Young Warriors See Season End
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
That's what made the difference in Wednesday night's Columbia City Regional girls basketball game between Wawasee and Columbia City. The experienced Eagles weathered the lights going out and a Warrior run to finish with a 55-48 victory and a spot in the Peru Semistate.
As the game started, it looked as if the Warriors would go down hard. Columbia City scored the first eight points and held Wawasee scoreless for the first three minutes of play.
By the end of the first frame, Columbia City held a 13-6 lead. All six Wawasee points came from free throws, five from Shanna Zolman and one from Jessica Leach. The Warriors were 0-of-12 shooting from the field in the first quarter.
In fact, the Warriors did not hit a basket from the field until the 3:15 mark in the second stanza when Shanna Zolman hit a jumper to make the score 24-10 in Columbia City's favor.
That shot sparked a 8-0 Wawasee run that brought Wawasee to within eight, 24-16.
Chasidy Myers and Connie Myers scored the next four points, giving Columbia City a 28-16 advantage.
Jessica Henderson and Zolman combined for five more points in the last 40 seconds of the quarter, and Connie Myers scored a basket in the final 20 seconds to make the score 30-21 at the half.
Although Wawasee shot 10 of 12 from the free throw line, the Warriors were just 5-of-27 shooting from the field in the first half. Columbia City, on the other hand, was 12 of 26 from the field and 6 of 7 from the charity stripe.
"Well, there were a lot of nerves there in the first part of the game," said Wawasee coach Kem Zolman. "Their (Columbia City's) defense was very good, and our girls were concerned about it. They couldn't concentrate on shooting at the basket with Columbia City's arms in thier faces."
However, things changed in the second half. The Warriors kept up with the Eagles for the first three minutes of the quarter and even cut the Columbia City lead to six with 4:56 left in the third frame. But Brooksie King scored two straight baskets to restore the 10-point Eagle lead.
Then at the 3:35 point in the third frame, the lights went out. Literally. A transformer in Columbia City went out, and five of the 10 lights in the gym went out with it.
The Warriors and Eagles were ushered into the locker rooms to wait for the lights to come back on.
In the meantime, the Wawasee and Columbia City cheerblocks kept themselves entertained with cheering contests and gymnastics challenges in the dim gymnasium. As each light came back on, the crowd cheered louder, and 25 minutes later when all the lights were working, the teams came back to the court.
After a two minute warm-up, the teams resumed play with a 40-30 score.
That 20-minute rest was one of the best things that could have happened for the Warriors.
After the break, Wawasee went on a 8-0 run to slice Columbia City's lead to two, 40-38.
"It was a blessing in disguise," said Kem Zolman. "We made a run early in the third quarter, and we were a pooped. That break gave us a rest and helped us boost our energy."
However, that moment was short lived as King scored two straight baskets to restore a six-point Eagle lead.
Jessica Leach nailed a layup with 3.2 seconds left in the third stanza to make the score 44-40 going into the final quarter of play.
Throughout the final quarter of play, Columbia City's lead fluctuated between four and six points. With 1:48 left in regulation, Zolman netted a basket to make the score 52-48.
But Columbia City held Wawasee scoreless for the rest of the game and hit 3 of 5 free throws to finish the game with a 55-48 win.
Wawasee finishes the season 15-8.
"Everything this year is a first for us," said Kem Zolman. "This was a great experience for us. And we plan to come back with a vengeance next year."
COLUMBIA CITY 55, WAWASEE 48
Wawasee 6 15 19 8 - 48
Columbia City 13 17 14 11 - 55
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
*Zolman 11-27 9-9 8 7 35
*Leach 2-10 1-2 6 2 5
*Wallen 1-7 0-2 5 2 2
*D. Krull 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
*Fawley 0-1 0-0 1 3 0
Higginbotham 1-2 0-0 3 0 2
Henderson 2-3 0-1 0 1 4
Sawyer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Pletcher 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 17-51 10-14 23 15 48
Columbia City FG FT R S Pts.
*Co. Myers 7-11 4-6 11 1 18
*King 7-13 2-2 8 2 16
*Peppler 1-4 4-4 0 2 6
*Stroup 1-4 0-0 6 0 3
*Moore 1-2 0-0 1 1 2
Roberts 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Faylor 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Ch. Myers 6-10 0-1 3 2 12
Totals 23-45 10-13 29 8 55
Three-point goals -ÊWawasee 3-10 (Zolman 3-8, Henderson 0-1, D. Krull 0-1), Columbia City 1-3 (Stroup 1-2, Moore 0-1). Turnovers -ÊWawasee 17, Columbia City 23. Total fouls -ÊWawasee 15, Columbia City 12. Fouled out -ÊD. Krull. [[In-content Ad]]
That's what made the difference in Wednesday night's Columbia City Regional girls basketball game between Wawasee and Columbia City. The experienced Eagles weathered the lights going out and a Warrior run to finish with a 55-48 victory and a spot in the Peru Semistate.
