Wawasee Girls Survive Scare
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Fresh off a 78-33 drumming at the hands of Fort Wayne South Side Wednesday, the Class 1A No. 5 Canterbury Cavaliers looked better Saturday at Wawasee, narrowly losing 56-48 to the Class 3A No. 1 Warriors.[[In-content Ad]]"The South Side game was a real embarrassment in a lot of aspects," Canterbury coach Scott Kreiger said. "The effort and the level of competition we put up against them was not very strong. Today, we sort of challenged some kids to come out and not back down - to play well on someone else's floor."
That 45-point loss to South Side, may have given the Warriors a false sense of security, as displayed in a relaxed warm-up for the game.
"The whole thing can be summed up by saying we weren't ready at the beginning of the game," Wawasee coach Kem Zolman said. "I was watching our kids prepare for the game, with how they warmed up, and I just haven't seen that this year."
Hitting 20 of their 57 shots, the Warriors came out of the gate shooting 5 of 18 in the first quarter, and 8 of 31 in the first half, including 0 of 13 behind the three-point arc.
In contrast, the Cavs hit 19 of their 42 attempts, which helped offset 29 turnovers and result in a 40-39 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
However, with the sense of urgency kicking in, the Warriors began to play like they're accustomed to.
Following a timeout, the Wawasee went on an 8-2 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes, taking a strong lead at 48-42 with 2:26 remaining.
"A sign of a good team is how things end up," Zolman said. "They did enough to get through it. That's a sign of a good team. Everything was against what we wanted to do out there."
The Warriors' biggest thorn in the side was the Cavs' 5-foot-11 junior Tabitha Gerardot.
Shooting 11 of 17 from the field, Gerardot scored 29 of her team's 48 points, while also hauling in 13 rebounds, dishing out three assists and blocking two shots.
"She's a Division-I basketball player, there's no doubt about that," Kreiger said. "She's got a lot of people after her, wanting her to play for them someday. She's a great competitor and a great team player. I thought she showed great patience today in the post, where sometimes she couldn't get the basketball. She just waited until her opportunities were there. Then, she made the most of them."
The Warriors also had a pretty good player on their side, with senior Kylee Ort scoring 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting.
"Kylee did a nice job," Zolman said of Ort, who also had six rebounds and two blocks. "We talked at halftime about Kylee sticking those legs and going up, rather than floating. I thought she did a better job at that (in the second half)."
Senior Taylor Goshert also put up 12 points for the Warriors, followed by classmate Brennan McAdams' 11.
Going with their patented pressure defense, the Warriors had 17 steals in the game, led by McAdams' six.
That defense, plus clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch, improved Wawasee to 6-0 and helped avoid a loss to a team that only had six girls play significant minutes.
"They played very well," Zolman said of the Cavs. "We were in a no-win situation. If we win, we should have won by more, and if we lose, what in the world is the matter with us, because we lost to a single-A team. But they're really good. They won the state championship last year."
That state-championship experience definitely came in handy, but just wasn't enough.
"We've got a group of girls who have their picture on the wall and state championship rings," Kreiger said. "They've been to the highest levels, and they know what it takes to be successful. Games like this help to reinforce the sorts of things we try to do. Wawasee's just such a fine ball club with veteran kids and great coaching."
And following a narrow win, Zolman's eager to apply that coaching.
"In every season, there has to come one of these types of things, so we have something to go back and teach, and get their attention," Zolman said. "It's called adversity. If you don't have that adversity, you'll never be the best you can be toward the end of the year. I'm not taking anything away from (Canterbury). They're a very good team, and they did a nice job of executing. Wow. They had a game plan, and did a good job of sticking to it, and took it to us for a while."
Zolman's squad now preps for the Northern Lakes Conference, hosting the Goshen Redskins Friday at 6:15 p.m.
WAWASEE 56, FW CANTERBURY 48
C 6 13 14 14 - 48
W 12 7 13 24 - 56
Wawasee - A. Ort 0 2-2 2, K. Ort 9 3-5 24, McAdams 4 2-2 11, Goshert 4 3-5 12, Rondeau 2 0-0 4, Walker 0 0-0 0, Tait 1 0-0 2, Bowen 0 1-2 1. Totals 20 11-16 56.
Canterbury - Pedro 0 0-0 0, Wells 3 0-1 6, Kreiger 4 2-2 11, Gerardot 11 5-7 29, Moyle 1 0-0 2, Mauch 0 0-0 0, Brinkman 0 0-0 0, Graves 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 7-10 48.
Three-point goals - Wawasee 5 (K. Ort 3, McAdams, Goshert), Canterbury 3 (Gerardot 2, Kreiger). Turnovers - Wawasee 16, Canterbury 29. Team Fouls (fouled out) - Wawasee 16 (McAdams), Canterbury 17 (Kreiger). Rebounds - Wawasee 29 (K. Ort 6, Goshert 5, Rondeau 5), Canterbury 32 (Gerardot 13). Assists - Wawasee 6 (McAdams 2), Canterbury 10 (Pedro 5, Gerardot 3). Steals - Wawasee 17 (McAdams 6, A. Ort 3, Goshert 3), Canterbury 8 (Pedro 3, Wells 2, Gerardot 2). Blocks - Wawasee 4 (K. Ort 2), Canterbury 1. Records - Wawasee 6-0, Canterbury 3-3
JV - Wawasee 39, Canterbury 19
Wawasee JV Record: 6-0
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Fresh off a 78-33 drumming at the hands of Fort Wayne South Side Wednesday, the Class 1A No. 5 Canterbury Cavaliers looked better Saturday at Wawasee, narrowly losing 56-48 to the Class 3A No. 1 Warriors.[[In-content Ad]]"The South Side game was a real embarrassment in a lot of aspects," Canterbury coach Scott Kreiger said. "The effort and the level of competition we put up against them was not very strong. Today, we sort of challenged some kids to come out and not back down - to play well on someone else's floor."
