COLUMBIA CITY - It wasn't the highest-scoring game, but it was good enough to hand the Wawasee girls basketball team its 13th sectional title Saturday at Columbia City High School.
Knocking off Northern Lakes Conference rival NorthWood 24-23, the Wawasee Lady Warriors advanced to Saturday's Peru Regional, where they'll face Fort Wayne Concordia (16-7), following the No. 4 Norwell/Yorktown game at 10 a.m. The winners of morning games will then play in the 7 p.m. championship.Before qualifying for the regional, Wawasee (15-6) first had to deal with the hottest team in Class 3A Sectional 21, as NorthWood (14-9) had won eight of nine games coming into the title bout.
"He had them peaking at just the right time," Wawasee coach Kem Zolman said about Steve Neff's coaching job with the NorthWood Lady Panthers.
Along with each team playing in the NLC, another similarity between the two was the lack of depth, as each team used just one sub in the contest.
With neither team willing to go too far into the bench, each possession was cherished, leading to the low-scoring affair.
"It doesn't surprise me a bit," Zolman said about the score. "When you get into a championship game after a full week like this, with NorthWood playing three games and being in a tough one (Friday), your legs kind of go a little bit. The shooting is going to be here and there, so that's why championships are won with defense and who can have the most possessions."
Defensively, the Lady Warriors corralled NorthWood's sister-tandem of 6-foot senior Taylor Olson and 5-10 freshman Morgan Olson. NorthWood's post girls combined to score just five points on 2-of-7 shooting, but did nab 18 rebounds, 10 for Morgan and eight for Taylor.
"They play a nice defense," Neff said. "If you're not hitting outside shots, it's very difficult to solve."
On a team which Zolman says has experience, but lacks maturity, Saturday's game made him feel like his girls had grown a bit.
"This is the first time all year, when we've been able to put a whole game together," he said. "There were a few possessions when I thought we had breakdowns, but our rotations and defensive intensity to stay with the game plan was as good as I've seen. It was a good time to put a full game together."
The largest lead for either team was four, with Wawasee sophomore KiLee Knafel giving the Lady Warriors a 22-18 advantage when she drained a three-pointer with 6:41 left in the game.
"It was a beautiful pass," Knafel said of the feed from senior Kalyn McDaniel. "She did that perfectly. I was pretty confident in it, because I hadn't been hitting all night, but I was told to not let that get to me."
The trey was Knafel's only field goal of the night, but she did go 6 of 6 from the the free throw line to lead Wawasee with nine points.
Even though the three-pointer did extend the lead to just four, in a game like Saturday's, a two-possession game was a much bigger margin than normal.
"That was a biggie in a game like this, when its a one-, two-point game," Zolman said. "A three-pointer is a biggie. When the legs are gone in a championship game, that's a big possession."
The three-pointer gave Wawasee a lead it didn't relinquish, though NorthWood did get a final crack at winning the game.
After forcing a turnover with 30 seconds remaining and trailing 24-23, Neff called a timeout to set up a game-winning shot.
The play called had sophomore Hanna Stump shooting a three-pointer from the right corner, but the shot was off, sending the Lady Warriors into celebration.
"We had a good look at the end," Neff said. "We wanted her to make it, but we also wanted her to put it up on the rim so we could put it back in."
Prior to tipoff, Wawasee senior Amy Walker gathered her team around for a brief discussion.
"It's really important to keep the younger girls focused and keep a hard mindset," Walker said. "We've really worked all week on working hard. Coach wanted us to work hard and just wanted us to keep reminding each other, encouraging each other to play as one and not as individuals."
That team effort paid off, and now Wawasee is moving on.
"The emotions you feel after a win like this are indescribable," Knafel said. "I never knew how it would feel to win a sectional game, being just a sophomore, but it feels great that all the hard work has paid off. We really wanted to work hard for the seniors. I just love the expression on everyone's faces right now."
