Warsaw Girls Fall To Top-Ranked St. Joe
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
With her ability to cut and slash to the basket, South Bend St. Joe senior Aimee Litka was a dagger in the heart of the Warsaw varsity girls basketball team Tuesday evening.
In the championship game of the 27th annual Lady Tiger Tournament, a contest that was postponed Dec. 23 because of inclement weather, Litka drove to the basket time after time against the Tiger defense, scoring a game-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting.
Her performance led the Class 3A No. 1 Indians to a 69-57 win over Warsaw and earned her Tournament Most Valuable Player honors.
"I'm not happy," said first-year Warsaw coach John Snyder, whose Tigers' win streak came to an end at six games. "Our defense was not good. In several segments of the game, our defense was not good."
The 69 points scored by the top-ranked Indians was the most the Tigers have given up in a game this season. Warsaw entered Tuesday's contest giving up an average of 46 points per game.
"They're a very skilled team," Snyder said of St. Joe. "They have very good players. Their first five is as good as any five we'll see all year."
Notre Dame-bound junior guard Melissa Lechlitner scored just six points, but sophomore sharpshooter Sydney Smallbone complimented Litka's 23-point performance by hitting 4 of 6 three-pointers and scoring 18 points.
Six-foot-4 sophomore Kristen Dockery, who along with classmate Smallbone is being recruited by Notre Dame, Purdue, Maryland, Michigan State, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, among others, added eight points and four rebounds in the 12-point win.
Much like Snyder said after the game, when the Tigers stuck to their game plan, they were right there with the No. 1 team Class 3A team in the state.
Unfortunately, they didn't seem to stick to that game plan long enough, and after trailing by just two, 18-16, going into the second quarter, the Tigers were down 12 at halftime and 24 midway through the fourth quarter.
"Give them credit," Snyder said of St. Joe. "When they needed to hit a big shot, they hit a big shot. When they needed to make a big play, they made a big play. I thought when we executed our game plan we were in the game. For whatever reason, we broke down in the second half."
St. Joe was 13 of 20 (65 percent) from the field in the second half, and Smallbone was 3 of 3 from the arc in the final two quarters of play.
For the game, the Indians were 27 of 43 (62.8 percent) from the field and 10 of 11 from the free throw line.
Warsaw, on the other hand, was 20 of 50 (40 percent) from the field and 14 of 20 from the charity stripe.
Seiss led Warsaw with a team-high 21 points, nine of which came in the first quarter when the Tigers kept things close, while Jennifer Scherer added 10 and Danielle DeGeeter and Rebekah Reichard six each. Kim Clay, Mallory Hepler and Katie Logan chipped in four points each, while Amy Abbitt rounded the Warsaw scoring with two.
The loss dropped Warsaw to 8-5 on the season, while St. Joe, which won its first 10 games by an average of 32 points per contest, improved to 11-0.
Joining Litka on the All-Tournament team were Lechlitner, Smallbone, Seiss, Reichard and Brittany Moore from Indianapolis Perry Meridian.
St. Joe defeated Perry Meridian 59-42 Dec. 23, while the Tigers defeated Perry Meridian 57-55.
Warsaw is in action again Saturday when it travels to Northern Lakes Conference foe Northridge.
ST. JOE 69, WARSAW 57
St. Joe 18 21 16 14 - 69
Warsaw 16 11 12 18 - 57
St. Joe FG FT R S Pts.
* Smallbone 6-8 2-2 5 0 18
* Lechlitner 3-9 0-0 2 2 6
* Litka 9-14 5-6 2 2 23
* St. Clair 2-4 1-1 0 0 5
* Dockery 4-4 0-0 4 0 8
Keim 1-1 0-0 0 0 3
Wilson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
E. Newsom 1-2 2-2 2 1 4
B. Newsom 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Team 0-0 0-0 10 0 0
Totals 27-43 10-11 25 5 69
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* DeGeeter 2-7 1-1 1 1 6
* Abbitt 1-4 0-0 0 0 2
* Seiss 7-20 5-7 2 1 21
* Scherer 3-4 4-5 2 0 10
* Reichard 2-8 2-4 6 1 6
Braddock 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Clay 1-1 2-2 0 0 4
Smith 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Hepler 2-2 0-1 0 0 4
Sand 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Heiman 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Logan 2-2 0-0 0 0 4
Team 0-0 0-0 11 0 0
Totals 20-50 14-20 24 3 57
Three-point goals - St. Joe 5-13 (Smallbone 4-6, Keim 1-1, Lechlitner 0-3, Litka 0-3), Warsaw 3-10 (Seiss 2-6, DeGeeter 1-2, Abbitt 0-1, Braddock 0-1). Turnovers - St. Joe 14, Warsaw 11. Fouls - St. Joe 15, Warsaw 9. Fouled out - none.
