Tiger Girls Done In By Turnovers
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
CROWN POINT - Warsaw's varsity girls basketball team had its chances to knock off undefeated Crown Point Saturday, but they slipped through the Tigers' hands.
Literally.
Playing a Tom May-coached Crown Point team known for its defense, the Tigers led 33-26 at halftime and outscored the host Bulldogs in three of the four quarters.
It was a third quarter that lacked offensive output and was filled with turnovers, however, that did in the Tigers, as they fell to 1-2 on the season with a 58-53 loss.
Warsaw turned the ball over 26 times in the five-point loss, with 19 of the turnovers being steals that led to 22 points for the Bulldogs.
Crown Point, which improved to 4-0 on the season, committed 13 turnovers.
"This is a difficult loss," said first-year Warsaw coach John Snyder. "I wasn't sure how we'd come up here and play and in the first half we did phenominal. Because of that, my expectations rose. We came out in the third quarter and played like we did, and that's very discouraging."
Discouraging because the Tigers were outscored 17-4 in the third quarter.
Discouraging because the Tigers were 1 of 7 from the field in the third quarter.
And discouraging because, as bad as thing looked for Warsaw at times, the Tigers had their chances to knock off the undefeated Bulldogs, a team that has won its first four games by an average of 25.5 points.
"Obviously Coach May made adjustments and we didn't respond to that," said Snyder. "I'll take responsibility for the third quarter."
Crown Point started the third quarter with an 8-0 run, taking a 34-33 lead on a pair of field goals from all-state point guard Cassie Pruzin and a field goal and two free throws from Jill Weiand.
Tiger sophomore Danielle DeGeeter scored Warsaw's first two points of the quarter with 5:44 remaining in the frame, converting two free throws to give Warsaw a one-point lead. Warsaw didn't score again until junior Julie Seiss cut Crown Point's advantage to 38-37 with a field goal two minutes later.
The Bulldogs closed the third quarter with a 5-0 run and led by as much as nine, 51-42, in the fourth quarter.
Warsaw rattled off a 7-0 run of its own on a basket from senior Rebekah Reichard, a three-point play from DeGeeter and a field goal from Amy Abbitt, cutting the lead to 51-49 with 3:23 remaining.
Kaitlyn Sertich hit a field goal for Crown Point with 2:52 remaining, followed by a pair of free throws from Pruzin a minute later, and time literally ran out for Warsaw.
After getting the ball back, the Bulldogs stalled, working the ball around to run out the clock.
Snyder hoped his defense could produce a turnover, but it didn't, and the clock ran all the way down to 27 seconds before Warsaw fouled.
Weiand hit a charity toss to give the Bulldogs a 56-49 lead, and the Tigers got no closer than four points, 57-53, when DeGeeter hit a bucket with 5.9 seconds remaining, the rest of the way.
Hannah Plumley rounded out the game's scoring, hitting the second of two free throw attempts with 3.5 seconds left.
The Bulldogs finished the game 10 of 18 (55.6 percent) from the free throw line
"They had a six-point lead, and at least three or four of their players out there were good free throw shooters," said Snyder. "I thought with our defense we could come up with a deflection or a steal."
It was Crown Point's defense, however, that came up with big steals or deflections during the game, finishing the contest with 19 steals.
Pruzin tallied eight steals for the Bulldogs to go with 11 points and four rebounds.
Sertich added 11 points, while Weiand scored nine Courtney Perry seven and Anjellica Respond and Stephanie Poulos six each.
The Bulldogs shot 24 of 52 (46.2 percent) from the field and outrebounded Warsaw 30-27.
Seiss led Warsaw with 17 points, while Reichard had 14 points and seven rebounds and DeGeeter 11 points.
No other Tiger scored more than four points, and Warsaw finished the game 19 of 44 (43.2 percent) from the field.
Warsaw is in action again Friday at South Bend Clay. [[In-content Ad]]
CROWN POINT - Warsaw's varsity girls basketball team had its chances to knock off undefeated Crown Point Saturday, but they slipped through the Tigers' hands.
Literally.
Playing a Tom May-coached Crown Point team known for its defense, the Tigers led 33-26 at halftime and outscored the host Bulldogs in three of the four quarters.
It was a third quarter that lacked offensive output and was filled with turnovers, however, that did in the Tigers, as they fell to 1-2 on the season with a 58-53 loss.
Warsaw turned the ball over 26 times in the five-point loss, with 19 of the turnovers being steals that led to 22 points for the Bulldogs.
Crown Point, which improved to 4-0 on the season, committed 13 turnovers.
"This is a difficult loss," said first-year Warsaw coach John Snyder. "I wasn't sure how we'd come up here and play and in the first half we did phenominal. Because of that, my expectations rose. We came out in the third quarter and played like we did, and that's very discouraging."
Discouraging because the Tigers were outscored 17-4 in the third quarter.
Discouraging because the Tigers were 1 of 7 from the field in the third quarter.
And discouraging because, as bad as thing looked for Warsaw at times, the Tigers had their chances to knock off the undefeated Bulldogs, a team that has won its first four games by an average of 25.5 points.
"Obviously Coach May made adjustments and we didn't respond to that," said Snyder. "I'll take responsibility for the third quarter."
Crown Point started the third quarter with an 8-0 run, taking a 34-33 lead on a pair of field goals from all-state point guard Cassie Pruzin and a field goal and two free throws from Jill Weiand.
Tiger sophomore Danielle DeGeeter scored Warsaw's first two points of the quarter with 5:44 remaining in the frame, converting two free throws to give Warsaw a one-point lead. Warsaw didn't score again until junior Julie Seiss cut Crown Point's advantage to 38-37 with a field goal two minutes later.
The Bulldogs closed the third quarter with a 5-0 run and led by as much as nine, 51-42, in the fourth quarter.
Warsaw rattled off a 7-0 run of its own on a basket from senior Rebekah Reichard, a three-point play from DeGeeter and a field goal from Amy Abbitt, cutting the lead to 51-49 with 3:23 remaining.
Kaitlyn Sertich hit a field goal for Crown Point with 2:52 remaining, followed by a pair of free throws from Pruzin a minute later, and time literally ran out for Warsaw.
After getting the ball back, the Bulldogs stalled, working the ball around to run out the clock.
Snyder hoped his defense could produce a turnover, but it didn't, and the clock ran all the way down to 27 seconds before Warsaw fouled.
Weiand hit a charity toss to give the Bulldogs a 56-49 lead, and the Tigers got no closer than four points, 57-53, when DeGeeter hit a bucket with 5.9 seconds remaining, the rest of the way.
Hannah Plumley rounded out the game's scoring, hitting the second of two free throw attempts with 3.5 seconds left.
The Bulldogs finished the game 10 of 18 (55.6 percent) from the free throw line
"They had a six-point lead, and at least three or four of their players out there were good free throw shooters," said Snyder. "I thought with our defense we could come up with a deflection or a steal."
It was Crown Point's defense, however, that came up with big steals or deflections during the game, finishing the contest with 19 steals.
Pruzin tallied eight steals for the Bulldogs to go with 11 points and four rebounds.
Sertich added 11 points, while Weiand scored nine Courtney Perry seven and Anjellica Respond and Stephanie Poulos six each.
The Bulldogs shot 24 of 52 (46.2 percent) from the field and outrebounded Warsaw 30-27.
Seiss led Warsaw with 17 points, while Reichard had 14 points and seven rebounds and DeGeeter 11 points.
No other Tiger scored more than four points, and Warsaw finished the game 19 of 44 (43.2 percent) from the field.
Warsaw is in action again Friday at South Bend Clay. [[In-content Ad]]