Wawasee Wins Third Straight
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
BREMEN - Wawasee has recently become a team to be reckoned with.
The Warriors are only 6-14, but have won their last three games in a row. They went to No. 6 (Class 2A) Bremen and handed them their worst loss of the season, 67-53, Friday.
The Warriors started the game with a 7-0 run and would never trail at any point in the contest. Wawasee caught Bremen off guard by penetrating then kicking the ball back out to an open guard on the perimeter.
Wawasee shot 4 of 9 from behind the arc in the first quarter. Jared Mahnensmith led the early three-point barrage with two. Narron Graves and Brad Brown chipped in with one each.
The early scoring chances for the Warriors came from their defense. Two straight baskets, a Mahnensmith three-pointer and a Brody Stipp lay in came from steals. Wawasee stepped into Bremen's passing lanes and capitalized.
Bremen, shooting 3 of 8 from the field in the first quarter, also helped Wawasee pull ahead.
The second quarter proved to be just as frustrating for Bremen from the field. What the Lions was get to the foul line. Despite only hitting two shots from the field in that quarter, they hit 10 of 12 from the line.
As Bremen began to heat up from the charity stripe, Wawasee cooled down. It wasn't that the Warriors began to miss from the field. They were five of eight in the quarter. The Warriors employed a keep away strategy on offense in the second quarter and had two possessions in the quarter that lasted at least a minute each.
This enabled Mahnensmith to rest. He made his only attempt from the field in the second. It also forced Bremen to make every possession count. The Lions were up to the challenge and played Wawasee even at 14-14 in the quarter despite a 7-0 Warrior run to end the half.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the second quarter was when the Wawasee bench received a technical foul for arguing with a referee about a non-call. Bremen's Nate Hudson would hit both free throws, and an Andrew Anglemyer jumper off the ensuing position seemed to give Bremen and its crowd the spark it needed.
The senior leadership of Mahnensmith and Graves helped Wawasee regain momentum going into the locker room. That ability to answer back is what Wawasee coach Jerry Davis says keeps his team in games.
"From the standpoint of our kids, (Bremen) would make a little run and there we would go. The way we play and the way we respond, if we don't, we'll get buried."
Bremen continued their slow procession to the foul line in the second half. What was different from the second quarter, however, was that Wawasee played less passive on offense. They attacked the hoop and were able to get their opportunities at the line.
Wawasee also withstood a mini run by Bremen. The Warriors' answer to the run was Mahnensmith. After the Lions ran off five straight points, Mahnensmtih ended the quarter with a 55 foot heave that went in as the buzzer sounded.
After the game Davis talked about Mahnensmith's performance.
"He was relaxed tonight. This is his 43rd varsity basketball game and it showed. The ball went down for him and he did some things on the perimeter for us that kept our team together.
"He controlled the ball for us, hit some shots and he played really good defense. I think this is maybe his best all-around performance."
Despite Mahnensmith's outburst, Wawasee got contributions from other players as well. Graves had 12 points and center Brody Stipp had eight points and eight rebounds.
Those three players combined to score 15 points in the final quarter to assure that Bremen would not make a late comeback.
Without the play of Wawasee's big three, Bremen's comeback may have come to fruition. The Lions shot 64 percent from the field in the fourth quarter. That was the best they had shot all game long. That wouldn't be enough, however, as Wawasee won and finished the regular season with a record to 6-14 while playing their best basketball going into March.
"The biggest thing is that the ball is going in the basket." Davis said of his teams' turnaround. "All season long we've been playing a very tough schedule and I think that has prepared us."
Wawasee will try for four in a row as they play Lakeland in the first round of the Northwood Sectional on Tuesday at 6 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]
BREMEN - Wawasee has recently become a team to be reckoned with.
The Warriors are only 6-14, but have won their last three games in a row. They went to No. 6 (Class 2A) Bremen and handed them their worst loss of the season, 67-53, Friday.
The Warriors started the game with a 7-0 run and would never trail at any point in the contest. Wawasee caught Bremen off guard by penetrating then kicking the ball back out to an open guard on the perimeter.
Wawasee shot 4 of 9 from behind the arc in the first quarter. Jared Mahnensmith led the early three-point barrage with two. Narron Graves and Brad Brown chipped in with one each.
The early scoring chances for the Warriors came from their defense. Two straight baskets, a Mahnensmith three-pointer and a Brody Stipp lay in came from steals. Wawasee stepped into Bremen's passing lanes and capitalized.
Bremen, shooting 3 of 8 from the field in the first quarter, also helped Wawasee pull ahead.
The second quarter proved to be just as frustrating for Bremen from the field. What the Lions was get to the foul line. Despite only hitting two shots from the field in that quarter, they hit 10 of 12 from the line.
As Bremen began to heat up from the charity stripe, Wawasee cooled down. It wasn't that the Warriors began to miss from the field. They were five of eight in the quarter. The Warriors employed a keep away strategy on offense in the second quarter and had two possessions in the quarter that lasted at least a minute each.
This enabled Mahnensmith to rest. He made his only attempt from the field in the second. It also forced Bremen to make every possession count. The Lions were up to the challenge and played Wawasee even at 14-14 in the quarter despite a 7-0 Warrior run to end the half.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the second quarter was when the Wawasee bench received a technical foul for arguing with a referee about a non-call. Bremen's Nate Hudson would hit both free throws, and an Andrew Anglemyer jumper off the ensuing position seemed to give Bremen and its crowd the spark it needed.
The senior leadership of Mahnensmith and Graves helped Wawasee regain momentum going into the locker room. That ability to answer back is what Wawasee coach Jerry Davis says keeps his team in games.
"From the standpoint of our kids, (Bremen) would make a little run and there we would go. The way we play and the way we respond, if we don't, we'll get buried."
Bremen continued their slow procession to the foul line in the second half. What was different from the second quarter, however, was that Wawasee played less passive on offense. They attacked the hoop and were able to get their opportunities at the line.
Wawasee also withstood a mini run by Bremen. The Warriors' answer to the run was Mahnensmith. After the Lions ran off five straight points, Mahnensmtih ended the quarter with a 55 foot heave that went in as the buzzer sounded.
After the game Davis talked about Mahnensmith's performance.
"He was relaxed tonight. This is his 43rd varsity basketball game and it showed. The ball went down for him and he did some things on the perimeter for us that kept our team together.
"He controlled the ball for us, hit some shots and he played really good defense. I think this is maybe his best all-around performance."
Despite Mahnensmith's outburst, Wawasee got contributions from other players as well. Graves had 12 points and center Brody Stipp had eight points and eight rebounds.
Those three players combined to score 15 points in the final quarter to assure that Bremen would not make a late comeback.
Without the play of Wawasee's big three, Bremen's comeback may have come to fruition. The Lions shot 64 percent from the field in the fourth quarter. That was the best they had shot all game long. That wouldn't be enough, however, as Wawasee won and finished the regular season with a record to 6-14 while playing their best basketball going into March.
"The biggest thing is that the ball is going in the basket." Davis said of his teams' turnaround. "All season long we've been playing a very tough schedule and I think that has prepared us."
Wawasee will try for four in a row as they play Lakeland in the first round of the Northwood Sectional on Tuesday at 6 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]