In a rescheduled Northern Lakes Conference battle, Warsaw’s varsity girls basketball team delayed what would have been yet another milestone in the Hall of Fame career of NorthWood coach Steve Neff. Led by an 18-point, 13-rebound performance from senior Nikki Grose, the Warsaw Lady Tigers beat the Lady Panthers 47-44 in overtime Monday night, keeping Neff from reaching his 650th career win. Neff, who is retiring at the end of the season, is currently the all-time winningest girls basktball coach in state history. In his 37th season, Neff sports a career record of 649-180. He is two wins ahead of Scottsburg’s Donna Cheatham, who is in her 39th season as a head coach. To go with Grose’s double-double, Warsaw got nine points from senior Brooklyn Harrison, eight points from junior Jodie Carlson and seven from senior Eryn Leek. The contest featured two ties and three lead changes, and with the win Warsaw improved to 9-9 overall and 4-2 in the NLC. The Lady Tigers have won seven of their last nine games. NorthWood fell to 15-5 overall and 4-2 in the NLC. The Lady Panthers have lost seven of their last 10 meetings with Warsaw and now trail 23-17 in the all-time series. The Lady Tigers, who led by as many as eight points, led 12-11 after one quarter of play, 24-20 at halftime and 28-24 at the end of the third. The teams were tied 37-37 headed into the four-minute overtime. Warsaw shot 39 percent from the field and outrebounded NorthWood 38-24. The Lady Tigers, however, had to overcome 22 turnovers. NorthWood turned the ball over just nine times, but only shot 35 percent. Morgan Olson, the all-time leader in scoring and rebounds at NorthWood, led the Lady Panthers with 17 points and eight boards. Taylor Fielstra chipped in with 13 points, while Jordyn Frantz added 10 points. Warsaw is in action again Wednesday when it hosts conference foe Elkhart Memorial.
