Offensive Woes Doom Warriors
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
In their 48-38 Northern Lakes Conference home loss to the Goshen Redskins (8-8, 3-4 NLC) Thursday night, the Wawasee Warriors (3-12, 0-6 NLC), went through a 10-and-a-half-minute scoring drought between the second and third quarters.
When asked if the scoring drought between the 5:43 mark of the second quarter and 3:21 mark of the third quarter was Goshen's defense or his team's execution, Wawasee first-year coach Steve Wiktorowski accredited both.
“They play good defense,” he said. “They were switching and made a couple of adjustments at halftime. We've been working hard on our fast break, trying to find a way to score some easy baskets. I don't think we ran that as hard as I would have liked to, but I think we were being careful not to turn the ball over. There were a variety of things, plus we didn't knock down some shots.”
The drought began after junior Stori Bright tied the game at 14-14, but by the time junior Alex Clark scored Wawasee's next points with a three-pointer with 3:21 remaining in the third quarter, Goshen had built a 28-14 lead.
However, that Clark trey ignited an 11-0 Wawasee run in just over two minutes, as he hit back-to-back three-pointers, then assisted on a bucket by junior Gage Reinhard, who later scored with 1:02 left in the quarter to cut the Redskins' lead to 28-25.
Struggling mightily to score, Clark was visibily frustrated and took the team on his shoulders, getting it back into the game.
“What I liked was, not only did he do that, but he played pretty good defense,” Wiktorowski said of Clark, who had 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal in the loss. “After getting off to a rough start, with turnovers, I thought he settled down and ran the team well. He took care of the basketball pretty well, overall.”
Just as Wawasee had climbed back into the game, Goshen's 6-foot-5 junior center Austin Woolett stymied the comeback, hitting a putback layup as time expired on the quarter.
“That's an offensive rebound and that's what Woolett can do,” Goshen coach Brian Bechtel said. "He has a lot of bounce in his step, he's very athletic and attacks the boards well. That was a big bucket for us, because it kind of soothed things a little bit going into the fourth quarter.”
Woolett finished the game converting 7 of 8 field goals for 16 points.
“He's a man inside,” Wiktorowski said. “He's strong and I think he was their leading scorer last year. He hurt us.”
Just like the end of the third quarter, Woolett also ended the first quarter with a putback basket and second-chance points were a theme for Goshen.
Both teams finished the game with seven offensive rebounds, but Goshen had 10 second-chance points to Wawasee's two.
“We really worked harder on rebounding this week than we have all year,” Wiktorowski said of his team, which was outrebounded 27-24. “We also went with a little bit smaller lineup, because we thought that would allow us to match up with their quick guards. So, we weren't shocked (about the rebounding). I didn't think it was necessarily a lack of effort. We could have done a better job at it, but you also have to give credit to (Goshen).”
Along with rebounding, Wawasee was also concerned with Goshen sophomore Brady Bechtel, who's helped his team win four-straight games since returning from an ACL injury.
Face-guarding the coach's son, Wawasee limited Bechtel to two points, on two free throws, but Woolett and senior Deric Haynes each scored 16 and senior Alex Hartsough chipped in nine off the bench.
“We tried to do things to make the other guys know we were running plays for them,” Brian Bechtel said. “Brady just gives us some confidence, because he's a really good ball handler and he can score. Tonight, hopefully this proves that he doesn't need to score high points for us. We have other guys that can do that.”
Along with Clark's performance, Wawasee got nine points from Reinhard and 10 rebounds out of junior Stori Bright.
“I thought there were some real positives,” Wiktorowski said. “Had some turnovers in the first half and we cut those down. In the second half, we made a run at them. Our defense was fairly consistent. We just need to score more than 38 points.”
The game was Wawasee's first of six in 13 days, as the Warriors are on the road for fourstraight, before returning home for their regular season finale against Tippecanoe Valley on Feb. 28.
Because the weather has postponed so many games, Wiktorowski hopes his guys are ready for the rapid-fire games, which resume Saturday afternoon at Rochester.
