Warriors Lose Stronghold On NLC
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Following their 49-45 win over Elkhart Memorial on Jan. 17, the Warriors (15-3) were the only squad with an unblemished Northern Lakes Conference record. However, a 52-48 loss at Plymouth (13-4) Saturday left Wawasee, Memorial and the Plymouth Pilgrims in a three-way tie with 4-1 NLC records.
"If everyone takes care of business, it will be a tri-way," Plymouth coach Dave Cox said of the three NLC-leading teams, who each have two conference games remaining.
"For this group to pull it off, will be a real accomplishment," he added.
If the three teams do share the title, it would not really be that big of a surprise.
Over the past four years, one of the teams has won the title, beginning with Plymouth in 2005 and 2006, Wawasee in 2007 and Memorial in 2008.
Despite still being in the running for at least a share of a conference crown, Wawasee coach Kem Zolman was a little more than disappointed with his girls' latest effort, but put the blame on himself.
"Tonight, (Plymouth was) the much better team," he said. "They're more fundamentally sound than we are - that's my fault. They're much more solid mentally - that's my fault. They're just a much better team. I thought we digressed, probably a month, tonight - and that's my fault."
Perhaps Zolman's biggest source of frustration was his team's defense.
Entering the game surrendering just 35 points a game, Plymouth scored 26 in the first half, 20 coming from senior Lyzz Smith, who shot 4 for 4 from behind the three-point arc in the opening 16 minutes.
"We'd like for Lyzz to shoot more," Cox said. "She's got the absolute green light. She's just becoming a really nice basketball player. She just has a heart that is as big as can be, and she puts the team on her shoulders."
The offensive outburst was disheartening for Zolman, especially when considering he felt it could have been prevented.
"I think she can do that when we don't guard her," Zolman said of Smith. "We just didn't guard her. So, I hope she can hit when no one's guarding her."
Making life even tougher in the first half was senior Brennan McAdams picking up her third foul at the 4:00 mark of the second quarter, and senior Ashlee Ort joining her on the bench with her third foul 17 seconds later.
With the two seniors relegated to the bench for the rest of the half, Plymouth closed on an 8-2 run, holding a 28-19 lead at halftime.
"There was nothing I saw in the first half, that was any semblance to what I have seen," Zolman said. "I have no clue of what we were doing."
Plymouth sustained an eight-point lead through the third quarter, until senior Brittany Davis picked up her fourth foul with 4:08 remaining. From there, Wawasee embarked on a 13-3 run, tying the game at 37-37 on a bucket by freshman Lakin Bowen to open the fourth quarter.
"Brittany Davis is just huge," Cox said. "She started out being a kid we thought, maybe, could help us out a little bit defensively. Now, she's a huge part of our offense."
Upon Davis' re-entry into the game with 6:02 remaining, she immediately scored a bucket to give her team the lead back at 39-37.
On the Warriors ensuing possession, junior reserve Kaytie Woodard hit a three-pointer, giving the Wawasee its first, and only, lead at 40-39.
Plymouth senior Meagan Barron helped to silence the Wawasee faithful by hitting back-to-back three-pointers on consecutive Plymouth possessions, sandwiching a steal and layup by Wawasee senior Taylor Goshert.
"Barron has the courage to step out and just bury two three-pointers," Cox said. "That's the first time she's hit multiple (three-pointers) in a game."
Bowen once again tied the game at the 2:18 mark at 45-45, but a backdoor cut that result in a three-point play by Plymouth senior Alex Starr with 1:11 remaining delivered a staggering blow to the Warriors.
Wawasee kept it close down the end, even drawing to 50-48 with eight seconds remaining, but following two free throws by Smith, scoring her game-high 26th point, Plymouth sealed up the win.
In the loss, senior Kylee Ort led the Warriors with 14 points, which was accomplished by playing just 27 seconds of the second half after suffering a blow to her head, forcing her out of the game.
"The other kids stepped in and did a heck of a job," Zolman said. "Amy (Walker) came in and did a heck of a job. She got some key rebounds and helped us with a shot or two. I thought she came in, and did a nice job. Kaytie Woodard did a nice job on (Starr), and kind of helped us out there a bit."
Competing without one of his top players, Zolman still expected more out of his team.
