Third Quarter Fuels Warsaw Win
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
For whatever reason, the fire alarm sounded at halftime of Warsaw's 53-39 girls basketball win over Whitko Tuesday, forcing the small crowd to retreat to the parking lot.
With the two teams shooting a combined 15 of 50 (30 percent) from the field and turning the ball over 22 times between them in the first two quarters, it wasn't the game that triggered the alarm.
In fact, the hottest thing in the gym at the time may have been Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst's temperature. Wienhorst didn't attend practice on Monday due to illness, and assistant coach Ray Davis answered questions after the game.
Though it was unplanned, that fire alarm was just what Warsaw needed.
After leading by two, 23-21, at the break, Warsaw heated up in the third quarter and outscored the Wildcats 17-4 in the frame.
"That fire alarm helped us a little bit there," said Davis, who resigned as Whitko's coach last spring.
Said Whitko coach Mike Sands: "The biggest turning point in the game was when that fire alarm went off. I told the girls that after we had to go and stand outside for a while that it would cause them to lose their focus. The third quarter was our downfall with no doubt. We only scored four to their 17. We had a letdown in the third."
The win improves Warsaw's overall season record to 8-5. The Wildcats drop to 4-8.
Junior Kara Kesler sparked Warsaw's third-quarter run with a field goal at the 7:29 mark, pushing the Warsaw lead to 25-21. Nici Nestel brought Whitko within 25-22 with a charity toss at the 5:11 mark, but sophomore Hilary O'Connell capped off a 13-1 Warsaw run with a field goal at the 1:58 mark that pushed the Tigers' lead advantage to 36-22. Warsaw led 40-25 after three quarters of play.
O'Connell finished the game with 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and four steals. Warsaw senior Jenna Rooney led all scorers with 16 points, shooting 6 of 14 from the field and 2 of 2 from the charity stripe.
Nestel, a 5-11 senior forward, led the Wildcats with 13 points on a 5-of-12 shooting performance from the field. She was also 3 of 7 from the charity stripe. Six-foot senior Monica Sands, Whitko's leading scorer for the season, finished the game with 12 points and nine rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Whitko outscored the Tigers 14-13 in the final frame but it was too little too late.
Sands scored nine points and pulled down six rebounds in the first half. When Sands was clicking, Whitko was clicking.
"We were getting the ball inside more in the fourth quarter and we got to the charity stripe more," said Sands. "She's (Sands) got to work on keeping her hand up and concentrating on defense, not as much on blocking shots. Without the third quarter I think we'd have a better ball game."
With Davis at the helm of the Whitko program, the Wildcats tripped up Warsaw 42-41 a year ago. Davis joined Warsaw's coaching staff this year as a volunteer assistant, but still teaches at Whitko.
"When you coach these Whitko kids for five years you want them to play good," said Davis. "It's nice to be at Warsaw, the kids really listen to what you have to say. Warsaw really wanted to win. Now I get to go back to school at Whitko."
Warsaw (8-5) will host host Class 4A No. 8 Fort Wayne Snider (10-2) at 6:15 p.m. Saturday.
"We've got Snider coming in," said Davis. "I don't think it'll take much to get the girls pumped. We'll take the three days that we have and work on fundamentals for a day and take two days to work on Snider."
Whitko (4-8) will host Three Rivers Conference rival Rochester, 9-0 and ranked fourth in the latest Class 3A poll.
"It's a big TRC game," said Sands. "They're supposed to be quick. We have to concentrate on taking care of the ball. We're going to work on our press. It's hard for the kids because it's exam week but this is a big week with two big games (Warsaw, Rochester)."
WARSAW 53, WHITKO 39
Whitko (4-8) 11 10 4 14 - 39
Warsaw (8-5) 11 12 17 13 - 53
Whitko FG FT R A S Pts.
Walter (G) 0-5 2-2 1 0 1 2
Ca. Badskey (G) 1-4 0-2 2 0 3 2
Menck 0-1 0-0 2 1 0 0
Frantz 5-9 0-0 9 0 2 10
Metzger (F) 0-2 0-0 5 2 2 0
Rowland 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Nestel (F) 5-12 3-7 6 1 0 13
Cripe 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Sands (C) 3-11 6-7 9 0 0 12
Ch. Badskey 0-2 0-0 1 0 0 0
Total 14-47 11-17 35 4 8 39
Warsaw FG FT R A S Pts.
Kesler (G) 2-5 1-6 4 3 1 5
DeRenzo 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Colt 0-2 2-4 2 2 1 2
Wyatt 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 2
Poling 2-3 2-4 2 0 1 6
O'Connell (G) 5-15 1-2 8 3 4 13
Parker (F) 0-2 0-0 3 2 3 0
Conley 2-6 1-2 4 0 1 5
Knisely 0-1 2-2 3 0 0 2
Rooney (F) 6-14 2-2 6 0 1 16
Overton (F) 0-3 0-0 4 0 0 0
Stanley 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Taylor 1-3 0-0 8 0 2 2
Totals 18-54 13-24 45 10 14 53
Three-pointers - Whitko 0, Warsaw 4 (O'Connell 2, Rooney 2). Turnovers - Whitko 23, Warsaw 18. Fouls - Whitko 17, Warsaw 17. Fouled out - Sands.
JV: Warsaw 41, Whitko 38
Warsaw scoring - Wyatt 10, DeRenzo 8, Burner 6, Conley 6, McGriff 5, Sumpter 2, Kiphart 2, Chabot 2.