As the game started, it looked as if the Warriors would go down hard. Columbia City scored the first eight points and held Wawasee scoreless for the first three minutes of play.
By the end of the first frame, Columbia City held a 13-6 lead. All six Wawasee points came from free throws, five from Shanna Zolman and one from Jessica Leach. The Warriors were 0-of-12 shooting from the field in the first quarter.
In fact, the Warriors did not hit a basket from the field until the 3:15 mark in the second stanza when Shanna Zolman hit a jumper to make the score 24-10 in Columbia City's favor.
That shot sparked a 8-0 Wawasee run that brought Wawasee to within eight, 24-16.
Chasidy Myers and Connie Myers scored the next four points, giving Columbia City a 28-16 advantage.
Jessica Henderson and Zolman combined for five more points in the last 40 seconds of the quarter, and Connie Myers scored a basket in the final 20 seconds to make the score 30-21 at the half.
Although Wawasee shot 10 of 12 from the free throw line, the Warriors were just 5-of-27 shooting from the field in the first half. Columbia City, on the other hand, was 12 of 26 from the field and 6 of 7 from the charity stripe.
"Well, there were a lot of nerves there in the first part of the game," said Wawasee coach Kem Zolman. "Their (Columbia City's) defense was very good, and our girls were concerned about it. They couldn't concentrate on shooting at the basket with Columbia City's arms in thier faces."
However, things changed in the second half. The Warriors kept up with the Eagles for the first three minutes of the quarter and even cut the Columbia City lead to six with 4:56 left in the third frame. But Brooksie King scored two straight baskets to restore the 10-point Eagle lead.
Then at the 3:35 point in the third frame, the lights went out. Literally. A transformer in Columbia City went out, and five of the 10 lights in the gym went out with it.
The Warriors and Eagles were ushered into the locker rooms to wait for the lights to come back on.
In the meantime, the Wawasee and Columbia City cheerblocks kept themselves entertained with cheering contests and gymnastics challenges in the dim gymnasium. As each light came back on, the crowd cheered louder, and 25 minutes later when all the lights were working, the teams came back to the court.
After a two minute warm-up, the teams resumed play with a 40-30 score.
That 20-minute rest was one of the best things that could have happened for the Warriors.
After the break, Wawasee went on a 8-0 run to slice Columbia City's lead to two, 40-38.
"It was a blessing in disguise," said Kem Zolman. "We made a run early in the third quarter, and we were a pooped. That break gave us a rest and helped us boost our energy."
However, that moment was short lived as King scored two straight baskets to restore a six-point Eagle lead.
Jessica Leach nailed a layup with 3.2 seconds left in the third stanza to make the score 44-40 going into the final quarter of play.
Throughout the final quarter of play, Columbia City's lead fluctuated between four and six points. With 1:48 left in regulation, Zolman netted a basket to make the score 52-48.
But Columbia City held Wawasee scoreless for the rest of the game and hit 3 of 5 free throws to finish the game with a 55-48 win.
Wawasee finishes the season 15-8.
"Everything this year is a first for us," said Kem Zolman. "This was a great experience for us. And we plan to come back with a vengeance next year."
COLUMBIA CITY 55, WAWASEE 48
Wawasee 6 15 19 8 - 48
Columbia City 13 17 14 11 - 55
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
*Zolman 11-27 9-9 8 7 35
*Leach 2-10 1-2 6 2 5
*Wallen 1-7 0-2 5 2 2
*D. Krull 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
*Fawley 0-1 0-0 1 3 0
Higginbotham 1-2 0-0 3 0 2
Henderson 2-3 0-1 0 1 4
Sawyer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Pletcher 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 17-51 10-14 23 15 48
Columbia City FG FT R S Pts.
*Co. Myers 7-11 4-6 11 1 18
*King 7-13 2-2 8 2 16
*Peppler 1-4 4-4 0 2 6
*Stroup 1-4 0-0 6 0 3
*Moore 1-2 0-0 1 1 2
Roberts 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Faylor 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Ch. Myers 6-10 0-1 3 2 12
Totals 23-45 10-13 29 8 55
Three-point goals -ÊWawasee 3-10 (Zolman 3-8, Henderson 0-1, D. Krull 0-1), Columbia City 1-3 (Stroup 1-2, Moore 0-1). Turnovers -ÊWawasee 17, Columbia City 23. Total fouls -ÊWawasee 15, Columbia City 12. Fouled out -ÊD. Krull. [[In-content Ad]]