Warsaw Girls Use Quick Start To Finish Off Rival Wawasee
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SYRACUSE - Like a heavyweight boxer, Warsaw's varsity girls basketball team delivered the knockout punch Saturday and left rival Wawasee struggling to get up.
But rather than dancing around and feeling out the opposition, the Class 4A No. 8 Tigers landed the big hit early, taking a 24-0 lead midway through the first quarter and cruising to a 72-36 win.
"I was very happy with the way we started the game," said Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst, who owns a 22-4 coaching mark against Wawasee. "We played really intense basketball tonight. At times we've lost that intensity, but the last few games we've come out and played really good basketball."
In their last game against Columbia City, a contest in which they gave Wienhorst his 400th career win, the Tigers raced out to a 14-1 lead in the first quarter en route to a 35-point win.
Saturday Warsaw took it to another level, holding the host Warriors scoreless until sophomore Tiffany Fick hit a Wawasee field goal with 3:09 remaining in the first quarter.
By the time the Warriors scored their first points of the game, Tiger sophomore point guard Julie Seiss was already in double figures with 11 points and Warsaw Miss Basketball candidate Jaclyn Leiniger had eight.
"That destroyed them," sixth-year Wawasee coach Kem Zolman said about his team, referring to Warsaw's 24-0 run to start the game. "We were down offensively as a team basically because of non-execution. There was nothing Warsaw did that we didn't know about. I'll take full credit for that. I evidently didn't get some things across to them. It's just like being in the classroom, if you don't study you're not going to remember things for the test."
The 36-point win was the seventh in a row for the Tigers, who improved to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference. Wawasee fell to 5-4 and 1-1.
Now in his 18th year at Warsaw, Wienhorst owns an impressive 100-10 mark in regular season conference play. The Tiger skipper has never lost more than one regular season conference game in any season.
"We did a lot of nice things tonight, but we still have a ways to go to be the team we want to be," Wienhorst said.
While the Tigers did a lot of things right, the Warriors just couldn't get things going, and rather than it being an uphill battle it was if Wawasee had a mountain to scale.
The Warriors turned the ball over 20 times Saturday evening, eight of which came in the first quarter and only made things easier for Warsaw.
All totaled, Warsaw scored 30 points off Wawasee turnovers and outrebounded the Warriors 40-18.
After trailing 24-0 midway through the opening quarter, Wawasee trailed 27-6 after one quarter of action and 48-12 at halftime.
While Leininger has certainly lit up the scoreboard lately for Warsaw, entering Saturday's game with a 24.1 points per game average, it was Seiss that stole the show against Wawasee.
The 5-foot-9 sophomore floor general scored all of her game-high 22 points in the first half, burning the nets with a 9-of-10 performance from the field through the first 16 minutes of action.
Her final stat line reads 22 points, five steals, five assists, two rebounds and just one turnover.
Leininger finished the game with 20 points on an 8-of-13 effort from the field, hitting 1 of 3 three-pointers and 3 of 3 charity tosses.
Warsaw also got 12 points and eight rebounds from junior Rebekah Reichard and 10 points and seven rebounds from senior Michelle DeGeeter.
The Tigers finished the game 28 of 55 (50.9 percent) from the field, while Wawasee shot 14 of 45 (31.1 percent).
Fick led the Warriors in the scoring column with 15, while Jessie Wolf and Rachel Canen scored five each, Havilah Rensberger and Mistie Hershberger four each, and Megan Walker three.
Warsaw and Wawasee will meet again Saturday in Syracuse as the two schools open the Lake City Bank Northern Lakes Conference Tournament with a boys/girls doubleheader. The girls game is slated for 6 p.m. and will be followed by the boys game at 8 p.m.
While Wawasee has a week to rest, practice and spend time with family over the holidays, the Tigers will be busy, to say the least.
Warsaw hosts the annual Lady Tiger Tournament Tuesday, squaring off with 3A state runner-up South Bend St. Joe at 10 a.m. Fort Wayne Snider and 4A state runner-up Perry Meridian do battle in Tuesday's second semifinal, with the consolation game slated for 6 p.m. and the championship to be played at 8 p.m.
