SYRACUSE - Facing the No. 1 girls basketball team in Class 3A, the Goshen Redskins had 38 turnovers and 21 points.
With those kind of stats, the Redskins (1-5) didn't have a chance against the Wawasee Warriors (7-0) Friday in Syracuse, losing 63-21."Right now, we're probably playing at a pretty good level," Wawasee coach Kem Zolman said. "Tonight, we played several kids who are starting to feel comfortable in certain situations. It's a nice thing to have. We have some depth. I think we're just about where we want to be midway through the season."
In the first Northern Lakes Conference game for both squads, the Warriors were feeling pretty comfortable pretty fast.
Forcing 10 turnovers in the first four-and-a-half minutes of the game, Wawasee ended the first quarter with a 16-0 lead. At the end of the half, the home team's advantage had swollen to 37-5.
So with that lead, what was the Warriors' second-half game plan?
"Up 37-5 at halftime, we told them, 'Now it's 37-37, and these first three minutes are very, very important to come out and set the tone,'" Zolman said. "That's very difficult to do as a player. To look at that score, and come out with that same intensity."
Playing with mainly second- and third-stringers in the second half, the Warriors still outscored the Redskins 26-16, resulting in the 42-point win.
Six days after almost being upset by Class 1A's then-No. 8 Fort Wayne Canterbury, Zolman wanted to see his girls come out with intensity that lacked in that contest.
"The one thing we really wanted to improve on, that I didn't think we did too well last week, was to come in with a purpose for why we are here," he said. "That was really our main emphasis all week long in practice.
"I didn't think we took Canterbury very seriously," Zolman added. "I thought Canterbury presented us with as good of play, and a player, as we've played against. We didn't take that very seriously."
Against Goshen, senior Taylor Goshert led the scoring with 17 points, while also recording five steals.
Zolman also got eight points a piece from senior Kylee Ort and junior reserve Lauren Tait, but it was 6-foot freshman Lakin Bowen's 10 points which he may have liked most.
Throughout the second half, Bowen was fed the ball repeatedly, trying to get her comfortable with the varsity game.
"Right now, our (seniors) have played for three years without a post player like Lakin," Zolman said. "We've had some post players, don't get me wrong. It's a matter that, they were already here. Now, they're older and they have to get confidence in the young player. Until you get confidence, you wonder, 'Am I going to throw it in there or not. Is she going to throw it away, cough it up or what are you going to do?'"
In the fourth quarter, Bowen hit 3 of 5 shots for seven points.
Also getting additional time on the court was slender sophomore 6-footer Amy Walker.
Over and over again, Zolman could be heard shouting out instruction to Walker, seemingly trying to get her confidence up, as well as her intensity.
In both cases, Zolman would like the two young players to fall into a bigger comfort zone as the season moves along.
"Lakin is progressing, and Amy's getting confidence back," he said. "Lakin's slowing down enough that when she gets it she's making the moves we see everyday in practice."
Winning their first seven games by an average of 27 points, the Warriors are at South Bend Adams tonight at 6:15 p.m., before traveling to Warsaw and playing in the tough Hall of Fame Classic Dec. 29 in New Castle.
"We're going to get into the Hall of Fame Classic and we have Warsaw next week," Zolman said of the upcoming schedule. "We're just about done preparing. We're getting real serious here."
WAWASEE 63, GOSHEN 21
G 0 5 8 8 - 21
W 16 21 8 18 - 63
Wawasee - A. Ort 2 1-4 5, K. Ort 4 0-0 8, McAdams 1 2-4 5, Goshert 6 4-4 17, Rondeau 0 0-0 0, McDaniel 0 0-0 0, Walker 1 0-0 2, Tait 3 2-2 8, Land 0 0-0 0, Woodard 2 2-2 6, Bowen 4 2-3 10, Wiggs 0 0-0 0, Allen 0 2-2 2. Totals 23 15-21 63.
