Tigers Storm Back, Advance To Title Tilt
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
DUNLAP - As quickly as weather changes in northern Indiana, so did the momentum in Friday's Concord 4A Sectional girls basketball game between Warsaw and East Noble.
While snow was falling outside, inside it was raining Hilary O'Connell three-pointers.
The 5'8" sophomore guard connected on 3 of 3 shots from beyond the arc in the third quarter, fueling a 19-6 Warsaw run with 11 points.
O'Connell finished with a game-high 21 points, as Warsaw finished East Noble's season with a 52-42 decision.
Warsaw improves to 13-9 on the season and will play Goshen tonight in the sectional championship. Goshen advanced by beating Elkhart Central 51-49. The Tigers trounced Goshen 71-43 earlier in the season.
The Knights end their season with a 14-9 record.
The Tigers led 11-10 after one quarter of play, but trailed 26-18 at halftime despite going to the charity stripe nearly 20 times.
East Noble was whistled for 12 fouls in the first two quarters, but the Tigers were only able to connect on 8 of 17 (47.1 percent) attempts from the line.
"The game plan in the first half was good," said Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst. "We wanted to get to the free throw line, and we did that, we just didn't hit."
The Tigers were 5-of-15 (33.3 percent) shooting from the field in the first half, while the Knights, on the other hand, were a respectable 11 of 24 (45.8 percent).
But momentum's gate swung Warsaw's way in the second half, namely the third quarter.
With 5:20 remaining on the third-quarter clock and Warsaw down eight, O'Connell hit her first trey of the evening, cutting East Noble's advanted to 30-25.
The Knight's responded with a two-point field goal from senior Amy Edmonds, but O'Connell made good on two more threes, 20 seconds apart, bringing the Tigers within one, 32-31.
Warsaw took the lead for good with 3:31 remaining in the third quarter when junior Kara Kesler's rebound and bucket put Warsaw up 33-32.
In all, the Tigers outscored East Noble 19-6 in the third quarter and 34-16 in the second half en route to the 10-point win.
"In the second half the girls believed in the game plan and stuck to it," said Wienhorst. "Hilary hit some threes that sparked it. Sometimes during the season we've wanted to step up but didn't. I thought we did that tonight, and we're in the championship."
Complimenting O'Connell's 21 points was senior Nerecia Taylor who chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds.
"Rae (Taylor's nickname) has been playing awesome for us lately, since the Kokomo game," said Wienhorst. "Obviously the stats say Hilary had a great game, but Parker and Conley played well too. And we wouldn't have won without Kesler getting the ball where it needed to go."
Paker, Conley and Kesler combined for 16 points and 17 rebounds. Kesler dished out four assists, and led the Tigers with nine rebounds.
The Knights were led in the scoring column by Edmonds' 12 points. No other East Noble player scored in double figures, as Nicole Freiburger, Lynsee Wappes and Bridget Kesling all scored six points apiece. Kara Taylor and Ashley Powell chipped in with four points each in the loss.
After shooting just above 30 percent from the floor in the first half, Warsaw was 9 of 20 in the second half to finish 40 percent from the floor. The Tigers finished the game 20 of 32 (62.5 percent) at the charity stripe, after shooting below 50 percent in the first two quarters of play.
The Knights finished the game 18 of 52 (34.6 percent) from the floor, and 6 of 7 from the free throw line.
Warsaw will play 6-16 Goshen tonight at 7:30 p.m.
WARSAW 52
EAST NOBLE 42
Warsaw (13-9) 11 17 19 15 - 52
East Noble (14-9) 10 16 6 10 - 42
Warsaw FG FT R A S Pts.
Kesler (G) 3-6 3-4 9 4 0 9
Colt 0-1 0-1 3 1 0 0
Wyatt 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1
Poling 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
O'Connell (G) 5-11 7-9 3 2 2 21
Parker (F) 1-3 3-5 5 1 1 5
Conley (C) 1-4 0-0 3 1 0 2
Knisely 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 2
Rooney 0-2 1-2 5 0 0 1
Overton 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Stanley 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Taylor (F) 3-7 5-9 8 0 4 11
Totals 14-35 20-32 36 9 7 52
East Noble FG FT R A S Pts.
