SOUTH WHITLEY – The Whitko boys basketball team's nine total fouls and nine turnovers didn't make Wednesday's home game look like a season opener, but the play of all but two players did. In a 61-41 season-opening loss to the Columbia City Eagles (1-0), the Class 3A No. 8 Whitko Wildcats (0-1) got 20 points from senior Logan Irwin and nine from junior Alex Stoddard while the less experienced players combined to net 11. "They were scared," Whitko coach Rob Irwin said about the players who are seeing more minutes following the loss of so many players from last year. "(Sophomore) Keaton (Irwin) played really well Saturday (in the scrimmage), but there also wasn't a sold out gym. He was so nervous. He couldn't even catch a ball. Same with (junior) Trey (Weber) and (junior) Gabe (Powell). The game is so much faster. It's going to take these guys a while, but the good thing is, I think we have two, maybe three, really good players. Alex and Logan are going to be solid. (Senior) Kolten (Krull) is going to get there soon. He just needs to mount minutes and we need to feed him the ball." The 6-foot-9 Krull did score four points, but only got three shots, while bringing in a team-high seven rebounds. As Rob Irwin is trying to get new players more comfortable with playing time, Columbia City coach Chris Benedict doesn't have that problem. While Whitko has two returnees with significant playing time, Columbia City lost just two players from last year's team that was three points shy of making the Class 3A state championship game. "Columbia City's as good a high school team there is around — I guarantee you," the Whitko coach said. "Four of their starters played AAU together and they won a lot of tournaments with a lot of great teams. It's not like you're playing a team that can't play." The Eagles' balance was on display as junior Derek Hinen netted 18, followed by junior Daniel Woll's 17, junior Drew Benedict's 12 and Huntington North move-in junior Austin Paul's eight. "They're a year older, they're a little stronger and they look a little quicker," Chris Benedict said about his team. "The biggest thing I saw tonight was, defensively, they were more solid. And, offensively, they're just a lot more solid." Early in the second quarter, Whitko was within three points 16-13, but the Eagles responded with a three-pointer by Paul, followed by back-to-back treys from Drew Benedict, igniting a 23-2 run that resulted in a 39-15 lead with five minutes remaining in the third. During the spurt the Eagles hit five three-pointers, but also began to pick the Wildcats' defense apart with back-door moves. "Our ball movement was really good throughout the entire game," Chris Benedict said. "With only eight turnovers in game No. 1, you have to be pretty pleased with that, but at the same time, we have to make sure we take good shots. When we do that, I like our balance." Hinen gave Whitko fits with his ability to get into the lane, as he also finished with six rebounds and five assists, but the inside-outside game of Woll was an even bigger problem. Woll had the best all-around game of the night, scoring his 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting, while also posting nine rebounds, five assists, four blocked shots and a steal. "Daniel's a nice, versatile player for us," Chris Benedict said. "He can go inside and outside. He can get it on the perimeter and drive by guys. I thought he had some nice post moves with good patience." The Eagles had the balanced scoring, but for Whitko, it was the program's leading scorer Logan Irwin, although it wasn't all easy, hitting 7 of 21 field goals and making all four of the Wildcats' free throws. "I thought (senior Brandon) Gay did a good job on Logan," Chris Benedict said. "Logan gets 20, but he really worked for all 20 of them." Logan Irwin came out hitting three of his first five shots, giving Whitko a 7-5 lead midway through the first quarter, but the sledding got more difficult from that point. "We really didn't play bad the first half," Rob Irwin said. "We got impatient offensively. Logan tried to go pretty fast, which is what's going to be. He's going to have to do that, but yet, he has to make them too." Despite the 0-1 start, Rob Irwin was able to put the loss in perspective, knowing he lost to a very good Eagles team and knowing he has a lot of inexperience. However, things don't get much easier as his team's next game is Dec. 2 at Norwell (1-0). "This group is going to win a lot of games, it's just going to take a while to do it," he said. The Eagles are back on the hardwood Saturday, hosting the Warsaw Tigers (1-0), a team they've lost to five-straight times, having not won since a 50-44 victory on Nov. 26, 2005 in Columbia City. "Typically against Warsaw, we have to rebound the ball," Chris Benedict said. "Tonight, we rebounded well and kind of sustained it through the third quarter, but it got away from us a little in the end. But I liked the way we rebounded the ball. If we can do that against Warsaw, it will give us a good shot."
COLUMBIA CITY 61, WHITKO 41 C 16 14 18 13 – 61 W 9 6 11 15 – 41 CC – Drew Benedict 4-10 0-0 12, Derek Hinen 9-13 0-0 18, Brandon Gay 1-1 0-0 3, Daniel Woll 8-15 0-2 17, Austin Paul 3-6 0-0 8, Jared Murphy 1-2 0-0 3, Drew Burnsworth 0-0 0-0 0, Tristan Wright 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Rethlake 0-3 0-0 0, Jacob Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Jonathon Simmons 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-50 0-2 61. Whitko – Logan Irwin 7-21 4-4 20, Alex Stoddard 4-12 0-0 9, Trey Weber 0-3 0-0 0, Gabe Powell 0-0 0-0 0, Kolten Krull 2-3 0-0 4, Keaton Irwin 0-2 0-0 0, Jordan Sims 1-5 0-0 3, Colin Nicodemus 1-4 0-0 3, Stephen Bennett 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 16-51 4-4 41. Three-point goals – CC 9-20 (Benedict 4, Paul 2, Gay, Woll, Murphy), Whitko 4-16 (L. Irwin, Stoddard Sims, Nicodemus); Team Fouls – CC 9, Whitko 9; Turnovers – CC 8, Whitko 9; Rebounds – CC 27 (Woll 9), Whitko 22 (Krull 7); Assists – CC 14 (Hinen 5, Woll 5), Whitko 5 (L. Irwin 4); Steals – CC 4, Whitko 1; Blocks – CC 6 (Woll 4), Whitko 1; Records: CC 1-0, Whitko 0-1. JV – CC 35, Whitko 14 Whitko – Dylan Cumberland 6, Seth Patrick 2, Derek Miller 2, Tyler Hinora 2, Bennett 2