"I hope there's something we can learn from this," he said. "I don't know. They're really fragile, mentally, right now. I thought we had progressed a whole lot better than that. I'm just really disappointed in our mental approach when things get tough for us. That's my fault. I put a lot of stress on myself to make sure they're where they need to be at this point."
On the Plymouth side of things, Cox was pleased with his team.
"We told (the seniors), 'This is about you four against their four.'," he said. "I think our kids knew deep down, they wanted to beat them. We've beaten them off-and-on through the years. The all-time series is a 19-18 (favoring Wawasee). So it's always been an even series. We never felt we had to fear Wawasee, we just respect them."
Wawasee will look to regain their winning ways Tuesday, hosting the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings at 6:15 p.m.
PLYMOUTH 52, WAWASEE 48
W 11 8 16 13 - 48
P 11 17 9 15 - 52
Wawasee (48) - A. Ort 0 1-2 1, K. Ort 5 3-3 14, McAdams 4 2-2 12, Goshert 2 3-3 8, Tait 0 0-0 0, Walker 1 1-2 3, Woodard 2 0-0 6, Bowen 2 0-0 4, Wiggs 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 10-12 48.
Plymouth (52) - Starr 3 2-3 9, Davis 1 4-4 6, Hayden 1 2-2 5, Barron 2 0-2 6, Smith 9 4-6 26, Smart 0 0-2 0, Scheetz 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 12-19 52.
3-point goals - Wawasee 6-18 (McAdams 2, Woodard 2, K. Ort, Goshert), Plymouth 8-16 (Smith 4, Barron 2, Starr, Hayden); Team Fouls (fouled out) - Wawasee 19 (Woodard), Plymouth 13 (Davis); Turnovers - Wawasee 15, Plymouth 14; Rebounds - Wawasee 30 (A. Ort 5, Walker 4, Woodard 4), Plymouth 32 (Davis 8, Smith 7); Assists - Wawasee 13 (A. Ort 5, McAdams 3, Goshert 3), Plymouth 10 (Hayden 5, Davis 4); Steals - Wawasee 8 (Goshert 3), Plymouth 9 (Davis 3, Smart 3); Blocks - Wawasee 1, Plymouth 0; Records - Wawasee 15-3 (4-1 NLC), Plymouth 13-4 (4-1 NLC)[[In-content Ad]]
Following their 49-45 win over Elkhart Memorial on Jan. 17, the Warriors (15-3) were the only squad with an unblemished Northern Lakes Conference record. However, a 52-48 loss at Plymouth (13-4) Saturday left Wawasee, Memorial and the Plymouth Pilgrims in a three-way tie with 4-1 NLC records.
"If everyone takes care of business, it will be a tri-way," Plymouth coach Dave Cox said of the three NLC-leading teams, who each have two conference games remaining.
"For this group to pull it off, will be a real accomplishment," he added.
If the three teams do share the title, it would not really be that big of a surprise.
Over the past four years, one of the teams has won the title, beginning with Plymouth in 2005 and 2006, Wawasee in 2007 and Memorial in 2008.
Despite still being in the running for at least a share of a conference crown, Wawasee coach Kem Zolman was a little more than disappointed with his girls' latest effort, but put the blame on himself.
"Tonight, (Plymouth was) the much better team," he said. "They're more fundamentally sound than we are - that's my fault. They're much more solid mentally - that's my fault. They're just a much better team. I thought we digressed, probably a month, tonight - and that's my fault."
Perhaps Zolman's biggest source of frustration was his team's defense.
Entering the game surrendering just 35 points a game, Plymouth scored 26 in the first half, 20 coming from senior Lyzz Smith, who shot 4 for 4 from behind the three-point arc in the opening 16 minutes.
"We'd like for Lyzz to shoot more," Cox said. "She's got the absolute green light. She's just becoming a really nice basketball player. She just has a heart that is as big as can be, and she puts the team on her shoulders."
The offensive outburst was disheartening for Zolman, especially when considering he felt it could have been prevented.
"I think she can do that when we don't guard her," Zolman said of Smith. "We just didn't guard her. So, I hope she can hit when no one's guarding her."
Making life even tougher in the first half was senior Brennan McAdams picking up her third foul at the 4:00 mark of the second quarter, and senior Ashlee Ort joining her on the bench with her third foul 17 seconds later.
With the two seniors relegated to the bench for the rest of the half, Plymouth closed on an 8-2 run, holding a 28-19 lead at halftime.
