Tigers Too Much For Wildcats
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Hosting the Warsaw Tigers, the Whitko Wildcats found themselves in a 24-9 first-quarter hole before battling back to 33-32 at the half. However, a 14-4 Warsaw run in the third quarter dealt the final blow, resulting in a 60-51 road win for the Tigers.
"Depth really did help," Warsaw coach Michelle Harter said. "We had some girls get into foul trouble, and the girls came off the bench, stepped up and did a nice job in their roles. They didn't turn the ball over and worked hard to run the offense."
One of the key reserves was junior Kaelee Sands, who went 3 for 4 in the first quarter, scoring nine of her 13 points in the opening stanza.
"We talked about playing team basketball," Harter said. "Tonight, we had four girls in double digits. It was just everybody getting involved in the game."
Leading the way for the Tigers was sophomore post player Kayla Stout, who finished the night with 15 points, followed by Sands' 13, 11 from senior Liz Tat and another 10 from junior Kelci Freds.
While Harter's squad had seven different girls get into the scoring column, Whitko coach Rob Bell didn't have the same luxury. Outside of his starters, the only production he got from his bench was four turnovers and a missed field goal.
Getting little rest, Whitko seniors Ashley Hoopingarner and Emily Bidwell did their best against the Tigers, but just didn't have enough to come away with a win.
Hoopingarner finished with a game-high 18 points to go with six assists, four rebounds and two steals, while Bidwell netted 16 points to go with her game-high 15 rebounds.
"Bidwell has played great in the last two or three games," Bell said of his center who played all 32 minutes. "She's played hard, played physical and played big, like we need her to. We're starting to see what she can do for us."
After falling behind 24-9, Hoopingarner and Bidwell picked up their games in the second quarter, with Bidwell grabbing six boards and Hoopingar-ner going 4 for 4 from the field, scoring 12 points, the last three being a trey with time expiring on the half.
"You have the two of them together, and that's a pretty potent 1-2 punch," Bell said. "Everybody else has to be confident enough around them, but that's the youth we have."
Speaking of the youth, the Wildcats did get 10 points and four rebounds out of freshman Micaela Sylvester, but maintaining momentum against the Tigers was too much to ask.
With the score stuck at 33-32 through the first two minutes of the second half, Harter called a timeout to set some things straight.
"I talked to them about not forcing shots," she said. "We talked about coming down, kicking the ball inside and looking for the high-low (offense). If it's not there, let's kick it back out. That really is our best offense. We're hard to stop when we do those things."
Coming out in that mindset, the Tigers went on a 14-4 run over the next two minutes, with Freds scoring all 10 of her points during the stretch that put Warsaw in front 47-36.
After picking up two fouls in the opening three minutes, Freds didn't see the floor again until the second half, and her offensive output in the third gave her coach a sigh of relief.
"It makes things a lot easier, because now they have to focus on her," Harter said of the benefit of Freds finding her shooting touch.
"Kelci could have come out and hung her head after the getting in quick foul trouble," she added. "But she came out, forgot about it, and she played some good basketball for us."
The scoring spurt all but finished off the Wildcats, who didn't get within seven points the rest of the way.
Despite the loss, Bell still had to be pleased with his team, who could have easily packed it in after falling behind early on.
"We just didn't match the intensity right off the bat," he said. "That was the big thing. For our kids to fight back and weather the storm. To go into halftime down by one, I was real proud of them."
The win improves Warsaw to 4-1 going into Wednesday's game at Fort Wayne Elmhurst. For Whitko, the Wildcats take a 2-4 mark into their Three Rivers Conference opener against North Miami at home Dec. 6.
"Our early season schedule is done," Bell said of his defending TRC champions. "We break the season up this year into three segments. We already had our preseason, and it was a brutal preseason. Hopefully, that's good. We talked about, 'Can you win championships in the preseason? No.' (Dec. 6) starts our conference season. That's where you have a chance to win a championship."
WARSAW 60, WHITKO 51
War 25 8 18 9 - 60
Whi 11 21 8 11 - 51
Warsaw (60) - Kelci Freds 4-10 0-0 10, Liz Tat 4-11 1-1 11, Cendall Ogle 0-3 0-0 0, Alex Glenn 0-3 0-0 0, Kayla Stout 4-15 7-8 15, Madison Long 0-0 0-0 0, Kaitlin Reichard 0-0 0-0 0, Kaelee Sands 4-6 4-4 13, Danielle Tat 1-2 0-0 2, Beth Plummer 0-2 3-4 3, Sarah Shilling 3-3 0-1 6. Totals 20-55 15-18 60.
