Lady Tigers Entering New Era
November 3, 2017 at 1:12 p.m.
Lady Tigers Entering New Era
By Dale [email protected]
New season.
New head coach.
New assistant coaches.
And definitely a new lineup after graduating six seniors, including all five starters, from last season’s team that went 20-4 overall and 5-2 in the Northern Lakes Conference under coach Michelle Harter.
Harter was Warsaw’s JV coach for 17 years, and then compiled a record of 136-70 as the varsity head coach from 2008-09 through last spring.
Harter led the Lady Tigers to sectional championships in 2013 and 2015, as well as a regional title and 24-2 record in 2013.
She stepped down in the spring and is now the head coach at Evansville Central.
The reins of Warsaw’s storied program have been turned over to Lenny Krebs, who spent the last 14 seasons coaching against the Lady Tigers while calling the shots for the Goshen Lady RedHawks.
Krebs, who averaged 16 points per game his senior season at Fairfield High School and who later played for NAIA Hall of Fame coach Jim Kessler at Grace College, led Goshen to an 18-5 campaign two years ago.
“I played for Coach Kessler from 1993 to 1995, and I fell in love with the community. They love basketball here,” said Krebs.
“I’ve never really been far from the community, and when my family had an opportunity to move back into this community it was definitely something we wanted to do just because of the conservative, small-town feel that it has. It’s a place, regardless of basketball, I would be happy with my family living.
“When I left Goshen, their whole thing was ‘you’ve been here 14 years, why would you leave now?’ They didn’t understand that I knew the tradition of Warsaw girls basketball. This is a basketball town.
“When we were considering the whole situation, we drove through Warsaw, and we were counting the number of basketball hoops you saw in driveways. It far exceeds the number you’d see anywhere else. This is a basketball town, and I think it’s important because a lot of people would question picking up and moving your family after 14 years into a journey. But, once again, I understand the tradition and the opportunity here, and I consider this one of the top jobs in the state.”
Krebs said he’s aware of the expectations that come with a program like Warsaw, which has won 17 sectional titles, seven regionals, four semistates and two state championships, along with the list of Indiana All-Stars and Miss Basketballs.
That wasn’t the case at Goshen, a program that hasn’t won a sectional title since 1996, and the only regional title in program history was in 1982.
“When we were at Goshen, we would always talk about the fact that Goshen has only beat Warsaw two times since 1983,” said Krebs. “We beat them once in my 14 years, and it only happened once prior to that.
“We were well aware of Warsaw’s tradition. Anybody who is a basketball fan in northern Indiana knows the tradition of Warsaw, not just girls basketball, but basketball in general. We’re well aware of the tradition, and proud to be a part of it now.”
Gone from last year’s Warsaw team are starters Dayton Groninger, Madi Graham, Mariah Rivera, Page Desenberg and Kenzie Welk, along with Abby Glass.
Groninger, now playing at Indiana Wesleyan University, scored 1,003 points in her varsity career and is sixth on the Lady Tigers’ all-time scoring list.
Last year’s six seniors combined to score 974 of the 1,192 points the team scored in 24 games.
On top of the offensive production and rebounding, the class had plenty of experience.
Groninger made 76 varsity starts, while Madi Graham was in the starting lineup 73 times.
Krebs’ first varsity roster at Warsaw is centered around eight players – two seniors, four juniors and two sophomores.
The roster includes seniors Emma Bohnenkamper and Kennedy Patton; juniors Kacy Bragg, Maddie Ryman, Miah Holsclaw and Halle Shipp; and sophomores Kaylee Patton and Brielle Harrison, who scored 112 varsity points as a freshman for Whitko.
Bragg is the Lady Tigers’ leading returner after averaging 4.6 points and nearly three rebounds per game last year.
Warsaw’s JV team was 19-3 overall and 5-2 last season.
“I’m definitely a defensive-minded coach,” said Krebs. “If you ask these girls what we’ve worked on the most in our time here, they’re gonna say defense. It’s a different type of defense. You’re gonna see a majority of man-to-man ... we’re gonna pick you up, we’re gonna pressure you, we’re gonna trap you.
“We’re gonna find different ways to try to create offensive points with our defense. One of the common sayings we have right now is ‘defensive intensity leads to offensive confidence.’
“I coached against Michelle (Harter) for nine years. I knew she was going to play a 2-3 zone. She was very good at teaching her style of basketball. I think the people who come out and watch us are gonna see a different style ... that doesn’t mean we’re any less committed to defense and preventing people from scoring. People might score a little more, just because the number of possessions have increased in a game. We’re gonna push the basketball a lot more, using some of our athleticism to try to create points.”
Jack Beer is the new JV?coach.
Krebs’ staff of assistants also includes Nicole Ryman, Jerry Ryman, Mark Bonifield and Josh Fitzgerald.
The Lady Tigers open the season Saturday at Fort Wayne Luers, and then host Manchester Wednesday.
