Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE - The South Bend Riley Wildcats used six steals in the third quarter, that mostly resulted in easy layups to pull away from Wawasee (0-6) 89-66.
After playing Tippecanoe Valley tough and down to the last few seconds before losing by two on Friday night, the Warriors were right with the much taller and talented Wildcats at halftime, only down 40-35.
"Turnovers killed us," said Warrior head coach Robb Berger. "That's the story of our year. First half we were focused. You've got to play a complete basketball game".
Martell Taylor went 13-for-22 shooting to lead Riley to a 23-19 first quarter lead, he finished with a game high of 32 points.
Jeremy High led the Warriors with 17 points, including eight in the second quarter to keep Wawasee close. Brian Adkins had 11 points and Drew Gradle chipped in with 10.
Riley outscored Wawasee 27-13 in the third quarter, mostly on layups and three-pointers to take a comfortable 67-48 lead.
Wildcat 6-foot-8 center Ronald Dokes was held to only six points. The Warriors played a tight zone, trying to force Riley to beat them from the perimeter, which they did by hitting 11 of 18 three-point field goals.
"The perimeter killed us" coach Berger said. "The best effort of the year was last night, we didn't quite have that intensity."
Riley guard Reggie Swanson scored 25 points, 17 in the second half, to lead the Wildcats charge. Riley hit 29 of 54 shots from the field and 20-27 from the line to put away the Warriors.
Wawasee will next play in the Goshen Holiday Tournament on December 27.
South Bend Riley 89
Wawasee 66
S.B. Riley 23 17 27 22 - 89
Wawasee (0-6) 19 16 13 18 - 66
S.B. Riley FG FTA A S R Pts.
*Przygoda 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 0
*Washington 4-5 2-4 1 1 4 12
*Taylor 13-22 2-2 2 5 2 32
*Foster 1-2 0-0 0 0 1 2
*Dokes 2-3 2-3 3 0 5 6
Swanson 7-11 6-6 2 5 3 25
Foster 0-1 1-2 1 0 2 1
Woodmore 0-1 1-2 0 0 2 1
Fisette 2-5 6-8 1 0 5 10
Wilson 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 0
Patton 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Scales 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 29-54 20-27 10 11 26 89
Wawasee FG FT A S R Pts.
*Wilson 1-3 2-3 1 1 0 4
*Gradle 3-4 2-2 0 0 1 10
*Speicher 1-4 3-4 3 1 1 5
*High 5-8 6-7 1 1 4 17
*Packer 3-5 2-2 0 0 4 8
Farrell 1-4 2-2 1 0 0 5
Doty 1-4 0-1 0 0 1 2
Klenke 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Adkins 5-9 0-2 0 2 2 11
Custer 1-2 2-5 0 0 3 4
Totals 21-43 19-28 6 5 17 66
Three-point goals - S.B. Riley 11-18 (Swanson 5-7, Foster 0-1, Washington 2-2, Taylor 4-7, Wilson 0-1), Wawasee 5-15 (Farrell 1-2, Doty 0-2, Wilson 0-1, Gradle 2-3, Adkins, 1-3, Speicher 0-1, High 1-3). Total Fouls - S.B. Riley 23, Wawasee 23. Fouled out - none. Turnovers - S.B. Riley 17, Wawasee 20.
JV: Wawasee 56, S.B. Riley 42
Wawasee (2-4) - Ellsworth 13, Abbs 7, Beasley 7, VanLue 10, Longenbaugh 3, Popenfoose 6, Lantz 6, Custer 4.
S.B. Riley (0-5) - Patton 7, Green 11, Cusic 12, M. Scales 1, Rokop 2, Scholtes 9.