Edmonds (F) 6-11 0-0 2 0 4 12
Freiburger 2-4 2-2 2 1 1 6
Wappes (G) 3-4 0-0 4 1 2 6
Kesling 2-7 2-3 3 1 0 4
Powell (G) 2-13 0-0 5 6 2 4
Taylor (F) 1-6 2-2 1 0 0 4
Reynolds 1-3 0-0 1 1 0 2
Peterink (C) 1-4 0-0 9 0 2 2
Totals 18-52 6-7 28 10 11 42
Three-point goals - Warsaw 4 (O'Connell 4), East Noble 0. Turnovers - Warsaw 20, East Noble 13. Fouls - Warsaw 10, East Noble 22. Fouled out - Kesling.
Game 2
GOSHEN 51, ELKHART CENTRAL 49
Goshen 8 17 12 14 - 51
Elkhart Central 14 15 12 8 - 49
Goshen - Weldy 0-0 0-0 0, Robertson 0-4 2-2 2, M. Stults 6-12 11-13 23, Yoder 2-5 0-1 5, Hoogenboom 1-8 6-7 9, J. Stults 4-7 2-5 10, Kercher 0-1 0-2 0, Headings 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 13-40 23-32 51.
Elkhart Central - Johnson 1-2 1-2 3, Williams 4-12 1-7 9, Shiels 5-7 2-3 12, Pierson 2-10 2-4 8, Ball 3-10 0-0 7, Furseth 3-5 0-0 6, Byers 0-4 0-0 0, Bloss 2-3 0-0 4, Scherbanske 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-53 6-16 49.
Three-point goals - Goshen 2 (Yoder 1, Hoogenboom 1), Elkhart Central 3 (Pierson 2, Ball 1). Rebounds - Goshen 27 (M. Stults 10), Elkhart Central 39 (Williams 8). Turnovers - Goshen 13, Elkhart Central 16. Fouls - Goshen 11, Elkhart Central 21. Fouled out - Shiels, Furseth. [[In-content Ad]]
DUNLAP - As quickly as weather changes in northern Indiana, so did the momentum in Friday's Concord 4A Sectional girls basketball game between Warsaw and East Noble.
While snow was falling outside, inside it was raining Hilary O'Connell three-pointers.
The 5'8" sophomore guard connected on 3 of 3 shots from beyond the arc in the third quarter, fueling a 19-6 Warsaw run with 11 points.
O'Connell finished with a game-high 21 points, as Warsaw finished East Noble's season with a 52-42 decision.
Warsaw improves to 13-9 on the season and will play Goshen tonight in the sectional championship. Goshen advanced by beating Elkhart Central 51-49. The Tigers trounced Goshen 71-43 earlier in the season.
The Knights end their season with a 14-9 record.
The Tigers led 11-10 after one quarter of play, but trailed 26-18 at halftime despite going to the charity stripe nearly 20 times.
East Noble was whistled for 12 fouls in the first two quarters, but the Tigers were only able to connect on 8 of 17 (47.1 percent) attempts from the line.
"The game plan in the first half was good," said Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst. "We wanted to get to the free throw line, and we did that, we just didn't hit."
The Tigers were 5-of-15 (33.3 percent) shooting from the field in the first half, while the Knights, on the other hand, were a respectable 11 of 24 (45.8 percent).
But momentum's gate swung Warsaw's way in the second half, namely the third quarter.
With 5:20 remaining on the third-quarter clock and Warsaw down eight, O'Connell hit her first trey of the evening, cutting East Noble's advanted to 30-25.
The Knight's responded with a two-point field goal from senior Amy Edmonds, but O'Connell made good on two more threes, 20 seconds apart, bringing the Tigers within one, 32-31.
Warsaw took the lead for good with 3:31 remaining in the third quarter when junior Kara Kesler's rebound and bucket put Warsaw up 33-32.
In all, the Tigers outscored East Noble 19-6 in the third quarter and 34-16 in the second half en route to the 10-point win.
