Wawasee Halts Valley's Win Streak
Bauer Schmeltz hits go-ahead bucket for Warriors
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Losers of 9 of their previous 10 games, the Warriors (10-12) posted a thrilling 56-54 win over the Vikings (16-4), snapping Valley's 10-game winning streak.
Trailing 13-2 after the opening quarter, Wawasee battled back quickly, resulting in a back-and-forth game over the final two-and-a-half quarters.
In the end, it was senior Bauer Schmeltz who scored the game winner with 2.2 seconds remaining, converting a wide-open shot from right under the basket on an in-bound pass from senior Jake Clark.
"They were going to look for anything wide open," Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said about the in-bound play. "If we didn't get anything, we had timeouts to burn. Jake Clark, taking that ball out, just had a headiness to him and knew the (five-second) count. That's what seniors are capable of doing for you."
And what Clark saw was a wide open Schmeltz, who calmly converted the game winner.
"I don't know what happened there," Valley coach Bill Patrick said. "We did do some substituting, and someone got totally mixed up. That definitely shouldn't have happened."
Following an immediate timeout, Valley still had 2.2 seconds remaining, and got a pretty good look at a game-winning shot itself.
With junior Jacob Ritchey passing the ball in, he chucked it deep to sophomore Tanner Andrews, who caught the ball at the wing of his own three-point line.
While still in mid-air, Andrews passed the ball off to junior Nick Kindig for a wide open look at a trey, but the shot was off the mark.
The miss by Kindig capped off a tough night for the sharpshooter, as he only got seven shots, scoring 11 points, which was 10 below his season average.
"They were face guarding and he just took himself out of the game," Patrick said. "They were bumping on him pretty good, and hanging on him, and he let that affect him. You can't let that affect how you play."
But Wawasee's physical play wasn't limited to Kindig.
"They're a physical team," Patrick said. "They play pretty physical inside, then on their press, they're bumping around. Our guys got too involved in that, with pushing and shoving back instead of just playing."
On top of playing physical, the Warriors also hit timely shots, especially in the fourth quarter.
Wawasee's first lead since 2-0 came with 7:01 remaining in the game when junior Ryndan Aaron hit a trey, putting his squad in front 42-41.
However, Valley rallied and built its lead to 49-45 before Wawasee senior Trent Koble scored a bucket and Clark nailed a three-pointer, giving the Warriors a 50-49 lead with 1:54 remaining.
Like before, the Vikings came back to get the lead, going in front 53-50 on a basket by senior Jeffrey Tillman, but Wawasee just wouldn't go away.
Following a pair of free throws by Schmeltz, Wawasee trailed 53-52 with just under a minute remaining.
Kindig increased Valley's lead to 54-52 after hitting one of two free throws, but it would be the Vikings last point of the night.
Leading by two, Valley saw Clark hit a bucket to tie things up, then grab a rebound on a missed shot by Andrews with 10 seconds remaining.
With a chance to win the game, Koble drove to the basket, but was tied up, drawing a jump ball, setting up the in-bound play that won the game.
"They came out of the last huddle we had and said, 'This is what it's about. This is why we put the time in. Now, let's take advantage of it,'" Mishler said. "I think our guys really stepped up."
Wawasee was led in scoring by Aaron's 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while Clark and Schmeltz each netted 10.
Clark also finished the contest with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Wawasee's late-season skid began with the loss of leading scorer Jacob Thompson, but with time, Mishler believes his team is adapting to its new style of play.
"We've been telling these guys to keep believing, because we had to start a second season right after Christmas break," Mishler said. "We were fighting against the teeth of our schedule, the strength of our schedule. Other teams also had a half season to get their stuff together, but we were kind of starting over. So, it should start paying off. It feels good to get one right before sectional."
Wawasee and Valley will both travel to NorthWood High School for Sectional 21, with Valley beginning play Tuesday against NorthWood, while Wawasee has a first-round bye and will take on either West Noble or Fairfield Friday night.
Going into the sectional, the Warriors will be riding the high of beating a 16-win team, while Valley will be trying to see if they learned a lesson from the regular season finale.
