Wawasee Girls Win Season Opener
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Mark Howe-
It was her leadership during the visitors' rallies in the second half, however, that enabled Wawasee's varsity girls basketball team to take a 60-51 win in the season openr for both teams.
The junior made 8 of 14 shots in the opening half, while the rest of the team made only three of 16 from the field. When Westview adjusted its defense, cutting a 12-point deficit down to seven, Wawasee head coach Kem Zolman noticed something different from his team’s leading scorer.
“I give credit to (Knafel) because I saw her talking to her teammates, communicating with them more than I’ve seen her in the last two years," said Zolman. "She really hasn’t had to in the last two years. But I don’t recall her thinking that she really had that in her, so for her to step up that way, to calm her teammates down, get them to settle down and say ‘we’ve got to stop this run,’ I thought that was bigger than her points, to be honest with you.
“We don’t have seniors that have been in the program four years, and that’s what seniors do. They’re talking with their teammates constantly, and I was really glad to see that.”
After Westview cut the deficit to seven points three minutes into the third quarter, junior Cassie Martinez restored order quickly by sinking a trey from the left corner, stealing the inbound pass and converting the layup, restoring the lead to a dozen in just three seconds en route to a 13-point night. Senior Kelsey Hunter tossed in a trey and junior Kiley Cooper make the second of her two baskets in third stanza, when Wawasee extended the lead to 13 without a point from Knafel.
Westview got closer than seven the rest of the way. After Knafel converted a pair of one-and-ones to keep the visitors from closing in, she finished with 13 points in the final quarter, and 36 on the night. Cooper was big on the boards with 12 rebounds.
Zolman said he’s been preparing his team to face a number of out of the ordinary defenses, knowing opponents will try to limit the damage from Knafel and take their chances with the rest of the squad, featuring one senior and four juniors on the 10-person varsity roster.
“We knew (Westview head coach Randy) Yoder has notoriously tried the box and one’s, triangle and two’s, 2-3 zone, 1-3-1 zone, and we have to prepare our young team for all of that,” Zolman said. “To gauge what a very inexperienced team was able to adjust to makes us as coaches feel good. Not that we did everything exactly right, but you have to give (credit) to our kids because they adjusted to the different defenses. We’ve told them they’re going to be after KiLee; now’s the time to make your name, step up and make some shots. It was good to see the kids step up and I’m tickled to death for them.”
Westview’s best rallies came when it got out in transition, ahead of the half-court and three-quarter court pressure applied by Wawasee after a made basket. The visitors actually had the better shooting percentage from the field, but took 10 fewer shots than Wawasee. The visitors were led by Skyler Carpenter’s 23 points and 14 rebounds, while Jeslyn Zimmerly added 12 points to the cause.
Wawasee returns to action Tuesday, when Lakeland comes to Syracuse for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
WAWASEE 60, WESTVIEW 51
WEST 8 9 12 22 – 51
WAW 16 13 13 18 - 60
Westview – Jeslyn Zimmerly 5-11 0-0 12, Skyler Carpenter 8-14 7-10 23, Amber Roth 2-5, 0-0 5, Brooke Yoder 2-10 2-2 7, Brooke Schwartz 0-0 0-2 0, Olivia Miller, 1-1 2-2 4, Kayla Yoder 0-2, 0-0 0, Rachelle Whitaker 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 18-43 11-18 51.
Wawasee - Alexis Blunk 1-6 0-0 2. Cassie Martinez 5-13 0-0 13, KiLee Knafel 10-18 12-13 36, Kiley Cooper 2-7 0-1 4, Kelsey Hunter 1-3 0-0 3, Elizabeth Jackson 0-4 0-0 0, Alex Fox 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-53 12-14 60.
Three-point goals – Westview 4 (Zimmerly 2, Roth, Yoder), Wawasee 8 (Knafel 4, Martinez 3, Hunter); Rebounds – Westview 33 (Carpenter 14), Wawasee 31 (Cooper 12), Turnovers – Westview 16, Wawasee 10. Records: Westview 0-1, Wawasee 1-0.[[In-content Ad]]
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It was her leadership during the visitors' rallies in the second half, however, that enabled Wawasee's varsity girls basketball team to take a 60-51 win in the season openr for both teams.
