Tigers Cruise To Title

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.

By DALE HUBLER, Times-Union Sports Writer-

DUNLAP - For a brief moment in the fourth quarter of Saturday's Concord 4A Sectional championship, Goshen's girls basketball team was close to Warsaw.

In reality, this was thanks to an inadvertent error by the scoreboard operator, as Warsaw cruised to its second sectional championship in three years, 75-42.

The Tigers won their sectional games by an average of nearly 29 points.

The 33-point win improves Warsaw's overall season record to 14-9; Goshen, a team the Tigers topped 71-43 in the regular season, ends its season at 5-17.

Warsaw wasted no time in taking control of the game, jumping out to a 10-point lead with just over five minutes gone from the first-quarter clock. Warsaw led 17-7 after one quarter of play.

Senior Jenna Rooney, who was ill and didn't attend Tuesday's first round win, led the Tigers with seven points in the opening quarter. The 6'0" forward followed Friday's one-point performance with 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 3 of 4 beyond the arc, Saturday.

Tiger sophomore Hilary O'Connell led all scorers with 16 points. O'Connell also tallied seven rebounds, three steals and three assists. Junior point guard Kara Kesler added 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and six steals in the win. Senior center Nerecia Taylor contributed eight points and three rebounds.

"Hilary all year long has stepped up in big games," said Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst, who has won 10 sectionals at Warsaw and 14 overall. "We've played a lot of great competition, nine ranked teams. Taylor got 15 points versus Kokomo, 15 rebounds versus Kokomo. Jenna Rooney showed up tonight after being ill Tuesday and not even coming to the game."

The Redskins got 33 of their 42 points from a trio of double-figure scorers - senior Missy Stults (12), sophomore Shanna Hoogenboom (11) and senior Lisa Robertson (10).

Warsaw outscored the Redskins 23-8 in the second stanza to take a 40-15 advantage at halftime.

The Tigers shot 50 percent (15-30) from the floor in the first half while committing just two turnovers. Goshen shot a respectable 7 of 16 (43.8 percent) from the floor in the first 16 minutes, but turned the ball over 15 times.

"This is a great win for us," said Wienhorst, who now owns a 37-13 career post season record. "Obviously, we played outstanding basketball in the first half."

Warsaw didn't play too shabbily in the second half, either.

For the game, the Tigers were 25 of 58 (43.1 percent) from the floor, including 5 of 10 from beyond the arc, while only turning the ball over nine times. Goshen, on the other hand, turned the ball over a total of 28 times and shot 17 of 41 (41.5 percent) from the field, including 3 of 11 from three-point land.

Goshen outscored Warsaw 14-8 in the third quarter, as Hoogenboom tallied eight of her 11 points in the frame.

Warsaw responded with a 13-3 run in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Redskins 21-9 in the final frame to account for the 33-point win.

Warsaw, who has won nine of its last 13 games, will play sixth-ranked 22-2 Fort Wayne Snider in Tuesday's regional at East Noble High School.

Snider edged the Tigers 69-54 during the regular season.

WARSAW 75, EAST NOBLE 42

Warsaw (14-9) 17 23 14 21 - 75

East Noble (5-17) 7 8 18 9 - 42

Warsaw FG FT R A S Pts.

O'Connell (G) 6-15 2-4 7 3 3 16

Parker (F) 2-6 1-2 7 2 2 5

Conley (C) 0-4 1-2 1 0 0 1

Kesler (G) 3-9 8-8 5 3 6 14

Taylor (F) 3-4 2-2 3 0 2 8

Colt 1-3 1-4 0 1 1 3

Wyatt 0-1 1-2 0 1 2 1

Poling 0-1 0-0 2 1 0 0

Knisely 4-5 0-2 5 0 1 8

Rooney 4-6 4-4 1 0 1 15

Overton 1-2 0-0 2 1 1 2

Stanley 1-2 0-2 4 0 0 2

Totals 25-58 20-32 38 12 19 75

Goshen FG FT R A S Pts.

Hoogenboom (G) 4-9 0-0 3 1 0 11

Yoder (G) 0-3 0-0 0 5 1 0

Robertson (F) 5-8 0-1 5 4 0 10

M. Stults (F) 5-12 2-3 9 0 0 12

Weldy (F) 2-3 0-0 6 0 0 4

Kirkton 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Caton 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0

J. Stults 0-2 1-2 1 0 0 1

Kercher 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Shank 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Headings 1-3 2-2 1 0 0 4

Totals 17-41 5-10 27 10 1 42

Three-pointers - Warsaw 5 (Rooney 3, O'Connell 2), Goshen 3 (Hoogenboom 3). Turnovers - Warsaw 9, Goshen 28. Fouls - Warsaw 13, Goshen 21. Fouled out - J. Stults.

CONCORD 4A SECTIONAL

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Hilary O'Connell, Warsaw (MVP)

Ashley Powell, East Noble

Missy Stults, Goshen

Nerecia Taylor, Warsaw

Kara Kesler, Warsaw [[In-content Ad]]

DUNLAP - For a brief moment in the fourth quarter of Saturday's Concord 4A Sectional championship, Goshen's girls basketball team was close to Warsaw.

