Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
GOSHEN - The Warsaw Lady Tigers’ basketball is comprised of serious, full measure basketball players who took care of business in the IHSAA Class 4A sectional at Interra gym Friday night, eliminating a physical Elkhart Lions squad 65-40.
The win sets the stage for a rematch versus conference archrival, Northridge, whom Warsaw vanquished 43-32 January 10 in the Tiger Den.
The Tiger win that night was also the last time Junior Northridge transfer Reagan Huss competed on the floor, suffering an injury late in the fourth quarter resulting in nearly four weeks of recovery.
What better time than Friday night for Huss to dress for varsity action and take the immediate postseason plunge.
While casual observers might think the highlight of the 5’10” junior’s night might be a three-point basket in the fourth quarter: a perfectly timed rejoinder to 5’11” Elkhart junior Isis Robbins’s seven unanswered points bringing the Lions within eight points of the Class 4A #4 ranked lady Tigers, 40-32.
Huss’s trey at 7:00 in the final stanza, however, followed four assists she already dished. Usually, teenagers must get used to seeing the court, and the Lady Tigers’ silent assassin (3 points, 3 rebounds, one steal to boot – no pun intended - in 19 minutes) showcased her high basketball IQ.
Warsaw used the aforementioned trey to continue a 22-8 full measure run to bag the Lions, and advance to tonight’s tourney finals.
“Reagan Huss adds a dimension to our team we were lacking, obviously, while she was out,” Warsaw head coach Lenny Krebs noted. “People will take their chances with (Alexis) Neely shooting (threes) - and I’ll take them too… any day of the week. Reagan adds just one more perimeter shooter.
“It took 3 ½ to four weeks to come back. She looked comfortable, she looked good. It was fun to have her back.”
Krebs’s comment regarding Alexis Neely was another shout out to the team win.
The Huntington Forester’s signee’s catalytic start – 8 points including two three-point baskets put Warsaw ahead of Elkhart 15-3 the first quarter where Joslyn Bricker – Kosciusko County’s #2 all-time leading scorer – punctuated a 21-8 first quarter adding four of her game-high-tying 22 points.
The Tigers needed every early run they could muster because Elkhart gave the orange-and-black 2024-25 state runners-up one of its most physical contests this season.
“We knew it was gonna’ be physical. It’s tournament basketball,” Krebs said. “How physical can we be, instead of protesting (their) fouls? Elkhart did a good job of trapping us tonight. We were (landing) on the floor a lot (tonight) because of how physical they are. That’s a game you must win in the tournament.”
The Tigers had leads of 32-16 and 40-29 in the second and third respective quarters.
Kyra Kiser and Cayleigh Goheen anchored the boards and preyed on the Lions when they employed triangle-and-2 defensive schemes while they knocked Bricker when she drove the lane and denied Brooke Zartman the ball in the first half.
Warsaw’s D1-commit duo generated brutally effective alternatives to quash Elkhart’s best-laid plans.
The contact in the lane did not prevent Bricker from hitting all eleven of her free throws last night. Zartman, held to four first half points, found her range with three treys using her patented blink-speed catch-and-release that bespoke memory motion.
The Miami University signee’s 14 second half points (18 for the evening) – again an attention-getter to the casual observer – was punctuated by a fourth quarter leaping intercepted cross court pass smartly aimed at and caromed from an Elkhart Lion who had no idea what kind of basketball IQ she was challenging.
“Zartman doesn’t get credit for how intelligent she is, how crafty she is,” Krebs remarked. “She doesn’t credit for the defensive plays she makes because of her shooting. It’s an amazing thing to watch her craftiness.”
Lest we forget Kiser and Goheen. The duo grabbed five rebounds each, and Kiser caught Elkhart defenders off guard hitting all four of her inside scores with her left hand. The Lions, even co-scoring leader Shaniyah Stout (22 points) wasn’t prepared to defend.
Neely’s 12 points, and a solid inside move by Goheen for one bucket rounded out the Lady Tiger’s scoring.
The victors shot 55% in each half from the field, 50% beyond the arc, and only had seven turnovers in a contest that would be misperceived as otherwise sluggish due to its physicality from pillar to post.
The Lady Tigers will tip off at Goshen’s Interra Gym at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
