in Sectional 23 the past two years, but success didn’t come in either.
Now back at Sectional 21, which will be played at NorthWood High School this season, the 14-6 Lady Wildcats are on the hunt for their first sectional championship.
“One of the bigger differences for us is going to a seven-team sectional from a six-team sectional,” third-year Whitko coach Brandon Bradley said. “It doesn’t really affect the number of games an individual team plays, but now it’s four nights instead of three. So, there’s just a little bit more driving.
“The sectional, top to bottom, is a lot deeper,” he added. “The teams are stronger and the ones that don’t even have winning records are still very competitive.”
Whitko’s first Sectional 21 opponent is indeed a formidable one in 11-9 West Noble, Tuesday at 7 p.m.
“They play hard,” Bradley said of West Noble. “It’s one of those teams that compete every game. Sometimes it’s not pretty, but they fight til the end of the game.”
Whitko saw that fight as it posted a buzzer-beating 64-62 home win over the Lady Chargers back on Dec. 19.
“The previous time we played them, we won by two at the buzzer,” Bradley said. “So it’s going to be a competitive game. We just have to be focused for 32 minutes.”
And his girls will need to be focused on West Noble senior Kelsie Peterson, who’s averaging around 20 points per game this season and netted 27 on Dec. 19.
“I thought we defended her pretty well for about 20 minutes, then she got into a rhythm and just shot the lights out the last quarter-and-a-half,” he said.
If Whitko can take down West Noble once again, it would move on to face Lakeland in the first semifinal Friday at 6 p.m.
In the other half of the bracket, Fairfield and Tippecanoe Valley meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday, followed by Wawasee and NorthWood. The winners of those two games will meet up in the second semifinal Friday night.
The championship game is slated to take place Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
NorthWood has won the sectional the past two seasons and looks to be the favorite once again this year.
Despite the host team looking primed to make it three sectional titles in three years, Bradley’s not counting his girls out.
“We’re seeking our first sectional title and on any given night, we can compete with anybody,” he said. “I would have to say that all the other coaches in the sectional would agree that NorthWood is a heavy favorite. But at the same time, we want an opportunity against NorthWood. We want that shot. We want them to prove that to us. At the same time, we have to come out Tuesday against West Noble with the same type of energy we’d use against NorthWood.”
Making Bradley feel pretty confident is the play of his freshman point guard Aly Reiff.
In just her first prep season, Reiff’s averaging 15.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 4.5 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.
Whitko’s second-leading scorer is another freshman, as Brianna Cumberland is averaging 11 points per game, as well as 2.8 steals, 2.2 assists and 2.1 rebounds.
Despite the youth of the backcourt, Bradley says he’s not at all concerned with the stage overwhelming them.
“We had a really big game (Feb. 1 at Wabash) and I thought our young kids handled themselves very well,” Bradley said of the game his team lost 48-38. “They had a few moments early in the game, but they got through it pretty quick.”
Along with the youth, Whitko also has two starting seniors in Kelly Reiff and Jordan Hall.
Kelly Reiff is leading the Lady Wildcats with 25 made three-pointers, while Hall’s been the team’s presence in the post, averaging 9.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.6 blocks.
Their output on the court is evident, but Bradley has been most pleased with how the seniors have been leading during practice.
“They make sure everybody is focused and dialed in when we’re preparing for games,” Bradley said. “You don’t see that. All anybody else sees is the production on the floor. They’ve both had better years than they’ve had in the past and they’re major impact players for us, but I think they’ve come up the biggest in making sure everyone else is dialed in in the days leading up to games.”
In-between the freshmen and seniors is sophomore Jennifer Reiff, who’s length makes her a tough matchup and helped her average 8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.5 assists per game.[[In-content Ad]]
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