Tigers Dominate Strong Regional Field, Advance To Semistate
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
HUNTINGTON - Shortly after she got a hug from her grandfather, and while her teammates celebrated with their families and posed for pictures, Jaclyn Leininger's response was as dead on as one of her three-point attempts.
"Today was all about heart," the 6-foot smoothe-shooting Warsaw girls basketball player said after the second-ranked Tigers took it to No. 9 Huntington North Saturday evening, winning the Huntington North 4A Regional championship game 64-47. "We played so well as a team. You can tell by the results who wanted this the most."
The end result, which came after a 57-47 win over No. 10 Kokomo in the morning session's second semifinal game and a 17-point drubbing of the Vikings on their home floor in the title tilt, put Will Wienhorst's team in the semistate for the first time since 1991 when Indiana All-Stars Dana Creighton and Liza Reed and a freshman point guard named Jennifer Kintzel led the Tigers to a state runner-up finish.
Advancing to the semistate, which is now the Final Four in the class baskeball format, is impressive in itself.
The second-ranked Tigers came out Saturday and put together a pair of superb performances and won arguably the toughest 4A regional in the state, advancing to Saturday's Warsaw Semistate to play Valparaiso (23-2) at 3 p.m.. Valparaiso won the regional on its own floor by edging Elkhart Memorial 47-44 and using a huge fourth quarter to beat Gary West Side 55-37.
Warsaw will also be the site of the north 3A semistate Saturday, with 2003 state-runner up South Bend St. Joe meeting No. 4 Fort Wayne Luers at 1 p.m.
In the Southport 4A Semistate, No. 5 Indianapolis North Central (21-3) battles unranked Mooresville (21-5), which the Tigers beat by 12 in the championship game of the Hall of Fame Classic.
Only seven top 10 teams in 4A were still playing in the regional round Saturday, three of them were at Huntington North, where the Tigers, Vikings and Wildkats had won seven state championships, 11 semistate titles, 23 regional crowns and 44 sectional championships between them.
Against two of the more storied girls basketball programs in the state, Warsaw dominated the competition and gave defending state champion Kokomo and Huntington North their worst losses of the season.
Kokomo entered with four losses that came by eight points combined. The Wildkats, who in three previous meetings in school history had never lost to Warsaw, finished the season 19-5.
Huntington North entered Saturday's regional play on a 15-game win streak, having not lost since falling in double overtime to Kokomo on Dec. 18. The Vikings, who also lost to Warsaw by 13 in the regular season and by two to current 3A No. 4 Fort Wayne Luers, finished their season at 20-4.
"The first time we played them they got off to a great start and scored right away," said Huntington North coach Jon Lippe. "The first time we played them they had 20 points three or four minutes in to the game. I didn't have any illusions of stopping Jaclyn Leininger this time, but her teammates really hit some big shots tonight. They're a great balanced team. Some people think Warsaw is all Jaclyn Leininger, that's an absolute joke. The rest of the state is in trouble."
When Warsaw played Huntington North in Dec. the Tigers jumped to a 12-0 lead right off the bat.
Saturday in the championship of the regional in front of a large, loud Warsaw section the Tigers raced out to an 11-2 lead and led 22-12 after the first quarter.
"We've talked about this all year, that after we lost to Tippe Valley in the first game we weren't gonna overlook anybody," said Wienhorst. "We beat two very good basketball teams today. I'm so pleased with this group of girls. I also have to thank Dr. (Jenny) Brumfield and Dave Fulkerson for letting us apply for the Hall of Fame Classic and letting us play in Chicago. Those two things really helped us win tonight."
Saturday's regional championship marked the third time this season Warsaw has won two games in a day to win a tournament championship. Warsaw won the Lady Tiger tournament by defeating South Bend St. Joe and Perry Meridian. St. Joe will play in the 3A semistate Saturday, while Meridian fell in the regional Saturday.
The Tigers won the Hall of Fame Classic by beating now No. 4 Jeffersonville and Mooresville. Jeffersonville was defeated in the regional Saturday, while a rematch with Mooresville in the state championship is possible.
Wienhorst has claimed all year his team's tough schedule would certainly have them ready come tournament time. Lippe, whose Huntington North team has lost three times to Warsaw the past two season, agrees.
"I've had them No. 1 all season," Lippe said. "Even after they lost to Tippecanoe Valley I thought they were No. 1. Warsaw is a very good basketball team, and Jaclyn Leininger is a very good basketball player."