“That's what everybody is facing right now with all the cancellations,” Wiktorowski said. “It's no different for us. The kids have done a great job of preparing for the next game, and moving on to the next game. I hope that continues.”
GOSHEN 48, WAWASEE 38
G 12 6 12 18 – 48
W 10 4 11 13 – 38
Goshen – Alex Haney 0-3 0-0 0, Brady Bechtel 0-3 2-2 2, Jack Gingerich 0-2 2-2 2, Deric Haynes 7-15 0-0 16, Austin Woolett 7-8 2-2 16, Cam Kline 0-2 1-2 1, Alex Hartsough 2-5 5-6 9, D.J. Ambrose 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 17-40 12-14 48.
Wawasee – Aaron Voirol 2-5 0-0 5, Gage Reinhard 4-7 0-1 9, Sam Clark 1-4 0-0 2, Alex Clark 6-15 1-2 16, Stori Bright 1-4 0-2 2, Jeffrey Moore 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Hutchinson 0-2 0-0 0, Chase Myers 1-3 2-2 4, David Rocha 0-0 0-0 0, Kody Carpenter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-40 3-7 38.
Three-pointers – Goshen 2-12 (Haynes 2), Wawasee 5-17 (A. Clark 3, Voirol, Reinhard); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Goshen 14 (Woolett), Wawasee 15 (Reinhard); Turnovers – Goshen 8, Wawasee 12; Rebounds – Goshen 27 (Hartsough 7), Wawasee 24 (Bright 10); Assists – Goshen 7 (Gingerich 3), Wawasee 7 (S. Clark 4); Steals – Goshen 6 (Gingerich 2), Wawasee 2; Blocks – Goshen 3, Wawasee 0.
Records: Goshen 8-8 (3-4 NLC), Wawasee 3-12 (0-6 NLC)
JV – Wawasee 36, Goshen 30
Wawasee JV – Parker Hatfield 10, Moore 9, Tyler Smith 9, Conner Sausaman 3, Aaron Beer 2, Chase Rookstool 2, Jayce Boatwright 1[[In-content Ad]]
In their 48-38 Northern Lakes Conference home loss to the Goshen Redskins (8-8, 3-4 NLC) Thursday night, the Wawasee Warriors (3-12, 0-6 NLC), went through a 10-and-a-half-minute scoring drought between the second and third quarters.
When asked if the scoring drought between the 5:43 mark of the second quarter and 3:21 mark of the third quarter was Goshen's defense or his team's execution, Wawasee first-year coach Steve Wiktorowski accredited both.
“They play good defense,” he said. “They were switching and made a couple of adjustments at halftime. We've been working hard on our fast break, trying to find a way to score some easy baskets. I don't think we ran that as hard as I would have liked to, but I think we were being careful not to turn the ball over. There were a variety of things, plus we didn't knock down some shots.”
The drought began after junior Stori Bright tied the game at 14-14, but by the time junior Alex Clark scored Wawasee's next points with a three-pointer with 3:21 remaining in the third quarter, Goshen had built a 28-14 lead.
However, that Clark trey ignited an 11-0 Wawasee run in just over two minutes, as he hit back-to-back three-pointers, then assisted on a bucket by junior Gage Reinhard, who later scored with 1:02 left in the quarter to cut the Redskins' lead to 28-25.
Struggling mightily to score, Clark was visibily frustrated and took the team on his shoulders, getting it back into the game.
“What I liked was, not only did he do that, but he played pretty good defense,” Wiktorowski said of Clark, who had 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal in the loss. “After getting off to a rough start, with turnovers, I thought he settled down and ran the team well. He took care of the basketball pretty well, overall.”
Just as Wawasee had climbed back into the game, Goshen's 6-foot-5 junior center Austin Woolett stymied the comeback, hitting a putback layup as time expired on the quarter.
“That's an offensive rebound and that's what Woolett can do,” Goshen coach Brian Bechtel said. "He has a lot of bounce in his step, he's very athletic and attacks the boards well. That was a big bucket for us, because it kind of soothed things a little bit going into the fourth quarter.”
