Railroaders Ride Hot Start To Win At Hardwood TeePee
January 9, 2020 at 3:55 a.m.
Railroaders Ride Hot Start To Win At Hardwood TeePee
By Alaister McFarren-
Garrett got off to a blistering start offensively – 5-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 from three-point range – en route to a 23-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Freshman Bailey Kelham, who recently set an Indiana freshmen girls’ record when she scored 45 in a single game, led the visitors with eight points in the period.
Although the Lady Warriors shot a respectable 43 percent from the floor in the first, they only mustered seven shots. A surplus of turnovers kept the team from keeping the score close in the period.
“Early turnovers were costly,” said Wawasee head coach Matt Carpenter. “On top of that, we gave them easy looks and they capitalized. They’re a good shooting team, and you have to give them credit for hitting those shots.”
According to Carpenter, the game plan was to keep Garrett from penetrating the paint and scoring inside with a zone. Although they were largely successful implementing this strategy in the first half, Garrett’s outside shooting forced them to revert to man-to-man.
“We had to pick our poison,” Carpenter said.
In the second, Wawasee cleaned up considerably; defensively; allowing only 10 points on 33 percent shooting. On the offensive side, they scored nine, making the score 33-16 at the half.
Although they cut down on turnovers in the third quarter, questionable shot selection resulted in Wawasee scoring only six points, allowing Garrett to push their lead to 22 by the end of the period.
Despite their deficit, Wawasee competed well in the fourth quarter. They scored 22, doubling their game output.
The comeback attempt was led by sophomore Jada Carter (seven points on 3-of-3 shooting) and junior Tate Cowan (10 points on 4-of-4 shooting). Tate also contributed two rebounds.
Sophomore Emily Haines, who contributed eight points and two three-pointers, led the team in rebounds with four.
Due to the absence of several key players, Wawasee’s short bench has resulted in Cowan seeing more playing time, and she has made the most of the opportunity.
“We’re thin right now, and a lot of girls have had to fill different roles,” said Carpenter. “Tate was put in a difficult situation where she wasn’t playing a lot as a junior, but she’s practiced very hard, improved her game, and she’s stepped up big lately as we’ve needed her.”
Carpenter continued on to describe Tate as both an incredibly smart player and “the ultimate teammate,” and he expects her to keep up her recent high level of play.
When talking about his team as a whole, Carpenter said that they needed to be 100 percent engaged to be competitive.
“If we’re not 100 percent engaged, we’re not a very good team,” he said. “If we’re not giving our best effort and not communicating, we’re not very good. At our peak, we’re a really tough team. And the girls need to realize that we’re going to play a lot of tough games in the Northern Lakes Conference.”
Wawasee (6-10, 0-4 NLC) will play NorthWood (16-2, 4-0 NLC) on the road at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Garrett got off to a blistering start offensively – 5-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 from three-point range – en route to a 23-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Freshman Bailey Kelham, who recently set an Indiana freshmen girls’ record when she scored 45 in a single game, led the visitors with eight points in the period.
Although the Lady Warriors shot a respectable 43 percent from the floor in the first, they only mustered seven shots. A surplus of turnovers kept the team from keeping the score close in the period.
“Early turnovers were costly,” said Wawasee head coach Matt Carpenter. “On top of that, we gave them easy looks and they capitalized. They’re a good shooting team, and you have to give them credit for hitting those shots.”
According to Carpenter, the game plan was to keep Garrett from penetrating the paint and scoring inside with a zone. Although they were largely successful implementing this strategy in the first half, Garrett’s outside shooting forced them to revert to man-to-man.
“We had to pick our poison,” Carpenter said.
In the second, Wawasee cleaned up considerably; defensively; allowing only 10 points on 33 percent shooting. On the offensive side, they scored nine, making the score 33-16 at the half.
Although they cut down on turnovers in the third quarter, questionable shot selection resulted in Wawasee scoring only six points, allowing Garrett to push their lead to 22 by the end of the period.
Despite their deficit, Wawasee competed well in the fourth quarter. They scored 22, doubling their game output.
The comeback attempt was led by sophomore Jada Carter (seven points on 3-of-3 shooting) and junior Tate Cowan (10 points on 4-of-4 shooting). Tate also contributed two rebounds.
Sophomore Emily Haines, who contributed eight points and two three-pointers, led the team in rebounds with four.
Due to the absence of several key players, Wawasee’s short bench has resulted in Cowan seeing more playing time, and she has made the most of the opportunity.
“We’re thin right now, and a lot of girls have had to fill different roles,” said Carpenter. “Tate was put in a difficult situation where she wasn’t playing a lot as a junior, but she’s practiced very hard, improved her game, and she’s stepped up big lately as we’ve needed her.”
Carpenter continued on to describe Tate as both an incredibly smart player and “the ultimate teammate,” and he expects her to keep up her recent high level of play.
When talking about his team as a whole, Carpenter said that they needed to be 100 percent engaged to be competitive.
“If we’re not 100 percent engaged, we’re not a very good team,” he said. “If we’re not giving our best effort and not communicating, we’re not very good. At our peak, we’re a really tough team. And the girls need to realize that we’re going to play a lot of tough games in the Northern Lakes Conference.”
Wawasee (6-10, 0-4 NLC) will play NorthWood (16-2, 4-0 NLC) on the road at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
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