SYRACUSE – Balance and consistency are key to any team sport, but for Wawasee’s girls basketball team, it’s also its best opportunity to succeed. The balance the Lady Warriors have is evident on the stat sheet. Only one player, senior center Aubrey Schmeltz, averages better than 10 points a game. But five others average at least five points a contest, and Wawasee has six players that pull down at least a pair of rebounds every game. “Team is everything for us. Some teams have a superstar type player that they depend on. We depend on our girls to each star in their role,” Wawasee head coach Matt Carpenter said. “When we play team defense with a high level of communication, positioning and energy we can be a tough team to score against. When one player gets out of position or tries to do too much, however, the team suffers. “The same thing applies offensively. The girls have a sense of team and they've seen our level of play continue to improve as our togetherness has improved.” In recent seasons, Wawasee could be a little streaky, not only from game to game, but often from quarter to quarter. That was especially true on offense, when the team struggled to score as often as not. Carpenter, in his first summer at Wawasee, looked to build constants into the program, with skills the players could rely on to avoid being too high or low. “Consistency is definitely a focus of ours. We've continued to improve over the course of the season and are playing our best basketball down the stretch.” he said. “Most of our improvement has come from being more consistent on both sides of the ball against some tough opponents. “We still have work to do in this department, but with the improvement has come a sense of confidence for the girls.” Improvements in shot selection have yielded dividends for senior Hannah Haines (8.5 points per game), juniors Aubrey Kuhn (6.8 ppg.), Kabrea Rostochak and Hannah-Marie Lamle (5-3 ppg. each) and sophomore Casey Schroeder (5.4 ppg.), along with Schmeltz. “For us, it's all about creating good scoring opportunities in the flow of the offense,” Carpenter said. “Skills wise, specifically shooting the ball, we've improved dramatically in the past 6-8 months. “What has made the difference for us, however, is being able to create those scoring opportunities for each other on the floor by remaining aggressive offensively. We have the capability of being a very balanced scoring attack with guards who can shoot the 3, coupled with an inside game from our posts.” Wawasee plays in the second game of the opening round of the 3A West Noble Sectional Tuesday against NorthWood. The Lady Warriors beat the Lady Panthers 52-46 on Jan. 7. The win snapped a six-season losing streak to NorthWood, and is keeping Carpenter from looking too far ahead. “We would love to be in position to battle for the sectional title on Saturday, but we have a challenging road ahead of us. NorthWood is an outstanding ball club waiting for us. The two of us squared off in a great game a couple of weeks ago, and the rematch will probably not disappoint either. “It’s difficult to beat a good team once, let alone to beat them twice. Our sectional thoughts are squarely on trying to figure out a way to beat NorthWood. There is no sense to look ahead when a great opponent waits for us.” With a win, Wawasee would advance to a semifinal game against Tippecanoe Valley about 7:30 p.m. Friday. In the other bracket, West Noble and Lakeland play at 6 p.m. Tuesday, with the winner advancing to play Fairfield at 6 .m. Friday in the first semifinal. The title game is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