Warsaw opens NLC play Dec. 9 at Plymouth.
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New season.
New head coach.
New assistant coaches.
And definitely a new lineup after graduating six seniors, including all five starters, from last season’s team that went 20-4 overall and 5-2 in the Northern Lakes Conference under coach Michelle Harter.
Harter was Warsaw’s JV coach for 17 years, and then compiled a record of 136-70 as the varsity head coach from 2008-09 through last spring.
Harter led the Lady Tigers to sectional championships in 2013 and 2015, as well as a regional title and 24-2 record in 2013.
She stepped down in the spring and is now the head coach at Evansville Central.
The reins of Warsaw’s storied program have been turned over to Lenny Krebs, who spent the last 14 seasons coaching against the Lady Tigers while calling the shots for the Goshen Lady RedHawks.
Krebs, who averaged 16 points per game his senior season at Fairfield High School and who later played for NAIA Hall of Fame coach Jim Kessler at Grace College, led Goshen to an 18-5 campaign two years ago.
“I played for Coach Kessler from 1993 to 1995, and I fell in love with the community. They love basketball here,” said Krebs.
“I’ve never really been far from the community, and when my family had an opportunity to move back into this community it was definitely something we wanted to do just because of the conservative, small-town feel that it has. It’s a place, regardless of basketball, I would be happy with my family living.
“When I left Goshen, their whole thing was ‘you’ve been here 14 years, why would you leave now?’ They didn’t understand that I knew the tradition of Warsaw girls basketball. This is a basketball town.
“When we were considering the whole situation, we drove through Warsaw, and we were counting the number of basketball hoops you saw in driveways. It far exceeds the number you’d see anywhere else. This is a basketball town, and I think it’s important because a lot of people would question picking up and moving your family after 14 years into a journey. But, once again, I understand the tradition and the opportunity here, and I consider this one of the top jobs in the state.”
Krebs said he’s aware of the expectations that come with a program like Warsaw, which has won 17 sectional titles, seven regionals, four semistates and two state championships, along with the list of Indiana All-Stars and Miss Basketballs.
That wasn’t the case at Goshen, a program that hasn’t won a sectional title since 1996, and the only regional title in program history was in 1982.
“When we were at Goshen, we would always talk about the fact that Goshen has only beat Warsaw two times since 1983,” said Krebs. “We beat them once in my 14 years, and it only happened once prior to that.
“We were well aware of Warsaw’s tradition. Anybody who is a basketball fan in northern Indiana knows the tradition of Warsaw, not just girls basketball, but basketball in general. We’re well aware of the tradition, and proud to be a part of it now.”
Gone from last year’s Warsaw team are starters Dayton Groninger, Madi Graham, Mariah Rivera, Page Desenberg and Kenzie Welk, along with Abby Glass.
Groninger, now playing at Indiana Wesleyan University, scored 1,003 points in her varsity career and is sixth on the Lady Tigers’ all-time scoring list.
Last year’s six seniors combined to score 974 of the 1,192 points the team scored in 24 games.
On top of the offensive production and rebounding, the class had plenty of experience.
Groninger made 76 varsity starts, while Madi Graham was in the starting lineup 73 times.
Krebs’ first varsity roster at Warsaw is centered around eight players – two seniors, four juniors and two sophomores.
The roster includes seniors Emma Bohnenkamper and Kennedy Patton; juniors Kacy Bragg, Maddie Ryman, Miah Holsclaw and Halle Shipp; and sophomores Kaylee Patton and Brielle Harrison, who scored 112 varsity points as a freshman for Whitko.
Bragg is the Lady Tigers’ leading returner after averaging 4.6 points and nearly three rebounds per game last year.
Warsaw’s JV team was 19-3 overall and 5-2 last season.
“I’m definitely a defensive-minded coach,” said Krebs. “If you ask these girls what we’ve worked on the most in our time here, they’re gonna say defense. It’s a different type of defense. You’re gonna see a majority of man-to-man ... we’re gonna pick you up, we’re gonna pressure you, we’re gonna trap you.
“We’re gonna find different ways to try to create offensive points with our defense. One of the common sayings we have right now is ‘defensive intensity leads to offensive confidence.’
“I coached against Michelle (Harter) for nine years. I knew she was going to play a 2-3 zone. She was very good at teaching her style of basketball. I think the people who come out and watch us are gonna see a different style ... that doesn’t mean we’re any less committed to defense and preventing people from scoring. People might score a little more, just because the number of possessions have increased in a game. We’re gonna push the basketball a lot more, using some of our athleticism to try to create points.”
Jack Beer is the new JV?coach.
Krebs’ staff of assistants also includes Nicole Ryman, Jerry Ryman, Mark Bonifield and Josh Fitzgerald.
The Lady Tigers open the season Saturday at Fort Wayne Luers, and then host Manchester Wednesday.
Warsaw opens NLC play Dec. 9 at Plymouth.
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