Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE - Wawasee head coach Jerry Davis knew what had to be done. It is almost too simple when you play Whitko. Stop Zach Henson from turning in a huge game and the chance of beating the Wildcats increases.
There is one problem though. Stopping Henson is often more difficult than it sounds. But Wawasee did a solid job holding down Henson's scoring opportunities.
However, the Warriors forgot about the other side of the ball. Henson haunted Wawasee defensively with nine rebounds and six blocks as Whitko went into the Wawasee gym and came out with a victory 60-49.
Wawasee can not simply place the blame on Henson for the loss, however. The Warriors can fault themselves for scoring just 49 points.
As a team, Wawasee made just 16 baskets and shot 27 percent from the floor. Ryan Mikel alone missed one more shot than the entire team made. He was 4 of 21 shooting. Add that to Jay Haugh's 3 of 15 outing and Wawasee's two leading scorers combined to shoot 19 percent.
"You're not going to play the people that we play," Davis said, "and shoot 30 percent and beat that many people. It's disappointing at this point in the year."
Over the first 12 minutes of the game, Whitko built a 23-16 lead due to the Warriors poor shooting and their own team play. The Wildcats took their first double-digit lead of the game with three minutes left in the half on a Corey Green jumper.
Mikel came back with four consecutive points for Wawasee to get the Warriors to within seven. The lead was still seven points at the break, 31-24.
Henson had only six points in the opening 16 minutes, but he created havoc inside with five blocks, and had Mikel frustrated.
"Part of that was Ryan altering his own shot," Davis said. "Henson blocked a couple of his shots and he had a difficult time shooting the basketball."
For Whitko, Green and Ben Mohr combined to shoot 6 of 6 in the first half with 13 points.
"We had other kids (than Henson) hitting baskets," Whitko coach Dave Henson said. "Ben can shoot the ball. That's what he's out there for, to shoot it and pass it. He's an excellent passer."
In the third quarter, Wawasee fell behind by 13 points but cut back into the lead and got to within nine going into the final period.
"At that point, everything we had tried hadn't worked," Davis said. "So, you start looking for new answers, and you start making up your own stuff. That didn't work very well for us either, and it won't."
Over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, Wawasee got just a single basket from Brody Stipp and found themselves down 15 points. Then it became a free throw shooting contest and Whitko knocked them down over the final three minutes to hold on for the win.
Henson led all scorers with 22 points, but scored just 11 through three quarters. Eboka Mullins came off the bench to get five points and eight rebounds.
"We played really well as a team tonight," Coach Henson said. "We had great contribution off the bench. We started two sophomores, two juniors, and a senior. They responded and played hard."
After defeating Triton Saturday night, this was a letdown for Wawasee.
"This is as poor as we've played in a long time," Davis said. "Especially given the performances we've had in the last two weeks. Sometimes when you're struggling, you look to your leaders to help you out. Sometimes they do, and tonight ours didn't."
