Warsaw Wins Wild One Over Columbia City
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
People who tuned in to TBS Wednesday night could see a farmer who cares for a cow with six legs and a calf with two heads.
It's doubtful that Columbia City coach Wayne Kreiger has ever first-hand seen those things that appeared on Ripley's Believe It Or Not.
For sure Kreiger had never previously witnessed what he saw on the Tiger Den floor in his 24 years of coaching. Warsaw hosted and beat Columbia City 67-55 last night. He has seen losses, nine of them to be exact, as the Eagles fell to 5-9 and Warsaw improved to 10-5.
What he had trouble explaining about the first half were the 17 fouls the referees whistled on his team and the way his team led 22-6 at the 6:27 mark of the second quarter only to fall behind 26-24 at the 2:30 mark of the second quarter.
"I'm not really sure unless you were here to see it you can describe it in words," Kreiger said. "I really would be at a loss to try to explain it, other than the fact the referees took the game over. Now that will sound like sour grapes, but how many fouls in the first half?"
Senior guard Kara Kesler set a school record by hitting 12 of 12 free throws and led Warsaw with 18 points. Freshman forward Michelle DeGeeter added a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and senior guard Hilary O'Connell scored 14. Warsaw's Linda Shultz hit 13 free throws in a 1982 game, but she finished 13 of 20. Kesler set a Warsaw record for most free throws made without a miss in a game.
Warsaw took the court flatter than a Howie Long haircut, hitting just 1 of 8 field goals in the first quarter to fall behind 16-5. The woes continued into the second quarter, and upset Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst drew a technical foul.
Columbia City's Rachel Peppler hit both free throws to up the lead to 22-6.
The technical foul cured whatever ailed Warsaw. The Tigers responded with a 30-4 run the rest of the half to go up 36-26 at halftime. When Kesler hit a field goal to make it 22-10 with 5:18 left, she was the only Tiger to make a field goal up to then other than freshman Michelle DeGeeter, who had one.
Asked why Warsaw started so slowly, Wienhorst said, "I have no clue. The game starts in the locker room when you are getting prepared to play. Obviously something wasn't there. We stood on defense, we weren't rebounding, we made poor decisions on passes. You could go on and on."
The 30-4 run erased the flaws of the first quarter.
"When you have a 30-4 run," Wienhorst said, "that's as good as a team can play."
Kesler spearheaded Warsaw's effort, forcing several turnovers on the press and racking up 10 points (8 of 8 free throws), six rebounds, three steals and one assist in the second quarter.
Columbia City's 17 first-half fouls, six second-quarter turnovers and 3-of-17 second-quarter shooting (18 percent) from the field helped Warsaw take the lead. The Tigers converted the fouls into points, hitting 20 of 24 free throws (83 percent) in the half.
"It's like a big pep talk at halftime or a timeout when you get in their face," Wienhorst said of the technical foul. "The players know coach isn't a happy camper. From that point on, they got really focused.
"The technical was not a planned one, but it did turn the game around. The things we didn't do before, we did. We blocked out, and they went over the back on us. We pressed them and got some turnovers."
Compounding the foul trouble for Kreiger was that he had just seven players, a number he called "normal" for his teams, listed on the varsity roster in the program. The Eagles were Class 3A state runners-up last year, but they returned only one starter from that team and had only two seniors on this year's roster.
"We were up 22-6, but we obviously had some breakdowns, and Warsaw continued to pick the pressure up," Kreiger said. "A number of whistles in that quarter were unbelievable."
Add Warsaw's 15-6 run to begin the second half to take a 51-32 lead - the Tigers' biggest lead - and Warsaw went on a 45-10 stretch from the 6:27 mark of the second quarter to the 3:01 mark of the third quarter.
To sum up, the game saw Columbia City lead by 16 in the second quarter, fall behind by 19 in the third quarter, close the lead to six (57-51) in the fourth and end up losing by 12.
Warsaw finished the game a blistering 84 percent from the free throw line, hitting 27 of 32.
Sophomore center Mallory Faylor led Columbia City with 11 points, while junior forward Chasidy Myers added 10.
"The second half it turned into a ballgame, a normal kind of game," Kreiger said.
But the first half, the half that saw Warsaw outscore Columbia City 31-10 in the second quarter and the half that Kreiger couldn't explain, did the Eagles in on this night.
