The Warsaw Lady Tigers started Northern Lakes Conference play Saturday with an impressive finish. In a high school girls basketball game at the Tiger Den, Warsaw and U.S. 30 rival Plymouth were deadlocked at 34-34 midway through the third quarter. The Lady Tigers took control from there, outscoring Plymouth 27-10 down the stretch and cruising to a 61-44 win. A year ago at this time, Warsaw beat Plymouth 51-39 to improve to 1-9 on the season. With a 17-point win Saturday, Warsaw is 9-1 overall and 1-0 in the NLC standings, while Plymouth fell to 8-3 and 1-1. “We talked to the girls at halftime and we made some adjustments, and they listened to those adjustments,” said Warsaw coach Michelle Harter, who notched her 125th career win. “I think in the third quarter when we went on that big run when it was 34-34, the girls really started to drop in our press where we wanted to drop and started guarding Plymouth’s shooters, letting other people look to beat us. “That’s something that the girls have been doing, listening and making those in-game adjustments, and that’s big from where we were last year.” Warsaw trailed 8-2 early Saturday but used a 12-0 run and later led 18-14 after one quarter of play. The teams were knotted 27-27 at halftime, and then were later tied 34-34 in the third quarter before the Lady Tigers went on their big run. Warsaw outscored Plymouth 34-17 in the second half. Making the win even more impressive was that it was absolutely a team victory. Standout Dayton Groninger got into some foul trouble, though she did finish with seven points, six rebounds and three assists. Her teammates certainly stepped up, more proof of why the Lady Tigers are 9-1 and winning games by an average of 14 points. Senior Madi Graham led the way with 17 points, making five treys and a pair of free throws, while senior Page Desenberg and sophomore Kaci Bragg scored 10 points each. Freshman Kaylee Patton chipped in with eight points, while senior Kenzie Welk scored six points. The Lady Tigers were 22 of 38 from the field overall, 7 of 17 from the arc, and 10 of 15 at the free throw line. “I’m extremely happy,” said Harter. “That’s the thing we’ve been preaching, and the thing I’ll continue to preach ... that team concept. It’s difficult to stop five people. And it’s nice to see the other girls step up when they have their opportunities to score. It’s easy to stop one person, but when you have five people out there than can hit a shot, that can attack the basket, it makes it difficult on defenses.” Plymouth finished the game 15 of 38 from the field overall, 7 of 18 from three-point range, and 7 of 14 at the charity stripe. The Lady Pilgrims were outrebounded 29-16. Junior Alli Andrews led Plymouth with 17 points, a performance that included five treys, while sophomores Halle Reichard and Cassidy Holiday scored 11 and eight points, respectively. The Lady Tigers host non-conference rival Columbia City Tuesday, and then play county and NLC foe Wawasee Saturday. Saturday’s contest is a home game for Warsaw, but will be played at the Hickory Gym in Knightstown, where the movie “Hoosiers” was filmed.
