Wawasee Girls Looking For More Weapons
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
In Saturday afternoon's 80-42 loss to Class 1A No. 2 Fort Wayne Canterbury (5-2) at Wawasee (3-2), Lady Warriors junior KiLee Knafel ended the game with 35 points, scoring all 26 of her team's points from the 7:10 mark of the first quarter until midway through the fourth quarter.
"KiLee mentioned earlier in the year that actions speak louder than words," Zolman said. "Right now, we have a lot of yapping, but not much action. That's the bottom line. We have to get stuff from (junior Kiley) Cooper, we have to have more stuff from (junior) Cassie (Martinez). Right now, (the team) is sitting back watching KiLee play.
"We don't have an offense like that," he added. "That's all on her own. At halftime, the talk was, 'How's that working?' They're a pretty good team and they took us out of stuff, but at the same time, we didn't even try to execute anything."
Canterbury didn't present overwhelming size, and starts just one senior, but quick hands led to 25 steals for the Lady Cavaliers, who scored 44 points off turnovers and held a 44-19 lead at the half.
"That's something we've worked hard on this season," Canterbury coach Scott Kreiger said. "Our schedule has been really tough early on, and we haven't felt like we've seen the dividends yet. Today, we did. Today, we manufactured some offense from our defense and that took some pressure off of a lot of kids on the offensive end."
While Knafel was Wawasee's lone source of offensive production, Canterbury got 21 each from junior Bailey Farley and sophomore Kindall Fincher, as well as 19 from junior Aaliyah Gaines and another 10 out of freshman Darby Maggard.
Maggard, who gained attention with 30-point games as an eighth grader at Whitko Middle School, has been a welcomed addition for Kreiger.
Through seven games, Maggard's averaging 17 points, but has done more than that for a team that's won the Class 1A state championship three out of the past four years.
"Today, she didn't shoot as well as she normally will, but she plays a great floor game," Kreiger said of the 5-foot-5 guard that also had six assists and five steals. "She understands the game, she knows what her role is on the team. She's in with a group of good players, and they all try to make each other better. She has fit in very nicely with that idea."
Along with knowing Maggard's talents, Kreiger was also aware of Knafel's, even though it didn't help much.
"She's just a fantastic basketball player," Kreiger said of Knafel, the reigning Times-Union Player of the Year. "She worked so hard and created opportunities for herself, and took advantage of it. She got to the line and is just a fantastic basketball player. We tried, but we weren't good enough to slow her down."
Averaging 27.8 points a game, Knafel is accounting for a bulk of Wawasee's average of 51.6 this year, so Zolman sees a simple game plan defeating his squad.
"If I was scouting us, I'd say guard (the other four girls) and don't let them score," he said. "We'll just let KiLee get her 30 or whatever she needs."
And it wasn't just the lack of points and shots that upset Zolman in the loss.
"The most glaring thing that disappoints me the most is the noncompetitiveness from the rest of them," he said. "(Junior) Lexy (Blunk) does what she can. She does a lot of good things by just being a pest, but because of her stature (at 5-3), she's limited. But she's giving it all she's got. The rest of them, I feel, are just sitting around watching. We can't afford to do that."
As bad as the loss was, it was an out-of-conference defeat. However, things pick up Friday night when the Lady Warriors travel to Goshen for their Northern Lakes Conference opener.
"Do I think they can do it? Absolutely," Zolman said. "Do we have players that can step up and do it? Absolutely. Will they? I don't know. I have no clue what the identity of this team is right now."
FW CANTERBURY 80, WAWASEE 42
C 13 31 18 18 — 80
W 6 13 8 15 — 42
Canterbury — Darby Maggard 4-11 2-2 10, Bailey Farley 10-18 1-2 21, Madeline Troxel 1-1 0-0 2, Aalihah Gaines 9-13 1-2 19, Kindall Fincher 8-20 4-5 21, Logan Rogers 1-2 0-2 3, Carly Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Rachel Hoagburg 0-1 0-0 0, Emma Hyndman 0-2 0-0 0, Kathleen Haines 0-2 0-0 0, Georgia Lee Williams 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 35-74 8-13 80.
Wawasee — Lexy Blunk 0-3 0-0 0, Cassie Martinez 1-7 0-0 3, KiLee Knafel 10-25 13-14 35, Kelsey Hunter 0-2 0-0 0, Kiley Cooper 0-3 0-0 0, Elizabeth Jackson 1-5 0-0 2, Ashlynn Fisher 1-1 0-0 2, McKenzie Schmitt 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Fox 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-47 13-14 42.
Three-point goals — Canterbury 2-13 (Rogers, Gaines), Wawasee 3-14 (Knafel 2, Martinez); Team Fouls — Canterbury 11, Wawasee 13; Turnovers — Canterbury 16, Wawasee 34; Rebounds — Canterbury 37 (Fincher 14), Wawasee 38 (Knafel 10); Assists — Canterbury 23 (Maggard 6, Troxel 6), Wawasee 9 (Martinez 3); Steals — Canterbury 25 (Troxel 6), Wawasee 9 (Blunk 2, Martinez 2, Knafel 2, Fisher 2); Blocks — Canterbury 3 (Gaines 2), Wawasee 0; Records — Canterbury 5-2, Wawasee 3-2
JV — Canterbury 40, Wawasee 21[[In-content Ad]]
In Saturday afternoon's 80-42 loss to Class 1A No. 2 Fort Wayne Canterbury (5-2) at Wawasee (3-2), Lady Warriors junior KiLee Knafel ended the game with 35 points, scoring all 26 of her team's points from the 7:10 mark of the first quarter until midway through the fourth quarter.
