SYRACUSE – With senior Justin Fick no longer on the team and junior Jacob Thompson lost for the season due to a shoulder injury, the Wawasee boys basketball team looked a little different Friday night. The normally high-octane Wawasee Warriors (8-5, 0-3 Northern Lakes Conference) had to slow it down against the Class 4A No. 7 Elkhart Memorial Crimson Chargers (11-1, 3-0 NLC) at home, and it almost worked. Playing more deliberately, and making one substitution at a time instead of the normal fleet of continuous subs, the Warriors fell 61-51. “We prepared for the up-and-down game,” Memorial coach Mark Barnhizer said. “Then, they come out in that double-stack (offense), and that’s really an offense that’s used as a delay. That wasn’t the mode we came over here in, but that doesn’t matter. You have to adjust to it. As the game went along, we were able to adjust.” Going at a drastically slower pace, Wawasee managed to hold slim first-half leads, and went into the second half tied at 26-26. Coming out for the third quarter, junior Ryndan Aaron gave Wawasee a 28-26 lead with a pair of free throws, but a subsequent 15-1 run by the Chargers made all the difference. “In the second half, I think we played as well as we have all year,” Barnhizer said. “It was a push-and-shove, physical game. Our kids battled well in the second half.” Playing a new style, Wawasee coach Phil Mishler was pleased with how his players responded to a new offensive scheme. “I was very, very proud and pleased with what we were able to do as far as execution,” he said. “As far as execution to a game plan, it may have been the best since, maybe, our regional championship game against (Fort Wayne) Elmhurst (on March 13, 2010). As far as flat-out execution.” The new look Wawasee showed against Memorial may have had some success, but it may have been more of a stop-gap than a permanent fixture. “Where we’re at, with the depth on our bench, we just need some more time to develop,” Mishler said. “We have guys banged up, and to be able to go at that pace, we have to have development. We’re not giving up on it by any means, but we just need a little bit more time.” In the loss, Wawasee was led by senior Bauer Schmeltz’s 14 points, followed by junior Ryndan Aaron’s 11, while Memorial was paced by senior Urston Smith’s game-high 21. “We had to let something go, and we decided to let him go,” Mishler said about Smith. “He pulled through. Playing the (seventh)-ranked team in the state, and they only have one loss with the schedule they play, they’re going to have depth.” That depth was apparent as senior Todd Johnson had 13 points, followed by junior Markese McGuire’s 12. Memorial now sits alongside Warsaw as the lone undefeated teams in NLC action, and with that, Barnhizer is aware his guys have targets on their backs. “I feel like we’re kind of getting everyone’s best shot right now,” he said. Dropping to 0-3 in conference play, Mishler is now looking ahead to the postseason, and getting his guys accustomed to playing without Thompson, something the Warriors also had to do last year. As a sophomore, Thompson injured his right shoulder in a scrimmage, which later required surgery. This season, he injured his left shoulder, and after playing through it against NorthWood on Jan. 6, a game in which he hit just 2 of 17 shots, he’s opted to have surgery, ending his season prematurely. However, it’s not just his ball-handling duties and his 24.1 points per game that Mishler is going to miss. “No. 1 (thing we lose) is team depth,” he said. “You take away one player, now all at once that changes everything. It changes everything down to the freshman (team), because you’re bumping everything up and everything’s changing. Then, you take away two players and that depth’s even more messed up.” Even with two guys recently taken away from him, Mishler is optimistic his team can adjust in time for the postseason. “If our guys buy into what we’re preaching and play hard and execute like they did, we’re going to be ready for that sectional,” he said. “I think that’s what our goal is.” Wawasee will have nine games to prepare for Class 3A Sectional 21 at NorthWood High School, beginning with a trip to Plymouth Friday for another NLC contest.
ELKHART MEMORIAL 61, WAWASEE 51 M 13 13 17 18 – 61 W 14 12 9 16 – 51 Memorial – Jyrron Cooper 2-7 0-0 5, Todd Johnson 5-10 2-2 13, Markese McGuire 4-8 3-3 12, Urston Smith 7-16 6-6 21, Evan Weaver 2-2 0-0 4, Matthew Kibiloski 0-1 0-0 0, James Hershberger 0-1 6-6 6, T.J. Gray 0-1 0-0 0, Parker Devenney 0-1 0-0 0, Cameron Maxwell 0-0 0-0 0, Spenser Gilbert 0-0 0-0 0, Darien Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-47 17-17 61. Wawasee – Trent Koble 2-8 5-8 9, Jake Clark 1-5 5-6 8, Ryndan Aaron 3-10 2-4 11, Zac Patrick 2-3 1-2 6, Bauer Schmeltz 4-7 4-6 14, Austin Lutz 0-0 0-0 0, Chase Myers 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Clark 1-2 0-0 3, Garrett Balser 0-0 0-0 0, Kody Carpenter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-35 17-26 51. Three-point goals – Memorial 4-14 (Cooper, Johnson, McGuire, Smith), Wawasee 8-21 (Aaron 3, Schmeltz 2, J. Clark, A. Clark, Patrick); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Memorial 20 (Cooper), Wawasee 14; Turnovers – Memorial 12, Wawasee 18; Rebounds – Memorial 31 (Smith 7), Wawasee 24 (J. Clark 6); Assists – Memorial 2, Wawasee 7 (J. Clark 6); Steals – Memorial 6 (Johnson 2, Weaver 2), Wawasee 2; Blocks – Memorial 4 (Smith 2), Wawasee 0; Records: Memorial 11-1 (3-0 NLC), Wawasee 8-5 (0-3 NLC). JV – Memorial 52, Wawasee 21. Wawasee – Tristan Atwood 5, Lutz 4, Jacob Blackburn 3, Balser 3, Myers 2, Justin Ciriello 2, Douglas Hapner 1, David Rocha 1
