Wawasee sophomore KiLee Knafel had a perfect night, helping her team leave the Tiger Den with a 50-36 Northern Lakes Conference win in girls basketball action Saturday.
Scoring 21 points, Knafel finished the game 7 of 7 from the field and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line, propelling her Lady Warriors (8-1, 2-0 NLC) to the win over the Warsaw Lady Tigers (4-4, 1-1 NLC)."She is really working hard on being a complete player," Wawasee coach Kem Zolman said of Knafel, who also had two steals, an assist and a block. "In every game, she's adding a little more to her game. Whether it be rebounding or making some other people better."
With just one loss in nine games, the Lady Warriors have been led by Knafel and senior Jonna Wiggs, who scored 19 Saturday and hit five three-pointers.
"We just weren't mentally ready to play tonight," Warsaw coach Michelle Harter said.
"We talked about, 'Wiggs can shoot the ball. You need to know where she is,'" she added. "And how many times did we leave her open and she gets an open shot? It's just being mentally focused and ready to go. We just weren't tonight."
Warsaw showcased its unreadiness, with just 12 points in the opening half.
"The big thing was, we weren't finishing our shots," Harter said. "Our post players go 7 of 25 from the field, and they're getting shots in the lane. We just can't do that. We have got to finish. Yes, maybe you're getting bumped, but you have to go up strong. You have to try to shot fake and get them off-balance. We didn't hit our shots when we had openings."
On the whole, Warsaw hit just 11 of 46 shots (24 percent), 2 of 13 from behind the three-point arc. Things went a little better for Wawasee, which hit 19 of its 34 shots (56 percent).
"I'm just pleased with them at this point," Zolman said.
Capitalizing on Warsaw's poor shooting, Wawasee used a 10-3 run to push its lead to 36-21 at the end of the third quarter.
Warsaw sophomore Lindsay Baker did her best to get the Lady Tigers back into the game to open the fourth, making two steals and getting five points in the opening three minutes.
Following Baker's lead, Warsaw opened the fourth on a 8-0 run, cutting the gap to 36-29 with four minutes remaining.
Just as it seemed like turnovers caused by the Warsaw full-court press would do the Lady Warriors in, Wiggs banked in a three-pointer at the 3:06 mark, getting her team back on track.
"That really relieved a lot of pressure," Zolman said. "They did make a run at us and momentum was on their side. When she hit that three, it was like the balloon had all its air let out. That was a big shot by Jonna."
Wiggs' trey sparked a 10-3 run, capped by two made free throws by Knafel with 2:09 remaining in the game. The free throws were Wawasee's first of the night and came after Warsaw had already shot 21.
"We've got to be more aggressive attacking," Zolman said. "We kind of got caught up in the trapping stuff, instead of flat out attacking. When you attack, you'll get to the free throw line a little more."
The game ended up being a 14-point victory, but to Zolman, it seemed much closer than that.
"It seemed like a one-point game to me," he said. "They pressed us at a time when we had spent a lot of energy.
"It did look ugly there at the end, but you do have to give our girls an awful lot of credit for just hanging in there," he added. "I thought our defensive effort was exceptional. They pay attention to detail awfully well. We just had to be keenly aware of their shooters."
Warsaw was led by senior Kayla Stout and junior Sarah Heagy, who scored 10 points each, with Baker netting nine. Heagy also hauled in nine rebounds, while Baker had five rebounds, and three steals.
Warsaw will look to get back on track Tuesday against Triton at the Orthopaedic Capital Center on the campus of Grace College at 6 p.m..
Despite dwarfing the enrollment of Triton, Harter knows her team will need to come ready to play.
"They're going to play the same type of defense Wawasee did," Harter said about Triton. "Obviously, they're going to sag in the middle and put pressure on our post players. So, we're going to have to come out against Triton mentally ready to play the game."
The Lady Warriors host the Wawasee Shootout on Dec. 30, playing Brebeuf Jesuit at 11:30 a.m., followed by a 7:30 p.m. game against Class 3A No. 3 Norwell.
"I'm not going to count these kids out," Zolman said.
