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The very thing first-year Warsaw girls basketball coach John Snyder told his assistants Carroll would have to do to beat his Tigers Thursday night, the visiting Chargers were able to accomplish.
"I told the coaches last night (Wednesday) the only way Carroll beats us is if Carroll shoots better," said Snyder. "I thought we were a better team, Carroll just shot better."
Carroll certainly shot better, hitting 50 percent of their field goal attempts while Warsaw shot just 33 percent from the field for the game, yet the Tigers lost just 45-40 and were in the game until the waning seconds.
Despite their poor shooting performance, the Tigers trailed by just two, 42-40, with 34 seconds remaining.
Charger senior Marie Petrie cashed in two charity tosses with 34.2 seconds remaining for a four-point lead, and then junior Amanda Reese hit the first of a two-free throw opportunity with six-tenths of a second left to account for the final score.
The Tigers, who own a 3-2 record against Carroll in what has become a somewhat intense rivalry since the series started three years ago, were just 15 of 45 from the field, 2 of 13 from three-point range and 8 of 15 from the free throw line.
"We just didn't shoot well," said Snyder, whose team trailed by nine in the first quarter before trimming Carroll's advantage to one, 32-31, going into the fourth quarter. "Our offense never really got in the flow tonight. To play as bad as we did, and for Carroll to play as good as they did, we still had a chance to win it."
The five-point loss dropped the Tigers to 11-7 on the season.
Carroll, which had two players suspended at the beginning of the season for disciplinary reasons, has now won seven straight games and improved to 11-6 on the year.
The Chargers finished the game 17 of 34 from the field.
Though disappointed with the loss, Snyder said afterward he was happy about the way his players battled, considering the way they struggled shooting the ball.
The Tigers and Chargers could meet again in the sectional, something that has happened in each of the past two seasons.
Two years ago, Carroll beat Warsaw in the opening round of the state tournament, finishing the Tigers' season at 21-2. Last year, Carroll's season ended with a 20-3 record and a five-point loss to the Tigers in the sectional championship.
The draw for this year's state tournament is scheduled for Sunday. Both Warsaw and Carroll play in the Class 4A Columbia City Sectional with DeKalb (14-4), Columbia City (11-7) and East Noble (6-11).
"In the grand scheme of things, we know we played this poorly against one of the teams that will be favored to win the sectional and we still had a chance to win," said Snyder. "I don't expect to play this poorly in the sectional. I think this is a good game to learn from."
The Tigers trailed 12-3 in the first quarter, 23-18 at halftime and took a 27-25 lead when junior point guard Julie Seiss hit a three-pointer with 4:02 remaining in the third quarter.
The teams traded baskets from that point of the game until Petrie's free throws gave the Chargers their four-point lead with 34.2 seconds remaining.
Petrie led the Chargers with a game-high 14 points, while Kelley Meiklejohn and Amanda Reese scored eight points each, Holace Yoder seven and Kristin Sloffer two. Kristin Barry rounded out the Chargers' scoring with two points off the bench.
Senior Rebekah Reichard led Warsaw with 13 points and nine rebounds, while junior Danielle DeGeeter had 11 points.
Seiss, now 60 points away from the 1,000-point plateua for her career, finished with seven points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists. Jennifer Scherer scored four points off the bench, while Amy Abbitt scored three and Tasia Smith and Mallory Hepler one point each.
Warsaw is in action again Saturday at Northern Lakes Conference opponent NorthWood.
CARROLL 45, WARSAW 40
Carroll 12 11 9 13 - 45
Warsaw 7 11 13 9 - 40
Carroll FG FT R S Pts.
* Reese 3-3 2-3 4 2 8
* Petrie 4-6 4-7 4 2 14
* Yoder 2-8 2-2 5 0 7
* Sloffer 3-5 0-0 2 1 6
* M'john 4-7 0-0 2 2 8
Maples 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Norris 0-1 0-0 0 1 0
Barry 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Spicer 0-3 0-0 2 1 0
Ford 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Team 0-0 0-0 7 0 0
Totals 17-34 8-12 28 10 45
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* DeGeeter 4-9 3-5 0 2 11
* Abbitt 1-3 0-0 1 1 3
* Seiss 3-17 0-1 6 4 7
* Reichard 6-12 1-1 9 1 13
* Hepler 0-0 1-2 3 1 1
Scherer 1-3 2-2 3 0 4
Clay 0-1 0-2 2 1 0
Smith 0-0 1-2 0 0 1
Team 0-0 0-0 3 0 0
Totals 15-45 8-15 27 10 40
Three-point goals - Carroll 3-9 (Petrie 2-3, Yoder 1-6), Warsaw 2-13 (Seiss 1-8, Abbitt 1-2, DeGeeter 0-3. Turnovers - Carroll 16, Warsaw 14. Fouls - Carroll 15, Warsaw 14. Fouled out - none.
JV - Warsaw 41, Carroll 26