WARSAW 67, COLUMBIA CITY 55
Col. City (5-9) 16 10 12 17 - 55
Warsaw (10-5) 5 31 17 14 - 67
Col. City FG FT A S R Pts.
Faylor (C) 4-11 2-2 3 0 5 11
Schuman (F) 4-7 0-0 0 2 10 8
Peppler (G) 2-8 4-4 4 0 4 8
Roberts (G) 1-8 4-4 4 2 1 6
Davisson (F) 1-5 0-0 0 1 1 2
Myers 4-6 2-3 3 0 2 10
Minnick 3-6 0-0 0 0 0 6
Vorndran 1-1 2-3 0 0 2 4
Foster 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Team 1
Totals 20-52 14-16 14 6 26 55
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Kesler (G) 3-7 12-12 2 1 7 18
O'Connell (G) 5-13 3-4 3 2 5 14
DeGeeter (F) 4-6 5-6 0 0 11 13
Knisely (F) 1-4 3-4 0 2 3 5
Poling (F) 1-7 1-2 4 3 1 3
DeRenzo 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Wyatt 3-4 3-4 2 1 3 10
McGriff 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0
Chabot 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 2
Leininger 1-2 0-0 0 1 3 2
Team 1
Totals 19-44 27-32 13 11 35 67
Three-point goals -ÊWarsaw 2-7 (O'Connell 1-4, Wyatt 1-1, Poling 0-1, Leininger 0-1), Columbia City 1-3 (Faylor 1-1, Peppler 0-1, Roberts 0-1).
Turnovers -ÊWarsaw 15, Columbia City 18. Fouled out -ÊRoberts. Total fouls -ÊWarsaw 15, Columbia City 25.
JV: WARSAW 28, COLUMBIA CITY 23
Warsaw (7-8) scoring - Lindsay Patterson 11, Rachael Franklin 9, Angelika Fussle 2, Jessica Davis 2, Mary Harden 2, Cassie Himes 2
Columbia City (6-6) scoring - Crystal Vorndran 10, Chantel Lemon 4, Dena Foster 2, Brittany Fisher 3, Stephanie Hoppe 2 [[In-content Ad]]
People who tuned in to TBS Wednesday night could see a farmer who cares for a cow with six legs and a calf with two heads.
It's doubtful that Columbia City coach Wayne Kreiger has ever first-hand seen those things that appeared on Ripley's Believe It Or Not.
For sure Kreiger had never previously witnessed what he saw on the Tiger Den floor in his 24 years of coaching. Warsaw hosted and beat Columbia City 67-55 last night. He has seen losses, nine of them to be exact, as the Eagles fell to 5-9 and Warsaw improved to 10-5.
What he had trouble explaining about the first half were the 17 fouls the referees whistled on his team and the way his team led 22-6 at the 6:27 mark of the second quarter only to fall behind 26-24 at the 2:30 mark of the second quarter.
"I'm not really sure unless you were here to see it you can describe it in words," Kreiger said. "I really would be at a loss to try to explain it, other than the fact the referees took the game over. Now that will sound like sour grapes, but how many fouls in the first half?"
Senior guard Kara Kesler set a school record by hitting 12 of 12 free throws and led Warsaw with 18 points. Freshman forward Michelle DeGeeter added a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and senior guard Hilary O'Connell scored 14. Warsaw's Linda Shultz hit 13 free throws in a 1982 game, but she finished 13 of 20. Kesler set a Warsaw record for most free throws made without a miss in a game.
Warsaw took the court flatter than a Howie Long haircut, hitting just 1 of 8 field goals in the first quarter to fall behind 16-5. The woes continued into the second quarter, and upset Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst drew a technical foul.
Columbia City's Rachel Peppler hit both free throws to up the lead to 22-6.
The technical foul cured whatever ailed Warsaw. The Tigers responded with a 30-4 run the rest of the half to go up 36-26 at halftime. When Kesler hit a field goal to make it 22-10 with 5:18 left, she was the only Tiger to make a field goal up to then other than freshman Michelle DeGeeter, who had one.
Asked why Warsaw started so slowly, Wienhorst said, "I have no clue. The game starts in the locker room when you are getting prepared to play. Obviously something wasn't there. We stood on defense, we weren't rebounding, we made poor decisions on passes. You could go on and on."
