Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Heading into Friday night's Northern Lakes Conference boy's basketball game between Wawasee and Northridge, the Northridge Raiders were looking to put a two-game losing skid behind them. For the Wawasee Warriors, they were looking to continue to play better basketball.
By looking at the records, the upper hand definitely would be to the Raiders' advantage. Just last month the Raiders were ranked No. 1 in class 3A. However, in their last two games, the Raiders fell to NorthWood and Elkhart Central while Wawasee has won two of its last three games.
Coming out with something to prove, the Raiders stormed past the Warriors 74-57.
"We came out with a lot more intensity than we have had in the last two games,' Northridge coach Steve Austin said. "We really had a setback with those two losses, and I think we got a little complacent.'
For the Warriors, they were beginning to play some pretty good basketball, until Friday night. The Warriors started slowly, committed five first-quarter turnovers, and had no answer for Aaron Thomas.
"We were totally outplayed, outhustled, and out-everything,' Wawasee coach Robb Berger said. "Our intensity wasn't there tonight, there was never any doubt who the better team was tonight.'
The Raiders jumped on the Warriors early. After Wawasee opened the game with a Brian Adkins free throw for a 1-0 lead, the Raiders erupted for ten unanswered points to take a 10-1 lead which led to a 20-second timeout by the Warriors.
"I really thought our pressure defense caused them some trouble,' Austin added.
The Warriors would cut the lead to 13-6 on two Travis Speicher free throws with 2:34 left. Again, the Raiders responded, scoring the last six points of the quarter to take a 19-6 lead.
"Northridge is a great team,' Berger admitted. "When the game mattered, they really played well.'
The Raiders picked up right where they left off, scoring the first six points of the second quarter to increase their lead to 25-6 and all but put this game out of reach. Six-foot-seven senior and Robert Morris-bound Aaron Thomas scored six of his game high 31 in the second quarter. The lead would never be less than 18 points in the quarter, until R.J. Wilson hit a three-point shot at the buzzer to cut the lead to 40-25.
"This was a very disappointing game,' Berger said. "I really thought we were beginning to play better, but we just didn't compete tonight."
In the third quarter, the Warriors were outscored 16-12 and trailed 56-37 after three. Thomas again was the leader for the Raiders, scoring nine points in the quarter. If there was one positive thing that the Warriors did against the Raiders was that they hit 9 of 13 three-pointers.
"We hit shots when the game didn't matter,' Berger admitted. "The game was already over and they just gave us any shot we wanted."
Coming into the game, Thomas needed only 30 points to reach the elusive 1,000 point total in his career at Northridge. With 4:04 left in the fourth quarter, Thomas got his longtime goal. With the score 61-43 and all but wrapped up, Thomas hit a running one hander to give him his 1,000th and 1,001st point. With the shot, the crowd went wild as Austin took his star out of the game.
"Aaron really has worked hard for this goal,' Austin said. "He has set his goals high and he has worked for everything he has gotten.'
Jeremy High led the Warriors. High scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench. Curtis Farrell added nine points and R.J. Wilson netted eight. Travis Klenke, one of Wawasee's top scorers, was out with a foot injury.
Northridge had three in double figures. Besides Thomas' 31 points, Todd Pletcher added ten points and Justin Anderson also added ten points. The Raiders went 14 of 18 from the line.
Wawasee (2-9) hosts Goshen Friday.
NORTHRIDGE 74
WAWASEE 57
Northridge (9-2) 19 21 16 18 - 74
Wawasee (2-9) 6 19 12 20 - 57
Wawasee FG FT A S R Pts.
Farrell 4-4 0-0 0 0 1 9
Doty(G) 3-7 2-2 3 0 1 10
Wilson 3-4 0-0 0 0 1 8
Gradle(F) 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Adkins(F) 1-5 3-4 0 0 0 6
Custer 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 0
Speicher(G) 2-5 2-2 1 1 2 7
High 3-7 5-6 2 1 7 12
Beer 2-2 0-0 1 0 2 5
Packer (C) 0-4 0-0 0 0 1 0
Totals 18-41 12-14 7 2 16 57
Northridge FG FT A S R Pts.
Weirich (G) 1-2 1-2 5 2 0 3
Pletcher(G) 5-10 0-0 3 2 2 10
Fazi(F) 4-10 0-0 2 0 3 9
Toth 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Yoder 0-1 5-6 0 1 2 5
Mast 0-1 0-1 0 1 0 0
Pflunger 2-2 2-3 0 0 2 6
Anderson(F) 4-5 2-2 1 2 5 10
Thomas (C) 12-19 4-4 3 1 6 31
Whitten 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Totals 28-40 14-18 14 9 21 74
Three-point goals -ÊWawasee 9-13 (Farrell 1-1, Doty 2-5, Wilson 2-2, Adkins 1-1, Speicher 1-1, High 1-2, Beer 1-1), Northridge 4-12 (Weirich 0-1, Pletcher 0-4, Fazi 1-3, Yoder 0-1, Thomas 3-3). Turnovers - Wawasee 21, Northridge 10. Total fouls - Wawasee 19, Northridge 13. Fouled out - None
JV - Northridge 41, Wawasee 27
