Warriors To Run-And-Gun Again
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Due to a lack of height last season, coach Phil Mishler, now in his 10th season with the Warriiors, adopted a high-scoring offense, which had guys constantly subbing in and out and resulting in an average of 76 points per game. The only problem was, the opposition scored 86 points per contest, resulting in a 7-14 campaign that ended in a 68-61 loss to Lakeland in the opening round of Class 3A Sectional 21.[[In-content Ad]]"We have a bit more height this year, but we're going to run the same sort of offense," Mishler said. "We started it thinking it would be a three-year kind of system."
Gone from last year's team are leading scorer Wes Kaiser (15.0 ppg), as well as Grant Ruch and his 10.2 ppg and second-leading rebounder Dylan Ringler (4.8 rpg).
However, with 10 different guys playing at least 119 minutes and nine playing at least 183, the Warriors have plenty of experience coming back.
"We played a lot of guys last year," Mishler said. "The experience on the varsity floor will help us quite a bit."
Returning letter winners are juniors Trevor McKibben, Riley Stichter, Chad Schrock, Logan Hatfield and Cody Blunk; sophomore Jake Clark and senior Keegan Beer.
"Keegan Beer is our lone senior, so he will be the glue to keep the guys together," Mishler said.
Beer may be the leader in the locker room, but if Wawasee's going to have success, Stichter will most likely have to be the leader in the scorebook.
As a sophomore, Stichter averaged 11.4 points on 68-percent shooting, leading the team with 9.4 rebounds a game.
"He's played a lot of basketball during the summer and has gotten a lot stronger, while also growing about two inches," Mishler said of Stichter. "He's multi-faceted. How he goes kind of dictates how the team starts."
Another player Mishler will look to for good starts is McKibben.
"It obviously starts with the point guard," he said.
Rounding out the roster for the 2009-10 Warriors will be juniors Luke Thompson and Cody McBride; sophomores Trent Koble, Jake Clark, Zac Patrick, Justin Fink and Bauer Schmeltz, as well as freshman Jacob Thompson.
"I know he's a freshman, but he fits in with the pace we want to have, and he has the strength and skills needed for this level," Mishler said of his freshman.
The pace the Warriors will want is the most uptempo seen by many, meaning lots of kids are needed. And not just any kids, but kids that have high endurance and can hit jump shots.
"At the most, the guys play a minute-and-a-half a time," Mishler said. "We have to have guys that go all out for that minute-and-a-half. They also have to be able to shoot the long ball. Last year, we noticed that after 90 seconds, our legs weren't there. We figured, if we make over 15 three-pointers, we have a great shot to win. To do that, we need to have 45 or more attempts."
And while the Warriors were taking all those shots, sometimes rebounding took a backseat. As a result, the opposition would get offensive rebounds, resulting in too many second-chance points for Mishler's liking.
"Second shots really killed us," Mishler said. "We've made it a point of emphasis to take care of that."
And playing in the Northern Lakes Conference among the likes of Warsaw, Northridge, Concord and Elkhart Memorial will make the game plan of limiting second-chance points very important.
"I think the conference is more open this year," Mishler said of the NLC. "Everybody will be a bit better than last year. Warsaw is probably the favorite, but after that, I'm not real sure. Who picked Northridge to win it last year?"
Prior to getting into the conference schedule, Wawasee opens up at home on Nov. 28 against Angola before going to West Noble on Dec. 5 and hosting Manchester Dec. 8.
"Hopefully we gain confidence early," Mishler said.
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Due to a lack of height last season, coach Phil Mishler, now in his 10th season with the Warriiors, adopted a high-scoring offense, which had guys constantly subbing in and out and resulting in an average of 76 points per game. The only problem was, the opposition scored 86 points per contest, resulting in a 7-14 campaign that ended in a 68-61 loss to Lakeland in the opening round of Class 3A Sectional 21.[[In-content Ad]]"We have a bit more height this year, but we're going to run the same sort of offense," Mishler said. "We started it thinking it would be a three-year kind of system."
Gone from last year's team are leading scorer Wes Kaiser (15.0 ppg), as well as Grant Ruch and his 10.2 ppg and second-leading rebounder Dylan Ringler (4.8 rpg).
However, with 10 different guys playing at least 119 minutes and nine playing at least 183, the Warriors have plenty of experience coming back.
"We played a lot of guys last year," Mishler said. "The experience on the varsity floor will help us quite a bit."
Returning letter winners are juniors Trevor McKibben, Riley Stichter, Chad Schrock, Logan Hatfield and Cody Blunk; sophomore Jake Clark and senior Keegan Beer.
"Keegan Beer is our lone senior, so he will be the glue to keep the guys together," Mishler said.
Beer may be the leader in the locker room, but if Wawasee's going to have success, Stichter will most likely have to be the leader in the scorebook.
As a sophomore, Stichter averaged 11.4 points on 68-percent shooting, leading the team with 9.4 rebounds a game.
"He's played a lot of basketball during the summer and has gotten a lot stronger, while also growing about two inches," Mishler said of Stichter. "He's multi-faceted. How he goes kind of dictates how the team starts."
Another player Mishler will look to for good starts is McKibben.
"It obviously starts with the point guard," he said.
Rounding out the roster for the 2009-10 Warriors will be juniors Luke Thompson and Cody McBride; sophomores Trent Koble, Jake Clark, Zac Patrick, Justin Fink and Bauer Schmeltz, as well as freshman Jacob Thompson.
"I know he's a freshman, but he fits in with the pace we want to have, and he has the strength and skills needed for this level," Mishler said of his freshman.
The pace the Warriors will want is the most uptempo seen by many, meaning lots of kids are needed. And not just any kids, but kids that have high endurance and can hit jump shots.
"At the most, the guys play a minute-and-a-half a time," Mishler said. "We have to have guys that go all out for that minute-and-a-half. They also have to be able to shoot the long ball. Last year, we noticed that after 90 seconds, our legs weren't there. We figured, if we make over 15 three-pointers, we have a great shot to win. To do that, we need to have 45 or more attempts."
And while the Warriors were taking all those shots, sometimes rebounding took a backseat. As a result, the opposition would get offensive rebounds, resulting in too many second-chance points for Mishler's liking.
"Second shots really killed us," Mishler said. "We've made it a point of emphasis to take care of that."
And playing in the Northern Lakes Conference among the likes of Warsaw, Northridge, Concord and Elkhart Memorial will make the game plan of limiting second-chance points very important.
"I think the conference is more open this year," Mishler said of the NLC. "Everybody will be a bit better than last year. Warsaw is probably the favorite, but after that, I'm not real sure. Who picked Northridge to win it last year?"
Prior to getting into the conference schedule, Wawasee opens up at home on Nov. 28 against Angola before going to West Noble on Dec. 5 and hosting Manchester Dec. 8.
"Hopefully we gain confidence early," Mishler said.
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