Young Warriors Show Poise, Open Season With Win
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
BENTON - With just one senior on the roster and a freshman already in the starting lineup, Wawasee's varsity boys basketball team played beyond its years in Tuesday's season opener at Fairfield.
While young teams often times fold under pressure, the Warriors showed poise, hitting key free throws down the stretch and picking up a 54-47 win.
After Broc Borntrager's three cut Wawasee's lead to 50-47 with 16 seconds left, Warrior junior Stephen Conrad made good on two free throws. With 11 seconds left, classmate Ben Knisely iced the game with two more charity tosses.
In all, the Warriors were 18 of 22 at the free throw line, including a 12-of-13 performance in the fourth quarter.
"I didn't see a lot of first-game jitters," Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said. "We started a freshman at point guard and I still didn't see many jitters. We hit some free throws down the stretch, and at the beginning did a nice job on the boards. Fairfield has some big strong kids that jump well. It was tough to keep them off the boards, but keeping our composure was key."
While Mishler spoke of Fairfield's big, strong players, it was the play of 6-foot-4 junior forward Clint Custer that fueled the Warriors much of the way.
After scoring just two points in the opening quarter, Custer broke loose for nine in the second stanza and hit 7 of 8 free throws in the second half.
The tall, skinny junior finished with a game-high 20 points, including a 9-of-12 effort at the charity stripe. He also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
"Clint Custer has been going at it since April," Mishler said. "He came in every morning and worked on his shot. We told him it would probably take 10,000 shots to get the muscle memory down, but it's paying off now. He's definitely our go-to guy."
Other Warriors in double figures were Conrad and junior Kyle Lantz with 11 each. Knisely scored six, while freshman point guard Kory Lantz, junior Rosten Trobaugh and senior Scott Beasley scored two points each.
The teams see-sawed in the first quarter, trading basket for basket. The Falcons held a slim 19-17 lead after the first eight minutes of play.
The Warriors started to pull away in the second stanza, hitting a trio of big three-point shots to take a 31-26 lead.
Wawasee finished the game 6 of 12 from the arc. Conrad was 3 of 5 in the first half.
"If people take the inside game away, we'll pop it back out," Mishler said. "All of our guys have the green light to shoot the three."
Wawasee led 35-27 at the half, but the host Falcons, trying to win in John Wysong's return as head coach, closed the gap to 37-35 when sophomore Travis Wright hit a three with 4:22 left in the third. Falcon Corey Camacho hit a field goal with 32 second remaining in the third, as the Warriors led just 40-37 going into the fourth.
Kory Lantz gave Wawasee a 50-44 lead when he made good on a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left in regulation. Borntrager cut the lead to three, and then the Warriors iced the game with free throws.
Borntrager led Fairfield with 14 points, while Jason Graber added 10. Wright and Camacho scored five points each.
WAWASEE 54, FAIRFIELD 47
Wawasee (1-0) 17 18 5 14 - 54
Faifield (0-1) 19 8 10 10 - 47
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
Ko. Lantz (G) 0-2 2-3 4 2 2
Beasley (G) 1-2 0-0 0 0 2
Ky. Lantz (F) 3-9 3-3 2 0 11
Custer (F) 5-10 9-12 9 1 20
Knisely (C) 2-3 2-2 5 0 6
Conrad 3-5 2-2 2 1 11
Trobaugh 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Stichter 0-3 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 15-35 18-22 23 4 54
Fairfield FG FT R S Pts.
Borntrager (G) 5-11 1-2 3 0 14
Graber (G) 4-12 2-6 5 1 10
Beachy (C) 1-4 0-0 2 0 2
Walter (F) 2-6 0-0 13 0 4
Kidder (F) 1-2 1-3 4 0 3
Chupp 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Wright 2-5 0-0 3 1 5
Werner 0-1 2-2 0 0 2
Camacho 2-5 0-0 1 0 5
Totals 18-47 6-13 32 2 47
Three-point goals - Wawasee 6-12 (Conrad 3-5, Ky. Lantz 2-5, Custer 1-1, Stichter 0-1), Fairfield 5-11 (Borntrager 3-5, Wright 1-1, Camacho 1-1, Beachy 0-3, Graber 0-1). Turnovers - Wawasee 13, Fairfield 14. Fouls - Wawasee 15, Fairfield 20. Fouled out - none.
JV - Wawasee 42, Fairfield 38
Wawasee scoring - Brent Lamb 12, David Slabaugh 8, Travis Schrader 7, Ryan Kauchak 6, Chris Trobaugh 5, Brian Stutzman 4 [[In-content Ad]]
Latest News
E-Editions
BENTON - With just one senior on the roster and a freshman already in the starting lineup, Wawasee's varsity boys basketball team played beyond its years in Tuesday's season opener at Fairfield.