That 45-point loss to South Side, may have given the Warriors a false sense of security, as displayed in a relaxed warm-up for the game.
"The whole thing can be summed up by saying we weren't ready at the beginning of the game," Wawasee coach Kem Zolman said. "I was watching our kids prepare for the game, with how they warmed up, and I just haven't seen that this year."
Hitting 20 of their 57 shots, the Warriors came out of the gate shooting 5 of 18 in the first quarter, and 8 of 31 in the first half, including 0 of 13 behind the three-point arc.
In contrast, the Cavs hit 19 of their 42 attempts, which helped offset 29 turnovers and result in a 40-39 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
However, with the sense of urgency kicking in, the Warriors began to play like they're accustomed to.
Following a timeout, the Wawasee went on an 8-2 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes, taking a strong lead at 48-42 with 2:26 remaining.
"A sign of a good team is how things end up," Zolman said. "They did enough to get through it. That's a sign of a good team. Everything was against what we wanted to do out there."
The Warriors' biggest thorn in the side was the Cavs' 5-foot-11 junior Tabitha Gerardot.
Shooting 11 of 17 from the field, Gerardot scored 29 of her team's 48 points, while also hauling in 13 rebounds, dishing out three assists and blocking two shots.
"She's a Division-I basketball player, there's no doubt about that," Kreiger said. "She's got a lot of people after her, wanting her to play for them someday. She's a great competitor and a great team player. I thought she showed great patience today in the post, where sometimes she couldn't get the basketball. She just waited until her opportunities were there. Then, she made the most of them."
The Warriors also had a pretty good player on their side, with senior Kylee Ort scoring 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting.
"Kylee did a nice job," Zolman said of Ort, who also had six rebounds and two blocks. "We talked at halftime about Kylee sticking those legs and going up, rather than floating. I thought she did a better job at that (in the second half)."
Senior Taylor Goshert also put up 12 points for the Warriors, followed by classmate Brennan McAdams' 11.
Going with their patented pressure defense, the Warriors had 17 steals in the game, led by McAdams' six.
That defense, plus clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch, improved Wawasee to 6-0 and helped avoid a loss to a team that only had six girls play significant minutes.
"They played very well," Zolman said of the Cavs. "We were in a no-win situation. If we win, we should have won by more, and if we lose, what in the world is the matter with us, because we lost to a single-A team. But they're really good. They won the state championship last year."
That state-championship experience definitely came in handy, but just wasn't enough.
"We've got a group of girls who have their picture on the wall and state championship rings," Kreiger said. "They've been to the highest levels, and they know what it takes to be successful. Games like this help to reinforce the sorts of things we try to do. Wawasee's just such a fine ball club with veteran kids and great coaching."
And following a narrow win, Zolman's eager to apply that coaching.
"In every season, there has to come one of these types of things, so we have something to go back and teach, and get their attention," Zolman said. "It's called adversity. If you don't have that adversity, you'll never be the best you can be toward the end of the year. I'm not taking anything away from (Canterbury). They're a very good team, and they did a nice job of executing. Wow. They had a game plan, and did a good job of sticking to it, and took it to us for a while."
Zolman's squad now preps for the Northern Lakes Conference, hosting the Goshen Redskins Friday at 6:15 p.m.
WAWASEE 56, FW CANTERBURY 48
C 6 13 14 14 - 48
W 12 7 13 24 - 56
Wawasee - A. Ort 0 2-2 2, K. Ort 9 3-5 24, McAdams 4 2-2 11, Goshert 4 3-5 12, Rondeau 2 0-0 4, Walker 0 0-0 0, Tait 1 0-0 2, Bowen 0 1-2 1. Totals 20 11-16 56.
Canterbury - Pedro 0 0-0 0, Wells 3 0-1 6, Kreiger 4 2-2 11, Gerardot 11 5-7 29, Moyle 1 0-0 2, Mauch 0 0-0 0, Brinkman 0 0-0 0, Graves 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 7-10 48.
Three-point goals - Wawasee 5 (K. Ort 3, McAdams, Goshert), Canterbury 3 (Gerardot 2, Kreiger). Turnovers - Wawasee 16, Canterbury 29. Team Fouls (fouled out) - Wawasee 16 (McAdams), Canterbury 17 (Kreiger). Rebounds - Wawasee 29 (K. Ort 6, Goshert 5, Rondeau 5), Canterbury 32 (Gerardot 13). Assists - Wawasee 6 (McAdams 2), Canterbury 10 (Pedro 5, Gerardot 3). Steals - Wawasee 17 (McAdams 6, A. Ort 3, Goshert 3), Canterbury 8 (Pedro 3, Wells 2, Gerardot 2). Blocks - Wawasee 4 (K. Ort 2), Canterbury 1. Records - Wawasee 6-0, Canterbury 3-3
JV - Wawasee 39, Canterbury 19
Wawasee JV Record: 6-0
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