Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
COLUMBIA CITY - After Mike Ditka's New Orleans Saints won their first football game, Ditka announced in his weekly Monday afternoon press conference no matter what the league thought, he and his players considered themselves 1-0.
The 0-3 start? The Saints threw those games out. Sorry, NFL. You just have to live with it.
Tuesday night, Will Wienhorst found a basketball game he wants to throw out. The Warsaw Tiger girls basketball team lost to No. 9 (4A) Columbia City 45-38.
Two numbers -Ê3 and 20 - riled Wienhorst. Warsaw went to the free-throw line three times; Columbia City went 20. Warsaw made one; Columbia City made 13.
"Three to 20, that's the ball game right there," he said. "I've never in my life been in a game where it was three to 20."
So?
"This game means nothing to us."
Columbia City improved to 7-1, while Warsaw fell to 5-3. The Tigers' three losses have come to arguably their best opponents so far: to Crown Point, Huntington North and Columbia City.
Outside of the free throws, Wienhorst believed his players followed the game plan.
Columbia City came in averaging 65 points per game; the Eagles scored 45 against Warsaw, which tried to lower the number of possessions to avoid a shootout.
The Eagles were shooting 52 percent from the field before the Warsaw game; they hit just 44 percent of their shots (15 of 34) against the Tigers.
With only one girl - 6-foot-1 Sam Wideman - as a consistent threat from the perimeter, the Tigers win basketball games by getting the ball inside to people like 5-10 Tiffany Ross, 6-2 Katie Elliott and 5-11 Jackie Edwards.
Wienhorst felt the Tigers did what they were supposed to do and got the ball to those people. Problem was, he felt they were hindered once the ball got there. Ross and Elliott combined to take seven shots the first half.
They made zero.
"I don't know how a team can block as many shots as (Columbia City) did and not foul," Wienhorst said. "I tell you, I am frustrated by the officiating. It was 16-11 (Columbia City) at halftime. We got the shots where we wanted them, but I tell you, Katie Elliott and Tiffany Ross were both killed in there."
Like Warsaw, Columbia City's strength is its inside game, not its perimeter game. The Eagles' leading scorers coming in were forwards Erica Schory (18.6) and Connie Myers (14.0). Using a zone defense, Warsaw packed upped the middle and kept the two girls away from the basket the first half, holding each to four points.
The two girls were much more active and found ways to get open in the second half. Schory scored 13 to finish with 17, and Myers scored 11 to finish with 15. Columbia City scored 29 points the second half; Schory and Myers had 24 of them.
The two girls got the ball inside. Once they got it there, they either made it or went to the free-throw line. Schory hit 7 of 8 free throws the second half, while Myers made 3 of 6.
In the first 26 minutes, the Eagles made 4 of 8 free throws; they made 9 of 12 in the last six minutes, after they had taken a 36-25 lead.
"We were able to get the ball inside and get some fouls late," Columbia City coach Wayne Kreiger said. "I know with the foul disparity, (Warsaw) people will look at that. But that's part of our game plan. We average over 25 free throws a game."
Free throws or no free throws, Warsaw still had its chances. A Sherri Ross basket trimmed Columbia City's lead to 40-36 with two minutes left. The Eagles got the ball and stalled until Myers was fouled with 55 seconds left. She made one of two free throws to stretch the lead to 41-36.
The Tigers trailed by five. Twenty-five seconds drained off the clock. They scored nothing.
The Eagles knocked the ball out of bounds with 30 seconds left. When Sherri Ross attempted to lob an inbounds pass to the middle, Columbia City guard Marissa Cook stole the ball.
Schory hit two free throws that possession to make it 43-36 with 26 seconds left.
Warsaw trailed by seven. This time the Tigers ran 15 seconds off the clock before Wideman attempted the first shot. She missed. Tiffany Ross got the putback to make it 43-38 with eight seconds to go.
Schory then sealed the deal with two free throws with six seconds left, making the final 45-38.
Wideman led Warsaw with 13 points, while Tiffany Ross added 10. While Wienhorst agonized over Columbia City's 20 trips to the free-throw line, he acknowledged that wasn't the lone reason Warsaw lost.
"We got the shots we wanted," he said. "We just missed a lot of easy shots."
Wienhorst, realizing that who wins the Columbia City/Warsaw girls basketball game is always a big to-do - when the Tigers have lost in the Warsaw Sectional, Columbia City is usually the culprit - played spin doctor after the game.
"I know people look at this as a big game," he said. "I look at it as a game we can improve on.
"We're the type of team where we need to go to the line to be successful. That didn't happen tonight."
Warsaw (5-3) hosts Plymouth Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
