Warsaw Rally Falls Short

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.


For a while, it seemed like South Bend St. Joe, the fourth-ranked team in Class 3A, was going to be too much for Warsaw to handle.
The Lady Indians had a 19-point lead midway through the third quarter before the Lady Tigers cut the deficit to three with 22 seconds left.
Warsaw, however, didn’t get any closer in its 55-51 loss in the TCU Lady Tiger Classic championship game Tuesday night in the Tiger Den.
St. Joe started off raining three-pointers, hitting five high-arcing shots in the first six minutes and taking an early 19-11 lead. They finished the game with nine treys.
The turning point may have come when St. Joe senior Brooke Juday went down midway through the third quarter with an apparent left knee injury. She was immediately taken to the locker room, and returned to the bench with crutches in the final minute of the game.
Without Juday holding down the fort in the middle, the Lady Tigers battled back by driving the ball inside and getting either a good shot or drawing a foul. It’s something Lady Tiger head coach Michelle Harter has wanted her team to do all season long.
“We told them ‘your goal every time you have the ball is to get in to the paint. And when you get in to the paint, good things have happened.’ And that’s exactly what they looked to do,” she said.
“When we attack and get in the paint, we get good looks, and if they stop us, then we kick out to our shooters, and that’s when they’re at their best. They have time to get their feet set, catch and shoot the ball.
“We’ve been talking all season long that that’s what we need to do, and finally tonight they decided they were going to put their heads down and get in the paint. I told them ‘if we would have played (the entire game) from the middle of the third quarter for the entire game, that would have been a completely different ball game.’”
Junior Madi Graham led the comeback with 11 of her 19 points after halftime, and classmate Dayton Groninger had 12 of her 17 points after the intermission.
Harter said in her pre-game visit with the team she talked about taking the fight to the Lady Indians.
“We talked in the locker room before the game that when you step out on the floor, you have to believe and you have to be confident in yourself,” she said. “The girls battled all night long, they did the little things we needed to do to chip back away and get in to the game.
“We were down (19) and we could have very easily given up, but they continued to battle. They listened in the timeouts and made the adjustment we talked about making and gave ourselves an opportunity down the stretch to win the ball game.
Juniors Nicole Konieczny and Daly Sullivan led all scorers with 21 and 19 points, respectively, for St. Joe. They had all five threes in the first quarter and combined for seven treys.
Tournament notes – Sullivan was named tournament MVP, and Konieczny, Groninger and Graham were named to the all-tournament team, along with freshman Melody Johnson of Perry Meridian and junior Shannon McCoy of Chesterton.
Warsaw edged Perry Meridian 44-43 in the morning semifinal, with Groninger scoring 13 points and Kenzie Welk 10 for the Lady Tigers. St. Joe routed Chesterton 67-22 in the other semifinal, and Perry Meridian won the consolation game 52-40 over Chesterton.

SB ST. JOE 55, WARSAW 51
SJ    19    14    11    11    –    55
W    11    6    17    17    –    51
St. Joe – Nicole Konieczny 5-11 7-9 21, Daly Sullivan 6-11 4-4 19, Brooke Juday 2-5 0-0 5. Abby O’Connor 1-5 0-0 3, Theresa Carpenter 1-1 0-0 2, Savannah Scott 1-2 0-0 2, Killian Mountford 1-2 0-0 2, Hannah Mauch 0-4 1-3 1. Totals 17-41 12-16 55.
Warsaw – Madi Graham 6-13 4-4 19, Dayton Groninger 6-12 4-4 17, Page Desenberg 3-6 2-3 8, Kenzie Welk 1-5 1-1 3, Mariah Rivera 1-4 0-1 2, Kacy Bragg 1-1 0-0 2, Emma Bohnenkamper 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-42 11-13 51.
Three-pointers – St. Joe 9 (Konieczny 4, Sullivan 3, Juday, O’Connor), Warsaw 4 (Graham 3, Groninger); Rebounds – St. Joe 21 (Konieczny 6), Warsaw 26 (Groninger 7); Turnovers – St. Joe 12, Warsaw 15; Fouls – St. Joseph 15, Warsaw 16; Fouled out – none; Records: St. Joseph 12-1, Warsaw 4-11
Consolation – Perry Meridian 52, Chesterton 40

WARSAW 44, PERRY MERIDIAN 43
PM    14    14    7    8    –     43
W    14    11    10    9    –    44
Perry Meridian – Daiva Wilson 5-10 0-0 13, Melody  Johnson 3-6 6-10 12, Jessica Spencer 2-11 2-3 7, Alexis Hill 2-8 0-0 4, Sadie Hill 2-6 0-0 4, Brandi Martin 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 15-43 8-13 43
Warsaw – Dayton Groninger 4-11 4-5 13, Kenzie Welk 4-7 2-4 10, Madi Graham 4-9 0-0 9, Page Desenberg 1-4 3-4 5, Kacy Bragg 2-3 0-0 4, Mariah Rivera 1-3 0-3 3, Emma Bohnenkamper 0-3 0-1 0. Totals 16-40 9-17 44.
Three-pointers – Perry Meridian 5 (Wilson 3, Martin, Spencer), Warsaw 3 (Graham, Groninger, Rivera); Rebounds – Perry Meridian 32 (S. Hill 9), Warsaw 27 (Groninger 8); Turnovers – Perry Meridian 25, Warsaw 19; Fouls – Perry Meridian 19, Warsaw 10; Fouled out – none.
Semifinal – St. Joseph 67, Chesterton 22[[In-content Ad]]

