DUNLAP - Second-year Warsaw girls basketball coach Michelle Harter admitted she was at a loss for words Saturday night.
The Lady Tigers' 42-31 loss to No. 7 Elkhart Memorial in the championship game of Class 4A Sectional 4 at Concord High School was disappointing, and not so much because they played bad, but because they couldn't get their shots to fall."The girls came out and executed what we needed to do defensively," said Harter. "But if someone had said that our shots weren't going to fall and we were going to shoot 36 percent from the floor, I wouldn't have believed it."
Warsaw, which held Memorial to its second-lowest scoring total of the season, got good looks at the basket, but couldn't get its shots to fall.
There were shots in the paint the didn't drop.
There were three-pointers that rimmed in and out.
The Lady Tigers, who entered the game averaging 60 points per game and 48 percent from the field, finished Saturday's sectional championship game 11 of 31 from the field overall and 2 of 7 from three-point range.
"The girls executed the game plan," said Harter. "Defensively, we held them to 42 points. Offensively, we had open looks, the shots just didn't fall. We had plenty of opportunities. If a few of those shots fall, maybe things are a little different."
As it is, the Lady Tigers finished the season with a 16-6 record, the most wins for a Warsaw girls basketball team since 2004.
This season also marked the first Northern Lakes Conference championship since 2004.
"We talked about putting Lady Tiger Basketball back on the map," said Harter. "The girls worked hard all season. Winning the sectional was one of our goals, and we really believed we could win."
In a low-scoring first half with little stoppage in play, Memorial led 6-4 after the first quarter and 15-11 at halftime.
The Lady Crimson Chargers opened the third quarter with a 10-2 run and led by as many as 13, 28-15, when sophomore Brionna Barnett hit a three-pointer with 3:31 to play in the period.
The Lady Tigers cut the deficit to six, 37-31, when senior Kaelee Sands scored with 1:33 remaining in the game.
Those were the final points Warsaw scored, however, and Memorial iced the game with free throws down the stretch.
With the 11-point win, Memorial improved to 23-2. The Crimson Chargers have won seven consecutive sectional titles.
"It neve does get old," said Memorial coach Larry Fielstra. "It feels like I say that every year. We've got a great group of kids, they're a pleasure to work with, and to see them get rewarded like this is a lot of fun."
Memorial will play South Bend Clay (21-4) at 1 p.m. EST Saturday in the Valparaiso Regional. Munster (15-8) and the winner of the Valparaiso Sectional will square off in the first semifinal game.
Valparaiso and Merrillille square off in the championship game of the Valparaiso Sectional tonight.
Memorial is looking for its second regional championship in program history. The Lady Crimson Chargers last won a regional title in 1993.
In the win over Warsaw, senior Jada Buggs, who will play in the Big Ten for the Wisconsin Badgers, led Memorial with 20 points and eight rebounds.
"She's a big-time player," Fielstra said of Buggs. "She does so much for us, inside and outside. She was excellent tonight. There isn't another player who's won more game in the history of our program."
Buggs finished the game 8 of 9 from the field and 4 of 5 from the free throw line.
Junior Akyah Taylor and Barnett, both of whom are getting Division I looks, scored eight points each for Memorial.
For Warsaw, senior Kelci Freds was the only player in double figures with 12 points.
Freds finished her career with 959 points, leaving her four points behind 1991 graduate Liza Reed and as the seventh-highest scorer in Lady Tiger Basketball history.
Freds hit progam records this season with eigth three-pointers in a game, 60 in a season and 180 in a career.
Freshman Linsday Baker, senior Sarah Shilling and Sands scored five points each for the Lady Tigers.
Saturday's loss was the final game for eight Warsaw seniors - Kaitlin Reichard, Danielle Tat, Cendall Ogle, Beth Plummer, Amber Plummer, Freds, Sands and Shilling.
"We lose eight seniors," said Harter. "We've got big shoes to fill. I'm looking forward to the young kids stepping up and taking over."
ELKHART MEMORIAL 42, WARSAW 31
EM 6 9 15 12 - 42
W 4 7 12 8 - 31
Memorial - Branesha Bonner 2-5 0-0 4, Haley King 0-3 2-3 2, Brionna Barnett 3-11 0-0 8, Monica Jones 0-3 0-0 0, Akyah Taylor 4-6 0-0 8, Lindsey Shoup 0-0 0-0 0, Lisa Parsons 0-0 0-0 0, Jada Buggs 8-9 4-5 20. Totals 17-37 6-8 42.
