SYRACUSE - In a girls basketball contest between Westview and Wawasee Friday night, the similarities went no farther than a mascot.

Clearly, the Westview Warriors were no match for the Class 4A fourth-ranked Wawasee Warriors, as the hosts won 90-26 in dominating fashion. The game was the season opener for both teams.

Often times season openers are displays of teams shaking the rust off. While Wawasee had its spurts of missed layups, the highly-touted Warriors shot 34 of 70 from the field and had four players in double figures.

"The only real lapse I was disappointed with was the start of the third quarter," fourth-year Wawasee coach Kem Zolman said. "We were kind of flat and not a lot of stuff was happening. We've got some things to work on, but overall for a first game I was pleased."

Senior superstar Shanna Zolman, who will sign with the University of Tennessee Wednesday, led all scorers with 35 points. She also had 11 rebounds, eight assists and six steals.

In what may be considered an off night by Zolman's standards, the 5-foot-10 phenom scored her 35 points on 11-of-28 shooting, including a 3-of-12 performance beyond the arc.

"It's all about getting my rhythm back," Shanna Zolman said. "Some games you'll have it, some you won't. I shoot that from the field and we still score 90 points, that says a lot for my teammates. I can't get in a funk. I'm my own worst enemy. I'll be OK."

Junior forward Meagan Wallen added 15 points and seven rebounds, while senior Jessica Henderson chipped in with 15 points and three rebounds, starting in place of the injured Jessica Leach. Junior Jocelyn Higginbotham had 12 points and nine rebounds from her post position.

Leach, who led Wawasee a year ago in rebounds as a sophomore and was second in scoring, is out with a torn ACL.

"That girl can put the ball in the hole when we need it," Shanna Zolman said of Henderson. "She really picked it up. I can't say enough about what she does. Until she comes back, we're gonna dedicate this season to Leach. She's a huge part of us, that's why we wore the black wrist bands."

Wawasee jumped out to a commanding 21-3 before Westivew closed out the first quarter with a 5-0 run.

A Zolman three-pointer to open the second stanza, coupled with baskets from Higginbotham and Henderson, gave Wawasee a 20-point advantage at 28-8. Outscoring Westview 21-8 in the second quarter, Wawasee was on top 42-16 at the half.

While Wawasee shot just under 50 percent from the field, Westview struggled from start to finish and ended up with a 6-of-33 shooting performance and had 17 more turnovers than it did points.

Before fouling out, 5-8 junior Danielle Haney scored 14 points, including 10 of 13 at the charity stripe, and pulled down six rebounds to lead Westview, which fell 72-28 to Wawasee a year ago.

Junior Heidi Christner and sophomore Megan Kreider added five and four points, respectively, in the loss.

Making Wawasee's performance even more impressive is that Zolman only finished with her average. Often criticized as being one dimensional, the Warriors got 55 points from the rest of the team.

"We scored 90 points and Shanna only had 35, the math tells me the rest of the team did a pretty good job and scored 55 points," Kem Zolman said. "If we can get 55 points from the other kids we can win ballgames."

Already blasting Westview by 26, Wawasee jumped out to a decisive 64-17 lead with eight minutes to play after outscoring the visitors 22-1 in the third quarter.

"Our goal defensively is to keep teams under 50 points," Kem Zolman said. "The kids want to keep them under 30. That kind of shows the intensity the kids have."

Wawsee will host Bremen Tuesday.

NO. 4 (4A) WAWASEE 90

WESTVIEW 26

Westview (0-1) 8 8 1 9 - 26

Wawasee (1-0) 21 21 22 26 - 90

Westview FG FT R S Pts.

Delagrange (G) 0-3 1-2 0 0 1

Haney (F) 2-6 10-13 6 0 14

Christner (G) 2-9 1-2 0 1 5

Kreider (F) 1-5 1-3 4 1 4

Johnson (C) 0-4 0-0 5 1 0

Gallmeyer 0-1 0-0 4 0 0

Sprunger 0-2 0-0 1 1 0

Nelson 0-1 0-0 1 0 0

Miller 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Frisk 1-1 0-0 0 0 2

Anders 0-1 0-0 1 0 0

Totals 6-33 13-20 22 4 26

Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.

Zolman (F) 11-28 9-9 11 6 35

Henderson (G) 6-10 2-3 3 3 15

Fawley (G) 2-5 1-2 4 7 5

Wallen (F) 6-9 3-5 7 4 15

Higginbotham (C) 6-9 0-4 9 2 12

Sorenson 0-3 0-0 5 1 0

Bradford 1-3 0-0 0 1 2

Hershberger 1-2 2-2 1 1 4

Lamb 1-1 0-0 1 0 2

Totals 34-70 17-25 41 25 90

Three-point goals - Westview 1-13 (Krieder 1-3, Delagrange 0-1, Haney 0-3, Christner 0-3, Gallymeyer 0-1, Sprunger 0-2), Wawasee 5-15 (Zolman 4-12, Henderson 1-3, Bradford 0-1). Turnovers - Westview 43, Wawasee 18. Fouls - Westview 23, Wawasee 18. Fouled out - Delagrange, Haney.

JV - Wawasee 32, Westview 22

Wawasee scoring - Mistie Hershberger 9, Kasey Bollier 7, Jennifer Minear 7, Cheryl Thomas 4, Tarina Sorenson 2, Jennifer Bradford 2, Rachel Stichter 1

Whitko Girls Fall To Columbia City

Times-Union Staff Report

SOUTH WHITLEY -ÊThe Whitko girls basketball team fell to 1-1 with a 73-46 loss to Columbia City Friday in South Whitley.

Columbia City jumped out to a 16-5 lead after the first quarter of play and extended the lead to 30-12 at the half.

Angela Trump fueled the Whitko offense, scoring 20 points and snagging two steals.

Teri Walter added 12 points and three assists, while Dana Sellers and Christa Badskey each had five points and five rebounds.

COLUMBIA CITY 73, WHITKO 46

Columbia City 16 14 18 25 - 73

Whitko 5 7 13 21 - 46

Whitko scoring -ÊTeri Walter 5-16 0-0 12, Dana Sellers 1-8 3-4 5, Christa Badskey 1-8 3-5 5, Jennifer Wendel 0-4 0-0 0, Angela Trump 8-18 4-7 20, Jana Rowland 2-4 0-0 4. Totals - 17-58 10-16 46.

Three-point goals -ÊWhitko 2-14 (Walter 2-8, Badskey 0-5, Wendel 0-1). Rebounds -ÊWhitko 20 (Sellers 5, Badskey 5, Trump 4). Steals -ÊWhitko 7 (Walter 2, Wendel 2, Trump 2). Assists -ÊWhitko 7 (Sellers 3, Walter 3). [[In-content Ad]]