"Hopefully something good will come out of it," Patrick said. "Maybe the kids will start realizing we won 10 in a row because we were doing things the right way – blocking out, not turning the ball over, attacking the basket and not getting involved in things that we shouldn't do. That's why we won. I think they understand why we got beat."
Andrews had 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots in the loss, while Ritchey chipped in 14 points.
WAWASEE 56, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 54
V 13 9 19 13 – 54
W 2 20 15 19 – 56
Wawasee – Trent Koble 3-7 0-2 6, Jake Clark 3-12 3-4 10, Ryndan Aaron 7-9 0-0 18, Zac Patrick 3-5 0-0 6, Bauer Schmeltz 3-12 3-4 10, Austin Lutz 1-2 0-0 3, Alex Clark 1-4 1-2 3. Totals 21-51 7-12 56.
Valley – Robby Groom 2-6 1-2 5, Tanner Andrews 7-12 1-2 15, Jacob Ritchey 4-7 3-4 14, Nick Kindig 3-7 5-6 11, Jeffrey Tillman 4-10 1-3 9, Alex Thacker 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Britton 0-1 0-0 0, James Gregory 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-44 11-17 54.
Three-point goals – Wawasee 7-25 (Aaron 4, J. Clark, Lutz, Schmeltz), Valley 3-10 (Ritchey 3); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Wawasee 18 (Patrick), Valley 18; Turnovers – Wawasee 7, Valley 9; Rebounds – Wawasee 27 (J. Clark 8, Patrick 8), Valley 27 (Andrews 9); Assists – Wawasee 8 (J. Clark 5), Valley 11 (Andrews 4); Steals – Wawasee 3 (J. Clark 3), Valley 3; Blocks – Wawasee 1, Valley 6 (Andrews 3); Records: Wawasee 10-12, Valley 16-4.
JV – Valley 44, Wawasee 32
Valley – Chainey Zolman 12, Derrick Cunningham 10, Aaron Hoffman 7, Jarred Littlejohn 6, Britton 4, Chandler O'Connor 3, Thacker 2
Wawasee – Chase Myers 7, Garrett Balser 7, Jacob Blackburn 6, Douglas Hapner 4, Stori Bright 4, Jake Hutchinson 2, Kody Carpenter 2.[[In-content Ad]]
Losers of 9 of their previous 10 games, the Warriors (10-12) posted a thrilling 56-54 win over the Vikings (16-4), snapping Valley's 10-game winning streak.
Trailing 13-2 after the opening quarter, Wawasee battled back quickly, resulting in a back-and-forth game over the final two-and-a-half quarters.
In the end, it was senior Bauer Schmeltz who scored the game winner with 2.2 seconds remaining, converting a wide-open shot from right under the basket on an in-bound pass from senior Jake Clark.
"They were going to look for anything wide open," Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said about the in-bound play. "If we didn't get anything, we had timeouts to burn. Jake Clark, taking that ball out, just had a headiness to him and knew the (five-second) count. That's what seniors are capable of doing for you."
And what Clark saw was a wide open Schmeltz, who calmly converted the game winner.
"I don't know what happened there," Valley coach Bill Patrick said. "We did do some substituting, and someone got totally mixed up. That definitely shouldn't have happened."
Following an immediate timeout, Valley still had 2.2 seconds remaining, and got a pretty good look at a game-winning shot itself.
With junior Jacob Ritchey passing the ball in, he chucked it deep to sophomore Tanner Andrews, who caught the ball at the wing of his own three-point line.
While still in mid-air, Andrews passed the ball off to junior Nick Kindig for a wide open look at a trey, but the shot was off the mark.
The miss by Kindig capped off a tough night for the sharpshooter, as he only got seven shots, scoring 11 points, which was 10 below his season average.
"They were face guarding and he just took himself out of the game," Patrick said. "They were bumping on him pretty good, and hanging on him, and he let that affect him. You can't let that affect how you play."
But Wawasee's physical play wasn't limited to Kindig.
"They're a physical team," Patrick said. "They play pretty physical inside, then on their press, they're bumping around. Our guys got too involved in that, with pushing and shoving back instead of just playing."
On top of playing physical, the Warriors also hit timely shots, especially in the fourth quarter.
Wawasee's first lead since 2-0 came with 7:01 remaining in the game when junior Ryndan Aaron hit a trey, putting his squad in front 42-41.
