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MIDDLEBURY - Before Tuesday's varsity girls basketball game between Northridge and Warsaw, one member of the media said the scoop on Northridge was the Raiders were a young team.
The Raiders had a freshman and sophomore in their starting lineup. But after the junior varsity contest went into overtime and didn't allow the varsity game to be started until nearly 8:30 p.m., they might have felt much older.
But in the end it was still a tale of teacher and student as the Tigers went on a mid-game 27-3 run in the 70-43 conference battle.
Coming in the Tigers boasted a 3-0 record and the buzz from the stands was not whether Warsaw would win, but by how much. The Tigers ended the first quarter of play with a 20-6 lead and caused seven Raider turnovers. Warsaw forward Jenna Rooney accounted for seven of the Tigers' points including a three-pointer near the 1:40 mark to make it 18-6 in favor of Warsaw.
The second quarter was a different story altogether. The Raiders appeared to be on a mission of their own and outscored the Tigers 17-10 in the frame to narrow the deficit to 30-23 at the break.
"In the second quarter we didn't like our defense," said Wienhorst. "We didn't trap well, and we didn't pay attention to the passing lanes, and our guards didn't pressure the ball."
Oddly enough, Warsaw started the second half the same way they started the first half. Katie Elliott scored to quick field goals to Northridge's one and made the score 34-25 in favor of the Tigers. Warsaw's defense gave up two more points before they settled down, and then the offense came to life.
At the 4:15 mark of the third frame Jessica Zaugg nailed a three-pointer to push the score to 37-27. Twenty-four seconds later she was at the charity stripe knocking down two free throws. Zaugg's classmate, Elliott, put herself at the charity stripe with 3:23 remaining in the third quarter and connected on two more Tiger free throws upping the count to 41-27.
Elliott put down easy field goals on assits from Nerecia Taylor and Zaugg and the Tigers were on a 8-0 run.
"A key to our success has been the play of Elliott," said Wienhorst. "She plays great defense, gets in the passing lanes, blocks shots, and usually has two people guarding her. And that opens up things for everyone else. She's having the best play of her career."
A key to Warsaw's success in the third frame was not only 6-2 Elliott, but Taylor. Taylor went on a nine point scoring surge in the quarter, as the Tigers ended the quarter on a 21-2 run taking a 58-33 advantage in the final frame.
"Taylor gets a lot of trash rebounds," said Wienhorst. "Rooney hit some shots early in the game. Katie (Elliott) missed a couple thee-pointers early, but we talked about that at halftime and there's nothing wrong with three-pointers. We felt Zaugg all year long was our best three-point shooter. We can't hit them all, but if we attack the basket and rebound it's a good play."
In the final frame the Raiders kept the odd quarter-even quarter alive. Warsaw decimated the Raiders in the first and third quarters, only to see Northridge come back in the second and fourth quarters. Only this time it was too little too late and the Tigers outscored the Raiders 12-10 accounting for the 70-43 final.
Warsaw (4-0, 1-0) will host Huntington North Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
" The first weekend was a test," said Wienhorst. "Northridge was our first conference test, but Huntington will be the best team we've played so far eventhough they're 1-3. Huntington is fast, if we can't trap against Northridge we're in trouble with Huntington. We had some travelling calls that you can't have against good teams."
