Tiger Girls Fall To Barons
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
COLUMBIA CITY - After giving DeKalb too many second-chance points Friday, Warsaw's varsity girls basketball team won't get the opportunity for a second chance against Carroll tonight.
The Tigers, who struggled from the field and fell 45-40 to Carroll Jan. 27, could have played the Chargers for the Columbia City 4A Sectional championship but lost a six-point lead to DeKalb and bowed out of the state tournament with a 52-50 semifinal loss to the Barons.
Carroll, which fell to Warsaw in last year's sectional championship at the Tiger Den, advanced to tonight's title tilt with a 43-32 win over host Columbia City.
After shooting just above 30 percent from the floor against Carroll in late Jan., first-year Warsaw coach John Snyder said his team could play better than that and was hoping for another chance at the Chargers in the sectional.
Because of the second-chance points Warsaw gave up to DeKalb, the Tigers won't get their second chance at Carroll.
"Our individual defense was very poor," said Snyder, whose Tigers end the season winning just twice in their final six games, the same record they posted to begin the season. "We gave them too many second-chance points. They stepped up and made the big plays and we didn't. In a close game that makes all the difference."
Junior point guard Julie Seiss gave Warsaw a 37-33 lead when she beat the buzzer with a nothing-but-net three-pointer at the end of the third quarter and a 39-35 lead with 7:22 to play in the game but the Barons kept battling back and tied the game at 39, 41 and 43.
DeKalb junior Jenna Donaldson gave her team a 46-43 lead with at three-pointer with 2:18 left to play and the Barons prevailed after it looked like they may have shot themselves in the foot.
Leading 46-45, the Barons looked like they had a two easy points as Courtney Beerbower had the ball in the paint ready to score, but coach Doug Curtis called a time out before she could score, and with 47.2 seconds left it looked like maybe the break Warsaw needed.
It didn't turn out that way as junior guard Kara Boester drew a foul and converted a three-point play with 35.2 seconds left, and then added two more free throws with 15 seconds to play, giving the Barons a 51-45 lead.
A Seiss field goal cut the deficit to four, 51-47, with 9.1 seconds left. With 8.0 seconds remaining, Jenna Donaldson hit the first of a two-shot free throw opportunity. The Tigers grabbed the rebound on the miss, and Seiss hit a three with 1.3 seconds left, accounting for the final score.
The Barons inbounded the ball and just ran the clock out, setting up a rematch with Northeast Hoosier Conference foe Carroll, which beat the Barons 47-42 earlier in the season.
Three times in Friday's sectional semifinal, the Tigers led by as much as six points, first at 25-19, at 32-26 and then at 34-28.
In the fourth quarter, however, DeKalb was 6 of 7 from the field and 7 of 8 from the charity stripe and made the plays when it needed to.
"We just didn't execute well offensively in the fourth quarter," said Snyder, whose team finished the season with a 13-10 record. "We turned the ball over too many times and were passing the ball at people's feet."
The Tigers hit 5 of 11 shots in the fourth quarter and 2 of 4 free throws.
For the game, Warsaw was 17 of 41 (41.5 percent) from the field, while DeKalb was 21 of 43 (48.8 percent).
Seiss scored 17 points in the second half and led the Tigers with a game-high 24 points. She also dished out a game-high four assists.
"Julie Seiss is a great player," said Snyder. "In many ways she's our leader on and off the court. At times I think we may have relied on her too much. She had 24 points and four assists tonight, that's a good evening. I'll argue that she should be a junior all-star. Julie is an excellent player offensively and defensively."
Seiss scored the 1,000th point of her varsity career in Warsaw's first-round sectional win over East Noble and currently has 1,027 points heading into her senior year.
Rebekah Reichard and Danielle DeGeeter had 10 points and six rebounds each for the Tigers, while Jennifer Scherer had four points and Kim Clay two.
Reichard, a three-year starter, will be lost to graduation, as will Mallory Hepler, Laura Heiman, Rachel Braddock and Karen Sand.
"I have to give a special thank you to our seniors," said Snyder. "They did a lot for us this year and they will be missed."
The two-point win improved DeKalb to 17-4 on the season. The Barons will square off with Carroll, now 14-7, will square off tonight at 7:30 p.m. with a berth in the Huntington Regional on the line.
Courtney Beerbower led DeKalb with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Jenna Donaldson had 15 points, Boester 13 points and Anne Turner seven points and seven rebounds.
DEKALB 52, WARSAW 50
DeKalb 10 15 12 29 - 66
Warsaw 12 12 33 23 - 79
DeKalb FG FT R S Pts.
* Macy 0-0 0-0 3 1 0
* Dnldson 6-12 1-2 2 0 15
* Boester 4-13 5-5 0 1 13
* Prkupek 0-2 0-0 2 0 0
*Brbower 8-12 1-6 9 1 17
Kelley 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Feller 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Turner 3-3 1-2 7 3 7
Team 0-0 0-0 5 0 0
Totals 21-43 8-15 28 6 52
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* DeGeeter 3-8 3-4 6 0 10
* Abbitt 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
* Seiss 7-14 7-8 1 2 24
* Reichard 4-7 2-3 6 0 10
* Hepler 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Heiman 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Team 0-0 0-0 5 0 0
Totals 17-41 12-15 25 2 50
Three-point goals - DeKalb 2-10 (Donaldson 2-4, Boester 0-5, Kelley 0-1), Warsaw 4-9 (Seiss 3-4, DeGeeter 1-3, Clay 0-2). Turnovers - DeKalb 9, Warsaw 9. Fouls - DeKalb 14, Warsaw 14. Fouled out - none. [[In-content Ad]]
COLUMBIA CITY - After giving DeKalb too many second-chance points Friday, Warsaw's varsity girls basketball team won't get the opportunity for a second chance against Carroll tonight.
