Wawasee Girls Fall To NorthWood
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Playing Sectional 21 on their home court, the Warriors were upset 45-42 in the semifinals by the NorthWood Lady Panthers.[[In-content Ad]]"We don't have another day to live for," Wawasee girls basketball coach Kem Zolman said. "We're done, and it came just a little bit quicker than we would have hoped."
After reaching the state finals two years ago, followed by a semistate berth last year, the quick dismissal abruptly ended the prep careers of Taylor Goshert, Brennan McAdams, Ashlee Ort and Kylee Ort.
"My hat's off to them," NorthWood coach Steve Neff said about Wawasee's four senior starters. "I feel bad for their four seniors. They've been an excellent group for four years, and they worked their butts off."
That work ethic got Wawasee girls' basketball to a level it had never been to, and Zolman is aware of what he's losing.
"They've kind of redefined basketball in this community," Zolman said. "Probably in this part of northern Indiana. I'd go with these kids any day. They battle you. You know you're in a war after they're done. They've given us that for four years. I'm so grateful for them."
And even in their final game, the girls fought tooth-and-nail the entire way.
Trailing 43-39 with 20 seconds remaining, Goshert connected on a three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining. But after a timeout, NorthWood sophomore Kaci Heeter hit two free throws, and a missed three-pointer by Wawasee ended the Warriors' season at 20-4.
"These kids think they have a chance every time," Zolman said. "Even before that (opening) buzzer goes off, they're ready to go. They're just Warriors. They're going to fight to the end."
From the opening tip, the Warriors realized they were going to have to fight all the way to the end.
After falling behind 8-2 with 3:28 remaining in the opening quarter, Wawasee countered with a 9-0 run, resulting in an 11-8 lead with 6:31 left in the half.
The Warriors extended their lead to 19-14 and had the ball with time running out in the half. However, instead of getting a final shot, a turnover resulted in a half-ending lay-up by NorthWood senior Kaley Bontrager, cutting the Wawasee lead to 19-16.
That bucket ignited a 7-0 run, resulting in a 21-19 NorthWood lead following a three-point play by NorthWood senior Courtney Simpson with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter.
"We're up 19-14, and we have a chance to score," Zolman said of the late first-half bucket, which Zolman said was 'the game.'
"Instead of us being up by seven, now we're up three," he added. "Then, they come out (in the second half), and get the first points and it's 19-18."
From that point, each team exchanged blows, resulting in eight lead changes and four ties.
"When you get someone hot - and trust me, they were just hot tonight - you have to extinguish those things in the beginning," Zolman said. "We weren't able to do that."
Entering the bonus with 2:32 remaining in the third quarter, NorthWood went 9 of 14 from the free-throw line from there, including going 4 of 4 in their final two trips with 20 seconds remaining.
"They missed some shots, and we made some," Neff said. "We got to the free-throw line and broke their press when we needed to - not all the time, but enough."
NorthWood was led by Simpson's 16 points and seven rebounds, followed by junior Courtney Frantz's 10 points and five boards.
In the loss, Goshert ended her prep career with a 17-point, six-rebound and five-steal night, while Kylee Ort scored 11 points and McAdams had five steals.
The Panthers' victory put them in tonight's championship game against Columbia City, which reached the 7:30 p.m. finals by defeating Lakeland 47-40 in Friday's opening semifinal.
The Panthers' win also avenged a 43-24 loss at Wawasee back on Jan. 10, but according to Neff, he'd take a sectional win over any regular-season victory.
"We don't really care about the conference record or the team record," he said. "It's about getting better for the sectional. And we did."
N'WOOD 45, WAWASEE 42
N 8 8 14 15 - 45
W 7 12 10 13 - 42
NW - Heeter 2 2-2 6, Lehman 1 1-2 4, Frantz 4 1-2 10, Simpson 5 6-12 16, Steffen 1 3-4 5, Bontrager 1 0-0 2, Olson 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 13-22 45.
Wawasee - A. Ort 3 0-0 6, K. Ort 3 5-8 11, McAdams 3 0-0 6, Goshert 6 4-7 17, Tait 1 0-0 2, Walker 0 0-0 0, Woodard 0 0-0 0, Wiggs 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 9-15 42.
Three-point goals - NW 2 (Lehman, Frantz), Wawasee 1-10 (Goshert); Team Fouls (fouled out) - NW 17, Wawasee 20 (A. Ort, Goshert); Turnovers - NW 24, Wawasee 11; Rebounds - NW 39 (Simpson 7, Steffen 7), Wawasee 21 (Goshert 6); Assists - NW 10 (Heeter 2, Lehman 2, Simpson 2, Steffen 2), Wawasee 8 (K. Ort 4); Steals - NW 4, Wawasee 14 (McAdams 5, Goshert 5); Blocks - NW 0, Wawasee 1; Records: NW 16-6, Wawasee 20-4
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Playing Sectional 21 on their home court, the Warriors were upset 45-42 in the semifinals by the NorthWood Lady Panthers.[[In-content Ad]]"We don't have another day to live for," Wawasee girls basketball coach Kem Zolman said. "We're done, and it came just a little bit quicker than we would have hoped."
