Whitko Loses Sloppy Game To Rival
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
With the Whitko Lady Wildcats (1-1) playing its second game of the season, and the contest being Columbia City Lady Eagles' (1-0) first of the year, the visiting squad pulled off a 44-37 win in a turnover and foul-plagued game.
"First-game jitters, and there's always a lot of fouls," Columbia City coach Amy Shearer said. "The Whitko/Columbia City game's a big rivalry game. It's always physical with kids getting after it a bit."
The game ended with Whitko committing 28 personal fouls to Columbia City's 25, while the turnover battle was even closer, as the Lady Wildcats had 32 and the Lady Eagles finished with 33.
In fact, Columbia City entered the fourth quarter trailing 24-21, and had 19 personal fouls at the time.
Despite their struggles, the Lady Eagles put it together in the final eight minutes, using a 7-0 run to take their first lead since late in the first quater.
"We got the momentum shift and kind of took it from there," Shearer said.
Midway through the game, Whitko seemed to have control, holding a 19-11 halftime lead, but when the Lady Eagles switched to a 1-3-1 zone defense in the second half, the tide turned.
"I'll take the blame," first-year Whitko coach Brandon Bradley said. "I don't think I had us prepared well enough for the 1-3-1 yet. I have a lot of stuff and it's all brand new to them. When they sped us up, we sped ourselves up mentally. We needed to slow down, stay patient. We were in the bonus for almost the whole game, but instead of trying to take advantage of that, we were using quick passes and quick dribbling."
The zone defense was successful in trapping the Whitko ball handlers, and Bradley saw his girls panic a bit.
"We just have to learn to play with pressure a little better," he said. "That was something we struggled with in our scrimmage last Thursday night, and Central Noble didn't pressure us Tuesday. Those traps, we have to learn to play with that kind of pressure."
Along with the traps, Whitko also struggled to handle Columbia City sophomore Emily Whiteleather, who came off the bench to score 11 points and nab 18 rebounds.
"We blocked out, technically, but we didn't block out and drive her back," Bradley said.
Playing with a young, inexperienced team, Shearer is still feeling her team out, but after her season-opening performance, Whiteleather may be in good favor with her coach.
"She really did a nice job inside," Shearer said. "It was nice to see her to do some productive things."
Up until Whiteleather began to dominate the boards and the Lady Eagles discovered they could penetrate into the lane, scoring was tough.
Showcasing their inability to generate offense, the Columbia City offense didn't make a field goal between the 3:36 mark of the first quater and the 2:36 mark of the third quarter.
During that time, the Lady Eagles hit 12 free throws, but it was enough to keep them in the game, as scoring wasn't too much easier for the Lady Wildcats.
"We probably left 15 or 20 points on the floor between missed free throws, front ends of one-and-ones, missed lay-ups or easy shots in the paint," Bradley said. "We missed a lot of that kind of stuff."
Whitko senior guards Karissa Olinske and Micaela Sylvester were focal points for the Columbia City defense, and it seemed to work.
On the night, Olinske hit just 1 of 12 shots, scoring six points, although she did have a team-high four assists and three steals. For her part, Sylvester hit 3 of 8 to score nine.
"We had a lot of kids step up and guard her," Shearer said about Sylvester. "Our main guards that worked on her were Kalisha Goree and Sid Bunyan, while Sarah Opliger guarded Olinske — trying to keep her from going off."
In the loss, Whitko was led in scoring by senior Katee Reiff and sophomore Bailee Juillerat, who each scored 10, while Juillerat also had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Whitko turns around to play another Whitley County school tonight, travelling to Churubusco, where the junior varsity will tip off at 6 p.m.
"As long as we keep the effort there and the passion, we're still going to have a very nice season," Bradley said.
COLUMBIA CITY 44, WHITKO 37
CC 5 6 10 23 — 44
W 5 14 5 13 — 37
CC — Sidney Bunyan 0-4 4-6 4, Kalisha Goree 0-2 6-8 6, Sarah Opliger 0-4 7-15 7, Miriah Hicks 0-1 0-0 0, Samara Qureshi 1-6 4-6 6, Lacey Jahn 2-3 0-0 5, Alyssa Hansen 1-2 0-0 2, Emily Whiteleather 3-7 5-6 11, Macie Hinen 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 9-33 26-42 44.
Whitko — Karissa Olinske 1-12 3-4 6, Micaela Sylvester 3-8 3-4 9, Katee Reiff 2-5 4-5 10, Cassie Jones 1-4 0-0 2, Jordan Hall 0-0 0-2 0, Kelly Reiff 0-0 0-0 0, Cagney Craig 0-3 0-1 0, Josie Sparks 0-1 0-0 0, Melanie Kelsey 0-1 0-0 0, Lynsi Hicks 0-2 0-0 0, Bailee Juillerat 2-4 6-7 10. Totals 9-40 16-23 37.
Three-point goals — CC 0-2, Whitko 3-12 (Ka. Reiff 2, Olinske); Team Fouls (fouled out) — CC 25 (Opliger), Whitko 28; Turnovers — CC 33, Whitko 32; Rebounds — CC 34 (Whiteleather 18), Whitko 28 (Juillerat 7, Jones 6); Assists — CC 3 (Opliger 2), Whitko 5 (Olinske 4); Steals — CC 17 (Goree 5, Hicks 3, Qureshi 3), Whitko 7 (Olinske 3); Blocks — CC 4 (Whiteleather 2), Whitko 1; Records — CC 1-0, Whitko 1-1.