"In the second half the girls believed in the game plan and stuck to it," said Wienhorst. "Hilary hit some threes that sparked it. Sometimes during the season we've wanted to step up but didn't. I thought we did that tonight, and we're in the championship."
Complimenting O'Connell's 21 points was senior Nerecia Taylor who chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds.
"Rae (Taylor's nickname) has been playing awesome for us lately, since the Kokomo game," said Wienhorst. "Obviously the stats say Hilary had a great game, but Parker and Conley played well too. And we wouldn't have won without Kesler getting the ball where it needed to go."
Paker, Conley and Kesler combined for 16 points and 17 rebounds. Kesler dished out four assists, and led the Tigers with nine rebounds.
The Knights were led in the scoring column by Edmonds' 12 points. No other East Noble player scored in double figures, as Nicole Freiburger, Lynsee Wappes and Bridget Kesling all scored six points apiece. Kara Taylor and Ashley Powell chipped in with four points each in the loss.
After shooting just above 30 percent from the floor in the first half, Warsaw was 9 of 20 in the second half to finish 40 percent from the floor. The Tigers finished the game 20 of 32 (62.5 percent) at the charity stripe, after shooting below 50 percent in the first two quarters of play.
The Knights finished the game 18 of 52 (34.6 percent) from the floor, and 6 of 7 from the free throw line.
Warsaw will play 6-16 Goshen tonight at 7:30 p.m.
WARSAW 52
EAST NOBLE 42
Warsaw (13-9) 11 17 19 15 - 52
East Noble (14-9) 10 16 6 10 - 42
Warsaw FG FT R A S Pts.
Kesler (G) 3-6 3-4 9 4 0 9
Colt 0-1 0-1 3 1 0 0
Wyatt 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1
Poling 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
O'Connell (G) 5-11 7-9 3 2 2 21
Parker (F) 1-3 3-5 5 1 1 5
Conley (C) 1-4 0-0 3 1 0 2
Knisely 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 2
Rooney 0-2 1-2 5 0 0 1
Overton 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Stanley 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Taylor (F) 3-7 5-9 8 0 4 11
Totals 14-35 20-32 36 9 7 52
East Noble FG FT R A S Pts.
Edmonds (F) 6-11 0-0 2 0 4 12
Freiburger 2-4 2-2 2 1 1 6
Wappes (G) 3-4 0-0 4 1 2 6
Kesling 2-7 2-3 3 1 0 4
Powell (G) 2-13 0-0 5 6 2 4
Taylor (F) 1-6 2-2 1 0 0 4
Reynolds 1-3 0-0 1 1 0 2
Peterink (C) 1-4 0-0 9 0 2 2
Totals 18-52 6-7 28 10 11 42
Three-point goals - Warsaw 4 (O'Connell 4), East Noble 0. Turnovers - Warsaw 20, East Noble 13. Fouls - Warsaw 10, East Noble 22. Fouled out - Kesling.
Game 2
GOSHEN 51, ELKHART CENTRAL 49
Goshen 8 17 12 14 - 51
Elkhart Central 14 15 12 8 - 49
Goshen - Weldy 0-0 0-0 0, Robertson 0-4 2-2 2, M. Stults 6-12 11-13 23, Yoder 2-5 0-1 5, Hoogenboom 1-8 6-7 9, J. Stults 4-7 2-5 10, Kercher 0-1 0-2 0, Headings 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 13-40 23-32 51.
Elkhart Central - Johnson 1-2 1-2 3, Williams 4-12 1-7 9, Shiels 5-7 2-3 12, Pierson 2-10 2-4 8, Ball 3-10 0-0 7, Furseth 3-5 0-0 6, Byers 0-4 0-0 0, Bloss 2-3 0-0 4, Scherbanske 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-53 6-16 49.
Three-point goals - Goshen 2 (Yoder 1, Hoogenboom 1), Elkhart Central 3 (Pierson 2, Ball 1). Rebounds - Goshen 27 (M. Stults 10), Elkhart Central 39 (Williams 8). Turnovers - Goshen 13, Elkhart Central 16. Fouls - Goshen 11, Elkhart Central 21. Fouled out - Shiels, Furseth. [[In-content Ad]]