Warriors Beat East Noble 55-52 For Third Win Of Season
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SYRACUSE -ÊAll Wawasee head coach Robb Berger has asked from his 2-10 Warriors all season long is that they come out every day to work hard and play hard. Up until this point, he hasn't seen much of these two things. Heading into Saturday night's game against heavily favored East Noble, it would definitely take four hard-fought quarters for a chance to upset the Knights.
After four hard-fought and well-played quarters, the Warriors finally fulfilled what their coach was looking for all along, a well-played game and a huge 55-52 win over a talented opponent.
"The only thing I have asked this season is that we work hard all the time," Berger said. "For most of the season, we haven't done a good job doing that. We really played hard tonight and we gave ourselves a chance to win."
On paper, this game shouldn't have been that close. East Noble, who always has a good basketball program under coach Marty Johnson, had the better record and the height advantage against the scrappy Warriors.
The Knights looked to push the ball inside to 6-foot-6 senior Matt Holbrook, but the Warriors 2-3 defnse shut out the Knights' inside game for most of the night.
"We did a nice job shifting on defnse tonight," said Breger. "We put some pressure on their guys and we seemed to be in the right place most of the time."
East Noble opened up the game in long distance fashion with Travis Sparkman nailing a three-pointer to give the guests a 3-0 lead. Sparkman was a spark for the Knights in the first quarter. He was 3 of 3 from three-point range, scoring nine of East Noble's 11 first quarter points.
"They did a nice job of getting Sparkman open early," Berger said. "I thought as the game went on, we did a better job of finding him."
Wawasee took its first lead at 4-3 on a Jeremy High jumpt shot with 5:03 left. After a Matt Holbrook layup, the Warriors went on a 7-0 run to up their lead to 11-5. High connected on a three, scored a layup and was fouled, and Brent Doty hit a shot.
Sparkman kept the Knights close, closing out the quarter with two three-ppinters in the final minute. High was the man for the Warriors in the first, scoring six of his game-high 18 points in the quarter.
The Knights started the second quarter with a Zach Beiswanger free throw ti toe the score at 12 with 7:42 to play. The Warriors then turned on the heat and went on an 11-3 run to give them a 23-15 advantage, their biggest lead up until this point.
"I really thought our pressure hurt them a little," said Berger. "We were in a great position to intimidate some passes."
After the Warriors' big run, the Knights came back with a run of their own, outscoring the Warriors 6-0 and cutting the lead to 23-21. B.J. Wilson then hit a layup and a jump shot to give the host a 27-23 halftime lead.
Sparkman had 14 halftime points for the Knights, while High paced the Warrior first half with nine.
The third quarter was a low-scoring quarter for the Knights. East Noble only managed nine third-quarter points on 2-of-9 shooting.
Wawasee's Drew Gradle opened up the quarter hitting a layup and getting fouled to give the Warriors a 30-23 lead with 7:48 to go. The Warriors would get their biggest lead of the game39-28 with 3:10 left thanks to an R.J. Wilson three-pointer. Knight coach Marty Johnson saw enough and called a quick timeout.
The Warriors led after three 41-32 and were looking to hold on for their biggest win of the year by far.
East Noble came out from the quarter fired up and scored the first seven points of the quarter to close the gap to 41-39. Sparkman, who lit up the Warriors early, didn't score a point in the third quarter. After being shut out, Sparkman again caught fire, scoring the first five points of the quarter.
After again cutting the lead to two at 43-41, the Warriors went on a 5-0 run to give them a little bit of breathing room at 48-41. Travis Klenke hit a three and High hit two free throws during the run. The Knights kept it close thanks to some miscues by the Warriors.
With the Warriors leading 52-49 with 17 seconds left, Klenke could have put the Knights away hitting free throws. Not only did Klenke miss the first, he missed the second which gave the Knights another chance.
The Warriors then made another mental mistake when R.J. Wilson fouled Sparkman on a three-point attempt with nine seconds left.
If Sparkman hit all three, the game was tied. But Sparkman could only connect on 1 of 3 to cut the lead to 50-52 with nine seconds to play.
With a quick foul, Klenke again had the opportunity to put the Knights away. This time, Klenke managed to hit 1 of 2, but made a costly mistake when he fouled Sean Gabbard with six seconds left. With the Warriors clinging to a 53-50 lead, Gabbard drilled both free throws to cut the lead to one at 53-52.
