Warriors Lose Another Close Game
February 22, 2017 at 4:16 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
But as has been the case lately, the Warriors couldn’t quite get over the hump, this time in a 51-46 loss to the visiting Blazers Tuesday night at the Hardwood Tepee.
Wawasee took the ball out of bounds with seven seconds to play, but the inbounds pass was tipped to Eastside’s Aaron Dean, who went in for a game-clinching layup with two seconds left.
The loss extended Wawasee’s losing streak to eight games, seven of which have been by single digits and six have been by two or fewer possessions.
“It’s kind of where we’re at right now. I’m proud of the boys for having some heart and stick-to-itiveness against some really good teams,” Wawasee coach Jon Everingham said.
“It’s almost like it’s ‘Groundhog Day.’ You come watch the Warriors play, you’re going to see a lot of really good things; a team playing with some heart to hang in game, but not enough to get over the hump.”
Everingham started a five-guard lineup, pulling leading scorer Trevon Coleman in favor of Aaron Evans. The idea was to wear down 6-foot-5 Blazer center Jacob Thompson, a former football lineman who gives a lot of teams fits.
“We felt like we had an advantage if we started a five-guard rotation,” Everingham said.” Obviously, you have to your best scorer out of the game in Trevon. We made a commitment to go the first 4-to-6 minutes and see if we could wear Thompson down a little bit.
“But I can’t sit Trevon the whole game. I thought (Thompson) got a little tired in the second quarter, and he scored just two points in the second half, so I thought that strategy worked for us, but we just couldn’t take advantage of him inside in the second half.”
The strategy worked to a degree. Thompson finished with 11 points, but nine came in the first five minutes of the game. Jacob Yoder hit four three-point shots in the second half, including three in four third-quarter possessions, and finished with a game-high 17 points.
On the other hand, Wawasee relied on its outside shooting, hitting nine three-pointers in the game. Jairus Boyer had 10 points, Evans had eight, and Cam Schlabach and Bennett Hoffert added six points each. All four players hit a pair of shots from beyond the arc.
Wawasee fell to 5-16 overall, and will close out its regular season at Tippecanoe Valley Friday. Then the Vikings (9-13) and Warriors will open play against each other in the 3A Wawasee Sectional Tuesday.
EASTSIDE 51, WAWASEE 46
E 12 5 18 16 – 51
W 14 2 12 18 – 46
Eastside – Caleb Ballantine 4-7 1-2 9, Jordan Yoder 5-7 2-2 17, Aaron Dean 1-4 3-4 5, Dalton Reese 0-0 0-0 0, Cade Williard 3-5 2-4 9, Andrew Steffen 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Thompson 5-9 1-5 11. Totals 18-32 9-17 51.
Wawasee – Cayden Wegener 1-1 0-0 3, Cam Schlabach 3-3 0-0 8, Tyler Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Jairus Boyer 4-6 0-0 10, Jacob Hand 0-0 0-0 0, Bennett Hoffert 2-4 0-0 6, Ryan Edington 1-2 1-1 3, Aaron Evans 3-7 0-0 8, Trevon Coleman 3-14 0-0 6. Totals 18-38 1-1 46.
Three-pointers – Eastside 6 (Yoder 5, Willard), Wawasee 9 (Schlabach 2, Boyer 2, Hoffert 2, Evans 2, Wegener); Rebounds – Eastside 18 (Thompson 6), Wawasee 20 (Boyer 5); Turnovers – Eastside 9, Wawasee 11; Fouls – Eastside 8, Wawasee 18; Fouled out – Schlabach; Records: Eastside 18-4, Wawasee 5-16.
JV – Wawasee 62, Eastside 44
Wawasee – Austin Miller 17, Zak Linnemeier 13, Dalton Pearish 8, Ryan Edington 7, Ethan Hardy 6, Damon Conley 4, Marshal Miller 3, Kale Sherman 2, Austin Baker 2.
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But as has been the case lately, the Warriors couldn’t quite get over the hump, this time in a 51-46 loss to the visiting Blazers Tuesday night at the Hardwood Tepee.
Wawasee took the ball out of bounds with seven seconds to play, but the inbounds pass was tipped to Eastside’s Aaron Dean, who went in for a game-clinching layup with two seconds left.
The loss extended Wawasee’s losing streak to eight games, seven of which have been by single digits and six have been by two or fewer possessions.
“It’s kind of where we’re at right now. I’m proud of the boys for having some heart and stick-to-itiveness against some really good teams,” Wawasee coach Jon Everingham said.
“It’s almost like it’s ‘Groundhog Day.’ You come watch the Warriors play, you’re going to see a lot of really good things; a team playing with some heart to hang in game, but not enough to get over the hump.”
Everingham started a five-guard lineup, pulling leading scorer Trevon Coleman in favor of Aaron Evans. The idea was to wear down 6-foot-5 Blazer center Jacob Thompson, a former football lineman who gives a lot of teams fits.
“We felt like we had an advantage if we started a five-guard rotation,” Everingham said.” Obviously, you have to your best scorer out of the game in Trevon. We made a commitment to go the first 4-to-6 minutes and see if we could wear Thompson down a little bit.
“But I can’t sit Trevon the whole game. I thought (Thompson) got a little tired in the second quarter, and he scored just two points in the second half, so I thought that strategy worked for us, but we just couldn’t take advantage of him inside in the second half.”
The strategy worked to a degree. Thompson finished with 11 points, but nine came in the first five minutes of the game. Jacob Yoder hit four three-point shots in the second half, including three in four third-quarter possessions, and finished with a game-high 17 points.
On the other hand, Wawasee relied on its outside shooting, hitting nine three-pointers in the game. Jairus Boyer had 10 points, Evans had eight, and Cam Schlabach and Bennett Hoffert added six points each. All four players hit a pair of shots from beyond the arc.
Wawasee fell to 5-16 overall, and will close out its regular season at Tippecanoe Valley Friday. Then the Vikings (9-13) and Warriors will open play against each other in the 3A Wawasee Sectional Tuesday.
EASTSIDE 51, WAWASEE 46
E 12 5 18 16 – 51
W 14 2 12 18 – 46
Eastside – Caleb Ballantine 4-7 1-2 9, Jordan Yoder 5-7 2-2 17, Aaron Dean 1-4 3-4 5, Dalton Reese 0-0 0-0 0, Cade Williard 3-5 2-4 9, Andrew Steffen 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Thompson 5-9 1-5 11. Totals 18-32 9-17 51.
Wawasee – Cayden Wegener 1-1 0-0 3, Cam Schlabach 3-3 0-0 8, Tyler Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Jairus Boyer 4-6 0-0 10, Jacob Hand 0-0 0-0 0, Bennett Hoffert 2-4 0-0 6, Ryan Edington 1-2 1-1 3, Aaron Evans 3-7 0-0 8, Trevon Coleman 3-14 0-0 6. Totals 18-38 1-1 46.
Three-pointers – Eastside 6 (Yoder 5, Willard), Wawasee 9 (Schlabach 2, Boyer 2, Hoffert 2, Evans 2, Wegener); Rebounds – Eastside 18 (Thompson 6), Wawasee 20 (Boyer 5); Turnovers – Eastside 9, Wawasee 11; Fouls – Eastside 8, Wawasee 18; Fouled out – Schlabach; Records: Eastside 18-4, Wawasee 5-16.
JV – Wawasee 62, Eastside 44
Wawasee – Austin Miller 17, Zak Linnemeier 13, Dalton Pearish 8, Ryan Edington 7, Ethan Hardy 6, Damon Conley 4, Marshal Miller 3, Kale Sherman 2, Austin Baker 2.
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