Lady Tigers Can't Overcome Offensive Woes
January 12, 2017 at 5:15 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
The Lady Tigers held the home team to 35 points; outrebounded the Lady Chargers 26-19; and Memorial made just two free throws in the game.
But Warsaw struggled mightily on the offensive end, and the result was a 35-31 loss Wednesday night, effectively ending any hope of an NLC title for the Lady Tigers.
The Lady Chargers played a modified man-to-man defense, making sure Warsaw’s two leading scorers, Dayton Groninger and Madi Graham, were double-teamed whenever they had the ball.
The senior duo finished with 15 and eight points, respectively, not that far off their combined average of about 28 points a game. But they were 9 of 27 from the field to score their points.
Overall, Warsaw finished 11 of 41 (26.8 percent) from the field as a team.
“Elkhart Memorial came out and they played well. They were putting pressure on us defensively, they were leaving our other girls open, and we played with a lack of confidence on the offensive end tonight,” Warsaw head coach Michelle Harter said.
“We had some good looks and attacks at the basket, but we went in there and just threw the ball up, hoping it would go in instead of going in, jump stopping, being strong and fundamental, focusing on the backboard and putting the ball in the basket.”
Warsaw displayed its offensive patience in the odd-numbered quarters, but in the second and fourth, not so much. The Lady Tigers scored just four points in the even-numbered quarters, and didn’t make a shot from the field in the last 9:43 of the game.
“The first possession we came out, ran two minutes off the clock and got a layup. What’s wrong with that? You’re being patient and taking what the defense is giving you. we did that in the first quarter,” Harter said.
“In the second quarter we came out, started one pass and shooting the ball, or one pass and trying to thread the needle with a pass inside. We went completely away from being patient. We called timeout to talk about that.
“But sometimes when you get out of sync like that, it’s difficult to get back in the swing of things, and that second quarter is really what killed us.
“In the third quarter we came out and did some nice things, and cut the lead down. But in that fourth quarter, again, great looks with shots on the inside, but you go 0 for 13 from the field, you’re not going to win too many ball games.”
Harter said the team had to overcome some obstacles, but wasn’t able to Wednesday night.
“It’s one of those things where it was our first day back to school after 2-1/2 weeks off, a long bus trip and a heartbreaking loss on Saturday,” she said,
“But you know what? If you want to be a good team and want to be a championship team, those are things you have to overcome. You have to get yourself focused and ready to go. If your shots aren’t falling, look to attack and go in and be strong and try to get yourself to the foul line. I thought we were trying to do that, but we weren’t being strong.”
The loss left Warsaw at 15-3 overall, and in fifth place in the NLC at 1-2. Harter said her team needs to bounce back, beginning Saturday night when Goshen comes to town, even if the goal to wining the conference is now unlikely at best.
“We need to come out and play well the last four games in our conference, and maybe keep our hopes alive. But it’s hard to win a conference championship with two losses,” she said. “So our focus now has to be on coming out and playing well, and getting ourselves ready for sectional.”
ELKHART MEMORIAL 35, WARSAW 31
W 10 4 13 4 – 31
EM 6 13 9 7 – 35
Warsaw – Kennedy Patton 0-0 2-2 2, Page Desenberg 0-8 2-2 2, Mariah Rivera 1-3 0-0 2, Kenzie Welk 0-2 0-0 0, Dayton Groninger 6-16 3-5 15, Madi Graham 3-11 2-2 8, Kaci Bragg 1-1 0-0 2, Emma Bohnenkamper 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-41 9-11 31.
Memorial – Cydney Lapczynski 2-7 0-0 6, Sierra Peete 3-6 2-6 8, McKenna Curry 1-2 0-0 2, Ay’Zyana Billings-Tiller 5-7 0-2 13, Skylar Axsom 2-4 0-0 4, Kambria Dale 1-8 0-1 2. Totals 14-34 2-9 35.
Three-pointers – Warsaw 0, Memorial 5 (Billings-Tiller 3, Lapczynski 2); Rebounds – Warsaw 26 (Desenberg 8), Memorial 21 (Dale 7); Turnovers – Warsaw 10, Memorial 11; Fouls – Warsaw 16, Memorial 10; Fouled out – Rivera; Records: Warsaw 15-3 (1-2 NLC), Memorial 10-7 (3-1 NLC).
