Warriors Ready To Run Again
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
After losing 67-66 in the Class 3A Sectional 21 championship game to Columbia City last year, the Wawasee Warriors lost Trevor McKibben (16 ppg), Riley Stichter (14 ppg, 10 rpg), Logan Hatfield (10 ppg) and Cody McBride (9 ppg, 7 rpg), with Stichter leaving with 1,084 points, fourth in career scoring.
But it wasn't just scoring coach Phil Mishler saw graduate.
"We lose ball handling, shooting, defensive presence and rebounding," Mishler said. "We just lose a lot of basketball IQ."
However, thanks to their up-tempo style, Mishler ran a 10-man rotation last year, meaning he returns plenty of experience.
"A lot of our returnees are seniors, which helps with the transition," he said. "But every year, you notice how important the guys you lost were."
Among those seniors are Trent Koble and Jake Clark at guard, as well as Zac Patrick, Justin Fick and Bauer Schmeltz in the post.
With last season's second wave of Warriors now starting, the second fleet of Warriors to take the court will be junior Ryndan Aaron, sophomore Austin Lutz and freshman Alex Clark, although the most important will be junior Jacob Thompson.
"A lot of the scoring is going to come from him," Mishler said of the 6-foot-5 guard.
After breaking onto the scene by starting as a freshman, and leading the way during the 2009 postseason tournament, Thompson injured his shoulder in Wawasee's scrimmage a year ago. After attempting to play with the injury, he shut it down after 10 games, averaging 14 points per contest.
"He's at 100 percent physically," Mishler said. "Some of the time, you can see the mental part is still there. Knowing the injury was there has a certain affect."
While Mishler knows what some of his rotation will look like when the Warriors open their season tonight at Fairfield, there may be some unknowns with the rest of the roster, which includes junior Garret Balser, as well as sophomores Douglas Hapner, Chase Myers, Jacob Blackburn and Kody Carpenter.
"They all got a good idea of our system with junior varsity games," Mishler said. "The varsity game is quicker and there will be a time of learning. During the first couple of games, we'll be figuring out our team identity."
After opening with Fairfield, Wawasee hosts Angola (Nov. 26) and Manchester (Dec. 2) before playing three-straight road games, beginning with West Noble (Dec. 3), Whitko (Dec. 10) and ending with their Northern Lakes Conference opener at Warsaw (Dec. 16).
"As always, the NLC is strong, and I think it may even be stronger than it's been in the past," Mishler said. "Then you look at our area teams, which are always good and are good again this year."[[In-content Ad]]
After losing 67-66 in the Class 3A Sectional 21 championship game to Columbia City last year, the Wawasee Warriors lost Trevor McKibben (16 ppg), Riley Stichter (14 ppg, 10 rpg), Logan Hatfield (10 ppg) and Cody McBride (9 ppg, 7 rpg), with Stichter leaving with 1,084 points, fourth in career scoring.
But it wasn't just scoring coach Phil Mishler saw graduate.
"We lose ball handling, shooting, defensive presence and rebounding," Mishler said. "We just lose a lot of basketball IQ."
However, thanks to their up-tempo style, Mishler ran a 10-man rotation last year, meaning he returns plenty of experience.
"A lot of our returnees are seniors, which helps with the transition," he said. "But every year, you notice how important the guys you lost were."
Among those seniors are Trent Koble and Jake Clark at guard, as well as Zac Patrick, Justin Fick and Bauer Schmeltz in the post.
With last season's second wave of Warriors now starting, the second fleet of Warriors to take the court will be junior Ryndan Aaron, sophomore Austin Lutz and freshman Alex Clark, although the most important will be junior Jacob Thompson.
"A lot of the scoring is going to come from him," Mishler said of the 6-foot-5 guard.
After breaking onto the scene by starting as a freshman, and leading the way during the 2009 postseason tournament, Thompson injured his shoulder in Wawasee's scrimmage a year ago. After attempting to play with the injury, he shut it down after 10 games, averaging 14 points per contest.
"He's at 100 percent physically," Mishler said. "Some of the time, you can see the mental part is still there. Knowing the injury was there has a certain affect."
While Mishler knows what some of his rotation will look like when the Warriors open their season tonight at Fairfield, there may be some unknowns with the rest of the roster, which includes junior Garret Balser, as well as sophomores Douglas Hapner, Chase Myers, Jacob Blackburn and Kody Carpenter.
"They all got a good idea of our system with junior varsity games," Mishler said. "The varsity game is quicker and there will be a time of learning. During the first couple of games, we'll be figuring out our team identity."
After opening with Fairfield, Wawasee hosts Angola (Nov. 26) and Manchester (Dec. 2) before playing three-straight road games, beginning with West Noble (Dec. 3), Whitko (Dec. 10) and ending with their Northern Lakes Conference opener at Warsaw (Dec. 16).
"As always, the NLC is strong, and I think it may even be stronger than it's been in the past," Mishler said. "Then you look at our area teams, which are always good and are good again this year."[[In-content Ad]]
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