The junior made 8 of 14 shots in the opening half, while the rest of the team made only three of 16 from the field. When Westview adjusted its defense, cutting a 12-point deficit down to seven, Wawasee head coach Kem Zolman noticed something different from his team’s leading scorer.
“I give credit to (Knafel) because I saw her talking to her teammates, communicating with them more than I’ve seen her in the last two years," said Zolman. "She really hasn’t had to in the last two years. But I don’t recall her thinking that she really had that in her, so for her to step up that way, to calm her teammates down, get them to settle down and say ‘we’ve got to stop this run,’ I thought that was bigger than her points, to be honest with you.
“We don’t have seniors that have been in the program four years, and that’s what seniors do. They’re talking with their teammates constantly, and I was really glad to see that.”
After Westview cut the deficit to seven points three minutes into the third quarter, junior Cassie Martinez restored order quickly by sinking a trey from the left corner, stealing the inbound pass and converting the layup, restoring the lead to a dozen in just three seconds en route to a 13-point night. Senior Kelsey Hunter tossed in a trey and junior Kiley Cooper make the second of her two baskets in third stanza, when Wawasee extended the lead to 13 without a point from Knafel.
Westview got closer than seven the rest of the way. After Knafel converted a pair of one-and-ones to keep the visitors from closing in, she finished with 13 points in the final quarter, and 36 on the night. Cooper was big on the boards with 12 rebounds.
Zolman said he’s been preparing his team to face a number of out of the ordinary defenses, knowing opponents will try to limit the damage from Knafel and take their chances with the rest of the squad, featuring one senior and four juniors on the 10-person varsity roster.
“We knew (Westview head coach Randy) Yoder has notoriously tried the box and one’s, triangle and two’s, 2-3 zone, 1-3-1 zone, and we have to prepare our young team for all of that,” Zolman said. “To gauge what a very inexperienced team was able to adjust to makes us as coaches feel good. Not that we did everything exactly right, but you have to give (credit) to our kids because they adjusted to the different defenses. We’ve told them they’re going to be after KiLee; now’s the time to make your name, step up and make some shots. It was good to see the kids step up and I’m tickled to death for them.”
Westview’s best rallies came when it got out in transition, ahead of the half-court and three-quarter court pressure applied by Wawasee after a made basket. The visitors actually had the better shooting percentage from the field, but took 10 fewer shots than Wawasee. The visitors were led by Skyler Carpenter’s 23 points and 14 rebounds, while Jeslyn Zimmerly added 12 points to the cause.
Wawasee returns to action Tuesday, when Lakeland comes to Syracuse for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
WAWASEE 60, WESTVIEW 51
WEST 8 9 12 22 – 51
WAW 16 13 13 18 - 60
Westview – Jeslyn Zimmerly 5-11 0-0 12, Skyler Carpenter 8-14 7-10 23, Amber Roth 2-5, 0-0 5, Brooke Yoder 2-10 2-2 7, Brooke Schwartz 0-0 0-2 0, Olivia Miller, 1-1 2-2 4, Kayla Yoder 0-2, 0-0 0, Rachelle Whitaker 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 18-43 11-18 51.
Wawasee - Alexis Blunk 1-6 0-0 2. Cassie Martinez 5-13 0-0 13, KiLee Knafel 10-18 12-13 36, Kiley Cooper 2-7 0-1 4, Kelsey Hunter 1-3 0-0 3, Elizabeth Jackson 0-4 0-0 0, Alex Fox 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-53 12-14 60.
Three-point goals – Westview 4 (Zimmerly 2, Roth, Yoder), Wawasee 8 (Knafel 4, Martinez 3, Hunter); Rebounds – Westview 33 (Carpenter 14), Wawasee 31 (Cooper 12), Turnovers – Westview 16, Wawasee 10. Records: Westview 0-1, Wawasee 1-0.[[In-content Ad]]
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