In reality, this was thanks to an inadvertent error by the scoreboard operator, as Warsaw cruised to its second sectional championship in three years, 75-42.

The Tigers won their sectional games by an average of nearly 29 points.

The 33-point win improves Warsaw's overall season record to 14-9; Goshen, a team the Tigers topped 71-43 in the regular season, ends its season at 5-17.

Warsaw wasted no time in taking control of the game, jumping out to a 10-point lead with just over five minutes gone from the first-quarter clock. Warsaw led 17-7 after one quarter of play.

Senior Jenna Rooney, who was ill and didn't attend Tuesday's first round win, led the Tigers with seven points in the opening quarter. The 6'0" forward followed Friday's one-point performance with 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 3 of 4 beyond the arc, Saturday.

Tiger sophomore Hilary O'Connell led all scorers with 16 points. O'Connell also tallied seven rebounds, three steals and three assists. Junior point guard Kara Kesler added 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and six steals in the win. Senior center Nerecia Taylor contributed eight points and three rebounds.

"Hilary all year long has stepped up in big games," said Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst, who has won 10 sectionals at Warsaw and 14 overall. "We've played a lot of great competition, nine ranked teams. Taylor got 15 points versus Kokomo, 15 rebounds versus Kokomo. Jenna Rooney showed up tonight after being ill Tuesday and not even coming to the game."

The Redskins got 33 of their 42 points from a trio of double-figure scorers - senior Missy Stults (12), sophomore Shanna Hoogenboom (11) and senior Lisa Robertson (10).

Warsaw outscored the Redskins 23-8 in the second stanza to take a 40-15 advantage at halftime.

The Tigers shot 50 percent (15-30) from the floor in the first half while committing just two turnovers. Goshen shot a respectable 7 of 16 (43.8 percent) from the floor in the first 16 minutes, but turned the ball over 15 times.

"This is a great win for us," said Wienhorst, who now owns a 37-13 career post season record. "Obviously, we played outstanding basketball in the first half."

Warsaw didn't play too shabbily in the second half, either.

For the game, the Tigers were 25 of 58 (43.1 percent) from the floor, including 5 of 10 from beyond the arc, while only turning the ball over nine times. Goshen, on the other hand, turned the ball over a total of 28 times and shot 17 of 41 (41.5 percent) from the field, including 3 of 11 from three-point land.

Goshen outscored Warsaw 14-8 in the third quarter, as Hoogenboom tallied eight of her 11 points in the frame.

Warsaw responded with a 13-3 run in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Redskins 21-9 in the final frame to account for the 33-point win.

Warsaw, who has won nine of its last 13 games, will play sixth-ranked 22-2 Fort Wayne Snider in Tuesday's regional at East Noble High School.

Snider edged the Tigers 69-54 during the regular season.

WARSAW 75, EAST NOBLE 42

Warsaw (14-9) 17 23 14 21 - 75

East Noble (5-17) 7 8 18 9 - 42

Warsaw FG FT R A S Pts.

O'Connell (G) 6-15 2-4 7 3 3 16

Parker (F) 2-6 1-2 7 2 2 5

Conley (C) 0-4 1-2 1 0 0 1

Kesler (G) 3-9 8-8 5 3 6 14

Taylor (F) 3-4 2-2 3 0 2 8

Colt 1-3 1-4 0 1 1 3

Wyatt 0-1 1-2 0 1 2 1

Poling 0-1 0-0 2 1 0 0

Knisely 4-5 0-2 5 0 1 8

Rooney 4-6 4-4 1 0 1 15

Overton 1-2 0-0 2 1 1 2

Stanley 1-2 0-2 4 0 0 2

Totals 25-58 20-32 38 12 19 75

Goshen FG FT R A S Pts.

Hoogenboom (G) 4-9 0-0 3 1 0 11

Yoder (G) 0-3 0-0 0 5 1 0

Robertson (F) 5-8 0-1 5 4 0 10

M. Stults (F) 5-12 2-3 9 0 0 12

Weldy (F) 2-3 0-0 6 0 0 4

Kirkton 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Caton 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0

J. Stults 0-2 1-2 1 0 0 1

Kercher 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Shank 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Headings 1-3 2-2 1 0 0 4

Totals 17-41 5-10 27 10 1 42

Three-pointers - Warsaw 5 (Rooney 3, O'Connell 2), Goshen 3 (Hoogenboom 3). Turnovers - Warsaw 9, Goshen 28. Fouls - Warsaw 13, Goshen 21. Fouled out - J. Stults.

CONCORD 4A SECTIONAL

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Hilary O'Connell, Warsaw (MVP)

Ashley Powell, East Noble

Missy Stults, Goshen

Nerecia Taylor, Warsaw

Kara Kesler, Warsaw [[In-content Ad]]

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