The 30-4 run erased the flaws of the first quarter.
"When you have a 30-4 run," Wienhorst said, "that's as good as a team can play."
Kesler spearheaded Warsaw's effort, forcing several turnovers on the press and racking up 10 points (8 of 8 free throws), six rebounds, three steals and one assist in the second quarter.
Columbia City's 17 first-half fouls, six second-quarter turnovers and 3-of-17 second-quarter shooting (18 percent) from the field helped Warsaw take the lead. The Tigers converted the fouls into points, hitting 20 of 24 free throws (83 percent) in the half.
"It's like a big pep talk at halftime or a timeout when you get in their face," Wienhorst said of the technical foul. "The players know coach isn't a happy camper. From that point on, they got really focused.
"The technical was not a planned one, but it did turn the game around. The things we didn't do before, we did. We blocked out, and they went over the back on us. We pressed them and got some turnovers."
Compounding the foul trouble for Kreiger was that he had just seven players, a number he called "normal" for his teams, listed on the varsity roster in the program. The Eagles were Class 3A state runners-up last year, but they returned only one starter from that team and had only two seniors on this year's roster.
"We were up 22-6, but we obviously had some breakdowns, and Warsaw continued to pick the pressure up," Kreiger said. "A number of whistles in that quarter were unbelievable."
Add Warsaw's 15-6 run to begin the second half to take a 51-32 lead - the Tigers' biggest lead - and Warsaw went on a 45-10 stretch from the 6:27 mark of the second quarter to the 3:01 mark of the third quarter.
To sum up, the game saw Columbia City lead by 16 in the second quarter, fall behind by 19 in the third quarter, close the lead to six (57-51) in the fourth and end up losing by 12.
Warsaw finished the game a blistering 84 percent from the free throw line, hitting 27 of 32.
Sophomore center Mallory Faylor led Columbia City with 11 points, while junior forward Chasidy Myers added 10.
"The second half it turned into a ballgame, a normal kind of game," Kreiger said.
But the first half, the half that saw Warsaw outscore Columbia City 31-10 in the second quarter and the half that Kreiger couldn't explain, did the Eagles in on this night.
WARSAW 67, COLUMBIA CITY 55
Col. City (5-9) 16 10 12 17 - 55
Warsaw (10-5) 5 31 17 14 - 67
Col. City FG FT A S R Pts.
Faylor (C) 4-11 2-2 3 0 5 11
Schuman (F) 4-7 0-0 0 2 10 8
Peppler (G) 2-8 4-4 4 0 4 8
Roberts (G) 1-8 4-4 4 2 1 6
Davisson (F) 1-5 0-0 0 1 1 2
Myers 4-6 2-3 3 0 2 10
Minnick 3-6 0-0 0 0 0 6
Vorndran 1-1 2-3 0 0 2 4
Foster 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Team 1
Totals 20-52 14-16 14 6 26 55
Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.
Kesler (G) 3-7 12-12 2 1 7 18
O'Connell (G) 5-13 3-4 3 2 5 14
DeGeeter (F) 4-6 5-6 0 0 11 13
Knisely (F) 1-4 3-4 0 2 3 5
Poling (F) 1-7 1-2 4 3 1 3
DeRenzo 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Wyatt 3-4 3-4 2 1 3 10
McGriff 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0
Chabot 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 2
Leininger 1-2 0-0 0 1 3 2
Team 1
Totals 19-44 27-32 13 11 35 67
Three-point goals -ÊWarsaw 2-7 (O'Connell 1-4, Wyatt 1-1, Poling 0-1, Leininger 0-1), Columbia City 1-3 (Faylor 1-1, Peppler 0-1, Roberts 0-1).
Turnovers -ÊWarsaw 15, Columbia City 18. Fouled out -ÊRoberts. Total fouls -ÊWarsaw 15, Columbia City 25.
JV: WARSAW 28, COLUMBIA CITY 23
Warsaw (7-8) scoring - Lindsay Patterson 11, Rachael Franklin 9, Angelika Fussle 2, Jessica Davis 2, Mary Harden 2, Cassie Himes 2
Columbia City (6-6) scoring - Crystal Vorndran 10, Chantel Lemon 4, Dena Foster 2, Brittany Fisher 3, Stephanie Hoppe 2 [[In-content Ad]]