However, Valley rallied and built its lead to 49-45 before Wawasee senior Trent Koble scored a bucket and Clark nailed a three-pointer, giving the Warriors a 50-49 lead with 1:54 remaining.
Like before, the Vikings came back to get the lead, going in front 53-50 on a basket by senior Jeffrey Tillman, but Wawasee just wouldn't go away.
Following a pair of free throws by Schmeltz, Wawasee trailed 53-52 with just under a minute remaining.
Kindig increased Valley's lead to 54-52 after hitting one of two free throws, but it would be the Vikings last point of the night.
Leading by two, Valley saw Clark hit a bucket to tie things up, then grab a rebound on a missed shot by Andrews with 10 seconds remaining.
With a chance to win the game, Koble drove to the basket, but was tied up, drawing a jump ball, setting up the in-bound play that won the game.
"They came out of the last huddle we had and said, 'This is what it's about. This is why we put the time in. Now, let's take advantage of it,'" Mishler said. "I think our guys really stepped up."
Wawasee was led in scoring by Aaron's 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while Clark and Schmeltz each netted 10.
Clark also finished the contest with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Wawasee's late-season skid began with the loss of leading scorer Jacob Thompson, but with time, Mishler believes his team is adapting to its new style of play.
"We've been telling these guys to keep believing, because we had to start a second season right after Christmas break," Mishler said. "We were fighting against the teeth of our schedule, the strength of our schedule. Other teams also had a half season to get their stuff together, but we were kind of starting over. So, it should start paying off. It feels good to get one right before sectional."
Wawasee and Valley will both travel to NorthWood High School for Sectional 21, with Valley beginning play Tuesday against NorthWood, while Wawasee has a first-round bye and will take on either West Noble or Fairfield Friday night.
Going into the sectional, the Warriors will be riding the high of beating a 16-win team, while Valley will be trying to see if they learned a lesson from the regular season finale.
"Hopefully something good will come out of it," Patrick said. "Maybe the kids will start realizing we won 10 in a row because we were doing things the right way – blocking out, not turning the ball over, attacking the basket and not getting involved in things that we shouldn't do. That's why we won. I think they understand why we got beat."
Andrews had 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots in the loss, while Ritchey chipped in 14 points.
WAWASEE 56, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 54
V 13 9 19 13 – 54
W 2 20 15 19 – 56
Wawasee – Trent Koble 3-7 0-2 6, Jake Clark 3-12 3-4 10, Ryndan Aaron 7-9 0-0 18, Zac Patrick 3-5 0-0 6, Bauer Schmeltz 3-12 3-4 10, Austin Lutz 1-2 0-0 3, Alex Clark 1-4 1-2 3. Totals 21-51 7-12 56.
Valley – Robby Groom 2-6 1-2 5, Tanner Andrews 7-12 1-2 15, Jacob Ritchey 4-7 3-4 14, Nick Kindig 3-7 5-6 11, Jeffrey Tillman 4-10 1-3 9, Alex Thacker 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Britton 0-1 0-0 0, James Gregory 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-44 11-17 54.
Three-point goals – Wawasee 7-25 (Aaron 4, J. Clark, Lutz, Schmeltz), Valley 3-10 (Ritchey 3); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Wawasee 18 (Patrick), Valley 18; Turnovers – Wawasee 7, Valley 9; Rebounds – Wawasee 27 (J. Clark 8, Patrick 8), Valley 27 (Andrews 9); Assists – Wawasee 8 (J. Clark 5), Valley 11 (Andrews 4); Steals – Wawasee 3 (J. Clark 3), Valley 3; Blocks – Wawasee 1, Valley 6 (Andrews 3); Records: Wawasee 10-12, Valley 16-4.
JV – Valley 44, Wawasee 32
Valley – Chainey Zolman 12, Derrick Cunningham 10, Aaron Hoffman 7, Jarred Littlejohn 6, Britton 4, Chandler O'Connor 3, Thacker 2
Wawasee – Chase Myers 7, Garrett Balser 7, Jacob Blackburn 6, Douglas Hapner 4, Stori Bright 4, Jake Hutchinson 2, Kody Carpenter 2.[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092