The Tigers, who struggled from the field and fell 45-40 to Carroll Jan. 27, could have played the Chargers for the Columbia City 4A Sectional championship but lost a six-point lead to DeKalb and bowed out of the state tournament with a 52-50 semifinal loss to the Barons.
Carroll, which fell to Warsaw in last year's sectional championship at the Tiger Den, advanced to tonight's title tilt with a 43-32 win over host Columbia City.
After shooting just above 30 percent from the floor against Carroll in late Jan., first-year Warsaw coach John Snyder said his team could play better than that and was hoping for another chance at the Chargers in the sectional.
Because of the second-chance points Warsaw gave up to DeKalb, the Tigers won't get their second chance at Carroll.
"Our individual defense was very poor," said Snyder, whose Tigers end the season winning just twice in their final six games, the same record they posted to begin the season. "We gave them too many second-chance points. They stepped up and made the big plays and we didn't. In a close game that makes all the difference."
Junior point guard Julie Seiss gave Warsaw a 37-33 lead when she beat the buzzer with a nothing-but-net three-pointer at the end of the third quarter and a 39-35 lead with 7:22 to play in the game but the Barons kept battling back and tied the game at 39, 41 and 43.
DeKalb junior Jenna Donaldson gave her team a 46-43 lead with at three-pointer with 2:18 left to play and the Barons prevailed after it looked like they may have shot themselves in the foot.
Leading 46-45, the Barons looked like they had a two easy points as Courtney Beerbower had the ball in the paint ready to score, but coach Doug Curtis called a time out before she could score, and with 47.2 seconds left it looked like maybe the break Warsaw needed.
It didn't turn out that way as junior guard Kara Boester drew a foul and converted a three-point play with 35.2 seconds left, and then added two more free throws with 15 seconds to play, giving the Barons a 51-45 lead.
A Seiss field goal cut the deficit to four, 51-47, with 9.1 seconds left. With 8.0 seconds remaining, Jenna Donaldson hit the first of a two-shot free throw opportunity. The Tigers grabbed the rebound on the miss, and Seiss hit a three with 1.3 seconds left, accounting for the final score.
The Barons inbounded the ball and just ran the clock out, setting up a rematch with Northeast Hoosier Conference foe Carroll, which beat the Barons 47-42 earlier in the season.
Three times in Friday's sectional semifinal, the Tigers led by as much as six points, first at 25-19, at 32-26 and then at 34-28.
In the fourth quarter, however, DeKalb was 6 of 7 from the field and 7 of 8 from the charity stripe and made the plays when it needed to.
"We just didn't execute well offensively in the fourth quarter," said Snyder, whose team finished the season with a 13-10 record. "We turned the ball over too many times and were passing the ball at people's feet."
The Tigers hit 5 of 11 shots in the fourth quarter and 2 of 4 free throws.
For the game, Warsaw was 17 of 41 (41.5 percent) from the field, while DeKalb was 21 of 43 (48.8 percent).
Seiss scored 17 points in the second half and led the Tigers with a game-high 24 points. She also dished out a game-high four assists.
"Julie Seiss is a great player," said Snyder. "In many ways she's our leader on and off the court. At times I think we may have relied on her too much. She had 24 points and four assists tonight, that's a good evening. I'll argue that she should be a junior all-star. Julie is an excellent player offensively and defensively."
Seiss scored the 1,000th point of her varsity career in Warsaw's first-round sectional win over East Noble and currently has 1,027 points heading into her senior year.
Rebekah Reichard and Danielle DeGeeter had 10 points and six rebounds each for the Tigers, while Jennifer Scherer had four points and Kim Clay two.
Reichard, a three-year starter, will be lost to graduation, as will Mallory Hepler, Laura Heiman, Rachel Braddock and Karen Sand.
"I have to give a special thank you to our seniors," said Snyder. "They did a lot for us this year and they will be missed."
The two-point win improved DeKalb to 17-4 on the season. The Barons will square off with Carroll, now 14-7, will square off tonight at 7:30 p.m. with a berth in the Huntington Regional on the line.
Courtney Beerbower led DeKalb with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Jenna Donaldson had 15 points, Boester 13 points and Anne Turner seven points and seven rebounds.
DEKALB 52, WARSAW 50
DeKalb 10 15 12 29 - 66
Warsaw 12 12 33 23 - 79
DeKalb FG FT R S Pts.
* Macy 0-0 0-0 3 1 0
* Dnldson 6-12 1-2 2 0 15
* Boester 4-13 5-5 0 1 13
* Prkupek 0-2 0-0 2 0 0
*Brbower 8-12 1-6 9 1 17
Kelley 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Feller 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Turner 3-3 1-2 7 3 7
Team 0-0 0-0 5 0 0
Totals 21-43 8-15 28 6 52
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* DeGeeter 3-8 3-4 6 0 10
* Abbitt 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
* Seiss 7-14 7-8 1 2 24
* Reichard 4-7 2-3 6 0 10
* Hepler 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Heiman 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Team 0-0 0-0 5 0 0
Totals 17-41 12-15 25 2 50
Three-point goals - DeKalb 2-10 (Donaldson 2-4, Boester 0-5, Kelley 0-1), Warsaw 4-9 (Seiss 3-4, DeGeeter 1-3, Clay 0-2). Turnovers - DeKalb 9, Warsaw 9. Fouls - DeKalb 14, Warsaw 14. Fouled out - none. [[In-content Ad]]