Ranked second in the Class 4A polls, it's all about being No. 1 now for Will Wienhorst and his Warsaw girls basketball team.

The team that was ranked preseason No. 1 by Hoosier Basketball Magazine and the coaches association, the Tigers can back that up with a win over Indianapolis North Central Saturday.

The second-ranked Tigers (26-2) and the fifth-ranked Panthers (22-3) battle at approximately 8:30 p.m. at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for the Class 4A state championship.

Seniors Jaclyn Leininger, Michelle DeGeeter and Holly Durcholz have just one game left in a Tiger uniform, and looking back, all that talk by Wienhorst about taking one game at a time and proving Warsaw is a better team than the team it's playing that night makes a whole lot of sense.

"I think we've grown a lot this season, especially after the loss at Tippy Valley," said Wienhorst, whose 420 career wins rank him sixth all-time among girls coaches in Indiana. "I think we grew a lot from the Carroll game in the sectional, and I hope the semistate game with Valpo helps us grow. We just want to go out and prove that we're better than North Central Saturday."

If the Tigers do that they'll bring home the school's third state championship, its first since 1978 when Chanda dropped 29 points on Jac-Cen-Del in the championship game and later brought home Miss Basketball honors.

"If we win the state championship, I don't think I'll have the words to explain how awesome that is," said Miss Basketball candidate Jaclyn Leininger, who scored all four of Warsaw's points in overtime Saturday, including a pair of free throws with 9.8 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Tigers to a 53-51 semistate win over Valparaiso.

The Tigers haven't had to say much, they've done most of their talking on the floor where they've won 26 of 27 games since losing the season opener to county rival Tippecanoe Valley.

Other than the win over DeKalb in the sectional opener, Warsaw's state tournament victories have come against teams ranked in the top 15.

On a night Leininger scored 15 points below her average and took just five shots from the field, the Tigers made a fourth-quarter comeback to beat 14th-ranked Carroll (20-3).

In the regional it was No. 10 Kokomo (19-5) and No. 9 Huntington North (20-4) that fell to the Tigers, as both the Wildkats and Vikings suffered their biggest losing margins of the season. For Warsaw, it was the third time this season it won a championship after playing two games in one day.

"I think we're battle tested," said Wienhorst, whose Tigers advanced to the state title game in 1991 and fell to undefeated Bedford North Lawrence 52-44. "We've played a very tough schedule and beat a lot of good teams."

North Central, the second-largest school in the state, won the sectional championship with victories over Noblesville (8-13), No. 3 Hamilton Southeastern (20-2) and Carmel (10-12).

The Panthers won the regional title by beating Pike (16-7) and No. 17 Perry Meridian (18-7).

North Central advanced to Conseco Fieldhouse and the state title game with a 60-44 win over Mooresville, the team Warsaw beat 63-51 in the championship game of the Hall of Fame Classic after thrashing then No. 5 Jeffersonville 63-46 in the semifinal game.

The Tigers and Panthers have three common opponents in Mooresville, Perry Meridian and Kokomo. Warsaw beat all three teams by double digits.

Warsaw, which averages 62.5 points per contest, has given up 44 points per game this season. After averaging 13 turnovers per game during the regular season, Warsaw is averaging just eight turnovers per game in the state tournament.

Leininger leads the Tiger scoring charge with her 25.5 points per game. The 6-foot guard shoots 55 percent from the field, 56 percent from three-point range and 85 percent from the free throw line.

Sophomore point guard Julie Seiss averages 12 points, 4.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game, while frontliners Michelle DeGeeter and Rebekah Reichard combine for 16 points and 12 rebounds per game. Junior guard Kara Mayer rounds out the Tiger starting five with 3.5 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.

As much talk as its offense gets, Warsaw's defense will have to pass arguably its toughest test of the year Saturday.

The Panthers are led in scoring and rebounding by 6-foot-5 sophomore Amber Harris, who has dunked twice this season and made a verbal commitment to play at Purdue.

Harris averages 13 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. She has 70 blocked shots to her credit this year.

"As tall as she is, she's a finesse player," Wienhorst said of Harris. "She's a pretty complete player, she handles the ball well, but they also have a lot of people around her."

North Central, which scores 55 points per game and gives up 40, gets 8.2 points per game from point 5-6 point guard Ashley Conner.

Six-foot forward Valarie Dupree averages 6.8 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, while 5-10 forward Sara Jordan averages 4.8 points and 1.5 rebounds and 5-6 guard Kelli Agness 4.6 points and 1.2 rebounds.

As a team, Warsaw shoots 48 percent from the field, while North Central is at 44 percent. The Tigers shoot 71.2 percent from the free throw line, while the Panthers hit 63.2 percent.

Warsaw averages 29.9 rebounds per contest, while the Panthers collect 25.1 boards per game.

North Central coach Alan Vickrey has 363 wins in his 25-year career and has made one state finals appearance when he coached at Brebeuf in 1982.

Wienhorst and Vickrey have coached against each other just one time, with Warsaw beating Brebeub 51-38 in the semifinal round of the 1988 Hall of Fame Classic.

Their motto is written on assistant coach Ray Davis' basement wall - One Team, One Dream; One Season, One Reason.

Now it all comes down to one game. [[In-content Ad]]