Young Wawasee Team Falls To Goshen
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Opening Northern Lakes Conference play at home against the Goshen Lady Redskins (7-1, 1-0 NLC), the Wawasee Lady Warriors (6-1, 0-1 NLC) were there at the end, but little miscues led to a 39-35 loss.
“For our younger kids, this is one of the first games where it was a higher level, because we’re in the NLC now,” Zolman said. “It’s more intense and I don’t think our young kids responded that well. Everything was kind of hesitant. They weren’t stepping up and knocking shots down with any confidence whatsoever.”
The only girl shooting with any confidence was senior KiLee Knafel.
After freshman Kylee Rostochak scored the Lady Warriors’ first four points, the scoring load was put on Knafel, who scored 21 of Wawasee’s next 24 points, which went into the fourth quarter.
“It’s a hard game to play with one (player),” Zolman said. “We’ve been there, done that.”
Knafel’s 21st point pulled Wawasee within 30-28 early in the fourth, then Rostochak tied the game on the Lady Warriors’ next possession.
Another freshman, Addison Ayres, gave Wawasee its first lead since the first quarter with a free throw with 6:28 remaining.
Wawasee held its last lead at 35-34 following a bucket by Rostochak with 2:53 left.
But down the stretch, it was all Lady Redskins.
With Wawasee trailing 37-35, Knafel missed a three-pointer with under a minute to play, but the Lady Warriors regained possession on a Goshen turnover.
Still down by two, Wawasee dribbled around just a bit too much until Goshen senior Aimee Swihart stole the ball and converted the layup on the other end, giving her team the decisive score as the final seconds ticked off the clock.
“The biggest positive, which has been something we’ve struggled with, is winning without scoring 60 points,” Goshen coach Lenny Krebbs said. “To win a basketball game in the 30s, we haven’t been able to do that in the past. Partly, because, defensively, we’re not that good right now. By golly, I’m not about to say we were good defensively tonight.”
And Zolman wasn’t heaping too much praise on his defense, particularly on their play against Swihart.
Despite making just 3 of 15 shots for seven points, she did wreak havoc in the lane.
“She’s a good basketball player,” Zolman said of the 5-foot-5 Goshen point guard. “She has a real knack for getting in there and making things happen. She did. She killed us. I can think of eight points right off the bat that she either scored or got a teammate a score. That’s just tough.”
Goshen was led in scoring by junior Deja Felder’s 15 points, while sophomore Kayci Troyer grabbed 15 rebounds and helped the Lady Redskins hold a 34-23 advantage on the boards.
For Wawasee, once again, it was all Knafel, who scored 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field. She also tallied six rebounds and three steals.
“She’s a tough one to stop,” Krebs said of Knafel. “We thought we could limit her a little bit more, but we couldn’t do it. I thought we gave her too many open looks.”
Despite it being his team’s first loss of the year, Zolman seemed resigned to knowing this could happen with such a young squad.
“We’re saying, ‘OK, we’re going to play you, so we’re depending on some decision making and being able to execute some things,’” he said about the freshmen. “They’ve never had to do some of those before. It’s as much the coaches’ fault as it is their’s, because young people haven’t been in that situation.
“It’s a good learning tool for them, it’s just too bad it’s our first NLC game,” he added. “You’d love to get that first game down, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
Wawasee won’t have much time to worry about the loss, as it will be on a bus to South Bend Adams today.
“South Bend Adams is a much-improved team,” Zolman said. “It’s not going to be a cake walk by any means.”
GOSHEN 39, WAWASEE 35
G 12 7 11 9 – 39
W 14 4 8 9 – 35
Goshen – Christina Gipson 2-8 1-2 5, Aimee Swihart 3-15 0-2 7, Kayci Troyer 3-5 1-3 7, Deja Felder 6-11 2-2 15, Leslie Vanlandingham 0-0 1-2 1, Yadira Cabrales 0-1 0-0 0, Olivia Love 1-1 0-0 2, Jessica DeStefano 1-3 0-2 2. Totals 16-44 5-13 39.
Wawasee – Elizabeth Jackson 1-10 1-2 3, Cassie Martinez 0-5 0-1 0, KiLee Knafel 8-16 3-4 23, Kylee Rostochak 4-6 0-0 8, Erin Wiktorowski 0-4 0-0 0, Ashlynn Fisher 0-0 0-0 0, Addison Ayres 0-2 1-4 1, Katlyn Kennedy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-44 5-11 35.
Three-point goals – Goshen 1-11 (Swihart), Wawasee 4-18 (Knafel 4); Team Fouls – Goshen 13, Wawasee 12; Turnovers – Goshen 19, Wawasee 15; Rebounds – Goshen 34 (Troyer 15), Wawasee 23 (Knafel 6); Assists – Goshen 3 (Swihart 2), Wawasee 6 (Martinez 2, Rostochak 2); Steals – Goshen 5 (Swihart 4), Wawasee 10 (Martinez 3, Knafel 3); Blocks – Goshen 1, Wawasee 1; Records: Goshen 7-1 (1-0 NLC), Wawasee 6-1 (0-1 NLC)
JV – Goshen 22, Wawasee 16
Wawasee – Allissa Flores 7, Natalie Jones 6, Ayres 2, Megan Grindle 1
Wawasee JV Record: 1-6 (0-1 NLC)[[In-content Ad]]
Opening Northern Lakes Conference play at home against the Goshen Lady Redskins (7-1, 1-0 NLC), the Wawasee Lady Warriors (6-1, 0-1 NLC) were there at the end, but little miscues led to a 39-35 loss.
