Wawasee Advances To Sectional Final
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
After receiving a first-round bye, Wawasee's defeat of the Tippecanoe Valley Lady Vikings (5-15) by a count of 53-45 in Friday's Class 3A Sectional 21 semifinals at Columbia City High School has put the Lady Warriors (14-6) in a sectional title bout against NorthWood tonight.[[In-content Ad]]NorthWood advanced to the title game after downing the Columbia City Lady Eagles 63-46 in Friday's other semifinal.
"I'm just really pleased with how focused they are right now - on doing what we're wanting them to do," Wawasee coach Kem Zolman said. "It's not always pretty, but we're doing what we need to do right now. We're in the championship game and that's good."
Senior Amy Walker played like the most experienced player on the floor, which she was, scoring 17 points to go with 11 rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and a steal.
"I keep telling her she's a 90-percent shooter inside the lane," Zolman said. "From 15 feet in, she's a 90-percent shooter."
With Wawasee leading 34-31 early in the fourth quarter, Walker scored on back-to-back possessions off assists from sophomore KiLee Knafel, then used her own inside passing ability to sophomore Kiley Cooper on the Lady Warriors' next possession, contributing to an 8-0 run.
"I was really pleased with how the kids executed on offense," Zolman said of the three-straight possessions when his team scored on layups off inside passes. "We had planned on their box-and-one and triangle-and-two (defenses), and I thought our kids executed pretty well."
The scoring spurt pushed Wawasee's three-point lead into a 42-31 advantage midway through the quarter, giving the Lady Warriors all the cushion they'd need.
Accompanying Walker in scoring was Knafel's 12 points and 11 from Wiggs, who scored all of them in the opening half.
While Wawasee had balanced scoring, junior Staci Groom scored 29 of the Lady Vikings 45 points.
"She's done that all year," Valley coach Chris Kindig said about Groom. "She's played really well. People just think of her scoring, but she does a lot of other things very well. She plays good defense, is a good passer and is just a good floor leader. She's the glue for us."
Groom also finished the game with six steals and two assists, but had to carry a heavy load as junior Tory Keirn was saddled with her third foul with 5:22 left in the first half.
After scoring 19 points and posting 14 rebounds in a first-round win over Whitko, the foul trouble limited Keirn's minutes. Despite the foul trouble, she still scored nine points to go with two assists and two steals.
"That hurt us because she was in the flow of the game and we needed that other threat," Kindig said about having to sit Keirn after her third foul. "If you have two threats out there, instead of one, it's a lot harder to guard people."
Wawasee will now prepare to face NorthWood for the eighth-straight year at the sectional.
NorthWood enters the game winners of eight of their last nine, and if that weren't enough, the Lady Warriors only went six-deep against Tippecanoe Valley.
"It's not a tournament team," Zolman said about his squad. "That's why the bye was pretty good for us. We'll be alright. We're conditioned alright, but we'll probably have to play with the clock a little bit more. At the same time, I'm not as concerned with (the conditioning) as much as the fatigue setting in and affecting us mentally."
The Lady Vikings won't have to worry about fatigue again for a while, but once the summer rolls around, Kindig wants to see his team, which loses just one senior, working hard.
"We need to do a little more work than we did last summer," he said. "We're going to spend a little more time in the gym. Obviously, we're going to work on our shooting because that was one of our weaknesses this year."
For now, Wawasee is hopeful to win its 13th sectional title and third in five years tonight.
"These kids have worked their tails off to get to the championship game," Zolman said. "We're there and we'll see what happens."
WAWASEE 53, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 45
W 13 14 7 19 - 53
V 16 4 7 18 - 45
Wawasee - Kalyn McDaniel 1-7 5-7 7, Amy Walker 7-15 2-6 17, KiLee Knafel 5-10 2-2 12, Kiley Cooper 2-5 2-5 6, Jonna Wiggs 3-10 2-2 11, Kealah Alexander 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-47 13-22 53.
Valley - Emily Madrigal 3-4 1-2 7, Staci Groom 10-26 5-5 29, Taylor Gast 0-2 0-2 0, Megan Bibler 0-3 0-0 0, Tory Keirn 2-6 3-6 9, Danielle Bussard 0-2 0-0 0, Brooke O'Connor 0-0 0-0 0, Kelsey Ball 0-1 0-3 0, Courtney Newsome 0-4 0-0 0, Connor Fraser 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-50 9-18 45.
Three-point goals - Wawasee 4-17 (Wiggs 3, Walker), Valley 6-17 (Groom 4, Keirn 2); Team Fouls - Wawasee 14, Valley 19; Turnovers - Wawasee 18, Valley 18; Rebounds - Wawasee 28 (Walker 11), Valley 25 (Ball 10); Assists - Wawasee 11 (Knafel 4), Valley 6 (Groom 2, Keirn 2); Steals - Wawasee 8 (Wiggs 3), Valley 12 (Groom 6); Blocks - Wawasee 2 (Walker 2), Valley 3 (Newsome 2); Records: Wawasee 14-6, Valley 5-15
After receiving a first-round bye, Wawasee's defeat of the Tippecanoe Valley Lady Vikings (5-15) by a count of 53-45 in Friday's Class 3A Sectional 21 semifinals at Columbia City High School has put the Lady Warriors (14-6) in a sectional title bout against NorthWood tonight.[[In-content Ad]]NorthWood advanced to the title game after downing the Columbia City Lady Eagles 63-46 in Friday's other semifinal.