"KiLee mentioned earlier in the year that actions speak louder than words," Zolman said. "Right now, we have a lot of yapping, but not much action. That's the bottom line. We have to get stuff from (junior Kiley) Cooper, we have to have more stuff from (junior) Cassie (Martinez). Right now, (the team) is sitting back watching KiLee play.
"We don't have an offense like that," he added. "That's all on her own. At halftime, the talk was, 'How's that working?' They're a pretty good team and they took us out of stuff, but at the same time, we didn't even try to execute anything."
Canterbury didn't present overwhelming size, and starts just one senior, but quick hands led to 25 steals for the Lady Cavaliers, who scored 44 points off turnovers and held a 44-19 lead at the half.
"That's something we've worked hard on this season," Canterbury coach Scott Kreiger said. "Our schedule has been really tough early on, and we haven't felt like we've seen the dividends yet. Today, we did. Today, we manufactured some offense from our defense and that took some pressure off of a lot of kids on the offensive end."
While Knafel was Wawasee's lone source of offensive production, Canterbury got 21 each from junior Bailey Farley and sophomore Kindall Fincher, as well as 19 from junior Aaliyah Gaines and another 10 out of freshman Darby Maggard.
Maggard, who gained attention with 30-point games as an eighth grader at Whitko Middle School, has been a welcomed addition for Kreiger.
Through seven games, Maggard's averaging 17 points, but has done more than that for a team that's won the Class 1A state championship three out of the past four years.
"Today, she didn't shoot as well as she normally will, but she plays a great floor game," Kreiger said of the 5-foot-5 guard that also had six assists and five steals. "She understands the game, she knows what her role is on the team. She's in with a group of good players, and they all try to make each other better. She has fit in very nicely with that idea."
Along with knowing Maggard's talents, Kreiger was also aware of Knafel's, even though it didn't help much.
"She's just a fantastic basketball player," Kreiger said of Knafel, the reigning Times-Union Player of the Year. "She worked so hard and created opportunities for herself, and took advantage of it. She got to the line and is just a fantastic basketball player. We tried, but we weren't good enough to slow her down."
Averaging 27.8 points a game, Knafel is accounting for a bulk of Wawasee's average of 51.6 this year, so Zolman sees a simple game plan defeating his squad.
"If I was scouting us, I'd say guard (the other four girls) and don't let them score," he said. "We'll just let KiLee get her 30 or whatever she needs."
And it wasn't just the lack of points and shots that upset Zolman in the loss.
"The most glaring thing that disappoints me the most is the noncompetitiveness from the rest of them," he said. "(Junior) Lexy (Blunk) does what she can. She does a lot of good things by just being a pest, but because of her stature (at 5-3), she's limited. But she's giving it all she's got. The rest of them, I feel, are just sitting around watching. We can't afford to do that."
As bad as the loss was, it was an out-of-conference defeat. However, things pick up Friday night when the Lady Warriors travel to Goshen for their Northern Lakes Conference opener.
"Do I think they can do it? Absolutely," Zolman said. "Do we have players that can step up and do it? Absolutely. Will they? I don't know. I have no clue what the identity of this team is right now."
FW CANTERBURY 80, WAWASEE 42
C 13 31 18 18 — 80
W 6 13 8 15 — 42
Canterbury — Darby Maggard 4-11 2-2 10, Bailey Farley 10-18 1-2 21, Madeline Troxel 1-1 0-0 2, Aalihah Gaines 9-13 1-2 19, Kindall Fincher 8-20 4-5 21, Logan Rogers 1-2 0-2 3, Carly Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Rachel Hoagburg 0-1 0-0 0, Emma Hyndman 0-2 0-0 0, Kathleen Haines 0-2 0-0 0, Georgia Lee Williams 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 35-74 8-13 80.
Wawasee — Lexy Blunk 0-3 0-0 0, Cassie Martinez 1-7 0-0 3, KiLee Knafel 10-25 13-14 35, Kelsey Hunter 0-2 0-0 0, Kiley Cooper 0-3 0-0 0, Elizabeth Jackson 1-5 0-0 2, Ashlynn Fisher 1-1 0-0 2, McKenzie Schmitt 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Fox 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-47 13-14 42.
Three-point goals — Canterbury 2-13 (Rogers, Gaines), Wawasee 3-14 (Knafel 2, Martinez); Team Fouls — Canterbury 11, Wawasee 13; Turnovers — Canterbury 16, Wawasee 34; Rebounds — Canterbury 37 (Fincher 14), Wawasee 38 (Knafel 10); Assists — Canterbury 23 (Maggard 6, Troxel 6), Wawasee 9 (Martinez 3); Steals — Canterbury 25 (Troxel 6), Wawasee 9 (Blunk 2, Martinez 2, Knafel 2, Fisher 2); Blocks — Canterbury 3 (Gaines 2), Wawasee 0; Records — Canterbury 5-2, Wawasee 3-2
JV — Canterbury 40, Wawasee 21[[In-content Ad]]
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