NAPPANEE – The Warsaw Lady Tigers struggled shooting the ball Thursday night, making just 31 percent of their attempts in a Northern Lakes Conference game at NorthWood. The Lady Tigers did, however, find their touch at the free throw line, where they outscored the Lady Panthers 14-2 in a 35-29 win at The Pit. Warsaw improved to 19-3 overall and 5-2 in the NLC, while NorthWood fell to 15-9 and 4-3. The game was the regular season finale for both teams, as the 42nd annual state tournament starts Tuesday. The Lady Tigers, who were the first visiting team to win in the series since they did so in 2009, were 14 of 16 at the free throw line, making eight more charity tosses than NorthWood attempted. NorthWood finished the game 12 of 41 from the field overall, 3 of 16 from three-point range, and 2 of 6 at the line. Warsaw was 9 of 29 overall and 3 of 12 from the arc. The Lady Tigers trailed 11-10 after one quarter of play and 14-12 at halftime. Warsaw took a 19-18 advantage into the fourth quarter and outscored the hosts 16-11 in the final frame. Senior Dayton Groninger led Warsaw with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, while classmates Madi Graham and Page Desenberg chipped in with eight and six points, respectively. Groninger’s 15 points pushed her career total to 978. The Indiana Wesleyan University recruit is fifth on the Lady Tigers’ all-time scoring list. She entered Thursday’s game tied with 1991 graduate Liza Reed. Freshman Kaylee Patton and senior Kenzie Welk rounded out Warsaw’s scoring Thursday with four and two points, respectively. Sophomore Kenzie Bergman led the Lady Panthers with 11 points and six boards, while junior Savannah Feenstra and senior Taitlyn Trenshaw scored seven and six points, respectively. NorthWood won the JV game 37-35. Maddie Ryman and Kenzie Martz led Warsaw with eight points each, while Halle Shipp and Miah Holsclaw scored seven each. The Lady Tigers play Elkhart Memorial Wednesday in Class 4A Sectional 4 at Goshen High School. NorthWood plays Wawasee Tuesday in Class 3A sectional action at West Noble.
