Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
GOSHEN -ÊIt wasn't the outcome Robb Berger and his Wawasee Warriors would have liked, but it was a start.
Wawasee's boys basketball team traveled to Fairfield to take on the Falcons and fell 74-56 in the first game of the season.
"Fairfield is a very good team," said Berger. "In a nutshell, we were just not good enough to beat Fairfield for long. We played very well in the third quarter, but they were much better in the other three."
That third quarter was the only quarter the Warriors outscored the Falcons. Down 25-16 at the half, Wawasee cut the Fairfield lead to 11 points when the Warriors exploded for 22 points in the third stanza. Wawasee was 8-of-10 shooting, including 3 of 3 from three-point range, and 3 of 4 from the free throw line.
"We had a solid third quarter," said Berger. "Now we need to work on extending that eight minutes to three more quarters. We need to execute better. The team needs to get more consistent in the game."
Wawasee had jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when Drew Gradle got a basket after the Warriors gained possession on the tip-off. The Falcons and Warriors traded the lead spot until the 1:06 mark in the first quarter, when Chad Garber hit a field goal and was fouled. Garber converted the three point play to give Fairfield a lead.
By the end of the quarter, the Falcons built their lead to four and continued to add to it throughout the game. Fairfield would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game.
In the fourth quarter, the Warriors were nearly perfect from both the free throw line and the field, hitting 5 of 6 free throws and 5 of 7 field goals.
However, Fairfield was strong in the fourth quarter as well, hitting 15 of 21 free throws and 3 of 5 from the field.
"We played hard, especially in the second half, against a good team," said Berger. "Overall I am very pleased with our performance. The game was exciting and fun. It just didn't end the way we wanted it to."
Jeremy High led the Warriors with 14 points, and Gradle was close behind with 11. Ryan Thwaits led the Falcons with 28 points, while Ben Bernaert and Matt Schultz added 12 and 13 points, respectively.
Wawasee, now 0-1, takes on Angola at home Saturday with a 6:15 p.m. JV start.
FAIRFIELD 74, WAWASEE 56
Wawasee 7 9 22 18 - 56
Fairfield 11 24 14 25 - 74
Wawasee FG FT S R A Pts
*Jeremy High 6-11 2-3 1 2 0 14
*R.J. Wilson 3-6 1-2 2 3 1 9
*Drew Gradle 4-7 2-2 0 1 1 11
*Brian Adkins 1-1 0-0 2 2 1 3
*Andrew Packer 2-2 3-3 0 3 0 7
Travis Klenke 2-5 3-4 1 4 1 8
Travis Speicher 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 0
Cameron Beer 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2
Brent Doty 0-1 2-2 2 2 0 2
Clint Custer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 Totals 19-35 13-16 8 19 4 56
Fairfield FG FT S R A Pts.
*Ryan Thwaits 6-14 14-15 0 4 1 28
*Ben Bernaert 4-6 0-0 0 1 3 12
*Chad Garber 1-2 5-5 3 2 1 7
*Matt Schultz 5-5 3-4 1 5 0 13
*Josh Walter 1-2 2-2 0 1 0 4
Wes Meier 2-2 0-0 0 1 0 5
Cullen Stanger 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 3
Ryan Funkhouser 0-2 2-4 0 2 0 2
Curtis Weldy 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Tim Werner 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Troy Beachy 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 20-36 26-32 4 18 3 74
Three-point goals - Wawasee 5 (Wilson 2, Gradle 1, Adkins 1, Klenke 1), Fairfield 8 (Thwaits 2, Bernaert 4, Meier 1, Stanger 1). Fouls - Wawasee 23, Fairfield 15. Fouled out - High, Wilson.
JV Score -ÊFairfield 41, Wawasee 27
Wawasee scoring leader -ÊJustin VanLue 12.
Fairfield scoring leaders -ÊBroc Bontrager 8, Jason Graber 7, Tim Werner 13.