The Tigers will then play Friday in the Hall of Fame Classic in New Castle, squaring off with No. 5 Jeffersonville in the second semifinal contest. Mooresville and 2A No. 5 Indian Creek open competition at 10 a.m.
NO. 8 (4A) WARSAW 72, WAWASEE 36
Warsaw 27 21 16 8 - 72
Wawasee 6 6 14 10 - 36
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Mayer 1-6 0-2 2 3 2
* Seiss 9-12 2-2 2 5 22
* Reichard 4-8 4-7 8 1 12
* Leininger 8-13 3-3 6 1 20
* DeGeeter 4-5 2-4 7 1 10
Abbitt 0-2 1-3 2 1 1
Braddock 0-0 0-1 2 0 0
Durcholz 1-1 0-0 3 0 2
Clay 0-3 0-0 3 3 0
Smith 0-1 0-0 2 1 0
Sand 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Heiman 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Kindig 1-2 1-2 1 0 3
Totals 28-55 13-24 40 16 72
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
* Rensberger 2-3 0-0 2 1 4
* Canen 2-16 0-0 2 1 5
* Hershberger 1-5 2-2 6 0 4
* Wolf 2-8 1-1 1 2 5
* Fick 6-18 3-5 3 1 15
Walker 1-3 0-0 2 3 3
Olson 0-2 0-0 2 1 0
Totals 14-45 6-8 18 9 36
Three-point goals - Warsaw 3-12 (Seiss 2-3, Leininger 1-3, Mayer 0-4, Sand 0-2), Wawasee 2-5 (). Turnovers - Warsaw 12, Wawasee 20. Fouls - Warsaw 12, Wawasee 17. Fouled out - Rensberger.
JV - Warsaw 53, Wawasee 11
Warsaw scoring - Scherer 16, DeGeeter 10, Francis 7, Wood 6, Hathaway 4, Logan 4, Johnson 3, Abbitt 2, Kiser 1
Wawasee scoring - Olson 4, L. Thompson 3, Smith 2, Knafel 2 [[In-content Ad]]
SYRACUSE - Like a heavyweight boxer, Warsaw's varsity girls basketball team delivered the knockout punch Saturday and left rival Wawasee struggling to get up.
But rather than dancing around and feeling out the opposition, the Class 4A No. 8 Tigers landed the big hit early, taking a 24-0 lead midway through the first quarter and cruising to a 72-36 win.
"I was very happy with the way we started the game," said Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst, who owns a 22-4 coaching mark against Wawasee. "We played really intense basketball tonight. At times we've lost that intensity, but the last few games we've come out and played really good basketball."
In their last game against Columbia City, a contest in which they gave Wienhorst his 400th career win, the Tigers raced out to a 14-1 lead in the first quarter en route to a 35-point win.
Saturday Warsaw took it to another level, holding the host Warriors scoreless until sophomore Tiffany Fick hit a Wawasee field goal with 3:09 remaining in the first quarter.
By the time the Warriors scored their first points of the game, Tiger sophomore point guard Julie Seiss was already in double figures with 11 points and Warsaw Miss Basketball candidate Jaclyn Leiniger had eight.
"That destroyed them," sixth-year Wawasee coach Kem Zolman said about his team, referring to Warsaw's 24-0 run to start the game. "We were down offensively as a team basically because of non-execution. There was nothing Warsaw did that we didn't know about. I'll take full credit for that. I evidently didn't get some things across to them. It's just like being in the classroom, if you don't study you're not going to remember things for the test."
The 36-point win was the seventh in a row for the Tigers, who improved to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference. Wawasee fell to 5-4 and 1-1.
Now in his 18th year at Warsaw, Wienhorst owns an impressive 100-10 mark in regular season conference play. The Tiger skipper has never lost more than one regular season conference game in any season.
"We did a lot of nice things tonight, but we still have a ways to go to be the team we want to be," Wienhorst said.
While the Tigers did a lot of things right, the Warriors just couldn't get things going, and rather than it being an uphill battle it was if Wawasee had a mountain to scale.