“For our younger kids, this is one of the first games where it was a higher level, because we’re in the NLC now,” Zolman said. “It’s more intense and I don’t think our young kids responded that well. Everything was kind of hesitant. They weren’t stepping up and knocking shots down with any confidence whatsoever.”
The only girl shooting with any confidence was senior KiLee Knafel.
After freshman Kylee Rostochak scored the Lady Warriors’ first four points, the scoring load was put on Knafel, who scored 21 of Wawasee’s next 24 points, which went into the fourth quarter.
“It’s a hard game to play with one (player),” Zolman said. “We’ve been there, done that.”
Knafel’s 21st point pulled Wawasee within 30-28 early in the fourth, then Rostochak tied the game on the Lady Warriors’ next possession.
Another freshman, Addison Ayres, gave Wawasee its first lead since the first quarter with a free throw with 6:28 remaining.
Wawasee held its last lead at 35-34 following a bucket by Rostochak with 2:53 left.
But down the stretch, it was all Lady Redskins.
With Wawasee trailing 37-35, Knafel missed a three-pointer with under a minute to play, but the Lady Warriors regained possession on a Goshen turnover.
Still down by two, Wawasee dribbled around just a bit too much until Goshen senior Aimee Swihart stole the ball and converted the layup on the other end, giving her team the decisive score as the final seconds ticked off the clock.
“The biggest positive, which has been something we’ve struggled with, is winning without scoring 60 points,” Goshen coach Lenny Krebbs said. “To win a basketball game in the 30s, we haven’t been able to do that in the past. Partly, because, defensively, we’re not that good right now. By golly, I’m not about to say we were good defensively tonight.”
And Zolman wasn’t heaping too much praise on his defense, particularly on their play against Swihart.
Despite making just 3 of 15 shots for seven points, she did wreak havoc in the lane.
“She’s a good basketball player,” Zolman said of the 5-foot-5 Goshen point guard. “She has a real knack for getting in there and making things happen. She did. She killed us. I can think of eight points right off the bat that she either scored or got a teammate a score. That’s just tough.”
Goshen was led in scoring by junior Deja Felder’s 15 points, while sophomore Kayci Troyer grabbed 15 rebounds and helped the Lady Redskins hold a 34-23 advantage on the boards.
For Wawasee, once again, it was all Knafel, who scored 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field. She also tallied six rebounds and three steals.
“She’s a tough one to stop,” Krebs said of Knafel. “We thought we could limit her a little bit more, but we couldn’t do it. I thought we gave her too many open looks.”
Despite it being his team’s first loss of the year, Zolman seemed resigned to knowing this could happen with such a young squad.
“We’re saying, ‘OK, we’re going to play you, so we’re depending on some decision making and being able to execute some things,’” he said about the freshmen. “They’ve never had to do some of those before. It’s as much the coaches’ fault as it is their’s, because young people haven’t been in that situation.
“It’s a good learning tool for them, it’s just too bad it’s our first NLC game,” he added. “You’d love to get that first game down, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
Wawasee won’t have much time to worry about the loss, as it will be on a bus to South Bend Adams today.
“South Bend Adams is a much-improved team,” Zolman said. “It’s not going to be a cake walk by any means.”
GOSHEN 39, WAWASEE 35
G 12 7 11 9 – 39
W 14 4 8 9 – 35
Goshen – Christina Gipson 2-8 1-2 5, Aimee Swihart 3-15 0-2 7, Kayci Troyer 3-5 1-3 7, Deja Felder 6-11 2-2 15, Leslie Vanlandingham 0-0 1-2 1, Yadira Cabrales 0-1 0-0 0, Olivia Love 1-1 0-0 2, Jessica DeStefano 1-3 0-2 2. Totals 16-44 5-13 39.
Wawasee – Elizabeth Jackson 1-10 1-2 3, Cassie Martinez 0-5 0-1 0, KiLee Knafel 8-16 3-4 23, Kylee Rostochak 4-6 0-0 8, Erin Wiktorowski 0-4 0-0 0, Ashlynn Fisher 0-0 0-0 0, Addison Ayres 0-2 1-4 1, Katlyn Kennedy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-44 5-11 35.
Three-point goals – Goshen 1-11 (Swihart), Wawasee 4-18 (Knafel 4); Team Fouls – Goshen 13, Wawasee 12; Turnovers – Goshen 19, Wawasee 15; Rebounds – Goshen 34 (Troyer 15), Wawasee 23 (Knafel 6); Assists – Goshen 3 (Swihart 2), Wawasee 6 (Martinez 2, Rostochak 2); Steals – Goshen 5 (Swihart 4), Wawasee 10 (Martinez 3, Knafel 3); Blocks – Goshen 1, Wawasee 1; Records: Goshen 7-1 (1-0 NLC), Wawasee 6-1 (0-1 NLC)
JV – Goshen 22, Wawasee 16
Wawasee – Allissa Flores 7, Natalie Jones 6, Ayres 2, Megan Grindle 1
Wawasee JV Record: 1-6 (0-1 NLC)[[In-content Ad]]
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