In Warsaw's Girls Basketball Jamboree on Saturday, it was quite evident that it was early in the season. With 62 turnovers among the four teams and 52 fouls called, Whitko, Wawasee, Valley and Warsaw realize that there is still a lot of work to do.

"It was the officials' first night out, too," Whitko head coach Ray Davis said. "It was hard to get into the flow."

The jamboree also gave the coaches a chance to better understand the kind of teams they have and move on from there. Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst and Wawasee coach Randy Aalbregtse can take wins in both quarters home with them, while Davis and Valley coach Mike Walters can take home an understanding of what their teams need to do to compete this year after losing both quarters.

Warsaw did the best job of holding on to the basketball by far. The Tigers had just one turnover in the first quarter against Valley and just four against Whitko in the fourth. On the other side of the coin were the up-tempo Whitko Wildcats. Whitko had 16 turnovers in one quarter against Wawasee and added another seven against the Tigers.

Warsaw and Valley matched up in the opening quarter and the Tigers jumped out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back. Warsaw extended that lead to 16-2 and held on for a 21-6 romp.

Katie Elliott led Warsaw with six points, while Sam Wideman, a former Viking, filled the stat line in the first quarter with three points, two assists, three rebounds and a block. Brooke Fisher led the Vikings with two points and two rebounds. The Tigers shot 70 percent while holding Valley to just 22-percent shooting.

Wawasee and Valley met the in the second quarter and Vikings looked better for the first five minutes. Valley led 8-6 before the Warriors took over. Wawasee scored the final 10 points, five from senior Mary Cockburn, to win 16-8. Hannah Rensberger had seven points for the Warriors, and Cockburn added six points more. Rhonda Doud led Valley with four points.

Wawasee defeated Whitko 12-9 in the third quarter as the Wildcats shot themselves in the foot numerous times with 16 turnovers.

Wawasee led 10-5 before Whitko's Trisha Peters canned a three-pointer to close the lead to two points. However, Whitko would not get any closer as Kari Wortinger made a layup to clinch the win.

Michelle Lamb had four points and a rebound for Wawasee and Sonya Beer added three points, and assist and two rebounds. Whitko's Heidi Hull had a field goal and four steals in the quarter.

The final quarter looked like a mismatch as Warsaw faced Whitko. Sure enough, the Tigers jumped out to a 13-0 lead as the Wildcats pressing defense did little to deter Warsaw. Whitko finally got on the scoreboard with 3:20 to play, but the Tigers ran away 19-6.

Jackie Edwards came off the bench to lead Warsaw with six points, and Elliott added four points and an assist.

"What we wanted to do in this jamboree was establish ball control, balance offensively and defensively position wise and work on the fundamentals," Wienhorst said. "I felt we really did that well against Valley. Whitko was really a quick basketball team and we got out of control early."

Whitko may have had the most turnovers of any of the teams, but part of that is due to the fact that the Wildcats have only two seniors on their roster.

"Before the game, they were so nervous," Davis said. "They would try to catch the ball, and it would go right through their hands. The big thing I was concerned with was the traveling calls. We had a ton of those. They're so anxious and they're not relaxed yet."

Valley will open the season at home against Bremen on Thursday. Warsaw will open its season at Valley on Nov. 21 before hosting Bremen the following day. Wawasee will host Westview on Friday and Whitko will host Columbia City on Friday.

FIRST QUARTER

WARSAW 21, VALLEY 6

Valley - Carissa Parker 0-0 0-0 0, Jenny Day 0-1 0-0 0, Rhonda Doud 1-1 0-0 2, Brandi Fisher 1-3 0-0 2, Kelly Walters 0-0 0-0 0, Amy Jo Nellans 0-0 0-0 0, Jenny Sanders 0-1 0-0 0, Bonnie Bickel 0-1 0-0 0, Andria Parker 0-1 0-0 0, Brooke Fisher 0-1 2-4 2, Jennifer Studebaker 0-0 0-1 0, Total 2-9 2-5 6.

Warsaw - Jessica Zaugg 1-1 0-0 2, Alyssa Raphael 0-1 3-4 3, Sherri Ross 1-2 1-1 3, Jackie Edwards 1-2 0-0 2, Sara Parker 0-0 0-0 0, Cheyenne Albertson 0-0 0-0 0, Katie Elliott 2-2 2-2 6, Shannon Barger 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Wideman 1-1 1-2 3, Tiffany Ross 1-1 0-0 2, Totals 7-10 7-9 21.

Rebounds: Valley 4 (Brooke Fisher 2), Warsaw 4 (Wideman 3). Assists: Valley 1 (Bickel), Warsaw 4 (Wideman 2). Blocks: Valley 0, Warsaw 1 (Wideman). Steals: Valley 0, Warsaw 2 (Raphael, S. Ross). Turnovers: Valley 6, Warsaw 1. Personal fouls: Valley 8, Warsaw 6.

