SOUTH WHITLEY - Don't try to tell Whitko head coach Fred Fields that his Wildcats shot well on Friday night despite making 59 percent of their shots from the floor and 63 percent of their shots from three-point land against North Miami. He doesn't care to hear about it.

"We didn't shoot well," Fields said after his team dropped a 55-54 decision to the Warriors. He then went onto emphasize that point. "We did not shoot very well. I would be offended if you put in an article that we shot well. We did not shoot well. You've got to look at the whole picture."

That whole picture includes the free-throw line where the Wildcats made just 5 of 14 attempts and missed all four of their freebies in the fourth quarter. In the last three games, Whitko has made just 10 of 32 free throws for a 31-percent clip.

"Either we are poor physical specimens or we really truly don't care about the outcome of the game," Fields said after calculating the free-throw shooting woes that his team has had the last three games. "It's one of those two."

Whitko led for most of the game after opening up with six quick points as Kevin Miller made a pair of shots in the paint, and Jeremiah Laws followed those with a jumper. North Miami battled back to tie the score at seven with 2:32 to play in the opening period, before Chad Schipper scored the next eight Whitko points on a pair of three-pointers and a jumper to give the Wildcats a 15-9 lead after one quarter.

In the second quarter, Ben Mohr scored on a layup and Jered Deckena scored another close range shot as Whitko went ahead by 10 points. But North Miami slowly chipped away at the lead and when Kenny Hanson hit a three-pointer with three seconds left in the half, the Warriors were within two points at 27-25.

"I thought we played well for the first 13 minutes of the game," Fields said. "Then we made a couple of substitutions, and they broke down on us. We got the other guys back in again but never really got back into the groove."

In the third quarter, Whitko looked to regain control by opening up a 33-27 advantage. After four straight North Miami points, Bo Mullins hit his fourth shot of the quarter, a three-pointer, to give the Wildcats a 36-31 lead. However, the Warriors battled back again and ended the quarter on a 7-2 run that was closed out by another Hanson three-pointer, this time with four seconds to play in the period.

In the fourth quarter, North Miami quickly built a 47-42 lead after Laws fouled out on a personal foul and a technical, but Ben Mohr hit a trey to get Whitko to within two points. Deckena added a layup as the Wildcats got to within one point at 48-47. However, Andy Brower connected on a three-point play for North Miami shortly after that.

The Warriors still held the lead at 54-51 with 52 seconds to play when Mullins went to the free-throw line. He missed both shots, but North Miami's B.J. Edwards answered Mullins with a pair of bricks of his own from the stripe to give Whitko one last chance.

Whitko decided to hold for one final shot, and Josh Gonzalez's three-point shot from the corner with three seconds left missed.

Hanson made one free throw for North Miami to give the Warriors a four-point lead with two seconds left so that when Adam Wendel's 40-foot bank shot fell in, it was still one-point short.

"(North Miami) is playing some of its best basketball of the year right now and so were we," Fields said. "That's why this is the most devastating loss of the year. I can't shoot free throws for them. I feel helpless. I feel like the worst coach in Indiana when that situation occurs."

Whitko (4-16) will play Tippecanoe Valley on Tuesday at Peru at 6 p.m. in the first round of the sectional. [[In-content Ad]]