After reaching the state finals two years ago, followed by a semistate berth last year, the quick dismissal abruptly ended the prep careers of Taylor Goshert, Brennan McAdams, Ashlee Ort and Kylee Ort.
"My hat's off to them," NorthWood coach Steve Neff said about Wawasee's four senior starters. "I feel bad for their four seniors. They've been an excellent group for four years, and they worked their butts off."
That work ethic got Wawasee girls' basketball to a level it had never been to, and Zolman is aware of what he's losing.
"They've kind of redefined basketball in this community," Zolman said. "Probably in this part of northern Indiana. I'd go with these kids any day. They battle you. You know you're in a war after they're done. They've given us that for four years. I'm so grateful for them."
And even in their final game, the girls fought tooth-and-nail the entire way.
Trailing 43-39 with 20 seconds remaining, Goshert connected on a three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining. But after a timeout, NorthWood sophomore Kaci Heeter hit two free throws, and a missed three-pointer by Wawasee ended the Warriors' season at 20-4.
"These kids think they have a chance every time," Zolman said. "Even before that (opening) buzzer goes off, they're ready to go. They're just Warriors. They're going to fight to the end."
From the opening tip, the Warriors realized they were going to have to fight all the way to the end.
After falling behind 8-2 with 3:28 remaining in the opening quarter, Wawasee countered with a 9-0 run, resulting in an 11-8 lead with 6:31 left in the half.
The Warriors extended their lead to 19-14 and had the ball with time running out in the half. However, instead of getting a final shot, a turnover resulted in a half-ending lay-up by NorthWood senior Kaley Bontrager, cutting the Wawasee lead to 19-16.
That bucket ignited a 7-0 run, resulting in a 21-19 NorthWood lead following a three-point play by NorthWood senior Courtney Simpson with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter.
"We're up 19-14, and we have a chance to score," Zolman said of the late first-half bucket, which Zolman said was 'the game.'
"Instead of us being up by seven, now we're up three," he added. "Then, they come out (in the second half), and get the first points and it's 19-18."
From that point, each team exchanged blows, resulting in eight lead changes and four ties.
"When you get someone hot - and trust me, they were just hot tonight - you have to extinguish those things in the beginning," Zolman said. "We weren't able to do that."
Entering the bonus with 2:32 remaining in the third quarter, NorthWood went 9 of 14 from the free-throw line from there, including going 4 of 4 in their final two trips with 20 seconds remaining.
"They missed some shots, and we made some," Neff said. "We got to the free-throw line and broke their press when we needed to - not all the time, but enough."
NorthWood was led by Simpson's 16 points and seven rebounds, followed by junior Courtney Frantz's 10 points and five boards.
In the loss, Goshert ended her prep career with a 17-point, six-rebound and five-steal night, while Kylee Ort scored 11 points and McAdams had five steals.
The Panthers' victory put them in tonight's championship game against Columbia City, which reached the 7:30 p.m. finals by defeating Lakeland 47-40 in Friday's opening semifinal.
The Panthers' win also avenged a 43-24 loss at Wawasee back on Jan. 10, but according to Neff, he'd take a sectional win over any regular-season victory.
"We don't really care about the conference record or the team record," he said. "It's about getting better for the sectional. And we did."
N'WOOD 45, WAWASEE 42
N 8 8 14 15 - 45
W 7 12 10 13 - 42
NW - Heeter 2 2-2 6, Lehman 1 1-2 4, Frantz 4 1-2 10, Simpson 5 6-12 16, Steffen 1 3-4 5, Bontrager 1 0-0 2, Olson 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 13-22 45.
Wawasee - A. Ort 3 0-0 6, K. Ort 3 5-8 11, McAdams 3 0-0 6, Goshert 6 4-7 17, Tait 1 0-0 2, Walker 0 0-0 0, Woodard 0 0-0 0, Wiggs 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 9-15 42.
Three-point goals - NW 2 (Lehman, Frantz), Wawasee 1-10 (Goshert); Team Fouls (fouled out) - NW 17, Wawasee 20 (A. Ort, Goshert); Turnovers - NW 24, Wawasee 11; Rebounds - NW 39 (Simpson 7, Steffen 7), Wawasee 21 (Goshert 6); Assists - NW 10 (Heeter 2, Lehman 2, Simpson 2, Steffen 2), Wawasee 8 (K. Ort 4); Steals - NW 4, Wawasee 14 (McAdams 5, Goshert 5); Blocks - NW 0, Wawasee 1; Records: NW 16-6, Wawasee 20-4
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