AKRON - A quick start in the first and second quarters Friday helped Warsaw's varsity girls basketball team finish off county rival Tippecanoe Valley.
Opening the game with an 11-0 run and the second stanza with a 10-0 spurt, the Lady Tigers never trailed as they beat the host Lady Vikings 64-43."I thought we came out with great intensity on the defensive end, and offensively we were ready to get after it," said Warsaw coach Michelle Harter, whose team improved to 2-0. "Valley threw a box-and-one at us and we were able to get it inside and find the open girl."
Warsaw, a team with four girls listed on the roster as 5-foot-10 or taller, took advantage of its height against Valley, a team with just two girls taller than 5-7.
Warsaw's frontline of junior Kayla Stout and senior Sarah Shilling dominated the game in the paint early, and then senior guard Kelci Freds found her outside shooting touch, helping the Lady Tigers improve to 42-3 in the all-time series with Valley.
Stout led Warsaw with 16 points and 10 rebounds. She scored nine of her points in the second quarter, as the Lady Tigers built a 20-point lead by halftime.
"Kayla Stout has been improving every day in practice," said Harter. "She really works hard day in and day out. Her footwork is getting so much better, and she's developing an outside shot. You can't leave her open."
Freds added 13 points and four steals, whie Shilling contributed 10 points. Sophomore frontliner Ryesha Jackson came off the bench and added six points and five rebounds in the 21-point win.
"If you take a look at our team, we're smaller," said Valley coach Gary Teel, whose team fell to 1-2. "We played the box-and-one on Kelci (Freds) and rotated over with a two-three zone.
We knew they were going to attack us inside and try and get Kate (Myers) in foul trouble. That was their master plan, to get the ball inside against our smaller players."
The Lady Tigers' plan worked, and it allowed them to shoot 23 of 51 (45 percent) from the field, while the Lady Vikings had trouble penetrating and were forced to shoot outside.
Valley finished the game 14 of 45 (31 percent) from the field and 4 of 17 (24 percent) from three-point range.
Warsaw made 5 of 7 three-point attempts and also cashed in at the charity stripe, making 13 of 16 free throws. Valley made 11 of 16 free throw attempts.
Senior Kaitlin Reichard and sophomore Creigh Ogle scored six points each for the Lady Tigers, while senior Kaelee Sands chipped in with four.
Five-foot-6 sophomore Staci Groom scored 13 of Valley's first 30 points and finished with a game-high 18 points.
Groom accounted for three of Valley's four made three-pointers.
"Staci is one of those kids that reminds me of a player like Kelci Freds when she was younger," said Teel. "She's a very heady player. As she gets experience, she's only going to get better. She's only a sophomore. This was just her third varsity game."
Senior Kate Myers, Valley's tallest player in the starting lineup at 5-10, chipped in with nine points and six rebounds, while junior Becky Minnick added six points and eight rebounds.
Senior Hannah Boggs and sophomore Tory Keirn finished with five points each for the Lady Vikings.
Valley had a chance to get the deficit under 10 points in the second quarter, but the Lady Tigers finished the half on a 10-1 run, giving them a 40-20 lead at the break.
"We made a nice run in the second quarter," said Teel. "We had possession and a chance to get their lead into single digits. And then we had three girls get in foul trouble, adn that took the wind out of our sails. Their lead went from 11 to 20 at the half."
Warsaw built its lead up to as much as 29, 64-35, in the fourth quarter.
In their season opener last Saturday at Huntington North, the Lady Tigers overcame a 20-point deficit to win in overtime.
Friday Warsaw proved it could build a big lead of its own and sustain it.
"We did a great job coming from behind last week," said Harter. "But tonight it was nice to get out to a lead and sustain it. I'm really proud of the girls' effort. We came out with good intensity tonight."
With the win, Warsaw became the first girls team to win the Golden Horseshoe.
In the 1940s, 50s and 60s, the 14 boys teams in Kosciusko County played for a Silver Horseshoe, a traveling trophy that helped build rivalries amongst the schools.
A board of county basketball enthusiasts has started the tradition again this season, as well as added the Golden Horseshoe for the girls teams to play.
The Golden Horseshoe will be on the line Friday as the Whitko Lady Wildcats come to the Tiger Den.
Valley will be in action again Nov. 28, hosting the Tippecanoe Valley Tournament, which features Knox, Munster and Noblesville.
Three-point goals - Warsaw 5 (Freds 3, Reichard 2), T. Valley 4 (Groom 3, Myers 1). Rebounds - Warsaw 38 (Stout 10), T. Valley 27 (Minnick 8). Turnovers - Warsaw 20, T. Valley 22. Fouls - Warsaw 17, T. Valley 14. Fouled out - none.
Records: Warsaw 2-0, T. Valley 1-2
JV - Warsaw 48, T. Valley 12
Warsaw - Jennifer Walker-Crawford 18, Madison Davis 12, Sarah Heagy 8, Lauren Burish 5, Brooke Kline 4, Courtney Stetzel 1
T. Valley - Megan Heinold 6, Danielle Bussard 2, Courtney Newsome 2, Connor Fraser 2
