SYRACUSE - Wawasee High School's varsity boys basketball team was clicking on all cylinders Tuesday, scoring a school-record 122 points in a home win over the Manchester Squires.
Utilizing an uptempo offense and smothering defense, the Warriors now sit at 3-0 on the year, winning by an average score of 106-65.The 122 points broke the 1971-72 record of 115 in a win over Akron. In Wawasee's history, the Warriors have topped the 100-point mark five times, with two of those coming in the first three games of this season.
"Last year, we took a lot of beatings by a reversal of this score," Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said, referring to last season's 7-14 season. "(Entering the season), we didn't know how much of the system had taken over or what we still needed to learn on it. If I knew we'd be 3-0, I'd be real happy with a solid victory. Now, we're feeling pretty good, but we have a lot of tougher opponents coming up and a lot more athletic teams that can sort of play against this system well."
Wawasee's next opponent is Whitko on Saturday. The Wildcats will have to find a way to do what Angola, West Noble and Manchester (1-3) have failed to do - slow the Warriors down.
"They all know their roles," Manchester coach Aaron Cripe said of the Warriors. "All five guys on the court, maybe even all 10 through their lineup, know their roles very well. When everyone knows their role, and sticks to it and doesn't try to do something they're not supposed to, they're good."
In their latest win, junior Riley Stichter was the top performer, hitting 12 of 16 shots on his way to 28 points, seven rebounds and two of the Warriors' 19 steals.
"It kind of starts with him and builds out," Mishler said of Stichter. "He's really come into his own. He played a lot last year as a sophomore, but wasn't as mature, not as strong. Now, he's able to get bumped, get hit and still get the shot off and still get rebounds."
Wawasee also got 18 points from senior Keegan Beer, 15 from junior Logan Hatfield, 14 from junior Chad Schrock and 11 out of junior Trevor McKibben and freshman Jacob Thompson, who also had six steals.
When production like that comes from all angles, it can be tough for an opposing team to keep up, and that's what happened to Manchester.
"We came out in the first quarter and did what we wanted to do," Cripe said of his team, which trailed 27-16 at the end of the first quarter. "I thought, we played with them in the first quarter. It is a different style than we might see all year. We really worked hard in practice, but it's hard to simulate. They do such a good job. Coach Mishler has them playing well."
Over the course of the game, Wawasee's tenacious defense wore Manchester down, forcing 30 turnovers.
Despite being down big, Manchester junior Scott Baker still impressed scoring 18 points on 8 of 10 shooting, while senior Aaron Olinger netted 14 points.
"We do not want to quit this year," Cripe said. "That's one thing we really want to do. We want to keep playing. Last year when they'd get blown out, sometimes they'd quit. This year, they're not quitting. They're going to fight to the very end."
Even when they were up big, Wawasee never quit playing hard either.
"We play a lot of our players," Mishler said. "They have to be able to run our system if they're going to fight for playing time. It's unfair to ask them not to go all out. We can pull some things back, but they need to learn how to execute. That's our biggest situation right now. We're hustling and we're doing those things, but we've got to learn how to execute properly. It doesn't matter what the score is, you still have to execute in basketball."
And Cripe understood that.
"It's important for their guys to get better," the first-year coach said. "Their (junior varsity) guys got in the in the fourth quarter, and they happened to hit shots."
Manchester will look to rebound from the loss Tuesday at Churubusco.
