Warriors To Face Valley, Uncertain About Lantz
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SYRACUSE - In a phone conversation earlier this week, fifth-year Wawasee boys basketball coach Phil Mishler said one of the big things that makes Tippecanoe Valley so good is its depth.
Wawasee will battle the Class 3A No. 5 Vikings at approximately noon in Saturday's NorthWood Regional, and it's Wawasee's depth that could take a big hit.
Because of a knee injury suffered in Saturday's sectional final win over Lakeland, 6-foot-2 senior Kory Lantz is questionable and will likely just be a cheerleader for his teammates.
In the words of Mishler, "barring a miracle, he won't play."
Lantz, a four-year varsity starter, is second on the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game. He is second on the team in assists (62), second in steals (21) and fourth in rebounds (76).
During the phone conversation, Mishler said he wasn't exactly sure of the injury, but said it had something to do with Lantz' knee cap and that there was "extreme stiffness and swelling."
"When you take away our second-leading scorer, that hurts us offensively," said Mishler, whose Warriors enter regional play with an 18-6 record and as winners in nine of their past 10 games. "That takes away a lot of leadership. We have played without him before. We've had good games without him. We'll find someone who's ready to go."
Lantz, who Mishler said could be replaced in the starting lineup by 5-8 sophomore Andrew Mock or 6-2 sophomore Joe Leach, missed Wawasee's Feb. 5 game against Northern Lakes Conference foe Northridge. The Warriors won that game 49-40.
The only loss in the past 10 games for Wawasee, however, came in the final game of the regular season. With Lantz and senior Austin Kaiser, who broke his hand and missed five games earlier in the season, in the lineup, the Warriors fell 56-53 at Tippecanoe Valley.
"Tippy Valley is an extremely good team with very good players," said Mishler. "We did a decent job limiting (Shane) Drudge and (David) Lash in their point production. Tippy Valley is so deep, they have so many players that can step up. Lash and Drudge are so unselfish, and that allows others to step up."
In Valley's three-point win over the Warriors, Drudge scored 10 points, while Lash had six.
Shane Denny, John Gibson and Michael Domenico all scored 12 points, however.
Tippecanoe Valley enters Saturday's regional with a 21-1 record, with its loss being a 52-49 setback to Plymouth in the third game of the season. The Vikings currently have the state's second-longest win streak at 19 games.
Second-ranked Bellmont (23-2) and Delta (15-7) play in the first semifinal game at 10 a.m., followed by the Wawasee-Tippecanoe Valley rematch. The winners will battle at 8 p.m. for the regional championship and a berth into next week's semistate, which will be held at either Huntington North or Lafayette Jeff.
"It doesn't get any easier this time of the season," said Mishler. "We felt our schedule prepared us well for the sectional. And we think our sectional prepared us well for what we'll face Saturday. It's a good opportunity to play some very good teams."
Valley advanced by winning the Whitko Sectional, in which the Vikings had to play just two games and were the only team with a winning record.
Wawasee advanced to the regional by winning the NorthWood Regional, not only playing tougher competition than Valley, but also getting the experience of three games in NorthWood's gym, nicknamed the Panther Pit.
The Warriors beat West Noble 69-51 in the sectional opener, and then dismantled Northridge, a team with 6-10 Division I recruit Ronnie Thomas 67-36. Wawasee won the sectional championship by beating Lakeland, which boasts 6-8 Iowa-bound Jon Workman, 58-53.
The sectional championship was the fourth in school history for the Warriors, who also won titles in 1977, 1982 and 1995.
Mishler became the fourth coach in Wawasee High School history to lead the boys basketball team to a sectional title, joining Jerry Lambert (1977), current Fairfield coach John Wysong (1982) and current Manchester coach Gary Goshert (1995).
Saturday's sectional championship was the first in a decade for Wawasee. A win over Valley in the regional semifinal would be a first for the Warriors.