JV - Warsaw 45, St. Joe 38
Warsaw leaders - Carlye Snider 12, Kate Denlinger 12 [[In-content Ad]]
Latest News
E-Editions
With her ability to cut and slash to the basket, South Bend St. Joe senior Aimee Litka was a dagger in the heart of the Warsaw varsity girls basketball team Tuesday evening.
In the championship game of the 27th annual Lady Tiger Tournament, a contest that was postponed Dec. 23 because of inclement weather, Litka drove to the basket time after time against the Tiger defense, scoring a game-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting.
Her performance led the Class 3A No. 1 Indians to a 69-57 win over Warsaw and earned her Tournament Most Valuable Player honors.
"I'm not happy," said first-year Warsaw coach John Snyder, whose Tigers' win streak came to an end at six games. "Our defense was not good. In several segments of the game, our defense was not good."
The 69 points scored by the top-ranked Indians was the most the Tigers have given up in a game this season. Warsaw entered Tuesday's contest giving up an average of 46 points per game.
"They're a very skilled team," Snyder said of St. Joe. "They have very good players. Their first five is as good as any five we'll see all year."
Notre Dame-bound junior guard Melissa Lechlitner scored just six points, but sophomore sharpshooter Sydney Smallbone complimented Litka's 23-point performance by hitting 4 of 6 three-pointers and scoring 18 points.
Six-foot-4 sophomore Kristen Dockery, who along with classmate Smallbone is being recruited by Notre Dame, Purdue, Maryland, Michigan State, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, among others, added eight points and four rebounds in the 12-point win.
Much like Snyder said after the game, when the Tigers stuck to their game plan, they were right there with the No. 1 team Class 3A team in the state.
Unfortunately, they didn't seem to stick to that game plan long enough, and after trailing by just two, 18-16, going into the second quarter, the Tigers were down 12 at halftime and 24 midway through the fourth quarter.
"Give them credit," Snyder said of St. Joe. "When they needed to hit a big shot, they hit a big shot. When they needed to make a big play, they made a big play. I thought when we executed our game plan we were in the game. For whatever reason, we broke down in the second half."
St. Joe was 13 of 20 (65 percent) from the field in the second half, and Smallbone was 3 of 3 from the arc in the final two quarters of play.
For the game, the Indians were 27 of 43 (62.8 percent) from the field and 10 of 11 from the free throw line.
Warsaw, on the other hand, was 20 of 50 (40 percent) from the field and 14 of 20 from the charity stripe.
Seiss led Warsaw with a team-high 21 points, nine of which came in the first quarter when the Tigers kept things close, while Jennifer Scherer added 10 and Danielle DeGeeter and Rebekah Reichard six each. Kim Clay, Mallory Hepler and Katie Logan chipped in four points each, while Amy Abbitt rounded the Warsaw scoring with two.
The loss dropped Warsaw to 8-5 on the season, while St. Joe, which won its first 10 games by an average of 32 points per contest, improved to 11-0.
Joining Litka on the All-Tournament team were Lechlitner, Smallbone, Seiss, Reichard and Brittany Moore from Indianapolis Perry Meridian.
St. Joe defeated Perry Meridian 59-42 Dec. 23, while the Tigers defeated Perry Meridian 57-55.
Warsaw is in action again Saturday when it travels to Northern Lakes Conference foe Northridge.
ST. JOE 69, WARSAW 57
St. Joe 18 21 16 14 - 69
Warsaw 16 11 12 18 - 57
St. Joe FG FT R S Pts.
* Smallbone 6-8 2-2 5 0 18
* Lechlitner 3-9 0-0 2 2 6
* Litka 9-14 5-6 2 2 23
* St. Clair 2-4 1-1 0 0 5
* Dockery 4-4 0-0 4 0 8
Keim 1-1 0-0 0 0 3
Wilson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
E. Newsom 1-2 2-2 2 1 4
B. Newsom 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Team 0-0 0-0 10 0 0
Totals 27-43 10-11 25 5 69
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* DeGeeter 2-7 1-1 1 1 6
* Abbitt 1-4 0-0 0 0 2
* Seiss 7-20 5-7 2 1 21
* Scherer 3-4 4-5 2 0 10
* Reichard 2-8 2-4 6 1 6
Braddock 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Clay 1-1 2-2 0 0 4
Smith 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Hepler 2-2 0-1 0 0 4
Sand 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Heiman 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Logan 2-2 0-0 0 0 4
Team 0-0 0-0 11 0 0
Totals 20-50 14-20 24 3 57
Three-point goals - St. Joe 5-13 (Smallbone 4-6, Keim 1-1, Lechlitner 0-3, Litka 0-3), Warsaw 3-10 (Seiss 2-6, DeGeeter 1-2, Abbitt 0-1, Braddock 0-1). Turnovers - St. Joe 14, Warsaw 11. Fouls - St. Joe 15, Warsaw 9. Fouled out - none.
JV - Warsaw 45, St. Joe 38
Warsaw leaders - Carlye Snider 12, Kate Denlinger 12 [[In-content Ad]]