Wawasee Warriors Taking Positive Approach
February 27, 2017 at 5:05 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
But the Warriors are hanging tough. Seven of the losses in the current streak are by six or fewer points. Coach Jon Everingham said it’s all part of learning how to win.
“We’ve preached since the beginning we’re not paying too much attention to our record. We knew there would be a process we’d have to go through this season, and I feel like we’re in a really good spot. We’ve been very competitive in the last eight or nine games, but we’re still learning how to win games,” he said.
“And the kids and their attitudes have been over-the-top positive. We’re still together and we have a very strong locker room. We’re sticking together.”
It didn’t help that leading scorer Trevon Coleman, at 13 points a game, missed eight games with a knee injury and may not yet be at 100 percent. But he’s a leader on the team, and he takes the role seriously.
“Trevon has come a long way in a year. He struggled with some personal issues last year, and has become one of those feel-good stories about how far he’s come. The rest of the guys recognize how hard he’s worked, on and off the floor, and he’s certainly developed into a key piece of our offensive attack,” Everingham said.
“When he’s scoring on the inside, it opens up our shooters from the outside. He’s got talent and can score around the basket. He’s stronger than he looks, and teams are finding out and trying to do different things against him.”
There is balance in the scoring column for Wawasee. Tyler Smith, Jairus Boyer, Jacob Hand, Bennett Hoffert and Cam Schlabach are all good for at least four points a game, on average.
For the fourth time in five seasons, Wawasee will face Tippecanoe Valley in the first round of the sectional after closing out the regular season against the Vikings. Everingham doesn’t see an advantage or a disadvantage with that kind of familiarity. He’s more concerned about the program making progress moving forward.
“We’re going to try to learn some things from Friday night, and try and tweak a game plan and try and win on Tuesday,” he said. “To take the next step, we have to win. We need to get in the mindset that if you don’t win, you go home.
“There’s certainly some teams out there we’d like to play. We’re a better team than we were earlier in the season and we’d like to show that. But to be able to do that, you have to be able to get past round one.”
Everingham said his team has done plenty of winning off the court and in the classroom, but the time has come to translate that into wins on the floor, starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday night against Valley.
“It’s been a process to build the confidence level of our guys and the belief that we can compete at a high level,” he said.
“Now it’s just about going out and doing it.”
But the Warriors are hanging tough. Seven of the losses in the current streak are by six or fewer points. Coach Jon Everingham said it’s all part of learning how to win.
“We’ve preached since the beginning we’re not paying too much attention to our record. We knew there would be a process we’d have to go through this season, and I feel like we’re in a really good spot. We’ve been very competitive in the last eight or nine games, but we’re still learning how to win games,” he said.
“And the kids and their attitudes have been over-the-top positive. We’re still together and we have a very strong locker room. We’re sticking together.”
It didn’t help that leading scorer Trevon Coleman, at 13 points a game, missed eight games with a knee injury and may not yet be at 100 percent. But he’s a leader on the team, and he takes the role seriously.
“Trevon has come a long way in a year. He struggled with some personal issues last year, and has become one of those feel-good stories about how far he’s come. The rest of the guys recognize how hard he’s worked, on and off the floor, and he’s certainly developed into a key piece of our offensive attack,” Everingham said.
“When he’s scoring on the inside, it opens up our shooters from the outside. He’s got talent and can score around the basket. He’s stronger than he looks, and teams are finding out and trying to do different things against him.”
There is balance in the scoring column for Wawasee. Tyler Smith, Jairus Boyer, Jacob Hand, Bennett Hoffert and Cam Schlabach are all good for at least four points a game, on average.
For the fourth time in five seasons, Wawasee will face Tippecanoe Valley in the first round of the sectional after closing out the regular season against the Vikings. Everingham doesn’t see an advantage or a disadvantage with that kind of familiarity. He’s more concerned about the program making progress moving forward.
“We’re going to try to learn some things from Friday night, and try and tweak a game plan and try and win on Tuesday,” he said. “To take the next step, we have to win. We need to get in the mindset that if you don’t win, you go home.
“There’s certainly some teams out there we’d like to play. We’re a better team than we were earlier in the season and we’d like to show that. But to be able to do that, you have to be able to get past round one.”
Everingham said his team has done plenty of winning off the court and in the classroom, but the time has come to translate that into wins on the floor, starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday night against Valley.
“It’s been a process to build the confidence level of our guys and the belief that we can compete at a high level,” he said.
“Now it’s just about going out and doing it.”
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