Wawasee Falls In Sectional Opener
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
LIGONIER - After picking up his 500th win this season, NorthWood head coach Steve Neff almost had to wait until next year for 501.
Neff and his Panther squad were pushed to the brink against fierce conference rival Wawasee before prevailing 40-36 in the opening game of the West Noble Sectional Tuesday night.
The Warriors took their first and only lead of the game with 2:30 left in regulation after Wawasee's lone senior Tiffany Fick hit one of two free throws to make the count 30-29.
Wawasee then turned the ball over on its next possession with a chance to extend its lead. Instead NorthWood's junior guard Mandy Yoder nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Panthers back the lead at 32-30.
The Warriors had a chance to tie but a layup attempt by 6-foot-1 junior Shawn Knafel slid off the rim causing a wild sequence where NorthWood's Mackenzie Lechlitner pulled in the rebound then raced down the court and took an ill-advised jumper with her team in the lead and less than two minutes left.
Lechlitner was bailed out by teammate Casey Bough who pulled in the offensive rebound and was fouled as she went back up.
Bough hit both free throws to extend the Panthers' lead to two possessions at 34-30.
Two free throws by Fick once again cut NorthWood's lead to two points before Lechlitner hit two more free throws to make the count 36-32 in favor of the Panthers.
Wawasee sophomore Kalyn Lantz nearly broke up the free throw back and forth when she drove baseline and threw up a circus shot as she was fouled that went halfway in before bouncing out.
Instead of converting on an old-fashioned three-point play, Lantz hit both attempts from the charity stripe to once again cut NorthWood's lead to two points.
The Warriors had several chances down the stretch but were unable to extend the game as they missed several close range shots inside the final minute of play.
"That's the way it goes," said Wawasee head coach Kem Zolman. "They had shots that hit the rim, a couple, three times that went in. Ours hit the rim a couple, three times and went out."
While neither team lit things up from the field, Wawasee shot marginally worse from the field, 12 of 28 (36 percent), than NorthWood did, 13 of 33 (39 percent).
Wawasee scored just eight points in the first half but trailed by just seven at 15-8 despite NorthWood committing just one turnover in the first 16 minutes.
The Warriors thrust themselves back into the contest on the strength of seven NorthWood turnovers in the third quarter.
Wawasee was able put the lanky Knafel at the top of a half-court trap that gave the Panthers fits.
"My hat's off to (Wawasee)," said Neff, who was recently named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and won his 500th game last week. "They threw every defense in the world at us."
Yoder led the way for NorthWood with 14 points despite being the focus of Wawasee's defense. Junior Amanda Bechtel chipped in nine points for the Panthers while Bough finished with six and Lechlitner had four.
Fick and freshman Taylor Goshert led the way for Wawasee with 10 points each. Jessie Wolf came off the Warrior bench to score seven points. Lantz finished with five points while Knafel rounded out the scoring with four.
While Zolman was disappointed with the loss, he was quick to heap credit at NorthWood.
"Give them credit. That's why they have 16 wins, " said Zolman. "I think this season is one of the finest coaching jobs by Coach Neff."
On a roster of 12 players, Wawasee will return 11 next year with Fick the lone graduating senior. Fick was second on the team in scoring this season behind Goshert.
NorthWood, ranked 13th in the final 3A poll of the season, plays Northridge Friday at West Noble at 6 p.m.
Wawasee ends its season with a record of 11-10 overall.
N'WOOD 40, WAWASEE 36
N'Wood 9 6 9 6 - 40
Wawasee 5 3 11 17 - 36
N'Wood FG FT R S Pts
*Bechtel 1-5 6-7 3 1 9
*Lechlitner 2-9 0-0 3 2 4
*Schiefer 1-4 0-0 1 1 2
*Yoder 5-9 3-4 3 1 14
*Bough 2-3 2-2 1 0 6
Stutzman 0-1 0-0 2 0 0
Hall 1-1 1-2 3 0 3
Kurtz 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Totals 13-33 12-15 16 4 40
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
*Lantz 1-4 2-2 1 2 5
*Walker 0-2 0-0 0 1 0
*Knafel 2-4 0-0 9 2 4
*Goshert 3-4 4-6 1 2 10
*Fick 2-8 6-8 8 0 10
Wolf 2-4 3-5 1 0 7
McAdams 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Ort 0-1 0-0 0 1 0
Totals 10-28 15-21 20 8 36
Three-point goals - NorthWood 2-5 (Bechtel 1-1, Yoder 1-3), Wawasee 1-3 (Lantz 1-1). Turnovers - NorthWood 13, Wawasee 16. Fouls - NorthWood 15, Wawasee 15. Fouled out - None. [[In-content Ad]]
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LIGONIER - After picking up his 500th win this season, NorthWood head coach Steve Neff almost had to wait until next year for 501.