For a while, it seemed like South Bend St. Joe, the fourth-ranked team in Class 3A, was going to be too much for Warsaw to handle.
The Lady Indians had a 19-point lead midway through the third quarter before the Lady Tigers cut the deficit to three with 22 seconds left.
Warsaw, however, didn’t get any closer in its 55-51 loss in the TCU Lady Tiger Classic championship game Tuesday night in the Tiger Den.
St. Joe started off raining three-pointers, hitting five high-arcing shots in the first six minutes and taking an early 19-11 lead. They finished the game with nine treys.
The turning point may have come when St. Joe senior Brooke Juday went down midway through the third quarter with an apparent left knee injury. She was immediately taken to the locker room, and returned to the bench with crutches in the final minute of the game.
Without Juday holding down the fort in the middle, the Lady Tigers battled back by driving the ball inside and getting either a good shot or drawing a foul. It’s something Lady Tiger head coach Michelle Harter has wanted her team to do all season long.
“We told them ‘your goal every time you have the ball is to get in to the paint. And when you get in to the paint, good things have happened.’ And that’s exactly what they looked to do,” she said.
“When we attack and get in the paint, we get good looks, and if they stop us, then we kick out to our shooters, and that’s when they’re at their best. They have time to get their feet set, catch and shoot the ball.
“We’ve been talking all season long that that’s what we need to do, and finally tonight they decided they were going to put their heads down and get in the paint. I told them ‘if we would have played (the entire game) from the middle of the third quarter for the entire game, that would have been a completely different ball game.’”
Junior Madi Graham led the comeback with 11 of her 19 points after halftime, and classmate Dayton Groninger had 12 of her 17 points after the intermission.
Harter said in her pre-game visit with the team she talked about taking the fight to the Lady Indians.
“We talked in the locker room before the game that when you step out on the floor, you have to believe and you have to be confident in yourself,” she said. “The girls battled all night long, they did the little things we needed to do to chip back away and get in to the game.
“We were down (19) and we could have very easily given up, but they continued to battle. They listened in the timeouts and made the adjustment we talked about making and gave ourselves an opportunity down the stretch to win the ball game.
Juniors Nicole Konieczny and Daly Sullivan led all scorers with 21 and 19 points, respectively, for St. Joe. They had all five threes in the first quarter and combined for seven treys.
Tournament notes – Sullivan was named tournament MVP, and Konieczny, Groninger and Graham were named to the all-tournament team, along with freshman Melody Johnson of Perry Meridian and junior Shannon McCoy of Chesterton.
Warsaw edged Perry Meridian 44-43 in the morning semifinal, with Groninger scoring 13 points and Kenzie Welk 10 for the Lady Tigers. St. Joe routed Chesterton 67-22 in the other semifinal, and Perry Meridian won the consolation game 52-40 over Chesterton.

SB ST. JOE 55, WARSAW 51
SJ    19    14    11    11    –    55
W    11    6    17    17    –    51
St. Joe – Nicole Konieczny 5-11 7-9 21, Daly Sullivan 6-11 4-4 19, Brooke Juday 2-5 0-0 5. Abby O’Connor 1-5 0-0 3, Theresa Carpenter 1-1 0-0 2, Savannah Scott 1-2 0-0 2, Killian Mountford 1-2 0-0 2, Hannah Mauch 0-4 1-3 1. Totals 17-41 12-16 55.
Warsaw – Madi Graham 6-13 4-4 19, Dayton Groninger 6-12 4-4 17, Page Desenberg 3-6 2-3 8, Kenzie Welk 1-5 1-1 3, Mariah Rivera 1-4 0-1 2, Kacy Bragg 1-1 0-0 2, Emma Bohnenkamper 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-42 11-13 51.
Three-pointers – St. Joe 9 (Konieczny 4, Sullivan 3, Juday, O’Connor), Warsaw 4 (Graham 3, Groninger); Rebounds – St. Joe 21 (Konieczny 6), Warsaw 26 (Groninger 7); Turnovers – St. Joe 12, Warsaw 15; Fouls – St. Joseph 15, Warsaw 16; Fouled out – none; Records: St. Joseph 12-1, Warsaw 4-11
Consolation – Perry Meridian 52, Chesterton 40

WARSAW 44, PERRY MERIDIAN 43
PM    14    14    7    8    –     43
W    14    11    10    9    –    44
Perry Meridian – Daiva Wilson 5-10 0-0 13, Melody  Johnson 3-6 6-10 12, Jessica Spencer 2-11 2-3 7, Alexis Hill 2-8 0-0 4, Sadie Hill 2-6 0-0 4, Brandi Martin 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 15-43 8-13 43
Warsaw – Dayton Groninger 4-11 4-5 13, Kenzie Welk 4-7 2-4 10, Madi Graham 4-9 0-0 9, Page Desenberg 1-4 3-4 5, Kacy Bragg 2-3 0-0 4, Mariah Rivera 1-3 0-3 3, Emma Bohnenkamper 0-3 0-1 0. Totals 16-40 9-17 44.
Three-pointers – Perry Meridian 5 (Wilson 3, Martin, Spencer), Warsaw 3 (Graham, Groninger, Rivera); Rebounds – Perry Meridian 32 (S. Hill 9), Warsaw 27 (Groninger 8); Turnovers – Perry Meridian 25, Warsaw 19; Fouls – Perry Meridian 19, Warsaw 10; Fouled out – none.
Semifinal – St. Joseph 67, Chesterton 22[[In-content Ad]]
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