Again Klenke was fouled, this time with five seconds to play and the Warriors up by a single point.
With the game on the line, Klenke calmly hit both to give the Warriors a 55-52 lead. East Noble had one last look, a three-point attempt by Derick Gienger that fell short, thus giving the Warriors their biggest win of the year.
WAWASEE 55, EAST NOBLE 52
East Noble 11 12 9 20 - 52
Wawasee 12 15 14 14 - 55
East Noble FG FT R A S Pts.
Borger 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0
Rathge 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
*Beiswanger 0-10 6-8 4 6 0 6
*Gienger 1-6 0-0 0 2 0 2
*Sparkman 5-12 7-9 2 1 3 22
*Gabbard 3-7 2-2 9 1 0 8
Young 1-1 0-0 1 0 0 2
*Holbrook 2-2 2-2 4 0 0 6
Longfellow 2-2 2-2 2 0 0 6
Totals 14-43 19-23 22 11 3 52
Wawasee FG FT R A S Pts.
Farrell 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 2
Doty 1-3 0-0 2 0 0 2
*Wilson 4-8 0-0 3 0 0 9
*Klenke 2-5 6-10 6 4 1 11
*Gradle 2-4 1-1 2 0 0 5
*Speicher 0-2 4-4 0 0 0 4
*High 5-9 7-10 9 2 1 18
Packer 1-2 2-2 1 0 0 4
Totals 16-34 20-28 23 7 2 55
Three-point goals -ÊWawasee 3-9 (Doty 0-1, Wilson 1-2, Klenke 1-3, Gradle 0-1, High 1-2), East Noble 5-20 (Borger 0-2, Rathge 0-1, Beiswanger 0-3, Gienger 0-2, Sparkman 5-9, Garrard 0-3). Total fouls - Wawasee 18, East Noble 20. Fouled out -ÊHolbrook, Wilson. Turnovers -ÊWawasee 12, East Noble 9.
JV Score -ÊWAWASEE 46, EAST NOBLE 39 [[In-content Ad]]
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SYRACUSE -ÊAll Wawasee head coach Robb Berger has asked from his 2-10 Warriors all season long is that they come out every day to work hard and play hard. Up until this point, he hasn't seen much of these two things. Heading into Saturday night's game against heavily favored East Noble, it would definitely take four hard-fought quarters for a chance to upset the Knights.
After four hard-fought and well-played quarters, the Warriors finally fulfilled what their coach was looking for all along, a well-played game and a huge 55-52 win over a talented opponent.
"The only thing I have asked this season is that we work hard all the time," Berger said. "For most of the season, we haven't done a good job doing that. We really played hard tonight and we gave ourselves a chance to win."
On paper, this game shouldn't have been that close. East Noble, who always has a good basketball program under coach Marty Johnson, had the better record and the height advantage against the scrappy Warriors.
The Knights looked to push the ball inside to 6-foot-6 senior Matt Holbrook, but the Warriors 2-3 defnse shut out the Knights' inside game for most of the night.
"We did a nice job shifting on defnse tonight," said Breger. "We put some pressure on their guys and we seemed to be in the right place most of the time."
East Noble opened up the game in long distance fashion with Travis Sparkman nailing a three-pointer to give the guests a 3-0 lead. Sparkman was a spark for the Knights in the first quarter. He was 3 of 3 from three-point range, scoring nine of East Noble's 11 first quarter points.
"They did a nice job of getting Sparkman open early," Berger said. "I thought as the game went on, we did a better job of finding him."
Wawasee took its first lead at 4-3 on a Jeremy High jumpt shot with 5:03 left. After a Matt Holbrook layup, the Warriors went on a 7-0 run to up their lead to 11-5. High connected on a three, scored a layup and was fouled, and Brent Doty hit a shot.
Sparkman kept the Knights close, closing out the quarter with two three-ppinters in the final minute. High was the man for the Warriors in the first, scoring six of his game-high 18 points in the quarter.
The Knights started the second quarter with a Zach Beiswanger free throw ti toe the score at 12 with 7:42 to play. The Warriors then turned on the heat and went on an 11-3 run to give them a 23-15 advantage, their biggest lead up until this point.