Woolett finished the game converting 7 of 8 field goals for 16 points.
“He's a man inside,” Wiktorowski said. “He's strong and I think he was their leading scorer last year. He hurt us.”
Just like the end of the third quarter, Woolett also ended the first quarter with a putback basket and second-chance points were a theme for Goshen.
Both teams finished the game with seven offensive rebounds, but Goshen had 10 second-chance points to Wawasee's two.
“We really worked harder on rebounding this week than we have all year,” Wiktorowski said of his team, which was outrebounded 27-24. “We also went with a little bit smaller lineup, because we thought that would allow us to match up with their quick guards. So, we weren't shocked (about the rebounding). I didn't think it was necessarily a lack of effort. We could have done a better job at it, but you also have to give credit to (Goshen).”
Along with rebounding, Wawasee was also concerned with Goshen sophomore Brady Bechtel, who's helped his team win four-straight games since returning from an ACL injury.
Face-guarding the coach's son, Wawasee limited Bechtel to two points, on two free throws, but Woolett and senior Deric Haynes each scored 16 and senior Alex Hartsough chipped in nine off the bench.
“We tried to do things to make the other guys know we were running plays for them,” Brian Bechtel said. “Brady just gives us some confidence, because he's a really good ball handler and he can score. Tonight, hopefully this proves that he doesn't need to score high points for us. We have other guys that can do that.”
Along with Clark's performance, Wawasee got nine points from Reinhard and 10 rebounds out of junior Stori Bright.
“I thought there were some real positives,” Wiktorowski said. “Had some turnovers in the first half and we cut those down. In the second half, we made a run at them. Our defense was fairly consistent. We just need to score more than 38 points.”
The game was Wawasee's first of six in 13 days, as the Warriors are on the road for fourstraight, before returning home for their regular season finale against Tippecanoe Valley on Feb. 28.
Because the weather has postponed so many games, Wiktorowski hopes his guys are ready for the rapid-fire games, which resume Saturday afternoon at Rochester.
“That's what everybody is facing right now with all the cancellations,” Wiktorowski said. “It's no different for us. The kids have done a great job of preparing for the next game, and moving on to the next game. I hope that continues.”
GOSHEN 48, WAWASEE 38
G 12 6 12 18 – 48
W 10 4 11 13 – 38
Goshen – Alex Haney 0-3 0-0 0, Brady Bechtel 0-3 2-2 2, Jack Gingerich 0-2 2-2 2, Deric Haynes 7-15 0-0 16, Austin Woolett 7-8 2-2 16, Cam Kline 0-2 1-2 1, Alex Hartsough 2-5 5-6 9, D.J. Ambrose 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 17-40 12-14 48.
Wawasee – Aaron Voirol 2-5 0-0 5, Gage Reinhard 4-7 0-1 9, Sam Clark 1-4 0-0 2, Alex Clark 6-15 1-2 16, Stori Bright 1-4 0-2 2, Jeffrey Moore 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Hutchinson 0-2 0-0 0, Chase Myers 1-3 2-2 4, David Rocha 0-0 0-0 0, Kody Carpenter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-40 3-7 38.
Three-pointers – Goshen 2-12 (Haynes 2), Wawasee 5-17 (A. Clark 3, Voirol, Reinhard); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Goshen 14 (Woolett), Wawasee 15 (Reinhard); Turnovers – Goshen 8, Wawasee 12; Rebounds – Goshen 27 (Hartsough 7), Wawasee 24 (Bright 10); Assists – Goshen 7 (Gingerich 3), Wawasee 7 (S. Clark 4); Steals – Goshen 6 (Gingerich 2), Wawasee 2; Blocks – Goshen 3, Wawasee 0.
Records: Goshen 8-8 (3-4 NLC), Wawasee 3-12 (0-6 NLC)
JV – Wawasee 36, Goshen 30
Wawasee JV – Parker Hatfield 10, Moore 9, Tyler Smith 9, Conner Sausaman 3, Aaron Beer 2, Chase Rookstool 2, Jayce Boatwright 1[[In-content Ad]]
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