JV — CC 32 Whitko 11
Whitko JV Scoring — Morgan O'Reilly 5, Sydney Sims 2, Heather Bryan 2, Maddie Gawthrop 2[[In-content Ad]]
With the Whitko Lady Wildcats (1-1) playing its second game of the season, and the contest being Columbia City Lady Eagles' (1-0) first of the year, the visiting squad pulled off a 44-37 win in a turnover and foul-plagued game.
"First-game jitters, and there's always a lot of fouls," Columbia City coach Amy Shearer said. "The Whitko/Columbia City game's a big rivalry game. It's always physical with kids getting after it a bit."
The game ended with Whitko committing 28 personal fouls to Columbia City's 25, while the turnover battle was even closer, as the Lady Wildcats had 32 and the Lady Eagles finished with 33.
In fact, Columbia City entered the fourth quarter trailing 24-21, and had 19 personal fouls at the time.
Despite their struggles, the Lady Eagles put it together in the final eight minutes, using a 7-0 run to take their first lead since late in the first quater.
"We got the momentum shift and kind of took it from there," Shearer said.
Midway through the game, Whitko seemed to have control, holding a 19-11 halftime lead, but when the Lady Eagles switched to a 1-3-1 zone defense in the second half, the tide turned.
"I'll take the blame," first-year Whitko coach Brandon Bradley said. "I don't think I had us prepared well enough for the 1-3-1 yet. I have a lot of stuff and it's all brand new to them. When they sped us up, we sped ourselves up mentally. We needed to slow down, stay patient. We were in the bonus for almost the whole game, but instead of trying to take advantage of that, we were using quick passes and quick dribbling."
The zone defense was successful in trapping the Whitko ball handlers, and Bradley saw his girls panic a bit.
"We just have to learn to play with pressure a little better," he said. "That was something we struggled with in our scrimmage last Thursday night, and Central Noble didn't pressure us Tuesday. Those traps, we have to learn to play with that kind of pressure."
Along with the traps, Whitko also struggled to handle Columbia City sophomore Emily Whiteleather, who came off the bench to score 11 points and nab 18 rebounds.
"We blocked out, technically, but we didn't block out and drive her back," Bradley said.
Playing with a young, inexperienced team, Shearer is still feeling her team out, but after her season-opening performance, Whiteleather may be in good favor with her coach.
"She really did a nice job inside," Shearer said. "It was nice to see her to do some productive things."
Up until Whiteleather began to dominate the boards and the Lady Eagles discovered they could penetrate into the lane, scoring was tough.
Showcasing their inability to generate offense, the Columbia City offense didn't make a field goal between the 3:36 mark of the first quater and the 2:36 mark of the third quarter.
During that time, the Lady Eagles hit 12 free throws, but it was enough to keep them in the game, as scoring wasn't too much easier for the Lady Wildcats.
"We probably left 15 or 20 points on the floor between missed free throws, front ends of one-and-ones, missed lay-ups or easy shots in the paint," Bradley said. "We missed a lot of that kind of stuff."
Whitko senior guards Karissa Olinske and Micaela Sylvester were focal points for the Columbia City defense, and it seemed to work.
On the night, Olinske hit just 1 of 12 shots, scoring six points, although she did have a team-high four assists and three steals. For her part, Sylvester hit 3 of 8 to score nine.
"We had a lot of kids step up and guard her," Shearer said about Sylvester. "Our main guards that worked on her were Kalisha Goree and Sid Bunyan, while Sarah Opliger guarded Olinske — trying to keep her from going off."
In the loss, Whitko was led in scoring by senior Katee Reiff and sophomore Bailee Juillerat, who each scored 10, while Juillerat also had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Whitko turns around to play another Whitley County school tonight, travelling to Churubusco, where the junior varsity will tip off at 6 p.m.
"As long as we keep the effort there and the passion, we're still going to have a very nice season," Bradley said.
COLUMBIA CITY 44, WHITKO 37
CC 5 6 10 23 — 44
W 5 14 5 13 — 37
CC — Sidney Bunyan 0-4 4-6 4, Kalisha Goree 0-2 6-8 6, Sarah Opliger 0-4 7-15 7, Miriah Hicks 0-1 0-0 0, Samara Qureshi 1-6 4-6 6, Lacey Jahn 2-3 0-0 5, Alyssa Hansen 1-2 0-0 2, Emily Whiteleather 3-7 5-6 11, Macie Hinen 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 9-33 26-42 44.
Whitko — Karissa Olinske 1-12 3-4 6, Micaela Sylvester 3-8 3-4 9, Katee Reiff 2-5 4-5 10, Cassie Jones 1-4 0-0 2, Jordan Hall 0-0 0-2 0, Kelly Reiff 0-0 0-0 0, Cagney Craig 0-3 0-1 0, Josie Sparks 0-1 0-0 0, Melanie Kelsey 0-1 0-0 0, Lynsi Hicks 0-2 0-0 0, Bailee Juillerat 2-4 6-7 10. Totals 9-40 16-23 37.
Three-point goals — CC 0-2, Whitko 3-12 (Ka. Reiff 2, Olinske); Team Fouls (fouled out) — CC 25 (Opliger), Whitko 28; Turnovers — CC 33, Whitko 32; Rebounds — CC 34 (Whiteleather 18), Whitko 28 (Juillerat 7, Jones 6); Assists — CC 3 (Opliger 2), Whitko 5 (Olinske 4); Steals — CC 17 (Goree 5, Hicks 3, Qureshi 3), Whitko 7 (Olinske 3); Blocks — CC 4 (Whiteleather 2), Whitko 1; Records — CC 1-0, Whitko 1-1.
JV — CC 32 Whitko 11
Whitko JV Scoring — Morgan O'Reilly 5, Sydney Sims 2, Heather Bryan 2, Maddie Gawthrop 2[[In-content Ad]]
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