Whitko (51) - Micaela Sylvester 4-6 2-2 10, Ashley Hoopingarner 6-9 5-6 18, Amanda Allender 2-3 0-0 4, Rachelle Kessie 1-4 1-2 3, Emily Bidwell 5-12 5-6 16, Kelsie Boggs 0-0 0-0 0, Nicole Slaymaker 0-0 0-0 0, Katee Reiff 0-1 0-0 0, Cassie Jones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-35 13-16 51.
3-point goals - Warsaw 5-13 (Freds 2, L. Tat 2, Sands), Whitko 2-4 (Hoopingarner, Bidwell); Team Fouls - Warsaw 15, Whitko 16; Turnovers - Warsaw 13, Whitko 23; Rebounds - Warsaw 29 (Freds 4, Plummer 4, Glenn 4, Stout 4), Whitko 28 (Bidwell 15, Hoopingarner 4); Assists - Warsaw 12 (Sands 3, Ogle 3), Whitko 9 (Hoopingarner 6); Steals - Warsaw 11 (Ogle 5, Freds 2, Stout 2), Whitko 5 (Hoopingarner 2, Allender 2); Records - Warsaw 4-1, Whitko 2-4
JV - Warsaw 41, Whitko 19
Warsaw JV Leaders: Points - Brooke Kline 12, Ryesha Jackson 9, Sarah Heagy 5; Rebounds - Jackson 6, Amber Plummer 5, Kline 4; Assists - Kline 1, Mariah Rumple 1; Steals - Kline 4, Brenna Weaver 3, Paige Wood 3, Creigh Ogle 3
Whitko JV Leaders: Points - Karissa Olinske 8, Katee Reiff 5, Cassie Jones 4; Rebounds - Jones 5, Kelsie Boggs 4; Steals - Lynsi Hicks 2[[In-content Ad]]
Hosting the Warsaw Tigers, the Whitko Wildcats found themselves in a 24-9 first-quarter hole before battling back to 33-32 at the half. However, a 14-4 Warsaw run in the third quarter dealt the final blow, resulting in a 60-51 road win for the Tigers.
"Depth really did help," Warsaw coach Michelle Harter said. "We had some girls get into foul trouble, and the girls came off the bench, stepped up and did a nice job in their roles. They didn't turn the ball over and worked hard to run the offense."
One of the key reserves was junior Kaelee Sands, who went 3 for 4 in the first quarter, scoring nine of her 13 points in the opening stanza.
"We talked about playing team basketball," Harter said. "Tonight, we had four girls in double digits. It was just everybody getting involved in the game."
Leading the way for the Tigers was sophomore post player Kayla Stout, who finished the night with 15 points, followed by Sands' 13, 11 from senior Liz Tat and another 10 from junior Kelci Freds.
While Harter's squad had seven different girls get into the scoring column, Whitko coach Rob Bell didn't have the same luxury. Outside of his starters, the only production he got from his bench was four turnovers and a missed field goal.
Getting little rest, Whitko seniors Ashley Hoopingarner and Emily Bidwell did their best against the Tigers, but just didn't have enough to come away with a win.
Hoopingarner finished with a game-high 18 points to go with six assists, four rebounds and two steals, while Bidwell netted 16 points to go with her game-high 15 rebounds.
"Bidwell has played great in the last two or three games," Bell said of his center who played all 32 minutes. "She's played hard, played physical and played big, like we need her to. We're starting to see what she can do for us."
After falling behind 24-9, Hoopingarner and Bidwell picked up their games in the second quarter, with Bidwell grabbing six boards and Hoopingar-ner going 4 for 4 from the field, scoring 12 points, the last three being a trey with time expiring on the half.
"You have the two of them together, and that's a pretty potent 1-2 punch," Bell said. "Everybody else has to be confident enough around them, but that's the youth we have."
Speaking of the youth, the Wildcats did get 10 points and four rebounds out of freshman Micaela Sylvester, but maintaining momentum against the Tigers was too much to ask.
