Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE - The one-two scoring punch of Lauren Zeltwanger and Mandy Yoder was enough for NorthWood's varsity girls basketball team to knock Wawasee out of the state tournament Saturday evening.
In a 56-40 win over the Warriors in the championship game of the Wawasee 3A Sectional, the Panthers got 16 points from Zeltwanger and 15 points from Yoder, while Jessica Focht added eight, Carrie Egging seven and Audrey Duncan six.
The win improved Steve Neff's NorthWood club to 16-7 on the season and advanced the Panthers to Saturday's Peru Regional where they will battle No. 4 Fort Wayne Luers in the second semifinal game at approximately noon. Third-ranked Tippecanoe Valley (20-2) and Jay County (14-8) battle in the first semifinal game.
NorthWood led the Warriors 16-6 after the first quarter Saturday en route to the 14-point win and the school's 17th overall sectional championship.
Wawasee, a team with just one junior and one senior, ended its season with a 7-14 mark. The Warriors' win over Lakeland was their only win of the new year.
Junior Rachel Canen led Wawasee with 15 points, while freshman Jessie Wolf and junior Tiffany Fick had eight points each.
NORTHWOOD 56, WAWASEE 40
NorthWood 16 6 19 15 - 56
Wawasee 6 4 11 19 - 40
NorthWood - Focht 3 0-0 8, Egging 3 1-2 7, Bechtel 0 2-2 2, Zeltwanger 5 2-4 16, Shively 0 0-0 0, Yoder 4 7-8 15, Andrews 0 0-0 0, Hall 3 0-0 6, Schiefer 0 0-0 0, Wisler 0 0- 0, Kurtz 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 12-16 56.
Wawasee - Rensberger 2 0-0 4, Walker 2 0- 5, Canen 6 0-0 15, Owen 0 0-0 0, Wolf 3 2-3 8, Knafel 0 0-0 0, Fick 3 2-2 8, Olson 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 4-5 40.
Three-point goals - NorthWood 6 (Zeltwanger 4, Focht 2), Wawasee 4 (Canen 3, Walker 1). Fouls - NorthWood 9, Wawasee 16. Fouled out - Canen.