After scoring 28 against Kokomo in the semifinal game, Leininger came back against Huntington North and showed why many people believe she is a front-runner for the coveted Miss Basketball award by scoring 25 points, 10 in the fourth quarter, and leading her team to victory.
The Tigers led 49-33 after the third quarter and Huntington North got no closer than 15 in the fourth quarter.
To go with Leininger's 25 points and eight rebounds, Rebekah Reichard had 12 points and five rebounds, Kara Mayer 10 points, Julie Seiss 10 points, and Michelle DeGeeter seven points and nine rebounds.
"Kara Mayer hit some big shots today," said Wienhorst. "We know she can hit her shots. The question is, now how do teams defend us?"
The Tigers shot 17 of 32 (53.1 percent) from the field overall, 4 of 7 from three point range, and 26 of 34 from the free throw line.
Huntington North, which advanced to the title tilt by blasting unranked Greenfield Central (11-12) 60-49, hit 19 of 43 shots from the field overall and was 6 of 14 from three-point range.
Melissa Hawkins led the Vikings with 10 points, while Jessica Henn and Chelsea Kilty had six each and Allison Wolf and Whitney Stoffel five each.
Against Kokomo in the semifinal game, Leininger scored 28, while Seiss added 19, DeGeeter nine and Mayer 1.
"This is a very special team," said Wienhorst. "I can't say enough about these young ladies."
HUNTINGTON NORTH REGIONAL
NO. 2 WARSAW 57, NO. 10 KOKOMO 47
Warsaw (24-2) 15 12 15 15 - 57
Kokomo (19-5) 13 7 6 21 - 47
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Mayer 0-2 1-2 4 0 1
* Seiss 5-10 8-10 6 1 19
* Reichard 0-2 0-0 2 0 0
* Leininger 8-12 10-12 4 0 28
* DeGeeter 3-3 3-4 6 1 9
Abbitt 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Braddock 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Durcholz 0-1 0-0 1 2 0
Clay 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Smith 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Heiman 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Kindig 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 16-30 22-28 24 4 57
Kokomo FG FT R S Pts.
* Deniston 6-11 3-3 5 2 15
* Farris 1-7 0-0 3 1 2
* Rayle 1-3 1-2 1 1 4
* McDonald 5-13 0-0 1 3 13
* Thompson 4-7 3-5 3 0 11
Meck 0-0 2-2 0 0 2
Martin 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Patterson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Givens 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Bolier 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 17-43 9-12 13 8 47
Three-point goals - Warsaw 3-7 (Leininger 2-3, Seiss 1-3, Mayer 0-1), Kokomo 4-15 (McDonald 3-8, Rayle 1-3, Martin 0-2, Deniston 0-1, Farris 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 14, Kokomo 11. Fouls - Warsaw 12, Kokomo 22. Fouled out - Deniston, Martin.
NO. 2 WARSAW 64, NO. 9 HUNT. NORTH 47
Hunt. North (20-4) 12 12 9 14 - 47
Warsaw (25-2) 22 18 9 15 - 64
Hunt. North FG FT R S Pts.
* Davenport 3-6 1-3 4 1 7
* Miller 2-10 0-0 2 0 4
* Kilty 2-6 1-2 0 0 6
* Henn 3-5 0-0 3 1 6
* Hawkins 3-5 1-2 2 2 10
Hanson 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Stetzel 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Wolf 2-4 0-0 0 0 5
Stoffel 2-3 0-0 2 0 5
Smelser 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Jenkins 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Freiburger 2-4 0-0 5 2 4
Totals 19-43 3-7 19 7 47
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Mayer 3-8 3-4 1 1 10
* Seiss 2-5 5-6 0 1 10
* Reichard 4-5 4-5 5 1 12
* Leininger 6-11 11-13 8 1 25
* DeGeeter 2-2 3-4 9 0 7
Abbitt 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Braddock 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Durcholz 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Clay 0-0 0-2 0 0 0
Smith 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Heiman 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Kindig 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 17-32 26-34 23 4 64
Three-point goals - Hunt. North 6-14 (Hawkins 3-5, Kilty 1-3, Wolf 1-2, Stoffel 1-1, Miller 0-3), Warsaw 4-7 (Leininger 2-2, Mayer 1-2, Seiss 1-2, Abbitt 0-1). Turnovers - Hunt. North 12, Warsaw 10. Fouls - Hunt. North 25, Warsaw 11. Fouled out - Davenport. [[In-content Ad]]
HUNTINGTON - Shortly after she got a hug from her grandfather, and while her teammates celebrated with their families and posed for pictures, Jaclyn Leininger's response was as dead on as one of her three-point attempts.
