Warriors Sweep Away Warsaw
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SYRACUSE - In his first 14 seasons as Warsaw's girls basketball coach, Will Wienhorst never lost to Northern Lakes Conference and Kosciusko County rival Wawasee. His Tigers have now lost to the Warriors twice in the last four days.
The way Wienhorst looks at it, 14 years of domination has been thrown to the wayside because of 16 minutes.
While it was the first quarter in Saturday's 72-43 regular season loss, it was the second stanza in Wednesday night's 81-66 loss in the first round of the inaugural NLC Tournament.
"They played better than us in the second quarter," Wienhorst said. "That was the game, no ifs, ands or buts about it."
Clinging to a 20-19 advantage at the end of the first quarter, the Warriors hammered Warsaw 22-8 in the second quarter, taking a 42-27 lead at halftime.
The loss drops Warsaw to 4-4 on the season, while Wawasee, ranked No. 3 in Class 3A, improves to 10-0.
"To beat an NLC team the caliber of Warsaw twice in a row is a difficult task," third-year Warrior coach Kem Zolman said. "Now we might have to face NorthWood three times. It's tough to beat a team twice, let alone three times. That's what I don't like about the conference tournament."
Wawasee will play at NorthWood, 7-0 and No. 4 in Class 3A, in tonight's second round at 6 p.m. NorthWood crushed Goshen 63-28 to advance. Warsaw will play tonight at Goshen (3-7) at 6 p.m.
After tonight's contest with NorthWood, Wawasee will face the Panthers Jan. 5 and then possibly in the sectional. The Tigers will see Goshen tonight, and then again Jan. 13 before a possible sectional date.
If these last two Warsaw/Wawasee clashes were movies, Saturday's 29-point thrashing was a horror flick, while last night's contest provided much more drama.
Trailing by 15 at the break, Warsaw started the third quarter with a 9-0 run that cut Wawasee's lead to 42-36 when junior Hilary O'Connell stole the ball and assisted senior Kara Kesler at the 6:41 mark.
"I didn't think we came out of the third quarter and matched their intensity," Kem Zolman said. "I almost hate to have a halftime. It's like as an older person when you go out and shovel snow. You take a break and go into a warm house, then you don't want to go back out again."
Wawasee responded to Warsaw's run and took a 53-40 lead with 2:15 remaining in the quarter when junior Shanna Zolman hit a three-pointer. Tiger junior Ashley Wyatt came back with a three and then connected on a field goal to cut Wawasee's lead to nine, 54-45.
After a Zolman bucket gave the Warriors a 12-point lead 22 seconds into the fourth quarter, the Tigers again mounted a mini comeback and cut the lead to eight, 60-52, on a field goal by Kesler with 5:35 left in regulation.
Kesler led Warsaw with 21 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. Freshman Michelle DeGeeter was the only other Warsaw player in double figures, scoring 10 points off the bench. Wyatt added nine points, while O'Connell added eight and Poling five.
"I thought our seniors really stepped up," Wienhorst said. "Kesler and Poling really stepped up for us. DeGeeter really did a lot for us tonight."
Zolman led the undefeated Warriors with 35 points, while sophomores Jocelyn Higginbotham, Crystal Fawley and Wallen added 12 points each.
"Give Wawasee credit, Zolman put up her points, but her supporting cast really stepped up," Wienhorst said.
The Tigers cut the deficit to eight, 70-62, one last time when they went on a 6-0 run capped off by a Kesler field goal at the 1:38 mark.
Wawasee then put the nail in the coffin with a Fawley three-pointer and several free throws. The Warriors shot 14 of 17 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter and 21 of 27 for the game.
"We knew coming in Zolman would score her points," Wienhorst said. "They scored 81. I thought we could hold them to 70. I know we can score 70. It just comes down to execution."
Zolman was 8 of 8 from the charity stripe in the final frame and 10 of 10 for the game.
WAWASEE 81, WARSAW 66
Warsaw (4-4) 19 8 19 20 - 66
Wawasee (10-0) 20 22 19 22 - 81
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
Poling (G) 2-4 0-1 7 1 5
Kesler (G) 7-15 7-8 3 5 21
O'Connell (G) 4-12 0-0 3 4 8
Chabot (F) 0-3 2-4 2 1 2
Knisely (C) 2-9 0-0 6 2 4
DeRenzo 0-0 1-4 1 1 1
Wyatt 3-9 2-2 3 2 9
McGriff 1-2 0-0 1 0 2
Leininger 1-6 2-2 2 0 4
DeGeeter 4-4 2-3 4 1 10
Totals 24-64 16-24 32 17 66
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
Zolman (G) 11-20 10-10 6 5 35
Fawley (G) 4-6 1-2 2 2 12
Wallen (F) 4-8 4-5 7 4 12
Leach (F) 3-7 2-5 8 0 8
Higginbotham (C) 5-7 2-2 6 0 12
Bradford 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Lamb 0-0 0-1 1 0 0
Henderson 0-0 2-2 1 1 2
Totals 27-48 21-27 31 12 81
Three-point goals - Warsaw 2-10 (Poling 1-1, Wyatt 1-4, O'Connell 0-4, Kesler 0-1), Wawasee 6-11 (Zolman 3-6, Fawley 3-4, Wallen 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 22, Wawasee 24. Fouls - Warsaw 23, Wawasee 20. Fouled out - Poling, Kesler. [[In-content Ad]]
SYRACUSE - In his first 14 seasons as Warsaw's girls basketball coach, Will Wienhorst never lost to Northern Lakes Conference and Kosciusko County rival Wawasee. His Tigers have now lost to the Warriors twice in the last four days.