"I really thought our pressure hurt them a little," said Berger. "We were in a great position to intimidate some passes."
After the Warriors' big run, the Knights came back with a run of their own, outscoring the Warriors 6-0 and cutting the lead to 23-21. B.J. Wilson then hit a layup and a jump shot to give the host a 27-23 halftime lead.
Sparkman had 14 halftime points for the Knights, while High paced the Warrior first half with nine.
The third quarter was a low-scoring quarter for the Knights. East Noble only managed nine third-quarter points on 2-of-9 shooting.
Wawasee's Drew Gradle opened up the quarter hitting a layup and getting fouled to give the Warriors a 30-23 lead with 7:48 to go. The Warriors would get their biggest lead of the game39-28 with 3:10 left thanks to an R.J. Wilson three-pointer. Knight coach Marty Johnson saw enough and called a quick timeout.
The Warriors led after three 41-32 and were looking to hold on for their biggest win of the year by far.
East Noble came out from the quarter fired up and scored the first seven points of the quarter to close the gap to 41-39. Sparkman, who lit up the Warriors early, didn't score a point in the third quarter. After being shut out, Sparkman again caught fire, scoring the first five points of the quarter.
After again cutting the lead to two at 43-41, the Warriors went on a 5-0 run to give them a little bit of breathing room at 48-41. Travis Klenke hit a three and High hit two free throws during the run. The Knights kept it close thanks to some miscues by the Warriors.
With the Warriors leading 52-49 with 17 seconds left, Klenke could have put the Knights away hitting free throws. Not only did Klenke miss the first, he missed the second which gave the Knights another chance.
The Warriors then made another mental mistake when R.J. Wilson fouled Sparkman on a three-point attempt with nine seconds left.
If Sparkman hit all three, the game was tied. But Sparkman could only connect on 1 of 3 to cut the lead to 50-52 with nine seconds to play.
With a quick foul, Klenke again had the opportunity to put the Knights away. This time, Klenke managed to hit 1 of 2, but made a costly mistake when he fouled Sean Gabbard with six seconds left. With the Warriors clinging to a 53-50 lead, Gabbard drilled both free throws to cut the lead to one at 53-52.
Again Klenke was fouled, this time with five seconds to play and the Warriors up by a single point.
With the game on the line, Klenke calmly hit both to give the Warriors a 55-52 lead. East Noble had one last look, a three-point attempt by Derick Gienger that fell short, thus giving the Warriors their biggest win of the year.
WAWASEE 55, EAST NOBLE 52
East Noble 11 12 9 20 - 52
Wawasee 12 15 14 14 - 55
East Noble FG FT R A S Pts.
Borger 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0
Rathge 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
*Beiswanger 0-10 6-8 4 6 0 6
*Gienger 1-6 0-0 0 2 0 2
*Sparkman 5-12 7-9 2 1 3 22
*Gabbard 3-7 2-2 9 1 0 8
Young 1-1 0-0 1 0 0 2
*Holbrook 2-2 2-2 4 0 0 6
Longfellow 2-2 2-2 2 0 0 6
Totals 14-43 19-23 22 11 3 52
Wawasee FG FT R A S Pts.
Farrell 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 2
Doty 1-3 0-0 2 0 0 2
*Wilson 4-8 0-0 3 0 0 9
*Klenke 2-5 6-10 6 4 1 11
*Gradle 2-4 1-1 2 0 0 5
*Speicher 0-2 4-4 0 0 0 4
*High 5-9 7-10 9 2 1 18
Packer 1-2 2-2 1 0 0 4
Totals 16-34 20-28 23 7 2 55
Three-point goals -ÊWawasee 3-9 (Doty 0-1, Wilson 1-2, Klenke 1-3, Gradle 0-1, High 1-2), East Noble 5-20 (Borger 0-2, Rathge 0-1, Beiswanger 0-3, Gienger 0-2, Sparkman 5-9, Garrard 0-3). Total fouls - Wawasee 18, East Noble 20. Fouled out -ÊHolbrook, Wilson. Turnovers -ÊWawasee 12, East Noble 9.
JV Score -ÊWAWASEE 46, EAST NOBLE 39 [[In-content Ad]]