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Second-year Warsaw girls basketball coach John Snyder said the defense his team threw at visiting DeKalb Tuesday evening "wasn't anything special." The Lady Tiger skipper said they "tried to keep it simple."
Complicated or simple, Warsaw's defense gave the Barons fits, and the host Tigers looked impressive both offensively and defensively in a 54-37 win over DeKalb in the Tiger Den.
"We didn't do anything special," said Snyder, whose team lost 52-50 to the Barons in the sectional semifinal last year. "We tried to keep it simple. We made smart plays and tried to help each other out. That's the mark of a good team."
DeKalb knotted the game at 26-all with a deep three-pointer by senior Kara Boester that just beat the halftime buzzer.
Warsaw then outscored the Barons 14-3 in the third quarter and 14-8 in the fourth quarter en route to the 17-point win.
The Tigers finished the game with 11 steals and forced DeKalb into 16 total turnovers.
Warsaw, on the other hand, had just nine turnovers in the contest and finished the game with nine assists as a team.
In the season opener against Huntington North, a game Warsaw lost 56-51 after giving up a six-point lead in the third quarter, the Tigers appeared out of sync.
Since then, Snyder said, his players have commited themselves to working harder and their effort has showed on the court.
In their last three games, the Tigers have beat Tippecanoe Valley by 24, beat Crown Point by 16 and beat DeKalb, last year's sectional champion, by 17.
"Number 1, Huntington North is a very good team," said Snyder. "Secondly, the girls made a commitment to work harder in practice. It's something I felt, but not something I had to say to them. They made that decision. They wrote it on the board and our practices have been better since."
Through three games, senior point guard Julie Seiss averaged 19 points per game.
Tuesday against DeKalb, the Butler-bound, four-year starter took just four shots in the first half and scored a mere two points through the first 16:46 of the game.
The Tigers didn't need Seiss to score a bunch of points, as Warsaw showed off a balanced scoring attack, a performance coaches would call a total team effort.
Eleven Lady Tigers got playing time Tuesday.
Seven of them scored, with six of them scoring at least six points.
Warsaw finished the game 23 of 47 (48.9 percent) from the field, made 7 of 8 (87.5 percent) free throws and commited just nine turnovers.
The Tigers were 13 of 21 from the field in the second half and had just two turnovers in the final 16 minutes of play.
"We made some adjustments at halftime," said Snyder, whose team is now 3-1 on the season. "We were incredibly efficient and got good looks at the basket. That's probably the best half of basketball we've played."
Warsaw started the third quarter with a 12-1 run that turned a 26-all score at the half into a 38-27 lead.
DeKalb didn't score a field goal in the third quarter until Courtney Beerbower hit a basket with 46 seconds remaining in the frame.
The Tigers followed their strong third-quarter performance by starting the fourth quarter on a 10-0 run.
It took DeKalb, a team that entered the game with a 4-0 record, more than six minutes to put any points on the board in the fourth quarter.
The Barons finished the game 14 of 37 from the field, 4 of 12 from three-point range, and were outrebounded 30-22.
"This was a really nice win," said Snyder. "Anytime you can come out and play like we did in the last half, that says a lot about where we are and where we can still go."
Seiss scored 10 points in the second half to lead the Tigers in scoring with 12 points. She also had six rebound, four steals and three assists.
Senior Jennifer Scherer had 10 points, while classmate Tasia Smith continues to get more involved as the season goes along. She finished Tuesday's game with nine points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Senior Amy Abbitt added seven points, while junior Danielle DeGeeter and sophomore Kate Denlinger scored six points each. Senior Katie Logan and sophomore Carlye Snider rounded out the Warsaw scoring with two points each.
Beerbower led DeKalb with 12 points, while Boester scored nine and Lauren Kelley seven.
The Tigers are in action again Friday when they host Class 2A No. 7 Manchester.
"I'm excited about Friday," said Snyder. "It should be a good game for the fans. They're an excellent squad. They're close (in location). Hopefully it'll be a good experience for both teams."
WARSAW 54, DEKALB 37
DeKalb 13 13 3 8 - 37
Warsaw 8 18 14 14 - 54
DeKalb FG FT R S Pts.
* Feller 0-3 0-0 2 1 0
* Macy 2-6 0-0 4 3 4
* Dnldsn 1-7 0-0 2 0 2
* Boester 3-5 1-2 3 2 9
* Beerbower 5-8 2-3 6 0 12
Kelley 2-6 2-4 2 1 7
Snyder 1-1 0-0 1 0 3
Hipskind 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Polich 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Team 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 14-37 5-9 22 7 37
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* DeGeeter 3-7 0-0 2 2 6
* Abbitt 3-4 0-0 3 1 7
* Seiss 5-11 2-2 6 4 12
* Scherer 5-9 0-0 2 1 10
* Smith 3-8 3-4 9 2 9
Denlinger 2-2 2-2 3 0 6
Tat 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Clay 0-1 0-0 1 1 0
Snider 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Wood 0-3 0-0 0 0 0
Logan 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Team 0-0 0-0 3 0 0
Totals 23-47 7-8 30 11 54
Three-point goals - DeKalb 4-12 (Boester 2-4, Kelley 1-2, Snyder 1-1, Feller 0-2, Macy 0-1), Warsaw 1-7 (Abbitt 1-1, DeGeeter 0-2, Seiss 0-1, Scherer 0-1, Smith 0-1, Wood 0-1). Turnovers - DeKalb 16, Warsaw 9. Fouls - DeKalb 13, Warsaw 11. Fouled out - none.
JV - Warsaw 36, DeKalb 26
Warsaw scoring - Davis 8, Reichard 7, Timmons 4, Tat 4, Clark 4, Albertson 4, Ogle 2, Park 2, VanDeWater 1