While young teams often times fold under pressure, the Warriors showed poise, hitting key free throws down the stretch and picking up a 54-47 win.
After Broc Borntrager's three cut Wawasee's lead to 50-47 with 16 seconds left, Warrior junior Stephen Conrad made good on two free throws. With 11 seconds left, classmate Ben Knisely iced the game with two more charity tosses.
In all, the Warriors were 18 of 22 at the free throw line, including a 12-of-13 performance in the fourth quarter.
"I didn't see a lot of first-game jitters," Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said. "We started a freshman at point guard and I still didn't see many jitters. We hit some free throws down the stretch, and at the beginning did a nice job on the boards. Fairfield has some big strong kids that jump well. It was tough to keep them off the boards, but keeping our composure was key."
While Mishler spoke of Fairfield's big, strong players, it was the play of 6-foot-4 junior forward Clint Custer that fueled the Warriors much of the way.
After scoring just two points in the opening quarter, Custer broke loose for nine in the second stanza and hit 7 of 8 free throws in the second half.
The tall, skinny junior finished with a game-high 20 points, including a 9-of-12 effort at the charity stripe. He also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
"Clint Custer has been going at it since April," Mishler said. "He came in every morning and worked on his shot. We told him it would probably take 10,000 shots to get the muscle memory down, but it's paying off now. He's definitely our go-to guy."
Other Warriors in double figures were Conrad and junior Kyle Lantz with 11 each. Knisely scored six, while freshman point guard Kory Lantz, junior Rosten Trobaugh and senior Scott Beasley scored two points each.
The teams see-sawed in the first quarter, trading basket for basket. The Falcons held a slim 19-17 lead after the first eight minutes of play.
The Warriors started to pull away in the second stanza, hitting a trio of big three-point shots to take a 31-26 lead.
Wawasee finished the game 6 of 12 from the arc. Conrad was 3 of 5 in the first half.
"If people take the inside game away, we'll pop it back out," Mishler said. "All of our guys have the green light to shoot the three."
Wawasee led 35-27 at the half, but the host Falcons, trying to win in John Wysong's return as head coach, closed the gap to 37-35 when sophomore Travis Wright hit a three with 4:22 left in the third. Falcon Corey Camacho hit a field goal with 32 second remaining in the third, as the Warriors led just 40-37 going into the fourth.
Kory Lantz gave Wawasee a 50-44 lead when he made good on a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left in regulation. Borntrager cut the lead to three, and then the Warriors iced the game with free throws.
Borntrager led Fairfield with 14 points, while Jason Graber added 10. Wright and Camacho scored five points each.
WAWASEE 54, FAIRFIELD 47
Wawasee (1-0) 17 18 5 14 - 54
Faifield (0-1) 19 8 10 10 - 47
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
Ko. Lantz (G) 0-2 2-3 4 2 2
Beasley (G) 1-2 0-0 0 0 2
Ky. Lantz (F) 3-9 3-3 2 0 11
Custer (F) 5-10 9-12 9 1 20
Knisely (C) 2-3 2-2 5 0 6
Conrad 3-5 2-2 2 1 11
Trobaugh 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Stichter 0-3 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 15-35 18-22 23 4 54
Fairfield FG FT R S Pts.
Borntrager (G) 5-11 1-2 3 0 14
Graber (G) 4-12 2-6 5 1 10
Beachy (C) 1-4 0-0 2 0 2
Walter (F) 2-6 0-0 13 0 4
Kidder (F) 1-2 1-3 4 0 3
Chupp 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Wright 2-5 0-0 3 1 5
Werner 0-1 2-2 0 0 2
Camacho 2-5 0-0 1 0 5
Totals 18-47 6-13 32 2 47
Three-point goals - Wawasee 6-12 (Conrad 3-5, Ky. Lantz 2-5, Custer 1-1, Stichter 0-1), Fairfield 5-11 (Borntrager 3-5, Wright 1-1, Camacho 1-1, Beachy 0-3, Graber 0-1). Turnovers - Wawasee 13, Fairfield 14. Fouls - Wawasee 15, Fairfield 20. Fouled out - none.
JV - Wawasee 42, Fairfield 38
Wawasee scoring - Brent Lamb 12, David Slabaugh 8, Travis Schrader 7, Ryan Kauchak 6, Chris Trobaugh 5, Brian Stutzman 4 [[In-content Ad]]