Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Worried about his team's mental state, Warsaw varsity girls basketball coach Will Wienhorst had reason to feel better after leaving the Tiger Den Saturday night.
Twenty-four hours after opening the season with a loss at county rival Tippecanoe Valley, a team Warsaw had beat 30 straight times and only lost to once, the Class 4A No. 1 Tigers responded with a 62-47 win over undefeated Crown Point.
A night after Wienhorst said his team stood around and waited for someone to take over, the Tigers, who entered the season ranked No. 7 in the midwest by USA Today, played more aggressively and took the ball to the basket.
As Wienhorst put it, "we had lot of girls come to play tonight."
Warsaw's more aggressive style of play Saturday night resulted in 24 Crown Point fouls, which the Tigers turned into a 21-of-28 performance at the free throw line. The Bulldogs, who entered the game 3-0, shot just 7 of 17 at the charity stripe.
"We took the ball to the basket tonight," said Wienhorst, who now sits five wins away from 400 career victories. "When you have a team like Crown Point you have to do that. With Tippy Valley and Crown Point, we saw two kinds of defenses (this weekend)."
The 15-point win improves Warsaw to 1-1, while Crown Point fell to 3-1. In 17 career meetings, Warsaw holds a 12-5 overall advantage over the Bulldogs and have won the last three meetings.
Leading 10-8 in the first quarter, Warsaw finished the opening frame with a field goal from sophomore Julie Seiss and a three-pointer from junior Kara Mayer for a 15-8 advantage.
The game was knotted at 22 with 2:41 left in the half, but the host Tigers went on a 13-2 run and led 35-24 at the half.
Seiss, a 5-foot-9 point guard, led the Warsaw run in the second quarter, finishing with 10 points in the frame and 18 overall.
Seiss finished the game 5 of 10 from the field, 8 of 10 from the charity stripe, pulled down seven rebounds and made three steals.
"Julie came to play offensively and defensively," Wienhorst said. "She rebounded from the loss and played one of the best guards in the state in (Cassie) Pruzin."
In the second game of the season against Kankakee Valley, Pruzin, Crown Point's 5-8 junior point guard, scored 20 points and tallied eight rebounds, seven assists and seven steals.
Saturday night against Warsaw, Pruzin was held to 14 points - eight of which came in the fourth quarter when the Tigers had the game well in control, leading by as much as 26 before taking the starters out.
Pruzin scored her 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the field, was 0 of 3 from the free throw line, and had two rebounds.
Junior Kaitlyn Sertich was the only other Bulldog to score in double figures, finishing the contest with 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Blayre Reeves and Jill Weiand added five points each.
Overall, Crown Point shot a dismal 17 of 64 (26.7 percent) from the field, 6 of 27 from the three-point line.
The Tigers, who had 14 players see the floor, had three players in double figures.
Senior Jaclyn Leininger and Seiss led the way with 18 points each, while Mayer came off the bench to score 11. Leininger also pulled down nine rebounds and was 10 of 11 from the free throw line.
As a team the Tigers shot 20 of 55 (36.4 percent) from the field.
"We weren't the same as last night (Friday)," Wienhorst said. "(With the loss) the pressure was gone and the girls were ready to go. We played more like we're capable of. We can still play better, but this was an improvement."
Crown Point was within 14, 44-30, to start the fourth quarter, but when Leininger converted a three-point play with 2:51 left Warsaw led 59-33.
Saturday night's game featured a pair of coaches with nearly 800 wins and 50 years coaching between them. Now in his 24th year, all of which have been at Crown Point, Tom May holds a 393-138 career record. In his 18th year at Warsaw and 23rd season overall, Wienhorst is 395-132.
The Tigers are in action again Friday when they host South Bend Clay.
NO. 1 (4A) WARSAW 62, CROWN POINT 47
Crown Point 8 16 6 17 - 47
Warsaw 15 20 9 18 - 62
Crown Point FG FT R S Pts.
* Sertich 5-15 0-0 11 2 12
* Pruzin 5-14 0-3 2 4 14
* Sandilla 0-0 0-0 3 0 0
* Reeves 2-5 1-1 3 1 5
* Weiand 1-9 3-7 7 1 5
Michaels 1-10 1-2 0 0 3
Plumley 2-7 0-0 4 1 4
Clements 0-0 0-0 5 0 0
Perry 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Rospond 0-0 0-2 4 0 0
Poulos 1-4 2-2 2 0 4
Totals 17-64 7-17 42 9 47
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* Seiss 5-10 8-10 7 3 18
* Reichard 2-6 0-2 10 0 4
* Hepler 0-4 0-0 5 1 0
* Leininger 4-15 10-11 9 2 18
* DeGeeter 3-6 0-1 8 0 6
Mayer 4-7 2-2 0 0 11
Braddock 0-2 0-0 0 1 0
Durcholz 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Clay 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Smith 2-4 0-0 6 0 4
Sand 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Heiman 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Kindig 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Abbitt 0-0 1-2 0 0 1
Totals 20-55 21-28 48 7 62
Three-point goals - Crown Point 6-27 (Pruzin 4-8, Serich 2-8, Michaels 0-6, Plumley 0-3, Reeves 0-1, Poulos 0-1), Warsaw 1-7 (Mayer 1-1, Hepler 0-2, Leininger 0-2, Seiss 0-1, Braddock 0-1). Fouls - Crown Point 24, Warsaw 15. Fouled out - Reeves. Turnovers - Crown Point 17, Warsaw 16.