The way Wienhorst looks at it, 14 years of domination has been thrown to the wayside because of 16 minutes.
While it was the first quarter in Saturday's 72-43 regular season loss, it was the second stanza in Wednesday night's 81-66 loss in the first round of the inaugural NLC Tournament.
"They played better than us in the second quarter," Wienhorst said. "That was the game, no ifs, ands or buts about it."
Clinging to a 20-19 advantage at the end of the first quarter, the Warriors hammered Warsaw 22-8 in the second quarter, taking a 42-27 lead at halftime.
The loss drops Warsaw to 4-4 on the season, while Wawasee, ranked No. 3 in Class 3A, improves to 10-0.
"To beat an NLC team the caliber of Warsaw twice in a row is a difficult task," third-year Warrior coach Kem Zolman said. "Now we might have to face NorthWood three times. It's tough to beat a team twice, let alone three times. That's what I don't like about the conference tournament."
Wawasee will play at NorthWood, 7-0 and No. 4 in Class 3A, in tonight's second round at 6 p.m. NorthWood crushed Goshen 63-28 to advance. Warsaw will play tonight at Goshen (3-7) at 6 p.m.
After tonight's contest with NorthWood, Wawasee will face the Panthers Jan. 5 and then possibly in the sectional. The Tigers will see Goshen tonight, and then again Jan. 13 before a possible sectional date.
If these last two Warsaw/Wawasee clashes were movies, Saturday's 29-point thrashing was a horror flick, while last night's contest provided much more drama.
Trailing by 15 at the break, Warsaw started the third quarter with a 9-0 run that cut Wawasee's lead to 42-36 when junior Hilary O'Connell stole the ball and assisted senior Kara Kesler at the 6:41 mark.
"I didn't think we came out of the third quarter and matched their intensity," Kem Zolman said. "I almost hate to have a halftime. It's like as an older person when you go out and shovel snow. You take a break and go into a warm house, then you don't want to go back out again."
Wawasee responded to Warsaw's run and took a 53-40 lead with 2:15 remaining in the quarter when junior Shanna Zolman hit a three-pointer. Tiger junior Ashley Wyatt came back with a three and then connected on a field goal to cut Wawasee's lead to nine, 54-45.
After a Zolman bucket gave the Warriors a 12-point lead 22 seconds into the fourth quarter, the Tigers again mounted a mini comeback and cut the lead to eight, 60-52, on a field goal by Kesler with 5:35 left in regulation.
Kesler led Warsaw with 21 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. Freshman Michelle DeGeeter was the only other Warsaw player in double figures, scoring 10 points off the bench. Wyatt added nine points, while O'Connell added eight and Poling five.
"I thought our seniors really stepped up," Wienhorst said. "Kesler and Poling really stepped up for us. DeGeeter really did a lot for us tonight."
Zolman led the undefeated Warriors with 35 points, while sophomores Jocelyn Higginbotham, Crystal Fawley and Wallen added 12 points each.
"Give Wawasee credit, Zolman put up her points, but her supporting cast really stepped up," Wienhorst said.
The Tigers cut the deficit to eight, 70-62, one last time when they went on a 6-0 run capped off by a Kesler field goal at the 1:38 mark.
Wawasee then put the nail in the coffin with a Fawley three-pointer and several free throws. The Warriors shot 14 of 17 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter and 21 of 27 for the game.
"We knew coming in Zolman would score her points," Wienhorst said. "They scored 81. I thought we could hold them to 70. I know we can score 70. It just comes down to execution."
Zolman was 8 of 8 from the charity stripe in the final frame and 10 of 10 for the game.
WAWASEE 81, WARSAW 66
Warsaw (4-4) 19 8 19 20 - 66
Wawasee (10-0) 20 22 19 22 - 81
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
Poling (G) 2-4 0-1 7 1 5
Kesler (G) 7-15 7-8 3 5 21
O'Connell (G) 4-12 0-0 3 4 8
Chabot (F) 0-3 2-4 2 1 2
Knisely (C) 2-9 0-0 6 2 4
DeRenzo 0-0 1-4 1 1 1
Wyatt 3-9 2-2 3 2 9
McGriff 1-2 0-0 1 0 2
Leininger 1-6 2-2 2 0 4
DeGeeter 4-4 2-3 4 1 10
Totals 24-64 16-24 32 17 66
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
Zolman (G) 11-20 10-10 6 5 35
Fawley (G) 4-6 1-2 2 2 12
Wallen (F) 4-8 4-5 7 4 12
Leach (F) 3-7 2-5 8 0 8
Higginbotham (C) 5-7 2-2 6 0 12
Bradford 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Lamb 0-0 0-1 1 0 0
Henderson 0-0 2-2 1 1 2
Totals 27-48 21-27 31 12 81
Three-point goals - Warsaw 2-10 (Poling 1-1, Wyatt 1-4, O'Connell 0-4, Kesler 0-1), Wawasee 6-11 (Zolman 3-6, Fawley 3-4, Wallen 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 22, Wawasee 24. Fouls - Warsaw 23, Wawasee 20. Fouled out - Poling, Kesler. [[In-content Ad]]