Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE - Wawasee's Kory Lantz scored eight of his game-high 30 points in a pivotal third quarter that saw the host Warriors stall offensively and allow Goshen to close to within a basket in the opening round of the Northern Lakes Conference Tournament.
The Redskins had a chance to take a lead on two Zack Wolfe free throws with 4.9 seconds left in regulation. Trailing 51-50, Wolfe connected on the front end of his two charity stripe attempts.
Lantz launched a running three-pointer as time expired to send the contest into overtime where the Warriors pulled out a 67-62 win. It was one of few attempts from behind the arc that Lantz didn't connect on.
Wawasee's Austin Kaiser had a chance to put the Warriors up by three points with 19.5 seconds left in the contest but missed the front end of the one-and-one which allowed Andrew Headings to fall on the rebound and led to Wolfe's free throws.
It was Kaiser, however, who hit a three-pointer with 55 seconds left in the game and Wawasee trailing 50-48.
In overtime, Kaiser hit two late free throws to seal the Warriors' victory.
While Kaiser was clutch and Ryan Kauchak went 8-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and overtime, it was Lantz who was "Mr. Clutch" for the Warriors.
Lantz scored six points in overtime, including a three-pointer with 2:43 remaining to give Wawasee the lead for good. It was his seventh three-pointer of the night.
As Goshen made its third quarter push, Lantz hit a trifecta at 5:10 and 2:06 to keep the Redskins at bay. Leading the way for Goshen was reserve guard Jeremy Woodford. Woodford led the Redskins with 16 points.
In that pivotal third quarter, Kauchak began the half in the locker room getting his lip stitched from an elbow he took to the mouth earlier in the game.
Kauchak was Wawasee's second leading scorer with 13 points and provided an interior defensive presence.
It was the perimeter that caused the Warriors problems Tuesday night.
Woodford's ability to penetrate Wawasee's zone led to scoring chances for his Redskin teammates.
Goshen scored on two straight possessions when Woodford drove and found Anthony Mockler and Headings to give the Redskins a two-point lead in the waning minutes.
"We dropped in a little zone and we worked for four days on dribble penetration. They attacked well so we're going to have to keep working on that," said Warrior head coach Phil Mishler.
The Redskins entered the contest with a 2-5 record but didn't play like it against Wawasee.
Besides Woodford, the Redskins saw double-digit scoring from Anthony Mockler and Wolfe who had 14 and 11 points respectively.
While Wawasee, 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the NLC, struggled against the Redskins, it's a game Mishler thinks his team can learn from.
"Hopefully this one can be treated as a growth game. If we go up to Goshen, we probably lose this game. That's something we need to be aware of and learn from that," said Mishler.
The win sets up a rematch with Warsaw tonight at Plymouth High School. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
WAWASEE 67, GOSHEN 62 OT
Goshen 11 9 18 13 11 - 62
Wawasee 17 13 10 11 16 - 67
Goshen #- Mockler 5-6 1-1 14, Wolfe 4-7 1-2 11, Romo 1-2 2-2 5, Headings 3-5 2-5 8, Landis 0-3 0-0 0, Overpeck 4-6 0-0 8, Coppotelli 0-1 0-0 0, Woodford 7-9 0-0 16. Totals 24-39 6-10 62.
Wawasee - Lantz 11-17 1-2 30, Kaiser 2-6 4-7 9, Gerber 1-5 4-4 6, Conrad 0-3 4-4 4, Kauchak 2-4 9-10 13, Mock 1-3 1-2 4, Zimmerman 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 17-39 24-31 67.
Three-point goals - Goshen 7-12 (Mockler 2-3, Wolfe 2-2, Woodford 2-3), Wawasee 9-20 (Lantz 7-10). Rebounds - Goshen 19 (Hughes 3, Landis 3, Woodford 3), Wawasee 25 (Kauchak 6, Gerber 5). Turnovers - Goshen 24, Wawasee 16. Total Fouls - Goshen 23, Wawasee 16.
