Wawasee Boys Sink Lakers
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NAPPANEE - Because he knew it was what his team was up against, Wawasee High School boys basketball coach Phil Mishler told his team to play like seniors.
The Class 3A No. 6 Warriors, with four underclassmen in the starting lineup and just two seniors on the roster, did.
The end result was a 54-39 win over Lakeland, a team with four senior starters and six seniors overall, in Tuesday's opening round of the NorthWood Sectional.
"They're a senior-dominated team," Mishler said of Lakeland, which ended its season with 17-6 mark. "We wanted to make sure their go-to guy didn't get over 12 (points). We knew the other seniors were going to play with a sense of urgency. We didn't want to let the others hurt us. I told them to play like seniors, that's who they were playing."
In improving to 17-4 on the season and advancing to Friday's semifinal round, the Warriors got 15 points and six rebounds from Joe Leach, 14 points from junior Andrew Mock and 11 points from senior Michael Conrad.
The Warriors will tangle with Northern Lakes Conference Northridge in Friday's 6:30 p.m. semifinal round. NorthWood (16-14) and West Noble (11-10) play in the second semifinal game.
Northridge (13-9) advanced to the semifinal round with a 55-43 win over Angola in Tuesday's first round.
The Warriors and Raiders met Feb. 4, with Wawasee posting a 57-46 win in Middlebury.
"Coach (Steve) Austin always has his team ready to play in the tournament," Mishler said of Northridge's veteran coach, who picked up his 318th career win Tuesday. "They beat two good teams in Lakeland and Columbia City at the end of the season and they got a good win tonight. There's no easy road to the sectional (championship). The best team will win."
In Tuesday's game against Lakeland, Wawasee was clearly the best team.
The Warriors played good defense, made nine three-pointers and used balanced scoring to beat the Lakers for the second time this season.
"We were able to run our offense because there wasn't any pressure on the perimeter," said Mishler. "That's why we were able to shoot the kind of percentage we did on three-pointers."
The Warriors hit five three-pointers in the first half and led 25-17 at the break.
Wawasee's first six points of the fourth quarter came on a pair of Mock three-pointers. Mock's second trey of the final frame was followed immediately by a steal and bucket by Leach, which pushed the Warrior advantage to 43-30 with 6:43 to play.
"I thought that was the difference in the game," Mishler said of his team's quick scoring in the fourth quarter. "We've been able to step up and hit big shots and get turnovers. Tonight we did that at the right time."
They were also able to hold 6-foot-7 Lakeland senior Jon Workman in check for the second time this season.
Workman, who originally verbaled to play at Iowa for Steve Alford but is now heading to Western Michigan, scored just one point in Lakeland's 51-40 loss to Wawasee Jan. 28.
Tuesday he scored six points in the first quarter, nine in the first half, but didn't score again until Wawasee clearly had the game in hand.
Workman finished the game with 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field.
Senior Daniel Fox led the Lakers with 14 points, while sophomore Kyle Witham chipped in with six points.
Lakeland finished the game 15 of 37 (40.5 percent) from the field overall, 4 of 11 from three-point range, and 5 of 7 from the free throw line. The Lakers had 18 turnovers to Wawasee's 10.
The Warriors shot 13 of 28 (46.4 percent) from the floor, including a 9-of-19 performance from three-point range, and converted 18 of 27 free throw attempts.
Leach was 11 of 12 from the charity stripe.
WAWASEE 54, LAKELAND 39
Lakeland 12 5 11 11 - 39
Wawasee 13 12 10 19 - 54
Lakeland FG FT R S Pts.
* K. Witham 2-4 2-2 1 0 6
* Pechin 1-4 0-0 2 0 3
* Fox 6-10 2-4 6 2 14
* Workman 4-13 1-1 7 1 11
* Feller 1-4 0-0 3 0 3
King 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
J. Witham 1-2 0-0 2 0 2
Miller 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Totals 15-37 5-7 23 3 43
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
* Mock 4-8 2-3 3 0 14
* Conrad 3-8 2-4 4 3 11
* Leach 2-5 11-12 6 2 15
* Geiger 2-3 0-0 0 0 5
* Zmrman 1-2 2-6 2 0 4
Richardson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Granger 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Adams 1-1 0-0 0 1 3
Singrey 0-1 2-2 3 0 2
Totals 13-28 19-27 18 6 54
Three-point goals - Lakeland 4-11 (Workman 2-5, Pechin 1-3, Feller 1-2, K. Witham 0-1), Wawasee 9-19 (Mock 4-6, Conrad 3-8, Geiger 1-2, Adams 1-1, Leach 0-1, Singrey 0-1). Turnovers - Lakeland 18, Wawasee 10. Fouls - Lakeland 19, Wawasee 11. Fouled out - Feller.