Neff and his Panther squad were pushed to the brink against fierce conference rival Wawasee before prevailing 40-36 in the opening game of the West Noble Sectional Tuesday night.
The Warriors took their first and only lead of the game with 2:30 left in regulation after Wawasee's lone senior Tiffany Fick hit one of two free throws to make the count 30-29.
Wawasee then turned the ball over on its next possession with a chance to extend its lead. Instead NorthWood's junior guard Mandy Yoder nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Panthers back the lead at 32-30.
The Warriors had a chance to tie but a layup attempt by 6-foot-1 junior Shawn Knafel slid off the rim causing a wild sequence where NorthWood's Mackenzie Lechlitner pulled in the rebound then raced down the court and took an ill-advised jumper with her team in the lead and less than two minutes left.
Lechlitner was bailed out by teammate Casey Bough who pulled in the offensive rebound and was fouled as she went back up.
Bough hit both free throws to extend the Panthers' lead to two possessions at 34-30.
Two free throws by Fick once again cut NorthWood's lead to two points before Lechlitner hit two more free throws to make the count 36-32 in favor of the Panthers.
Wawasee sophomore Kalyn Lantz nearly broke up the free throw back and forth when she drove baseline and threw up a circus shot as she was fouled that went halfway in before bouncing out.
Instead of converting on an old-fashioned three-point play, Lantz hit both attempts from the charity stripe to once again cut NorthWood's lead to two points.
The Warriors had several chances down the stretch but were unable to extend the game as they missed several close range shots inside the final minute of play.
"That's the way it goes," said Wawasee head coach Kem Zolman. "They had shots that hit the rim, a couple, three times that went in. Ours hit the rim a couple, three times and went out."
While neither team lit things up from the field, Wawasee shot marginally worse from the field, 12 of 28 (36 percent), than NorthWood did, 13 of 33 (39 percent).
Wawasee scored just eight points in the first half but trailed by just seven at 15-8 despite NorthWood committing just one turnover in the first 16 minutes.
The Warriors thrust themselves back into the contest on the strength of seven NorthWood turnovers in the third quarter.
Wawasee was able put the lanky Knafel at the top of a half-court trap that gave the Panthers fits.
"My hat's off to (Wawasee)," said Neff, who was recently named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and won his 500th game last week. "They threw every defense in the world at us."
Yoder led the way for NorthWood with 14 points despite being the focus of Wawasee's defense. Junior Amanda Bechtel chipped in nine points for the Panthers while Bough finished with six and Lechlitner had four.
Fick and freshman Taylor Goshert led the way for Wawasee with 10 points each. Jessie Wolf came off the Warrior bench to score seven points. Lantz finished with five points while Knafel rounded out the scoring with four.
While Zolman was disappointed with the loss, he was quick to heap credit at NorthWood.
"Give them credit. That's why they have 16 wins, " said Zolman. "I think this season is one of the finest coaching jobs by Coach Neff."
On a roster of 12 players, Wawasee will return 11 next year with Fick the lone graduating senior. Fick was second on the team in scoring this season behind Goshert.
NorthWood, ranked 13th in the final 3A poll of the season, plays Northridge Friday at West Noble at 6 p.m.
Wawasee ends its season with a record of 11-10 overall.
N'WOOD 40, WAWASEE 36
N'Wood 9 6 9 6 - 40
Wawasee 5 3 11 17 - 36
N'Wood FG FT R S Pts
*Bechtel 1-5 6-7 3 1 9
*Lechlitner 2-9 0-0 3 2 4
*Schiefer 1-4 0-0 1 1 2
*Yoder 5-9 3-4 3 1 14
*Bough 2-3 2-2 1 0 6
Stutzman 0-1 0-0 2 0 0
Hall 1-1 1-2 3 0 3
Kurtz 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Totals 13-33 12-15 16 4 40
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
*Lantz 1-4 2-2 1 2 5
*Walker 0-2 0-0 0 1 0
*Knafel 2-4 0-0 9 2 4
*Goshert 3-4 4-6 1 2 10
*Fick 2-8 6-8 8 0 10
Wolf 2-4 3-5 1 0 7
McAdams 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Ort 0-1 0-0 0 1 0
Totals 10-28 15-21 20 8 36
Three-point goals - NorthWood 2-5 (Bechtel 1-1, Yoder 1-3), Wawasee 1-3 (Lantz 1-1). Turnovers - NorthWood 13, Wawasee 16. Fouls - NorthWood 15, Wawasee 15. Fouled out - None. [[In-content Ad]]