Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE -ÊThe Goshen Redskins thwarted a third-quarter comeback attempt by the Wawasee Warriors to earn a 71-62 Northern Lakes Conference win Friday night.
Earlier this season Wawasee's boys basketball team won its first game by beating Goshen 58-54 in the Goshen Holiday Tournament. The win ended a 27-game regular season losing streak by Wawasee.
After Goshen built a 37-23 halftime lead in Friday's game, Wawasee's offense kicked in and came out ready to play in the third quarter.
Jeremiah Gamauf nailed a three-point goal to start the quarter and give the Redskins a 40-23 lead.
Then at the 5:21 mark, Wawasee began to make a run. R.J. Wilson hit a three-pointer to start a 17-2 Warrior surge that cut Goshen's lead to three points with 30.3 seconds left in the third stanza.
In that time span, Wilson scored eight points and Jeremy High netted six points to lead the Warriors in the run.
"When you are down by 17 points, you have nothing to lose," said Wawasee coach Robb Berger. "It's easy to play then."
However, three points was as close as Wawasee would get. Gamauf sank two free throws with 6.6 seconds left in the quarter to restore Goshen's five-point lead and knock some of the wind out of the Warrior sails.
The Redskins then hit 4 of 6 free throws to increase their lead to nine, 54-45, to start the fourth frame.
Although Goshen scored 21 point in the final stanza, the Redskins netted just three baskets. The bulk of Goshen's scoring came from a 15-of-24 shooting performance from the charity stripe.
Wawasee finished the game 21 of 43 from the field with nine three-pointers, while Goshen hit 18 of 31 field goals and eight treys.
The major difference in the game, however, came in the form of free throws. The Warriors shot well from the charity stripe, hitting 11 of 13 free throws. However Goshen hit 27 of 36 free throws to seal Wawasee's fate.
Gamauf led all scorers with 24 points on 6-of-11 shooting (2 of 4 three-pointers) and 9 of 10 from the charity stripe. Josh Keister hit 4 of 7 three point goals and finished the night with 18 points.
"Our shots were just there tonight," said Goshen coach Brian Bechtel. "I couldn't tell you how many assists Jeremiah Gamauf had in the first half. Then he got some good reads. He was missing the threes in the first half, but he battled through it and was able to hit his shots in the second half."
Wilson and High led the Warrior effort with 13 and 12 points respectively. Curtis Farrell, the only other Warrior in double figures, added 10 points.
Wawasee, now 2-10 overall and 1-3 in the NLC, is off until next Saturday when they face East Noble at home. Goshen improves to 2-9 overall and 1-2 in NLC play.
"The difference in the game was intensity," said Berger. "We did not play with intensity tonight. When two evenly matched teams play, the team that plays the hardest wins.
"This makes two in a row we weren't ready to play."
"We battled through tonight, and that makes the victory more sweet," said Bechtel.
GOSHEN 71, WAWASEE 62
Goshen (2-9) 14 23 13 21 - 71
Wawasee (2-10) 5 18 22 17 - 62
Goshen FG FT R S Pts.
*Bartley 2-3 0-0 2 0 5
*Gamauf 6-11 9-10 1 1 24
*Hershberger 2-3 6-8 4 1 10
*Keister 4-7 6-8 3 0 18
*Hughes 2-2 5-8 1 2 9
Latham 1-3 1-2 2 0 3
Park 0-1 0-0 2 0 0
Holmes 1-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 18-31 27-36 15 4 71
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
*Gradle 1-2 2-2 1 1 4
*Doty 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
*Packer 2-2 1-2 1 1 5
*Speicher 3-3 3-4 2 1 10
*Farrell 1-2 0-0 0 0 3
High 4-11 4-4 7 0 12
Wilson 5-10 1-1 3 0 13
Klenke 3-7 0-0 2 1 9
Adkins 1-1 0-0 0 0 3
Beer 1-4 0-0 2 1 3
Totals 21-43 11-13 19 5 62
Three-point goals -ÊWawasee 9-21 (Gradle 0-1, Doty 0-1, Speicher 1-1, Farrell 1-2, High 0-4, Wilson 2-3, Klenke 3-6, Adkins 1-1, Beer 1-2), Goshen 8-15 (Bartley 1-2, Gamauf 2-4, Keister 4-7, Latham 0-2). Turnovers -ÊWawasee 14, Goshen 15. Total fouls -ÊWawasee 28, Goshen 15. Fouled out -ÊPacker, Wilson, Klenke.
JV Score -ÊGOSHEN 35, WAWASEE 34
Wawasee leaders -ÊLantz 5, Beasley 8, Vanlue 3, Ellsworth 4, Custer 4, Brumbaugh 10.
Goshen leaders -ÊHollar 12, Reckert 3, Easley 8, Graber 2, Szynal 8, Mattern 2, Lotherman 2.
