Warsaw Girls No Match For Plymouth
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Losing 66-31 on their home floor, the Tigers not only dropped their Northern Lakes Conference opener, but left many in attendance stunned, including first-year coach Michelle Harter.[[In-content Ad]]"I definitely didn't expect this," she said. "We've got to come out and start executing better. Offensively, we're taking shots when we're open, but we're just hoping those shots go in. We're not shooting with any confidence right now. We need to make sure when we take a shot, that we're taking the shot because we need the basket, and not because, 'Well, I'm open so I need to shoot the ball.'" she said.
While Warsaw leads the overall series 30-6, the Tigers have dropped four in a row and five of six. Their latest loss tops last year's nine-point loss, which had been the Pilgrims' largest win over their rival.
Jumping on top of the Tigers 17-4 at the end of the first quarter, even Plymouth coach Dave Cox was stunned by the outcome.
"I was thinking maybe 40, 48 (points) we could give them, and still be okay," Cox said. "I thought we could score, and get to 50. So we were trying to get a 40-50 game. We did a little bit better than that."
"I thought it would be a five-point game, at best, and I was hoping we'd be on the positive side." he added.
Well, Plymouth was definitely on the positive side of things.
Showcasing the good fortunes of his squad, Cox's two leading scorers were both under 100 percent, as senior Alex Starr missed two days of school because of illness and Lyzz Smith is suffering through foot pains. Regardless, the two scored 16 points each.
"(Smith's) playing with so much heart," the Plymouth coach said. "She has a couple physical problems with her feet, which would probably stop others from playing. We really like where she is. She's a kid that just does a lot for us."
It's that type of player Harter is looking for.
"We need to have someone who's going to step up in our post play, and want the ball and want to attack the basket hard," she said. "Kayla Stout, at times, she wants to, but at other times, she kind of hides. It's the same way with Alex (Glenn) and Sarah (Shilling). It's a matter of getting their confidence and believing that when they catch the basketball inside, people can't stop them. They need to go up strong, and not just hope they're going to get the foul call."
In the blowout loss, Stout did lead the Tigers with seven points, while junior Kelci Freds and senior Liz Tat each scored six.
"We need to look to attack the basket," Harter said. "When we attack the basket, good things happen. When we did attack, we got some good looks. But when we attack, we have to do it with some purpose and finish the shot. Not just throw it up there and hope the officials call a foul."
As is their custom, the Pilgrims brought a zone defense that was tough to overcome.
While Plymouth was shooting 56 percent, Warsaw hit just 9 of 36 shots and committed 26 turnovers, making the outcome very predictable.
"We talked about being aggressive on the road," Cox said "Being on the road, especially in the Northern Lakes Conference is a special type of thing. You've got to know how to come in here and play. I thought we had the kids prepared for whatever (Warsaw) wanted to do."
From the outside looking in, it appeared as if Plymouth knew what Warsaw wanted to do more than the Tigers did.
"We're going to sit down and look at this game film," Harter said. "We can definitely learn some things. The teams we have coming up are going to put the same type of pressure defense on us."
Warsaw's hosts Columbia City Tuesday before the Class 3A, top-ranked Wawasee Warriors bring their pressure defense to the Tiger Den Saturday.
PLYMOUTH 66, WARSAW 31
P 17 13 19 17 - 66
W 4 11 12 4 - 31
Plymouth - Davis 4 0-2 8, Hayden 2 1-2 6, Smart 0 0-0 0, Barron 1 5-8 8, Smith 5 6-9 16, Starr 5 2-2 16, Tanner 0 1-2 1, Thoden 1 0-0 2, Gomez 0 0-0 0, Scheetz 4 1-5 9, Rensberger 0 0-0 0, Kinney 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 16-30 66.
Warsaw - Freds 2 0-0 6, L. Tat 1 4-4 6, Ogle 0 0-0 0, Glenn 1 0-0 2, Stout 2 3-4 7, Long 0 0-0 0, Reichard 0 0-0 0, Sands 2 0-0 5, D. Tat 0 0-0 0, Plummer 0 0-0 0, Shilling 1 3-4 5. Totals 9 10-12 31.
Three-point goals - Plymouth 6 (Starr 4, Hayden, Barron), Warsaw 3 (Freds 2, Sands). Team Fouls - Plymouth 16, Warsaw 22. Turnovers - Plymouth 18, Warsaw 26. Rebounds - Plymouth 26 (Barron 7), Warsaw 27 (Freds 5, Glenn 4, Stout 4). Assists - Plymouth 15 (Hayden 6), Warsaw 9 (Long 3). Steals - Plymouth 13 (Davis 3, Hayden 3), Warsaw 6 (Sands 2). Records: Plymouth 5-2 (1-0 NLC), Warsaw 5-3 (0-1 NLC)
JV - Warsaw 20, Plymouth 19
Warsaw JV scoring - Davis 6, Heagy 6, Kline 5, Ogle 2, Rumple 1
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Losing 66-31 on their home floor, the Tigers not only dropped their Northern Lakes Conference opener, but left many in attendance stunned, including first-year coach Michelle Harter.[[In-content Ad]]"I definitely didn't expect this," she said. "We've got to come out and start executing better. Offensively, we're taking shots when we're open, but we're just hoping those shots go in. We're not shooting with any confidence right now. We need to make sure when we take a shot, that we're taking the shot because we need the basket, and not because, 'Well, I'm open so I need to shoot the ball.'" she said.