In all three previous regional appearances, the Warriors lost in the semifinal round. [[In-content Ad]]
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SYRACUSE - In a phone conversation earlier this week, fifth-year Wawasee boys basketball coach Phil Mishler said one of the big things that makes Tippecanoe Valley so good is its depth.
Wawasee will battle the Class 3A No. 5 Vikings at approximately noon in Saturday's NorthWood Regional, and it's Wawasee's depth that could take a big hit.
Because of a knee injury suffered in Saturday's sectional final win over Lakeland, 6-foot-2 senior Kory Lantz is questionable and will likely just be a cheerleader for his teammates.
In the words of Mishler, "barring a miracle, he won't play."
Lantz, a four-year varsity starter, is second on the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game. He is second on the team in assists (62), second in steals (21) and fourth in rebounds (76).
During the phone conversation, Mishler said he wasn't exactly sure of the injury, but said it had something to do with Lantz' knee cap and that there was "extreme stiffness and swelling."
"When you take away our second-leading scorer, that hurts us offensively," said Mishler, whose Warriors enter regional play with an 18-6 record and as winners in nine of their past 10 games. "That takes away a lot of leadership. We have played without him before. We've had good games without him. We'll find someone who's ready to go."
Lantz, who Mishler said could be replaced in the starting lineup by 5-8 sophomore Andrew Mock or 6-2 sophomore Joe Leach, missed Wawasee's Feb. 5 game against Northern Lakes Conference foe Northridge. The Warriors won that game 49-40.
The only loss in the past 10 games for Wawasee, however, came in the final game of the regular season. With Lantz and senior Austin Kaiser, who broke his hand and missed five games earlier in the season, in the lineup, the Warriors fell 56-53 at Tippecanoe Valley.
"Tippy Valley is an extremely good team with very good players," said Mishler. "We did a decent job limiting (Shane) Drudge and (David) Lash in their point production. Tippy Valley is so deep, they have so many players that can step up. Lash and Drudge are so unselfish, and that allows others to step up."
In Valley's three-point win over the Warriors, Drudge scored 10 points, while Lash had six.
Shane Denny, John Gibson and Michael Domenico all scored 12 points, however.
Tippecanoe Valley enters Saturday's regional with a 21-1 record, with its loss being a 52-49 setback to Plymouth in the third game of the season. The Vikings currently have the state's second-longest win streak at 19 games.
Second-ranked Bellmont (23-2) and Delta (15-7) play in the first semifinal game at 10 a.m., followed by the Wawasee-Tippecanoe Valley rematch. The winners will battle at 8 p.m. for the regional championship and a berth into next week's semistate, which will be held at either Huntington North or Lafayette Jeff.
"It doesn't get any easier this time of the season," said Mishler. "We felt our schedule prepared us well for the sectional. And we think our sectional prepared us well for what we'll face Saturday. It's a good opportunity to play some very good teams."
Valley advanced by winning the Whitko Sectional, in which the Vikings had to play just two games and were the only team with a winning record.
Wawasee advanced to the regional by winning the NorthWood Regional, not only playing tougher competition than Valley, but also getting the experience of three games in NorthWood's gym, nicknamed the Panther Pit.
The Warriors beat West Noble 69-51 in the sectional opener, and then dismantled Northridge, a team with 6-10 Division I recruit Ronnie Thomas 67-36. Wawasee won the sectional championship by beating Lakeland, which boasts 6-8 Iowa-bound Jon Workman, 58-53.
The sectional championship was the fourth in school history for the Warriors, who also won titles in 1977, 1982 and 1995.
Mishler became the fourth coach in Wawasee High School history to lead the boys basketball team to a sectional title, joining Jerry Lambert (1977), current Fairfield coach John Wysong (1982) and current Manchester coach Gary Goshert (1995).
Saturday's sectional championship was the first in a decade for Wawasee. A win over Valley in the regional semifinal would be a first for the Warriors.
In all three previous regional appearances, the Warriors lost in the semifinal round. [[In-content Ad]]