Other sectional game score: Northridge 55, Angola 43 [[In-content Ad]]
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NAPPANEE - Because he knew it was what his team was up against, Wawasee High School boys basketball coach Phil Mishler told his team to play like seniors.
The Class 3A No. 6 Warriors, with four underclassmen in the starting lineup and just two seniors on the roster, did.
The end result was a 54-39 win over Lakeland, a team with four senior starters and six seniors overall, in Tuesday's opening round of the NorthWood Sectional.
"They're a senior-dominated team," Mishler said of Lakeland, which ended its season with 17-6 mark. "We wanted to make sure their go-to guy didn't get over 12 (points). We knew the other seniors were going to play with a sense of urgency. We didn't want to let the others hurt us. I told them to play like seniors, that's who they were playing."
In improving to 17-4 on the season and advancing to Friday's semifinal round, the Warriors got 15 points and six rebounds from Joe Leach, 14 points from junior Andrew Mock and 11 points from senior Michael Conrad.
The Warriors will tangle with Northern Lakes Conference Northridge in Friday's 6:30 p.m. semifinal round. NorthWood (16-14) and West Noble (11-10) play in the second semifinal game.
Northridge (13-9) advanced to the semifinal round with a 55-43 win over Angola in Tuesday's first round.
The Warriors and Raiders met Feb. 4, with Wawasee posting a 57-46 win in Middlebury.
"Coach (Steve) Austin always has his team ready to play in the tournament," Mishler said of Northridge's veteran coach, who picked up his 318th career win Tuesday. "They beat two good teams in Lakeland and Columbia City at the end of the season and they got a good win tonight. There's no easy road to the sectional (championship). The best team will win."
In Tuesday's game against Lakeland, Wawasee was clearly the best team.
The Warriors played good defense, made nine three-pointers and used balanced scoring to beat the Lakers for the second time this season.
"We were able to run our offense because there wasn't any pressure on the perimeter," said Mishler. "That's why we were able to shoot the kind of percentage we did on three-pointers."
The Warriors hit five three-pointers in the first half and led 25-17 at the break.
Wawasee's first six points of the fourth quarter came on a pair of Mock three-pointers. Mock's second trey of the final frame was followed immediately by a steal and bucket by Leach, which pushed the Warrior advantage to 43-30 with 6:43 to play.
"I thought that was the difference in the game," Mishler said of his team's quick scoring in the fourth quarter. "We've been able to step up and hit big shots and get turnovers. Tonight we did that at the right time."
They were also able to hold 6-foot-7 Lakeland senior Jon Workman in check for the second time this season.
Workman, who originally verbaled to play at Iowa for Steve Alford but is now heading to Western Michigan, scored just one point in Lakeland's 51-40 loss to Wawasee Jan. 28.
Tuesday he scored six points in the first quarter, nine in the first half, but didn't score again until Wawasee clearly had the game in hand.
Workman finished the game with 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field.
Senior Daniel Fox led the Lakers with 14 points, while sophomore Kyle Witham chipped in with six points.
Lakeland finished the game 15 of 37 (40.5 percent) from the field overall, 4 of 11 from three-point range, and 5 of 7 from the free throw line. The Lakers had 18 turnovers to Wawasee's 10.
The Warriors shot 13 of 28 (46.4 percent) from the floor, including a 9-of-19 performance from three-point range, and converted 18 of 27 free throw attempts.
Leach was 11 of 12 from the charity stripe.
WAWASEE 54, LAKELAND 39
Lakeland 12 5 11 11 - 39
Wawasee 13 12 10 19 - 54
Lakeland FG FT R S Pts.
* K. Witham 2-4 2-2 1 0 6
* Pechin 1-4 0-0 2 0 3
* Fox 6-10 2-4 6 2 14
* Workman 4-13 1-1 7 1 11
* Feller 1-4 0-0 3 0 3
King 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
J. Witham 1-2 0-0 2 0 2
Miller 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Totals 15-37 5-7 23 3 43
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
* Mock 4-8 2-3 3 0 14
* Conrad 3-8 2-4 4 3 11
* Leach 2-5 11-12 6 2 15
* Geiger 2-3 0-0 0 0 5
* Zmrman 1-2 2-6 2 0 4
Richardson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Granger 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Adams 1-1 0-0 0 1 3
Singrey 0-1 2-2 3 0 2
Totals 13-28 19-27 18 6 54
Three-point goals - Lakeland 4-11 (Workman 2-5, Pechin 1-3, Feller 1-2, K. Witham 0-1), Wawasee 9-19 (Mock 4-6, Conrad 3-8, Geiger 1-2, Adams 1-1, Leach 0-1, Singrey 0-1). Turnovers - Lakeland 18, Wawasee 10. Fouls - Lakeland 19, Wawasee 11. Fouled out - Feller.
Other sectional game score: Northridge 55, Angola 43 [[In-content Ad]]