It’s an understatement to say Warsaw didn’t shoot the ball well in Friday’s high school girls basketball game against Whitko. The visiting Lady Wildcats, especially junior Aly Reiff, meanwhile were efficient with their shots in a 50-28 win over the Lady Tigers. Reiff missed just one of her eight shots from the field, and hit four three-pointers en route to a game-high 19 points. Warsaw did not score in the first quarter, had four points at halftime and one player scored all eight Lady Tiger points in the third quarter. The Lady Tigers shot just 27 percent (11 of 40) from the field in the contest, and didn’t hit a three-pointer until midway through the fourth quarter. “Aly’s been in a great rhythm shooting the basketball all year,” said Whitko head coach Brandon Bradley “She was 4 of 5 tonight, which makes her 17 for 30 from three for the season; that’s pretty impressive. She’s getting good jumpers because we’re moving the ball on offense well, we’re inside-out against zone, and I think we’re a little more efficient against zone than man-to-man right now.” Warsaw head coach Michelle Harter said while practices have been solid, the knowledge gained isn’t finding its way into games. “I don’t know what to say; we’re better shooters than we showed tonight. We just have to step up and take our shot with confidence,” Harter said. “We were out of sync from the get-go. Offensively we weren’t moving the ball around quickly, or we were standing with the ball above our heads. And when we did get open looks we rushed our shots. “We practice and practice and practice catching, being under control, going up with your shot, attacking under control, jump-stopping, straight up, straight down, going up off the backboard and finishing. Those are the things they have to carry over into the game. “‘It seems like it’s just not important enough for them to carry it over into the games, is how I’m looking at it right now. We need leadership. We need somebody to step up and be a leader, and get us where we need to be going, and making sure defensively we’re getting where we’re supposed to be.” Warsaw did pressure the ball defensively, and in the second half forced seven Whitko turnovers. Only twice, however, did the Lady Tigers use those steals to score. “In the second half we made some adjustments and made some steals, but then we just didn’t convert,” Harter said. “When you work that hard defensively, you gotta come down and reward yourself offensively and finish.” On the other side, Whitko was excited to get a rare win over Warsaw. Bradley took note of the hard-charging home team. “The fact that we’ve won three out of 31 previous meetings meant that we’re up for it as much as anybody they play,” he said. “But they were trying to get their first win of the year, so they had as much at stake as we did. They played hard, they played physical; they just missed shots. They finally started hitting shots in the fourth quarter. Thank goodness they didn’t hit shots like that all night.” Jennifer Reiff had seven points and Brianna Cumberland also hit a pair of treys for six points for Whitko. The Lady Wildcats, now 6-1 on the season, will travel to Fort Wayne Northrop Tuesday night. Kenzie Welk scored all of her team-high eight points in the third quarter and Mariah Rivera added seven, including a fourth-quarter three-pointer, for Warsaw. Going into Friday night, the six teams that have defeated Warsaw are a combined 26-5 in games played against teams other than the Lady Tigers. Warsaw will take on its fourth ranked team Tuesday when No. 5 (Class 3A) Norwell visits the Tiger Den.
