SYRACUSE - Tuesday was a night to remember for Wawasee senior Riley Stichter.
On top of being recognized during senior night, Stichter also surpassed the 1,000-point mark during his 24-point, 12-rebound game, which helped the Wawasee Warriors (14-5) down the visiting Churubusco Eagles (12-6) by a score of 70-58.Scoring from the block off an assist from senior Trevor McKibben with 7:37 left in the second quarter, Stichter became the sixth Wawasee boys basketball player to surpass 1,000 career points, joining 1996-graduate Jim Scarbeary (1,294), 2005-grad Kory Lantz (1,172), 1982-grad Jeff Long (1,053), 1987-grad Tim Mangas (1,030) and 1972-grad John Hamilton (1,028).
Following his second-quarter bucket, which put him right at 1,000 points, the game was stopped in order to give him the game ball.
Even with all the activities going on around him, Stichter remained focused, scoring his 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field, while also getting two assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
"This was an opportunity for him to get emotionally too high, too early," Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said. "This was just a good opportunity to be excited about senior night, but also be able to understand you have to maintain a high level of play."
Instead of letting the emotions get the best of him, Stichter instead got the better of the Churubusco Eagles.
"Stichter was a load for us," Churubusco coach Mike McBride said. "We had a hard time with him."
From the outset, Stichter proved he'd be a load, recording six points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot in the opening quarter.
Stichter's start was matched by his teammates, as the Warriors jumped out to a 17-2 lead.
"We fully expected them to come out (strong), we just didn't handle it very well," McBride said. "I'm sure they remembered we beat them last year on our floor. I think they were ready to go."
Churubusco withstood a similar Wawasee run a year ago, but came back to win 89-69. This year, the Eagles did fight back to tie the score at 33-33, but never got over the hump.
"We just hit shots right away and got a few quick turnovers," Mishler said about the fast start. "That's just how fast it can go. Churubusco is a very good team, so we knew there wasn't any way that was going to last the entire game."
Following the fast start, the two teams jostled back and forth, with Wawasee gradually working the lead back to double-digits midway through the third quarter.
"I think they wore us down," McBride said. "We only play about seven guys, and they sub a little more. I thought we wore down a little bit."
Using its deep bench, Wawasee also got 14 points from junior Jake Clark, as well as eight from senior Logan Hatfield and seven out of McKibben.
Wawasee senior Cody McBride also had a good game, finishing with five points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots, but also had to contend with Churubusco's 6-foot-8 junior Tyler Arrowsmith.
"He's very mobile and is going to be a very good basketball player," Mishler said about Arrowsmith. "He's a defensive presence down there (in the post). He jumps so well and times it so well."
Arrowsmith finished the game hitting 7 of 11 field goals and 7 of 7 free throws, scoring 21 points to go with 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Despite his good play, McBride would have like to have seen him get more touches in the final quarter, when he put up just two shots.
"In the fourth quarter, we did a very poor job of getting the ball to Arrowsmith," McBride said. "That was a point of emphasis going into the quarter. We really worked to get him touches. I know they play a pace to make you play faster, but it doesn't mean you have to. You can break their pressure, then reverse the ball and get an inside touch to him. That was something we didn't do very well."
After junior Jacob Thompson opted for shoulder injury 10 games into this season, the Warriors were left with a 14 points per game hole, but the rest of the team seems to have picked up the slack.
With Thompson out, Wawasee has gone 8-1, including six-straight wins.
"Losing Jacob was a big hit," Mishler said. "Everybody decided they needed to step up their roles just a little more. If you divide it up evenly on a team, it's not quite as detrimental as if one guy thinks he needs to step into that (vacated) role."
Wawasee closes its regular season out Friday at Tippecanoe Valley, the same team it will face in the first round of Class 3A Sectional 21, hosted at Wawasee, Wednesday.