Whitko scoring - Trump 10, Kelley 8, Badskey 7, C. Cripe 6, M. Cripe 5, Rowland 2 [[In-content Ad]]
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For whatever reason, the fire alarm sounded at halftime of Warsaw's 53-39 girls basketball win over Whitko Tuesday, forcing the small crowd to retreat to the parking lot.
With the two teams shooting a combined 15 of 50 (30 percent) from the field and turning the ball over 22 times between them in the first two quarters, it wasn't the game that triggered the alarm.
In fact, the hottest thing in the gym at the time may have been Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst's temperature. Wienhorst didn't attend practice on Monday due to illness, and assistant coach Ray Davis answered questions after the game.
Though it was unplanned, that fire alarm was just what Warsaw needed.
After leading by two, 23-21, at the break, Warsaw heated up in the third quarter and outscored the Wildcats 17-4 in the frame.
"That fire alarm helped us a little bit there," said Davis, who resigned as Whitko's coach last spring.
Said Whitko coach Mike Sands: "The biggest turning point in the game was when that fire alarm went off. I told the girls that after we had to go and stand outside for a while that it would cause them to lose their focus. The third quarter was our downfall with no doubt. We only scored four to their 17. We had a letdown in the third."
The win improves Warsaw's overall season record to 8-5. The Wildcats drop to 4-8.
Junior Kara Kesler sparked Warsaw's third-quarter run with a field goal at the 7:29 mark, pushing the Warsaw lead to 25-21. Nici Nestel brought Whitko within 25-22 with a charity toss at the 5:11 mark, but sophomore Hilary O'Connell capped off a 13-1 Warsaw run with a field goal at the 1:58 mark that pushed the Tigers' lead advantage to 36-22. Warsaw led 40-25 after three quarters of play.
O'Connell finished the game with 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and four steals. Warsaw senior Jenna Rooney led all scorers with 16 points, shooting 6 of 14 from the field and 2 of 2 from the charity stripe.
Nestel, a 5-11 senior forward, led the Wildcats with 13 points on a 5-of-12 shooting performance from the field. She was also 3 of 7 from the charity stripe. Six-foot senior Monica Sands, Whitko's leading scorer for the season, finished the game with 12 points and nine rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Whitko outscored the Tigers 14-13 in the final frame but it was too little too late.
Sands scored nine points and pulled down six rebounds in the first half. When Sands was clicking, Whitko was clicking.
"We were getting the ball inside more in the fourth quarter and we got to the charity stripe more," said Sands. "She's (Sands) got to work on keeping her hand up and concentrating on defense, not as much on blocking shots. Without the third quarter I think we'd have a better ball game."
With Davis at the helm of the Whitko program, the Wildcats tripped up Warsaw 42-41 a year ago. Davis joined Warsaw's coaching staff this year as a volunteer assistant, but still teaches at Whitko.
"When you coach these Whitko kids for five years you want them to play good," said Davis. "It's nice to be at Warsaw, the kids really listen to what you have to say. Warsaw really wanted to win. Now I get to go back to school at Whitko."
Warsaw (8-5) will host host Class 4A No. 8 Fort Wayne Snider (10-2) at 6:15 p.m. Saturday.
"We've got Snider coming in," said Davis. "I don't think it'll take much to get the girls pumped. We'll take the three days that we have and work on fundamentals for a day and take two days to work on Snider."
Whitko (4-8) will host Three Rivers Conference rival Rochester, 9-0 and ranked fourth in the latest Class 3A poll.
"It's a big TRC game," said Sands. "They're supposed to be quick. We have to concentrate on taking care of the ball. We're going to work on our press. It's hard for the kids because it's exam week but this is a big week with two big games (Warsaw, Rochester)."
WARSAW 53, WHITKO 39
Whitko (4-8) 11 10 4 14 - 39
Warsaw (8-5) 11 12 17 13 - 53
Whitko FG FT R A S Pts.
Walter (G) 0-5 2-2 1 0 1 2
Ca. Badskey (G) 1-4 0-2 2 0 3 2
Menck 0-1 0-0 2 1 0 0
Frantz 5-9 0-0 9 0 2 10
Metzger (F) 0-2 0-0 5 2 2 0
Rowland 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Nestel (F) 5-12 3-7 6 1 0 13
Cripe 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Sands (C) 3-11 6-7 9 0 0 12
Ch. Badskey 0-2 0-0 1 0 0 0
Total 14-47 11-17 35 4 8 39
Warsaw FG FT R A S Pts.
Kesler (G) 2-5 1-6 4 3 1 5
DeRenzo 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Colt 0-2 2-4 2 2 1 2
Wyatt 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 2
Poling 2-3 2-4 2 0 1 6
O'Connell (G) 5-15 1-2 8 3 4 13
Parker (F) 0-2 0-0 3 2 3 0
Conley 2-6 1-2 4 0 1 5
Knisely 0-1 2-2 3 0 0 2
Rooney (F) 6-14 2-2 6 0 1 16
Overton (F) 0-3 0-0 4 0 0 0
Stanley 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Taylor 1-3 0-0 8 0 2 2
Totals 18-54 13-24 45 10 14 53
Three-pointers - Whitko 0, Warsaw 4 (O'Connell 2, Rooney 2). Turnovers - Whitko 23, Warsaw 18. Fouls - Whitko 17, Warsaw 17. Fouled out - Sands.
JV: Warsaw 41, Whitko 38
Warsaw scoring - Wyatt 10, DeRenzo 8, Burner 6, Conley 6, McGriff 5, Sumpter 2, Kiphart 2, Chabot 2.
Whitko scoring - Trump 10, Kelley 8, Badskey 7, C. Cripe 6, M. Cripe 5, Rowland 2 [[In-content Ad]]