Two of the top five girls basketball teams in the state met in Fort Wayne Tuesday night, with Warsaw traveling to take on Homestead. The home side led for the entirety of the game, coming up with big moment after big moment each time it looked like the Lady Tigers had an answer. The end result: Warsaw suffering its first loss of the season, 67-55.
“We went into this game with the mindset of if we can win it, great, but if we don’t, we need to be able to take a lesson from it,” head coach Lenny Krebs said. “We needed a game like this to challenge us and learn from. I’m just happy it happened now and not during the first week of February.”
Offense was on the menu early on, as each team hit their first two shots from the field. For Homestead, it was two shots from deep, while Warsaw hit a three of their own as well as added a layup. The defense for both teams wasn’t an issue during this stretch, rather the offenses were operating at a very high level. Three minutes in, the Lady Spartans led 8-7.
Brooke Winchester a force to be reckoned with for the Lady Tigers early on, using her size to control the boards as well as get some open looks near the basket. She was the only visitor to get into a rhythm early on though, scoring eight of her team’s first 10 points. Meanwhile, Homestead was getting its points from everywhere and was able to open up a seven-point lead.
The lead got as high as nine multiple times, and while Warsaw was able to cut it down to seven a couple of times, that’s where things stood after eight minutes with the Lady Spartans leading 23-14.
“I think we were ready to play tonight, we just didn’t execute,” Krebs said. “We turned it over a few too many times and were just not playing with our usual intensity.”
After a quick burst by the home team to extend their lead to double digits early in the second, the Lady Tigers finally started showing some signs of life. Using a quick 6-0 run, Warsaw was able to cut the deficit down to five and force the first Homestead timeout of the evening. Three different players scored during the run: Winchester, Alexis Neely and Kyra Kiser.
The Warsaw defense was the catalyst to this offense. Creating turnovers led to some easy transition baskets for the visitors, which in turn led to some frustration for the Lady Spartans. While Homestead remained in front, the momentum was slowly turning towards the visitors, as they were creeping closer and closer as time wore on.
That was until the final three minutes of the half, where the Lady Spartans were able to get it going offensively again. While Homestead got back to converting on some tough shots, the Lady Tigers were missing shots they had been making all season long. With a minute left in the quarter, the lead had been pushed to 10 once more. While Warsaw was able to cut into the lead before the buzzer sounded, the team still had a lot of work to do trailing 34-27 as they headed to the locker room.
Winchester had a monster first half for the Lady Tigers, scoring 15 points while grabbing a staggering 17 rebounds.
Back to back threes by Neely and Winchester early in the third quarter brought the visitors to within three with five minutes to go in the third. That’s as close as they would get for a while though, as Homestead had an answer once again for their opponent crawling closer.

    Junior Alexis Neely of Warsaw pulls up for a shot during Tuesday night's game at Homestead...Nieter

Not long after Warsaw had found itself in a one-possession game, the team suddenly found itself down by eleven once again with less than 10 minutes of game time remaining. The Lady Tigers were able to finish the quarter strong, and a pair of free throws by Joslyn Bricker at the very end of the third quarter made it a 48-41 game with just eight minutes to go.
A minute into the fourth, Brooke Zartman finally scored her first points of the night on a steal and score. She added a second layup not long afterwards, and with six minutes left, Warsaw was back within five. But, as had been the case all night long, a drought followed the outburst for Warsaw while the home side was able to get back on track to extend their lead once moreWhile the previous runs had been big ones that got the advantage back up to nine more more, this one wasn’t as backbreaking. With a little less than four minutes to go, the Lady Tigers trailed by four.
“When you’re trailing for the whole game, it can take a lot out of you. Instead of being the ones with the foot on the pedal, you’re the ones catching up. We’ve been on the other side in every game this season, and now we know how that feels,” Krebs said.
With a little over two minutes to go in the game, Homestead was able to come up with what felt like the dagger. A layup on one end followed by a block at the other led to an easy transition three for the team’s leading scorer Gabby Helsom. She’d convert on the opportunity to put the Lady Spartans up nine.
It would indeed be the final nail in the coffin, as Warsaw was unable to muster up one final run to steal a win on the road.
Winchester finished with 24 points and 21 rebounds. Bricker scored 12 and grabbed seven boards, while Neely added nine.
Warsaw (18-1) will host county rival Tippecanoe Valley Thursday night at the Tiger Den.