While Warsaw leads the overall series 30-6, the Tigers have dropped four in a row and five of six. Their latest loss tops last year's nine-point loss, which had been the Pilgrims' largest win over their rival.
Jumping on top of the Tigers 17-4 at the end of the first quarter, even Plymouth coach Dave Cox was stunned by the outcome.
"I was thinking maybe 40, 48 (points) we could give them, and still be okay," Cox said. "I thought we could score, and get to 50. So we were trying to get a 40-50 game. We did a little bit better than that."
"I thought it would be a five-point game, at best, and I was hoping we'd be on the positive side." he added.
Well, Plymouth was definitely on the positive side of things.
Showcasing the good fortunes of his squad, Cox's two leading scorers were both under 100 percent, as senior Alex Starr missed two days of school because of illness and Lyzz Smith is suffering through foot pains. Regardless, the two scored 16 points each.
"(Smith's) playing with so much heart," the Plymouth coach said. "She has a couple physical problems with her feet, which would probably stop others from playing. We really like where she is. She's a kid that just does a lot for us."
It's that type of player Harter is looking for.
"We need to have someone who's going to step up in our post play, and want the ball and want to attack the basket hard," she said. "Kayla Stout, at times, she wants to, but at other times, she kind of hides. It's the same way with Alex (Glenn) and Sarah (Shilling). It's a matter of getting their confidence and believing that when they catch the basketball inside, people can't stop them. They need to go up strong, and not just hope they're going to get the foul call."
In the blowout loss, Stout did lead the Tigers with seven points, while junior Kelci Freds and senior Liz Tat each scored six.
"We need to look to attack the basket," Harter said. "When we attack the basket, good things happen. When we did attack, we got some good looks. But when we attack, we have to do it with some purpose and finish the shot. Not just throw it up there and hope the officials call a foul."
As is their custom, the Pilgrims brought a zone defense that was tough to overcome.
While Plymouth was shooting 56 percent, Warsaw hit just 9 of 36 shots and committed 26 turnovers, making the outcome very predictable.
"We talked about being aggressive on the road," Cox said "Being on the road, especially in the Northern Lakes Conference is a special type of thing. You've got to know how to come in here and play. I thought we had the kids prepared for whatever (Warsaw) wanted to do."
From the outside looking in, it appeared as if Plymouth knew what Warsaw wanted to do more than the Tigers did.
"We're going to sit down and look at this game film," Harter said. "We can definitely learn some things. The teams we have coming up are going to put the same type of pressure defense on us."
Warsaw's hosts Columbia City Tuesday before the Class 3A, top-ranked Wawasee Warriors bring their pressure defense to the Tiger Den Saturday.
PLYMOUTH 66, WARSAW 31
P 17 13 19 17 - 66
W 4 11 12 4 - 31
Plymouth - Davis 4 0-2 8, Hayden 2 1-2 6, Smart 0 0-0 0, Barron 1 5-8 8, Smith 5 6-9 16, Starr 5 2-2 16, Tanner 0 1-2 1, Thoden 1 0-0 2, Gomez 0 0-0 0, Scheetz 4 1-5 9, Rensberger 0 0-0 0, Kinney 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 16-30 66.
Warsaw - Freds 2 0-0 6, L. Tat 1 4-4 6, Ogle 0 0-0 0, Glenn 1 0-0 2, Stout 2 3-4 7, Long 0 0-0 0, Reichard 0 0-0 0, Sands 2 0-0 5, D. Tat 0 0-0 0, Plummer 0 0-0 0, Shilling 1 3-4 5. Totals 9 10-12 31.
Three-point goals - Plymouth 6 (Starr 4, Hayden, Barron), Warsaw 3 (Freds 2, Sands). Team Fouls - Plymouth 16, Warsaw 22. Turnovers - Plymouth 18, Warsaw 26. Rebounds - Plymouth 26 (Barron 7), Warsaw 27 (Freds 5, Glenn 4, Stout 4). Assists - Plymouth 15 (Hayden 6), Warsaw 9 (Long 3). Steals - Plymouth 13 (Davis 3, Hayden 3), Warsaw 6 (Sands 2). Records: Plymouth 5-2 (1-0 NLC), Warsaw 5-3 (0-1 NLC)
JV - Warsaw 20, Plymouth 19
Warsaw JV scoring - Davis 6, Heagy 6, Kline 5, Ogle 2, Rumple 1
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