"Today was all about heart," the 6-foot smoothe-shooting Warsaw girls basketball player said after the second-ranked Tigers took it to No. 9 Huntington North Saturday evening, winning the Huntington North 4A Regional championship game 64-47. "We played so well as a team. You can tell by the results who wanted this the most."
The end result, which came after a 57-47 win over No. 10 Kokomo in the morning session's second semifinal game and a 17-point drubbing of the Vikings on their home floor in the title tilt, put Will Wienhorst's team in the semistate for the first time since 1991 when Indiana All-Stars Dana Creighton and Liza Reed and a freshman point guard named Jennifer Kintzel led the Tigers to a state runner-up finish.
Advancing to the semistate, which is now the Final Four in the class baskeball format, is impressive in itself.
The second-ranked Tigers came out Saturday and put together a pair of superb performances and won arguably the toughest 4A regional in the state, advancing to Saturday's Warsaw Semistate to play Valparaiso (23-2) at 3 p.m.. Valparaiso won the regional on its own floor by edging Elkhart Memorial 47-44 and using a huge fourth quarter to beat Gary West Side 55-37.
Warsaw will also be the site of the north 3A semistate Saturday, with 2003 state-runner up South Bend St. Joe meeting No. 4 Fort Wayne Luers at 1 p.m.
In the Southport 4A Semistate, No. 5 Indianapolis North Central (21-3) battles unranked Mooresville (21-5), which the Tigers beat by 12 in the championship game of the Hall of Fame Classic.
Only seven top 10 teams in 4A were still playing in the regional round Saturday, three of them were at Huntington North, where the Tigers, Vikings and Wildkats had won seven state championships, 11 semistate titles, 23 regional crowns and 44 sectional championships between them.
Against two of the more storied girls basketball programs in the state, Warsaw dominated the competition and gave defending state champion Kokomo and Huntington North their worst losses of the season.
Kokomo entered with four losses that came by eight points combined. The Wildkats, who in three previous meetings in school history had never lost to Warsaw, finished the season 19-5.
Huntington North entered Saturday's regional play on a 15-game win streak, having not lost since falling in double overtime to Kokomo on Dec. 18. The Vikings, who also lost to Warsaw by 13 in the regular season and by two to current 3A No. 4 Fort Wayne Luers, finished their season at 20-4.
"The first time we played them they got off to a great start and scored right away," said Huntington North coach Jon Lippe. "The first time we played them they had 20 points three or four minutes in to the game. I didn't have any illusions of stopping Jaclyn Leininger this time, but her teammates really hit some big shots tonight. They're a great balanced team. Some people think Warsaw is all Jaclyn Leininger, that's an absolute joke. The rest of the state is in trouble."
When Warsaw played Huntington North in Dec. the Tigers jumped to a 12-0 lead right off the bat.
Saturday in the championship of the regional in front of a large, loud Warsaw section the Tigers raced out to an 11-2 lead and led 22-12 after the first quarter.
"We've talked about this all year, that after we lost to Tippe Valley in the first game we weren't gonna overlook anybody," said Wienhorst. "We beat two very good basketball teams today. I'm so pleased with this group of girls. I also have to thank Dr. (Jenny) Brumfield and Dave Fulkerson for letting us apply for the Hall of Fame Classic and letting us play in Chicago. Those two things really helped us win tonight."
Saturday's regional championship marked the third time this season Warsaw has won two games in a day to win a tournament championship. Warsaw won the Lady Tiger tournament by defeating South Bend St. Joe and Perry Meridian. St. Joe will play in the 3A semistate Saturday, while Meridian fell in the regional Saturday.
The Tigers won the Hall of Fame Classic by beating now No. 4 Jeffersonville and Mooresville. Jeffersonville was defeated in the regional Saturday, while a rematch with Mooresville in the state championship is possible.
Wienhorst has claimed all year his team's tough schedule would certainly have them ready come tournament time. Lippe, whose Huntington North team has lost three times to Warsaw the past two season, agrees.
"I've had them No. 1 all season," Lippe said. "Even after they lost to Tippecanoe Valley I thought they were No. 1. Warsaw is a very good basketball team, and Jaclyn Leininger is a very good basketball player."