SECOND QUARTER

WAWASEE 16, VALLEY 8

Valley - Carissa Parker 0-1 0-0 0, Jenny Day 1-2 0-0 2, Rhonda Doud 2-3 0-0 4, Corrine Law 0-1 0-0 0, Brandi Fisher 0-0 0-0 0, Kelly Walters 1-1 0-0 2, Amy Jo Nellans 0-0 0-0 0, Jenny Sanders 0-0 0-0 0, Bonnie Bickel 0-2 0-0 0, Andria Parker 0-0 0-0 0, Brooke Fisher 0-2 0-0 0, Jennifer Studebaker 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 4-12 0-0 8.

Wawasee - Mary Cockburn 2-2 2-3 6, Sara Frantz 1-1 0-0 2, Sonya Beer 0-0 0-0 0, Karissa Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Kari Wortinger 0-1 1-2 1, Hannah Rensberger 3-4 1-1 7, Michelle Lamb 0-0 0-0 0, Dina Coverstone 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 6-9 4-6 16.

Rebounds: Valley 4 (Doud, A. Parker, Brooke Fisher), Wawasee 4 (Cockburn, Frantz, Beer, Evans). Assists: Valley 4 (Doud, Brandi Fisher, Brooke Fisher, Studebaker), Wawasee 4 (Wortinger 3). Blocks: Valley 1 (Brooke Fisher), Wawasee 1 (Lamb). Steals: Valley 3 (Brandi Fisher, Brooke Fisher, Studebaker), Wawasee 4 (Wortinger 2). Turnovers: Valley 11, Wawasee 7. Personal fouls: Valley 8, Wawasee 2.

THIRD QUARTER

WAWASEE 12, WHITKO 9

Whitko - Brittany Waybright 0-0 2-2 2, Kelly Osborn 0-1 0-0 0, Trisha Peters 1-2 0-0 3, Megan Sautter 0-1 0-0 0, Tisha Rowland 0-1 0-0 0, Aly Frantz 0-0 1-3 1, Brieann Starkweather 0-0 1-2 1, Holly Hoffman 0-0 0-0 0, Heidi Hull 1-1 0-0 2, Totals 2-6 4-7 9.

Wawasee - Mary Cockburn 0-1 0-0 0, Sara Frantz 0-1 0-0 0, Sonya Beer 1-3 1-3 3, Karissa Evans 0-1 0-0 0, Kari Wortinger 1-1 0-1 2, Hannah Rensberger 0-2 0-1 0, Michelle Lamb 2-4 0-0 4, Dina Coverstone 1-1 1-1 3, Totals 5-14 2-6 12.

Rebounds: Whitko 7 (Hoffman 2), Wawasee 6 (Beer 2). Assists: Whitko 1 (Frantz), Wawasee 3 (Frantz 2). Steals: Whitko 4 (Hull 4), Wawasee 3 (Evans 3). Three-pointers: Whitko 1 (Peters), Wawasee 0. Turnovers: Whitko 16, Wawasee 10. Personal fouls: Whitko 7, Wawasee 6.

FOURTH QUARTER

WARSAW 19, WHITKO 6

Whitko - Brittany Waybright 0-1 0-0 0, Kelly Osborn 0-2 0-0 0, Trisha Peters 0-2 0-0 0, Meghan Sautter 1-1 0-1 2, Deanna Mettler 1-1 0-1 2, Tisha Rowland 0-2 0-0 0, Aly Frantz 0-0 0-1, Brieann Starkweather 1-1 0-0 2, Holly Hoffman 0-1 0-1 0, Heidi Hull 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 3-11 0-4 6.

Warsaw - Jessica Zaugg 0-1 0-0 0, Abbie Simmons 0-0 0-0 0, Alyssa Raphael 0-0 0-0 0, Sherri Ross 1-2 0-0 2, Sara Parker 0-0 0-0 0, Jackie Edwards 2-3 2-4 6, Ashely Cavert 0-0 0-0 0, Cheyenne Albertson 0-0 1-2 1, Katie Elliott 0-0 4-4 4, Shannon Barger 1-2 0-0 2, Sam Wideman 1-2 0-0 2, Tiffany Ross 1-1 0-0 2, Totals 6-11 7-11 19.

Rebounds: Whitko 5 (Starkweather 2), Warsaw 7 (T. Ross 2). Assists: Whitko 2 (Mettler, Frantz), Warsaw 3 (Raphael, Parker, Elliott). Steals: Whitko 1 (Waybright), Warsaw 3 (Raphael 2). Turnovers: Whitko 7, Warsaw 4. Personal fouls: Whitko 8, Warsaw 7. [[In-content Ad]]