JV – Warsaw 44, Memorial 28
Warsaw – Halle Shipp 13, Maddie Ryman 13, Kenzie Martz 9, Kennedy Patton 5, Miah Holsclaw 2, Naomi Phillips 2
The Lady Tigers held the home team to 35 points; outrebounded the Lady Chargers 26-19; and Memorial made just two free throws in the game.
But Warsaw struggled mightily on the offensive end, and the result was a 35-31 loss Wednesday night, effectively ending any hope of an NLC title for the Lady Tigers.
The Lady Chargers played a modified man-to-man defense, making sure Warsaw’s two leading scorers, Dayton Groninger and Madi Graham, were double-teamed whenever they had the ball.
The senior duo finished with 15 and eight points, respectively, not that far off their combined average of about 28 points a game. But they were 9 of 27 from the field to score their points.
Overall, Warsaw finished 11 of 41 (26.8 percent) from the field as a team.
“Elkhart Memorial came out and they played well. They were putting pressure on us defensively, they were leaving our other girls open, and we played with a lack of confidence on the offensive end tonight,” Warsaw head coach Michelle Harter said.
“We had some good looks and attacks at the basket, but we went in there and just threw the ball up, hoping it would go in instead of going in, jump stopping, being strong and fundamental, focusing on the backboard and putting the ball in the basket.”
Warsaw displayed its offensive patience in the odd-numbered quarters, but in the second and fourth, not so much. The Lady Tigers scored just four points in the even-numbered quarters, and didn’t make a shot from the field in the last 9:43 of the game.
“The first possession we came out, ran two minutes off the clock and got a layup. What’s wrong with that? You’re being patient and taking what the defense is giving you. we did that in the first quarter,” Harter said.
“In the second quarter we came out, started one pass and shooting the ball, or one pass and trying to thread the needle with a pass inside. We went completely away from being patient. We called timeout to talk about that.
“But sometimes when you get out of sync like that, it’s difficult to get back in the swing of things, and that second quarter is really what killed us.
“In the third quarter we came out and did some nice things, and cut the lead down. But in that fourth quarter, again, great looks with shots on the inside, but you go 0 for 13 from the field, you’re not going to win too many ball games.”
Harter said the team had to overcome some obstacles, but wasn’t able to Wednesday night.
“It’s one of those things where it was our first day back to school after 2-1/2 weeks off, a long bus trip and a heartbreaking loss on Saturday,” she said,
“But you know what? If you want to be a good team and want to be a championship team, those are things you have to overcome. You have to get yourself focused and ready to go. If your shots aren’t falling, look to attack and go in and be strong and try to get yourself to the foul line. I thought we were trying to do that, but we weren’t being strong.”
The loss left Warsaw at 15-3 overall, and in fifth place in the NLC at 1-2. Harter said her team needs to bounce back, beginning Saturday night when Goshen comes to town, even if the goal to wining the conference is now unlikely at best.
“We need to come out and play well the last four games in our conference, and maybe keep our hopes alive. But it’s hard to win a conference championship with two losses,” she said. “So our focus now has to be on coming out and playing well, and getting ourselves ready for sectional.”
ELKHART MEMORIAL 35, WARSAW 31
W 10 4 13 4 – 31
EM 6 13 9 7 – 35
Warsaw – Kennedy Patton 0-0 2-2 2, Page Desenberg 0-8 2-2 2, Mariah Rivera 1-3 0-0 2, Kenzie Welk 0-2 0-0 0, Dayton Groninger 6-16 3-5 15, Madi Graham 3-11 2-2 8, Kaci Bragg 1-1 0-0 2, Emma Bohnenkamper 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-41 9-11 31.
Memorial – Cydney Lapczynski 2-7 0-0 6, Sierra Peete 3-6 2-6 8, McKenna Curry 1-2 0-0 2, Ay’Zyana Billings-Tiller 5-7 0-2 13, Skylar Axsom 2-4 0-0 4, Kambria Dale 1-8 0-1 2. Totals 14-34 2-9 35.
Three-pointers – Warsaw 0, Memorial 5 (Billings-Tiller 3, Lapczynski 2); Rebounds – Warsaw 26 (Desenberg 8), Memorial 21 (Dale 7); Turnovers – Warsaw 10, Memorial 11; Fouls – Warsaw 16, Memorial 10; Fouled out – Rivera; Records: Warsaw 15-3 (1-2 NLC), Memorial 10-7 (3-1 NLC).
JV – Warsaw 44, Memorial 28
Warsaw – Halle Shipp 13, Maddie Ryman 13, Kenzie Martz 9, Kennedy Patton 5, Miah Holsclaw 2, Naomi Phillips 2
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