Now ranked No. 5 in the state after Sunday’s Coaches Poll, the Warsaw girls basketball team looked to remain undefeated when hosting Fort Wayne Carroll at the Tiger Den Wednesday night. The Lady Tigers were able to score the ball at will, putting up a new program high for made threes in a game with 16 in 91-41 win to improve to 10-0.
“It’s not important if we go undefeated or how many games we win, but that we grow more connected to each other and continue to get better over the course of 22 games,” Warsaw head coach Lenny Krebs said. “We didn’t have this type of connection last year, and it showed in stretches. This team feeds off each other and the confidence is growing.”
A good chunk of Warsaw’s early shots came from distance, and outside of the opening bucket by Alexis Neely, the home side was having trouble knocking them down. The junior had the hot hand early, hitting a second to score the first six points for her team. Meanwhile, the Lady Chargers were doing their damage down low, hitting a majority of their shots in the paint to take an early lead.
The Lady Tigers went back in front on a three by Abbey Peterson off the bench, the fourth make from behind the line to begin the game for Warsaw. Peterson hit a second triple moments later to give her team a bit of breathing room, putting them up by six.
After the slow shooting start, the home side was now firing on all cylinders, with Peterson hitting her third straight to extend the lead even further. After a fourth triple by Abbey and another by Brooke Winchester, the Lady Tigers finally made their first two pointer of the night with a minute left in the first on a steal and score for Winchester.
“When we shoot that way, I think we’re tough to defend,” Warsaw head coach Lenny Krebs said after the game. “When we find a good balance both inside and out, we’re a problem to deal with.”
By now, Warsaw had fully taken control of the game. The blistering offense that has been so hard to stop all season long had done it again, putting up 29 in the first eight minutes to go up by 14.
They didn’t take their foot to begin the second quarter either. Brooke Zartman hit her second three of the night and followed it up with a layup after a steal to push the lead to 19, the biggest of the night so far.
Carroll continued struggling to find ways to stop the onslaught. The Lady Chargers tried doubling players, but that left Braylie Chastain wide open under the basket. She and her teammates would make the visitors pay with some perfect passes and easy layups. With a little under four minutes to go in the half, a pair of free throws by Joslyn Bricker made it a 20-point game.
That remained the status quo for the rest of the second quarter, but one last push by the Lady Tigers, and a corner three from Zartman in the final seconds, gave Warsaw a 24-point lead at the half.

    Warsaw junior Brooke Zartman hits a three-pointer during Wednesday night's home game against Carroll...Nieter

Outside of a three in the opening seconds of the third quarter, Warsaw had cooled off to begin the second half, scoring just three points two minutes into the period. The home side was still playing suffocating defense though, preventing Carroll from cutting into its lead. Eventually, the Lady Tigers got back on track, going up by 30 with five to go in the third.
At this point, Zartman, Peterson and Winchester were all in double figures scoring. A transition bucket for Zartman gave her 20 and extended the lead to 35 to initiate the running clock. Not long afterwards, Bricker joined the trio in double digits, and a Winchester three grew the lead to 40 now.
At the end of three quarters, the Lady Tigers had put up 81 points, tied for the most they scored in a full game last season. The Lady Chargers had 38.
Warsaw began the fourth quarter with mostly bench players on the court, aside from Neely, who became the fifth player from the home side to reach double figures in scoring. She checked out not long after reaching the mark.
The new five on the floor took its time with the basketball, burning out the final quarter, but not before adding 10 more points.
Zartman led all scorers with 22 points. Winchester had 18, Peterson added 15, Bricker 13 and Neely with eleven.
Warsaw (10-0) is at home against Plymouth Saturday night.
“We’re going to have to play well. It was a hard fought game tonight but now we need to focus on Plymouth,” Krebs said. “We can’t take that game lightly. We can’t be looking ahead to Columbia City next week and fall in the trap.”