With the score stuck at 33-32 through the first two minutes of the second half, Harter called a timeout to set some things straight.
"I talked to them about not forcing shots," she said. "We talked about coming down, kicking the ball inside and looking for the high-low (offense). If it's not there, let's kick it back out. That really is our best offense. We're hard to stop when we do those things."
Coming out in that mindset, the Tigers went on a 14-4 run over the next two minutes, with Freds scoring all 10 of her points during the stretch that put Warsaw in front 47-36.
After picking up two fouls in the opening three minutes, Freds didn't see the floor again until the second half, and her offensive output in the third gave her coach a sigh of relief.
"It makes things a lot easier, because now they have to focus on her," Harter said of the benefit of Freds finding her shooting touch.
"Kelci could have come out and hung her head after the getting in quick foul trouble," she added. "But she came out, forgot about it, and she played some good basketball for us."
The scoring spurt all but finished off the Wildcats, who didn't get within seven points the rest of the way.
Despite the loss, Bell still had to be pleased with his team, who could have easily packed it in after falling behind early on.
"We just didn't match the intensity right off the bat," he said. "That was the big thing. For our kids to fight back and weather the storm. To go into halftime down by one, I was real proud of them."
The win improves Warsaw to 4-1 going into Wednesday's game at Fort Wayne Elmhurst. For Whitko, the Wildcats take a 2-4 mark into their Three Rivers Conference opener against North Miami at home Dec. 6.
"Our early season schedule is done," Bell said of his defending TRC champions. "We break the season up this year into three segments. We already had our preseason, and it was a brutal preseason. Hopefully, that's good. We talked about, 'Can you win championships in the preseason? No.' (Dec. 6) starts our conference season. That's where you have a chance to win a championship."
WARSAW 60, WHITKO 51
War 25 8 18 9 - 60
Whi 11 21 8 11 - 51
Warsaw (60) - Kelci Freds 4-10 0-0 10, Liz Tat 4-11 1-1 11, Cendall Ogle 0-3 0-0 0, Alex Glenn 0-3 0-0 0, Kayla Stout 4-15 7-8 15, Madison Long 0-0 0-0 0, Kaitlin Reichard 0-0 0-0 0, Kaelee Sands 4-6 4-4 13, Danielle Tat 1-2 0-0 2, Beth Plummer 0-2 3-4 3, Sarah Shilling 3-3 0-1 6. Totals 20-55 15-18 60.
Whitko (51) - Micaela Sylvester 4-6 2-2 10, Ashley Hoopingarner 6-9 5-6 18, Amanda Allender 2-3 0-0 4, Rachelle Kessie 1-4 1-2 3, Emily Bidwell 5-12 5-6 16, Kelsie Boggs 0-0 0-0 0, Nicole Slaymaker 0-0 0-0 0, Katee Reiff 0-1 0-0 0, Cassie Jones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-35 13-16 51.
3-point goals - Warsaw 5-13 (Freds 2, L. Tat 2, Sands), Whitko 2-4 (Hoopingarner, Bidwell); Team Fouls - Warsaw 15, Whitko 16; Turnovers - Warsaw 13, Whitko 23; Rebounds - Warsaw 29 (Freds 4, Plummer 4, Glenn 4, Stout 4), Whitko 28 (Bidwell 15, Hoopingarner 4); Assists - Warsaw 12 (Sands 3, Ogle 3), Whitko 9 (Hoopingarner 6); Steals - Warsaw 11 (Ogle 5, Freds 2, Stout 2), Whitko 5 (Hoopingarner 2, Allender 2); Records - Warsaw 4-1, Whitko 2-4
JV - Warsaw 41, Whitko 19
Warsaw JV Leaders: Points - Brooke Kline 12, Ryesha Jackson 9, Sarah Heagy 5; Rebounds - Jackson 6, Amber Plummer 5, Kline 4; Assists - Kline 1, Mariah Rumple 1; Steals - Kline 4, Brenna Weaver 3, Paige Wood 3, Creigh Ogle 3
Whitko JV Leaders: Points - Karissa Olinske 8, Katee Reiff 5, Cassie Jones 4; Rebounds - Jones 5, Kelsie Boggs 4; Steals - Lynsi Hicks 2[[In-content Ad]]
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