"There was nothing I saw in the first half, that was any semblance to what I have seen," Zolman said. "I have no clue of what we were doing."
Plymouth sustained an eight-point lead through the third quarter, until senior Brittany Davis picked up her fourth foul with 4:08 remaining. From there, Wawasee embarked on a 13-3 run, tying the game at 37-37 on a bucket by freshman Lakin Bowen to open the fourth quarter.
"Brittany Davis is just huge," Cox said. "She started out being a kid we thought, maybe, could help us out a little bit defensively. Now, she's a huge part of our offense."
Upon Davis' re-entry into the game with 6:02 remaining, she immediately scored a bucket to give her team the lead back at 39-37.
On the Warriors ensuing possession, junior reserve Kaytie Woodard hit a three-pointer, giving the Wawasee its first, and only, lead at 40-39.
Plymouth senior Meagan Barron helped to silence the Wawasee faithful by hitting back-to-back three-pointers on consecutive Plymouth possessions, sandwiching a steal and layup by Wawasee senior Taylor Goshert.
"Barron has the courage to step out and just bury two three-pointers," Cox said. "That's the first time she's hit multiple (three-pointers) in a game."
Bowen once again tied the game at the 2:18 mark at 45-45, but a backdoor cut that result in a three-point play by Plymouth senior Alex Starr with 1:11 remaining delivered a staggering blow to the Warriors.
Wawasee kept it close down the end, even drawing to 50-48 with eight seconds remaining, but following two free throws by Smith, scoring her game-high 26th point, Plymouth sealed up the win.
In the loss, senior Kylee Ort led the Warriors with 14 points, which was accomplished by playing just 27 seconds of the second half after suffering a blow to her head, forcing her out of the game.
"The other kids stepped in and did a heck of a job," Zolman said. "Amy (Walker) came in and did a heck of a job. She got some key rebounds and helped us with a shot or two. I thought she came in, and did a nice job. Kaytie Woodard did a nice job on (Starr), and kind of helped us out there a bit."
Competing without one of his top players, Zolman still expected more out of his team.
"I hope there's something we can learn from this," he said. "I don't know. They're really fragile, mentally, right now. I thought we had progressed a whole lot better than that. I'm just really disappointed in our mental approach when things get tough for us. That's my fault. I put a lot of stress on myself to make sure they're where they need to be at this point."
On the Plymouth side of things, Cox was pleased with his team.
"We told (the seniors), 'This is about you four against their four.'," he said. "I think our kids knew deep down, they wanted to beat them. We've beaten them off-and-on through the years. The all-time series is a 19-18 (favoring Wawasee). So it's always been an even series. We never felt we had to fear Wawasee, we just respect them."
Wawasee will look to regain their winning ways Tuesday, hosting the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings at 6:15 p.m.
PLYMOUTH 52, WAWASEE 48
W 11 8 16 13 - 48
P 11 17 9 15 - 52
Wawasee (48) - A. Ort 0 1-2 1, K. Ort 5 3-3 14, McAdams 4 2-2 12, Goshert 2 3-3 8, Tait 0 0-0 0, Walker 1 1-2 3, Woodard 2 0-0 6, Bowen 2 0-0 4, Wiggs 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 10-12 48.
Plymouth (52) - Starr 3 2-3 9, Davis 1 4-4 6, Hayden 1 2-2 5, Barron 2 0-2 6, Smith 9 4-6 26, Smart 0 0-2 0, Scheetz 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 12-19 52.
3-point goals - Wawasee 6-18 (McAdams 2, Woodard 2, K. Ort, Goshert), Plymouth 8-16 (Smith 4, Barron 2, Starr, Hayden); Team Fouls (fouled out) - Wawasee 19 (Woodard), Plymouth 13 (Davis); Turnovers - Wawasee 15, Plymouth 14; Rebounds - Wawasee 30 (A. Ort 5, Walker 4, Woodard 4), Plymouth 32 (Davis 8, Smith 7); Assists - Wawasee 13 (A. Ort 5, McAdams 3, Goshert 3), Plymouth 10 (Hayden 5, Davis 4); Steals - Wawasee 8 (Goshert 3), Plymouth 9 (Davis 3, Smart 3); Blocks - Wawasee 1, Plymouth 0; Records - Wawasee 15-3 (4-1 NLC), Plymouth 13-4 (4-1 NLC)[[In-content Ad]]
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