After scoring 28 against Kokomo in the semifinal game, Leininger came back against Huntington North and showed why many people believe she is a front-runner for the coveted Miss Basketball award by scoring 25 points, 10 in the fourth quarter, and leading her team to victory.
The Tigers led 49-33 after the third quarter and Huntington North got no closer than 15 in the fourth quarter.
To go with Leininger's 25 points and eight rebounds, Rebekah Reichard had 12 points and five rebounds, Kara Mayer 10 points, Julie Seiss 10 points, and Michelle DeGeeter seven points and nine rebounds.
"Kara Mayer hit some big shots today," said Wienhorst. "We know she can hit her shots. The question is, now how do teams defend us?"
The Tigers shot 17 of 32 (53.1 percent) from the field overall, 4 of 7 from three point range, and 26 of 34 from the free throw line.
Huntington North, which advanced to the title tilt by blasting unranked Greenfield Central (11-12) 60-49, hit 19 of 43 shots from the field overall and was 6 of 14 from three-point range.
Melissa Hawkins led the Vikings with 10 points, while Jessica Henn and Chelsea Kilty had six each and Allison Wolf and Whitney Stoffel five each.
Against Kokomo in the semifinal game, Leininger scored 28, while Seiss added 19, DeGeeter nine and Mayer 1.
"This is a very special team," said Wienhorst. "I can't say enough about these young ladies."
HUNTINGTON NORTH REGIONAL
NO. 2 WARSAW 57, NO. 10 KOKOMO 47
Warsaw (24-2) 15 12 15 15 - 57
Kokomo (19-5) 13 7 6 21 - 47
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Mayer 0-2 1-2 4 0 1
* Seiss 5-10 8-10 6 1 19
* Reichard 0-2 0-0 2 0 0
* Leininger 8-12 10-12 4 0 28
* DeGeeter 3-3 3-4 6 1 9
Abbitt 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Braddock 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Durcholz 0-1 0-0 1 2 0
Clay 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Smith 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Heiman 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Kindig 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 16-30 22-28 24 4 57
Kokomo FG FT R S Pts.
* Deniston 6-11 3-3 5 2 15
* Farris 1-7 0-0 3 1 2
* Rayle 1-3 1-2 1 1 4
* McDonald 5-13 0-0 1 3 13
* Thompson 4-7 3-5 3 0 11
Meck 0-0 2-2 0 0 2
Martin 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Patterson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Givens 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Bolier 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 17-43 9-12 13 8 47
Three-point goals - Warsaw 3-7 (Leininger 2-3, Seiss 1-3, Mayer 0-1), Kokomo 4-15 (McDonald 3-8, Rayle 1-3, Martin 0-2, Deniston 0-1, Farris 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 14, Kokomo 11. Fouls - Warsaw 12, Kokomo 22. Fouled out - Deniston, Martin.
NO. 2 WARSAW 64, NO. 9 HUNT. NORTH 47
Hunt. North (20-4) 12 12 9 14 - 47
Warsaw (25-2) 22 18 9 15 - 64
Hunt. North FG FT R S Pts.
* Davenport 3-6 1-3 4 1 7
* Miller 2-10 0-0 2 0 4
* Kilty 2-6 1-2 0 0 6
* Henn 3-5 0-0 3 1 6
* Hawkins 3-5 1-2 2 2 10
Hanson 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Stetzel 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Wolf 2-4 0-0 0 0 5
Stoffel 2-3 0-0 2 0 5
Smelser 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Jenkins 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Freiburger 2-4 0-0 5 2 4
Totals 19-43 3-7 19 7 47
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Mayer 3-8 3-4 1 1 10
* Seiss 2-5 5-6 0 1 10
* Reichard 4-5 4-5 5 1 12
* Leininger 6-11 11-13 8 1 25
* DeGeeter 2-2 3-4 9 0 7
Abbitt 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Braddock 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Durcholz 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Clay 0-0 0-2 0 0 0
Smith 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Heiman 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Kindig 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 17-32 26-34 23 4 64
Three-point goals - Hunt. North 6-14 (Hawkins 3-5, Kilty 1-3, Wolf 1-2, Stoffel 1-1, Miller 0-3), Warsaw 4-7 (Leininger 2-2, Mayer 1-2, Seiss 1-2, Abbitt 0-1). Turnovers - Hunt. North 12, Warsaw 10. Fouls - Hunt. North 25, Warsaw 11. Fouled out - Davenport. [[In-content Ad]]