"I'm just really pleased with how focused they are right now - on doing what we're wanting them to do," Wawasee coach Kem Zolman said. "It's not always pretty, but we're doing what we need to do right now. We're in the championship game and that's good."
Senior Amy Walker played like the most experienced player on the floor, which she was, scoring 17 points to go with 11 rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and a steal.
"I keep telling her she's a 90-percent shooter inside the lane," Zolman said. "From 15 feet in, she's a 90-percent shooter."
With Wawasee leading 34-31 early in the fourth quarter, Walker scored on back-to-back possessions off assists from sophomore KiLee Knafel, then used her own inside passing ability to sophomore Kiley Cooper on the Lady Warriors' next possession, contributing to an 8-0 run.
"I was really pleased with how the kids executed on offense," Zolman said of the three-straight possessions when his team scored on layups off inside passes. "We had planned on their box-and-one and triangle-and-two (defenses), and I thought our kids executed pretty well."
The scoring spurt pushed Wawasee's three-point lead into a 42-31 advantage midway through the quarter, giving the Lady Warriors all the cushion they'd need.
Accompanying Walker in scoring was Knafel's 12 points and 11 from Wiggs, who scored all of them in the opening half.
While Wawasee had balanced scoring, junior Staci Groom scored 29 of the Lady Vikings 45 points.
"She's done that all year," Valley coach Chris Kindig said about Groom. "She's played really well. People just think of her scoring, but she does a lot of other things very well. She plays good defense, is a good passer and is just a good floor leader. She's the glue for us."
Groom also finished the game with six steals and two assists, but had to carry a heavy load as junior Tory Keirn was saddled with her third foul with 5:22 left in the first half.
After scoring 19 points and posting 14 rebounds in a first-round win over Whitko, the foul trouble limited Keirn's minutes. Despite the foul trouble, she still scored nine points to go with two assists and two steals.
"That hurt us because she was in the flow of the game and we needed that other threat," Kindig said about having to sit Keirn after her third foul. "If you have two threats out there, instead of one, it's a lot harder to guard people."
Wawasee will now prepare to face NorthWood for the eighth-straight year at the sectional.
NorthWood enters the game winners of eight of their last nine, and if that weren't enough, the Lady Warriors only went six-deep against Tippecanoe Valley.
"It's not a tournament team," Zolman said about his squad. "That's why the bye was pretty good for us. We'll be alright. We're conditioned alright, but we'll probably have to play with the clock a little bit more. At the same time, I'm not as concerned with (the conditioning) as much as the fatigue setting in and affecting us mentally."
The Lady Vikings won't have to worry about fatigue again for a while, but once the summer rolls around, Kindig wants to see his team, which loses just one senior, working hard.
"We need to do a little more work than we did last summer," he said. "We're going to spend a little more time in the gym. Obviously, we're going to work on our shooting because that was one of our weaknesses this year."
For now, Wawasee is hopeful to win its 13th sectional title and third in five years tonight.
"These kids have worked their tails off to get to the championship game," Zolman said. "We're there and we'll see what happens."
WAWASEE 53, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 45
W 13 14 7 19 - 53
V 16 4 7 18 - 45
Wawasee - Kalyn McDaniel 1-7 5-7 7, Amy Walker 7-15 2-6 17, KiLee Knafel 5-10 2-2 12, Kiley Cooper 2-5 2-5 6, Jonna Wiggs 3-10 2-2 11, Kealah Alexander 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-47 13-22 53.
Valley - Emily Madrigal 3-4 1-2 7, Staci Groom 10-26 5-5 29, Taylor Gast 0-2 0-2 0, Megan Bibler 0-3 0-0 0, Tory Keirn 2-6 3-6 9, Danielle Bussard 0-2 0-0 0, Brooke O'Connor 0-0 0-0 0, Kelsey Ball 0-1 0-3 0, Courtney Newsome 0-4 0-0 0, Connor Fraser 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-50 9-18 45.
Three-point goals - Wawasee 4-17 (Wiggs 3, Walker), Valley 6-17 (Groom 4, Keirn 2); Team Fouls - Wawasee 14, Valley 19; Turnovers - Wawasee 18, Valley 18; Rebounds - Wawasee 28 (Walker 11), Valley 25 (Ball 10); Assists - Wawasee 11 (Knafel 4), Valley 6 (Groom 2, Keirn 2); Steals - Wawasee 8 (Wiggs 3), Valley 12 (Groom 6); Blocks - Wawasee 2 (Walker 2), Valley 3 (Newsome 2); Records: Wawasee 14-6, Valley 5-15
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