The Warriors turned the ball over 20 times Saturday evening, eight of which came in the first quarter and only made things easier for Warsaw.
All totaled, Warsaw scored 30 points off Wawasee turnovers and outrebounded the Warriors 40-18.
After trailing 24-0 midway through the opening quarter, Wawasee trailed 27-6 after one quarter of action and 48-12 at halftime.
While Leininger has certainly lit up the scoreboard lately for Warsaw, entering Saturday's game with a 24.1 points per game average, it was Seiss that stole the show against Wawasee.
The 5-foot-9 sophomore floor general scored all of her game-high 22 points in the first half, burning the nets with a 9-of-10 performance from the field through the first 16 minutes of action.
Her final stat line reads 22 points, five steals, five assists, two rebounds and just one turnover.
Leininger finished the game with 20 points on an 8-of-13 effort from the field, hitting 1 of 3 three-pointers and 3 of 3 charity tosses.
Warsaw also got 12 points and eight rebounds from junior Rebekah Reichard and 10 points and seven rebounds from senior Michelle DeGeeter.
The Tigers finished the game 28 of 55 (50.9 percent) from the field, while Wawasee shot 14 of 45 (31.1 percent).
Fick led the Warriors in the scoring column with 15, while Jessie Wolf and Rachel Canen scored five each, Havilah Rensberger and Mistie Hershberger four each, and Megan Walker three.
Warsaw and Wawasee will meet again Saturday in Syracuse as the two schools open the Lake City Bank Northern Lakes Conference Tournament with a boys/girls doubleheader. The girls game is slated for 6 p.m. and will be followed by the boys game at 8 p.m.
While Wawasee has a week to rest, practice and spend time with family over the holidays, the Tigers will be busy, to say the least.
Warsaw hosts the annual Lady Tiger Tournament Tuesday, squaring off with 3A state runner-up South Bend St. Joe at 10 a.m. Fort Wayne Snider and 4A state runner-up Perry Meridian do battle in Tuesday's second semifinal, with the consolation game slated for 6 p.m. and the championship to be played at 8 p.m.
The Tigers will then play Friday in the Hall of Fame Classic in New Castle, squaring off with No. 5 Jeffersonville in the second semifinal contest. Mooresville and 2A No. 5 Indian Creek open competition at 10 a.m.
NO. 8 (4A) WARSAW 72, WAWASEE 36
Warsaw 27 21 16 8 - 72
Wawasee 6 6 14 10 - 36
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Mayer 1-6 0-2 2 3 2
* Seiss 9-12 2-2 2 5 22
* Reichard 4-8 4-7 8 1 12
* Leininger 8-13 3-3 6 1 20
* DeGeeter 4-5 2-4 7 1 10
Abbitt 0-2 1-3 2 1 1
Braddock 0-0 0-1 2 0 0
Durcholz 1-1 0-0 3 0 2
Clay 0-3 0-0 3 3 0
Smith 0-1 0-0 2 1 0
Sand 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Heiman 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Kindig 1-2 1-2 1 0 3
Totals 28-55 13-24 40 16 72
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
* Rensberger 2-3 0-0 2 1 4
* Canen 2-16 0-0 2 1 5
* Hershberger 1-5 2-2 6 0 4
* Wolf 2-8 1-1 1 2 5
* Fick 6-18 3-5 3 1 15
Walker 1-3 0-0 2 3 3
Olson 0-2 0-0 2 1 0
Totals 14-45 6-8 18 9 36
Three-point goals - Warsaw 3-12 (Seiss 2-3, Leininger 1-3, Mayer 0-4, Sand 0-2), Wawasee 2-5 (). Turnovers - Warsaw 12, Wawasee 20. Fouls - Warsaw 12, Wawasee 17. Fouled out - Rensberger.
JV - Warsaw 53, Wawasee 11
Warsaw scoring - Scherer 16, DeGeeter 10, Francis 7, Wood 6, Hathaway 4, Logan 4, Johnson 3, Abbitt 2, Kiser 1
Wawasee scoring - Olson 4, L. Thompson 3, Smith 2, Knafel 2 [[In-content Ad]]